§ 267. I have heard R from J. H. in the following words, though even he frequently substitutes r—bαRə, plur. of bα꞉r, ‘crop’, O.Ir. barr; do̤R said to a dog to encourage him, Di. dorrghail; ə gʹïRi꞉ (iəri꞉, see § 105), ‘asking, seeking’; kɔR, ‘odd’, Meyer corr (1); kɔR (wo꞉nuw), ‘crane’, Meyer corr (2), with which kɔR, ‘a sand-eel’, is probably identical. These forms must be carefully distinguished from ko̤r`, Meyer cor. ko̤R, ‘edge’, Meyer corr (2); ko̤Rαχ, ‘quagmire’, M.Ir. currech; kɔRαχ, ‘steep’, klɔχ χo̤Rαχ, ‘a stone with many edges’, Meyer corrach; kɔRαn, ‘sickle’, Meyer corrán; kɔRuw lʹɛ, ‘upwards of; kαR, ‘car’, M.Ir. carr, to be distinguished from kα꞉r, ‘ugly face, grin’, Meyer carr (5); mo̤Rαχəs, ‘superiority’, < mórdhachas; o̤Rə çlʹαsiαχt, ‘playmate’, Wi. urra; o̤Rəmαχ, ‘obedient’, M.Ir. urraim; spo̤Rαχ, ‘a lanky fellow’.
§ 268. Usually however R is reduced to r, e.g. bαrçiç, ‘a light shower’, = barr-chith; bα꞉riəL, ‘a leather boot-lace’, = barr-iall; bαriαχt, ‘superabundance’, Di. barraidheacht; bαrαχ, ‘tow’, Meyer barrach; dɔrəgə, ‘cross-looking’, Keat. dorrdha; gɔrαn, ‘rim round snout of pig’ (in Westmoreland called ‘grin’), Di. corran, ‘jaw’ (?); go̤ru꞉n, ‘haunch’, Di. gurrún; gʹαrαn, ‘horse’, lit. ‘gelding’ < gʹαruw, ‘to cut’, M.Ir. gerrad, plur. gʹα꞉r̥αχə (§ 21); kαriə, ‘deer’, Di. cairrfhiadh; kαrikʹ, ‘rock’, O.Ir. carric; kʹαrwαχ, ‘gamester’, Di. cearrbhach; ʃαrαχ, ‘foal’, M.Ir. serrach; tαrαχ, ‘pregnant’, M.Ir. torrach; to̤rskər, ‘refuse’, M.Ir. turrscar.
10. r.
§ 269. The ordinary Donegal r is a reduced form of a trilled r. There is usually only one flip of the point of the tongue against the alveoles. At the end of monosyllables after a short vowel r is clipped and very short, e.g. fʹαr`, ‘man’; go̤r`, ‘sitting’ (of a hen).
§ 270. r represents O.Ir. initial, medial r before a, o, u and final r when originally followed by a, o, u, e.g. bʹïr, ‘spit’, O.Ir. bir; dri꞉, ‘druid’, O.Ir. drui; fr⅄꞉χ, ‘heather’, O.Ir. froech; fʹαrəg, ‘anger’, O.Ir. ferc; gruəg, ‘hair’, Di. gruag; mαrəwi꞉m, ‘I kill’, M.Ir. marbaim; trα꞉, ‘meal’, M.Ir. tráth; u꞉r, ‘fresh’, M.Ir. úr.
§ 271. r has taken the place of older initial Rʹ and in consequence the following vowel is frequently affected (§§ 73, 156), e.g. rαhəm, ‘I run’, M.Ir. rethim; rɛi (rəi), ‘ready’, O.Ir.