Dialectal features in Co. Clare place-names: the vocalization of the fricatives -bh- and -mh-. Including a discussion on lexical items in Irish place-names.

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to reconstruct features of the Irish language by using place-name evidence. The work focuses on Co. Clare in Ireland where until quite recently different Irish dialects were spoken, especially in the northern and western parts of the county. The discussion is narrowed down to the vocalization patterns of word-internal -bh- and -mh- as these patterns share similarities in Co. Clare Irish. The central question in this thesis is whether the fricatives have merged in Co. Clare Irish, judged from place-name evidence. The emphasis is on the non-palatal variants of -bh- and -mh-. A case study of Co. Clare place-names has been conducted to answer this question. It was concluded that non-palatal -bh- and -mh- have not merged in Co. Clare Irish, at least not in stressed position. The present work also includes a discussion on lexical items in Irish place-names, with a slight focus on Co. Clare. A threefold division was used to classify lexical items: 1. topographically descriptive, 2. derived from bodily features, 3. indicative of settlement. Particular attention is paid to Irish (and Scottish) ‘baile’ as well as to words denoting ‘ring-fort’. The phenomenon of lexical fossilization in place-names is also referred to.