Vowel sound for ‘ainn’, ‘uinn’, ‘aill’, etc.

This topic has 32 replies, 1 voice, and was last updated 11 years, 10 months ago by Lughaidh.

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June 17, 2012 at 9:32 am #42122

Marcoman
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Why is mac – mic, but cat – cait?

June 17, 2012 at 9:50 am #42123

Héilics Órbhuí
Participant

Why is mac – mic, but cat – cait?

I don’t think there is a logical reason for it; it’s just one of the many arbitrary things in language. An expert of language evolution may know there is an actual reason for that, i.e. a categorical preference or aversion to a certain sequence of sounds that would make “maic” highly unlikely.

June 17, 2012 at 10:30 am #42124

Lughaidh
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I think nobody knows 🙂 There are things in phonetic evolution that can’t be explained…
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