Dia daoibh!
As I was reading a section from An Teanga Bheo: Gaeilge Uladh this afternoon, I got a bit confused by one section (on pages 20 & 21) in which the variant pronunciations of 2nd conjugation present tense verb endings are discussed:

1) The book says that in the south of Donegal, words like ceannaíonn will be pronounced with as spelled (like kYANN-ee-unn) or with a “half fada” (It gave no explanation as to what this is.)
Does anyone know how a “leathfhada” would be pronounced, as opposed to a regular fada?

2) The book then says that in the west of Donegal, such verbs are pronounced as if spelled “ceannaionn,” and that the “short i” in these cases are pronounced like the English “ee” in “meet.”
If the “i” is pronounced in this area as “ee,” isn’t that the same pronunciation as “ceannaíonn” (kYANN-ee-unn)? Does anyone understand the difference?

3) Lastly, it says that in the east of Donegal, these verbs are pronounced as if spelled “ceannann” (kYANN-unn)…this makes perfect sense and is the only explanation of the three variants that I actually understand.

A big thank you to anyone who can help!

Halló



well, I think it means it's not as long as a long vowel in a one-syllable-word, but still longer than a short vowel...



I think it means that it's the same sound as "ee" but shorter (as opposed to English "i" as in "hit", which is also short but the vowel is more open)



it says eastern but it's also true in Northern Donegal too afaik.

I hope it helps...

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Is fearr Gaeilg na Gaeltaċta ná Gaeilg ar biṫ eile
Agus is í Gaeilg Ġaoṫ Doḃair is binne

Ah,Yes! That Helps perfectly.
Thank you so much, Lughaidh, for sharing that info with me…
It was nice talking with you again!