Jay Bee wrote:
Has anyone ever done an analysis of the variance between /x/ and /ú/ for the modal endings as they vary by verb with a dialect. I thought it might be -ú before a consonant and -ach before a vowel, but that doesn't hold, I don't think
It might be more arbitrary than that. In ScG, the /u:/ ending is -amh. I'm aware of 4 verbal noun endings in ScG -- -adh,-inn,-il, and -amh. Dialects don't always agree on endings -- eg following is
leantail in Argyle, but
leantainn in most other areas (but lifting is almost universally
togail). I can't think of an -amh word other than dèanamh (although I'm sure there are a few).
"-ú" may be a conservation of the -amh ending, just in a lot of words that the most documented dialects would have another ending for.