Mutations are changes which take place in the first letters of certain words according to certain rules. Letter changes are a special feature of Celtic languages.Over the centuries, these rules have become rather relaxed in Manx, but it is possible to state some basic ones.

There are two types of mutation or letter change. These types are called lenition (or aspiration) and nasalisation (or eclipsis). Nasalisation is quite rare in Manx.

Vowels (a, e, i, o, u, y) are not changed, but sometimes have ‘h’ put in front of them.
Also unaffected are the consonants l, n, and r.

Lenition (Aspiration)
The full list of possible changes is given below:

‘b’ becomes ‘v’ (occasionally ‘w’); ‘bw’ becomes ‘w’.
‘m’ becomes ‘v’; ‘mw’ becomes ‘w’.
‘c’ and ‘k’ become ‘ch’ (as in Scottish ‘loch’).
‘g’ becomes ‘gh’; ‘gi’ becomes ‘ghi’, pronounced like English ‘y’.
‘qu’ becomes ‘wh’.
‘f’ is dropped.
‘d’ and ‘dh’ become ‘gh’.
‘j’ becomes ‘y’ (as in English).
‘p’ becomes ‘ph’.
‘s’ and ‘sh’ become ‘h’.
‘t’, ‘th’ and ‘çh’ become ‘h’.

It is important to realise that if you read or hear that a certain Manx word ‘causes lenition’, that word will rarely cause ALL the lenitions listed above! You have to learn which lenitions usually do take place.
At all costs, don’t get too worried about mutations in Manx.
 

REGULAR LENITION
Here, ‘regular lenition’ is taken to mean that all the changes listed above usually take place. This is so after these words:
my - my; dty - your; e - his (‘e’ can mean ‘her’ - this does NOT cause any letter changes)
dy - of
dy, y - to
ro - too
feer - very
aa- - ‘re-’ (‘building’, ‘rebuilding’), or shows intensification
mee- - inverts meaning
neu- - inverts meaning

Examples of lenition (aspiration) after these words:
‘b’ becomes ‘v’; ‘bw’ becomes ‘w’
baatey - boat; my vaatey - my boat
boayrd - table; dty voayrd - your table
bwane - hut; e ‘wane - his hut
bainney - milk; cappan dy vainney - a cup of milk
bwoalley - striking, hitting; dy ‘woalley/y ‘woalley - to hit
bog - soft; ro vog - too soft
berçhagh - rich; feer verchagh - very rich
bioghey -enlivening; aa-vioghey - reviving
biallagh - obedient; meeviallagh - disobedient
baghtal - distinct; neu-vaghtal - indistinct

‘m’ becomes ‘v’; ‘mw’ becomes ‘w’
mac - son; my vac - my son
mwannal - neck; dty wannal - your neck
moir - mother; e voir - his mother
mill - honey; lane dy vill - full of honey
milley - spoiling; dy villey, y villey - to spoil
mettey - delicate; ro vettey - too delicate
moal - slow; feer voal - very slow
moylley - praise; meevoylley - ‘dispraise’
messoil - fertile; neu-vessoil - infertile

‘c’ becomes ‘ch’ (pronounced ‘kh’)
cappan - cup; my chappan - my cup
cass - foot; dty chass - your foot
cleaysh - ear; e chleaysh - his ear
caashey - cheese; punt dy chaashey - a pound of cheese
clashtyn - hearing; dy chlashtyn, y chlashtyn - to hear
coon - narrow; ro choon - too narrow
croutagh - crafty; feer chroutagh - very crafty
croo - creating; aa-chroo - re-creating
cordailys - agreement; meechordailys - disagreement
corrym - equal; neu-chorrym - unequal
REGULAR LENITION (contd.)

‘k’ becomes ‘ch’ (pronounced ‘kh’)
kayt - cat; my chayt - my cat
kione- head; dty chione - your head
keeill - church; e cheeill - his church
kiaulleeaght - music; oor dy chiaulleeaght - an hour of music
kionnaghey - buying; dy chionnaghey, y chionnaghey - to buy
kenjal - kind; ro chenjal - too kind
kiune - calm; feer chiune - very calm
kyndid - guilt; meechyndid - blamelessness
kyndagh - a guilty person; neu-chyndagh - a blameless person

‘g’ becomes ‘gh’; ‘gi’ becomes ‘y’ or ‘ghi’, pronounced like English ‘y’.
geaylin- shoulder; my gheaylin - my shoulder
giat - gate; my ghiat / my yiat - my gate
goo - word; dty ghoo - your word
glass - a lock; e ghlass - his lock
gless - glass; lane dy ghless - full of glass
goaill - taking; dy ghoaill, y ghoaill - to take
goan - scarce; ro ghoan - too scarce
gial - bright; ro ghial / ro yial - too bright
gonnagh - sore; feer ghonnagh - very sore
giare - short; feer ghiare / feer yiare - very short
gerrid, girrid - shortness; aagherrid - a short cut
gerjagh - consolation; meegherjagh - distress
glen - clean; neu-ghlen - unclean
giallit - promised; neu-ghiallit / neu-yiallit - unpromised

‘qu’ becomes ‘wh’.
queeyl - a wheel; my wheeyl - my wheel
quallian - puppy; dty whallian - your puppy
quaaltys - an interview; e whaaltys - his interview
queeyllaghey - wheeling; dy wheeyllaghey, y wheeyllaghey - to wheel
quaagh - strange; feer whaagh - very strange

‘f’ is dropped.
feeacklyn - teeth; my ‘eeacklyn - my tooth
fainey - a ring; dty ‘ainey - your ring
folt - hair (of head); e ‘olt - his hair
fuill - blood; lane dy ‘uill - full of blood
fakin - seeing; dy ‘akin, y ‘akin - to see
Note that a strong tendency developed in Manx not to drop ‘f’ in many cases when this would have been done in earlier Manx. Note the following:
feayr - cold; ro feayr - too cold
fliugh - wet; feer fliugh - very wet

REGULAR LENITION (contd.)

‘d’ and ‘dh’ become ‘gh’.
doarn - fist, my ghoarn - my fist
dorrys - door; dty ghorrys - your door
dooghys - nature, kind; e ghooghys - his nature
duillagyn - leaves; lane dy ghuillagyn - full of leaves
dooney - shutting; dy ghooney, y ghooney - to shut
dowin - deep; ro ghowin - too deep
doillee - difficult; feer ghoillee - very difficult
dooghyssagh - natural; neu-ghooghyssagh - unnatural

‘j’ becomes ‘y’ (as in English).
jough - a drink; my yough - my drink
jalloo - a picture; dty yalloo - your picture
jaggad - jacket; e yaggad
joarreeyn - strangers; shamyr dy yoarreeyn - a room of strangers
jannoo - doing, making; dy yannoo, y yannoo - to do, to make
jeean - eager; ro yeean - too eager
jesh - nice; feer yesh - very nice
jannoo - doing; aa-yannoo - re-doing
jeant - done; neu-yeant - undone

‘p’ becomes ‘ph’.
pabyr - paper; my phabyr - my paper
paitçhey - child; dty phaitçhey - your child
poagey - bag; e phoagey - his bag
praaseyn - potatoes; kilo dy phraaseyn - a kilo of potatoes
pandoogh - panting; dy phandoogh, y phandoogh - to pant
peccoil - sinful; ro pheccoil - too sinful
piandagh - painful; feer phiandagh - very painful

‘s’ and ‘sh’ become ‘h’ - NO CHANGE (usually) if ‘s’ is followed by a consonant - but changes with ‘sl-’, ‘str-’, and sometimes with ‘sn-’
seihll - world; my heihll - my world
shuyr - sister; dty huyr - your sister
sooill - eye; e hooill - his eye
shugyr - sugar; lane dy hugyr - full of sugar
sauail - saving, rescuing; dy hauail, y hauail - to save, to rescue
sheeoil - peaceful; ro heeoil - too peaceful
sauçhey - safe; feer hauçhey - very safe
sheelt - sober; neu-heelt - inebriated
 
 
 
 
 

REGULAR LENITION (contd.)

BUT NOTE:
slaynt - health; my ‘laynt - my health (my hlaynt in old Manx)
slat - rod; dty ‘lat - your rod
straid - street; e ‘traid - his street
snaid - needle; my snaid, my ‘naid - my needle
scoill - school; my scoill - my school
skeab - a brush; dty skeab - your brush

‘t’, ‘th’ and ‘çh’ become ‘h’.
tey- tea; my hey - my tea
thie - house; dty hie - your house
thalloo - land; e halloo - his land
tey - tea; cappan dy hey - a cup of tea
tilgey - throwing; dy hilgey, y hilgey - to throw
trome - heavy; ro hrome - too heavy
troshagh - strong; feer hroshagh - very strong
tastey - attention, heed; meehastey - inattention
taitnyssagh - pleasant; neu-haitnyssagh - unpleasant

çheer - country; my heer - my country
çhengey - tongue, language; dty hengey - your tongue, your language
çhiollagh - fireplace; e hiollagh - his fireplace
çhengaghyn - languages; list dy hengaghyn - a list of languages
çhyndaa - turning; dy hyndaa, y hyndaa - to turn
çhing - sick, ill; ro hing - too sick, too ill
çheh - hot; feer heh, feer çheh - very hot

Other cases of regular lenition (aspiration)

To express identity, after ‘my’, ‘dty’ and ‘ny’ meaning respectively ‘in- me’, ‘in-your’ and ‘in his’ (same as for ‘my’, ‘dty’ and ‘e’ [‘his’]).
Here, ‘ny’ came from ‘in-e’ - ‘in-his’.
boandyr - a nurse. Ta mee my voandyr - I am a nurse (I am in-my nurse).
captan - a captain. T’ou dty chaptan - You are a captain (You are in-your captain).
dooinney mooar - a big man. T’eh ny ghooinney mooar - He is a big man (He is in- his big man).
shiolteyr - a sailor. V’eh ny hiolteyr - He was a sailor (He was in-his sailor).

A verb construction involving ‘my’, ‘dty’, ‘dy’ where ‘dy’ came from
‘dy-e’ - ‘to-his’
bwoalley - hitting. T’eh dy my woalley - He is hitting me (He is to my hitting).
moylley - praising. Ta shin dy dty voylley - We are praising you (We are to your praising).
fakin - seeing. T’ee dy ‘akin - She sees him (She is to-his seeing).
 

Other cases of regular lenition (aspiration) - contd.

Verb constructions involving ‘er my’ (‘after my’), ‘er dty’ (‘after your’) and ‘er ny’ (‘after his’)
bwoalley - hitting. T’eh er my woalley - He has hit me (He is after my hitting.)
moylley - praising. Ta shin er dty voylley - We have praised you (We are after your praising).
fakin - seeing. V’ee er ny ‘akin - She had seen him (She was after his seeing).

Various verb forms (see the section on verbs)
Example - form the past tense of a regular verb by leniting the imperative (the stem):
kionnee! - buy!
chionnee mee - I bought

To show possession or association (genitive singular of names)
Breeshey - Brigid; lioar - a book: lioar Vreeshey - Brigid’s book (the book of Brigid)

Ballajeelt; scoill - school: Scoill Vallajeelt - Ballajeelt School

Catreeney - Catherine; poagey - bag: poagey Chatreeney - CatherIne’s bag

Doolish - Douglas; shooylaghan - promenade: shooylaghan Ghoolish - Douglas promenade

But: Fenella; argid - money: argid Fenella - Fenella’s money

Gorree; eaddagh = clothes: eaddagh Ghorree - Gorree’s clothes

Juan - John; thie - house: thie Yuan - John’s house (the house of John)

Kerron; gleashtan - car: gleashtan Cherron - Kerron’s car

Moirrey - Mary; kayt- cat: kayt Voirrey - Mary’s cat

Purt le Moirrey - Port St Mary; scoill - school: Scoill Phurt le Moirrey - Port St Mary School

Quiggin; thie - house: thie Whiggin - Quiggin’s house

Sharree; roar - bicycle: roar Harree - Sharree’s bicycle

Thomaase - Thomas; moddey - a dog: moddey Homaase - Thomas’s dog
 
 
 
 
 

Other cases of regular lenition (aspiration) - contd.

When speaking directly to people (vocatives)

Breeshey - Brigid: Vreeshey, tar stiagh! - Brigid, come in!
Catreeney - Catherine: Kys t’ou, Chatreeney? - How are you Catherine?
carrey - friend; meen - dear: Charrey Veen - Dear Friend.
Doolish - Douglas: Cur dou eh, Ghoolish - Give it to me, Douglas.
BUT: Fenella: C’raad t’ou, Fenella? - Where are you, Fenella?
Gorree: Tar neose, Ghorree - Come down, Gorree.
Juan - John: Yuan, soie sheese - John, sit down.
Kerron: C’raad v’ou, Cherron? - Where were you, Kerron?
Moirrey - Mary; meen - dear: Voirrey veen! - Dear Mary!
Peddyr - Peter; boght- poor: Pheddyr voght! - Poor Peter!
Quilliam: Whilliam, bee dty host! - Quilliam, be quiet!
Sharree: Vel oo ayns shen, Harree? - Are you there, Sharree?
Thomaase - Thomas: Vel oo mie dy liooar, Homaase? - Are you all right, Thomas?
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Lenition (Aspiration) in feminine nouns in the singular after the definite article (‘the’ - ‘yn or ‘y’) in the nominative- accusative
Note that this is a rather different set of letter changes! You find similar rules in the other Gaelic languages.

‘d’ / ‘dh’, ‘t’ / ‘th’, ‘çh’ and ‘j’ are NOT altered (Dentals not altered - feminine nouns).
(NOT the same as for ‘my’,‘dty’ and ‘e’ (‘his’))
duillag - leaf; y duillag - the leaf
thunnag - duck; y thunnag - the duck
çhengey - language, tongue; yn çhengey - the language, the tongue
jeeg - ditch; y jeeg - the ditch

‘b’ becomes ‘v’ (occasionally ‘w’); ‘bw’ becomes ‘w’
(Same as for ‘my’,‘dty’ and ‘e’ (‘his’)
ben - woman; y ven, yn ven - the woman
Ta’n ven goll nish - The woman’s going now.
Honnick mee y ven - I saw the woman.

bwoaillee - a (cattle) fold; y woaillee - the fold
Va’n woaillee mooar - The fold was large.
Ta mee goll dys y woaillee - I’m going to the fold.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Lenition (Aspiration) in feminine nouns (contd.)

‘m’ becomes ‘v’; ‘mw’ becomes ‘w’.
(Same as for ‘my’,‘dty’ and ‘e’ (‘his’)
moir - mother; y voir - the mother
Ta’n voir ayns shoh - The mother’s here.
Honnick ad y voir - They saw the mother.

mwarree - grandmother; y warree - the grandmother
Va’n warree goll magh - the grandmother was going out.
Vel oo fakin y warree? - Do you see the grandmother?

‘c’ and ‘k’ become ‘ch’ (as in Scottish ‘loch’).
(Same as for ‘my’,‘dty’ and ‘e’ (‘his’)
crammag - snail; y chrammag - the snail
Ta’n chrammag drappal seose - The snail is climbing up.
Mie lhiat y chrammag? - Do you like the snail?

kiark - hen; y chiark - the hen
Va’n chiark marroo - The hen was dead.
Eaisht rish y chiark! - LIsten to the hen!

‘g’ becomes ‘gh’; ‘gi’ becomes ‘ghi’, pronounced like English ‘y’.
(Same as for ‘my’,‘dty’ and ‘e’ (‘his’)
grian - sun; y ghrian - the sun
Ta’n ghrian soilshean - The sun’s shining.
Jeeagh er y ghrian - Look at the sun.

giuag - gullet; y ghiuag, y yiuag - the gullet

‘qu’ becomes ‘wh’.
(Same as for ‘my’,‘dty’ and ‘e’ (‘his’)
queeyl - a wheel; y wheeyl - the wheel
Ta’n wheeyl çhyndaa mygeayrt - The wheel is turning around.
Vel y wheeyl brisht? - Is the wheel broken?

‘f’ is dropped (occasionally).
(Same as for ‘my’,‘dty’ and ‘e’ (‘his’)
feill - meat; yn ‘eill - the meat
Ta’n ‘eill costal - The meat is expensive.
Vel yn ‘eill ayd? / Vel y feill ayd? - Have you got the meat?
A strong tendency developed in Manx not to drop f’s. So, in written Manx you will often see ‘y feill’, etc. (Typically not ‘yn feill’)
 
 
 
 

Lenition (Aspiration) in feminine nouns (contd.)

‘p’ becomes ‘ph’.
(Same as for ‘my’,‘dty’ and ‘e’ (‘his’)
praddag - caterpillar; y phraddag - the caterpillar
Ta’n phraddag ersooyl - The caterpillar’s gone.
Jeeagh er y phraddag - Look at the caterpillar.

‘s’ becomes ‘t’.
‘sh’ becomes ‘çh’ (from ‘tsh’)
(NOT the same as for ‘my’,‘dty’ and ‘e’ (‘his’))
sooill - an eye; yn tooill, y tooill - the eye
Ta’n tooill aym gonnagh - My eye is sore.
Vel yn tooill ayd gonnagh? - Is your eye sore?

shuyr -sister; yn çhuyr - the sister
Ta’n çhuyr ny shinney na ish - The sister is older than her.
Row yn çhuyr echey ayn? - Was his sister there?

There are no changes if ‘s’ is followed by a consonant - except for ‘l’ and ‘tr’:
slaynt - health; yn claynt / yn slaynt - the health
slane - whole; yn clane - the whole
straid - street; yn traid, y traid - the street
 

Similar changes to those for singular feminine nouns in the nominative-accusative take place in masculine nouns in the genitive singular after the article (‘The ..... of the ......’)

‘d’ / ‘dh’, ‘t’ / ‘th’, ‘çh’ and ‘j’ are NOT altered (Dentals not altered).
(NOT the same as for ‘my’,‘dty’ and ‘e’ (‘his’))
dooinney - a man; kione y dooinney - the head of the man / the man’s head
dhooraght - a perquisite; mooadys y dhooraght - the size of the perquisite
toor - a tower; yrjid y toor - the height of the tower
thie - a house; prios y thie - the price of the house
çhellvane - telephone; sheean y çhellvane - the sound of the telephone
jalloo -a picture; aalid y jalloo - the beauty of the picture

‘b’ becomes ‘v’ (occasionally ‘w’); ‘bw’ becomes ‘w’
(Same as for ‘my’,‘dty’ and ‘e’ (‘his’))
bainney - milk; y bainney - the milk; prios y vainney - the price of the milk
bwaane - a shed; y bwaane - the shed; stayd y waane - the state of the shed

‘m’ becomes ‘v’; ‘mw’ becomes ‘w’.
(Same as for ‘my’,‘dty’ and ‘e’ (‘his’)
mac - son; y thie - the house; thie y vac - the son’s house
mwyllin - a mill; y mwyllin - the mill; stayd y wyllin - the state of the mill
Lenition (Aspiration) in masculine nouns in the genitive singular (contd.)

‘c’ and ‘k’ become ‘ch’ (as in Scottish ‘loch’).
(Same as for ‘my’,‘dty’ and ‘e’ (‘his’)
caashey - cheese; y caashey - the cheese; trimmid y chaashey - the weight of the cheese
kishtey - a box; y kishtey - the box; trimmid y chishtey - the weight of the box

‘g’ becomes ‘gh’; ‘gi’ becomes ‘ghi’, pronounced like English ‘y’.
(Same as for ‘my’,‘dty’ and ‘e’ (‘his’)
garran - a pony; y garran - the pony; niart y gharran - the strength of the pony
gioot - a gift; y gioot - the gift; leagh y ghioot / leagh y yioot - the value of the gift

‘qu’ becomes ‘wh’.
(Same as for ‘my’,‘dty’ and ‘e’ (‘his’)
quallian - a puppy; y quallian - the puppy; graih’n whallian - the love of the puppy

Realistically, ‘f’ is not dropped.
fuygh - wood; y fuygh - the wood; niart y fuygh - the strength of the wood

‘p’ becomes ‘ph’.
(Same as for ‘my’,‘dty’ and ‘e’ (‘his’)
pabyr - paper; y pabyr - the paper; daah’n phabyr - the colour of the paper

‘s’ becomes ‘t’.
‘sh’ becomes ‘çh’ (from ‘tsh’)
‘sl’ becomes ‘cl’
(NOT the same as for ‘my’,‘dty’ and ‘e’ (‘his’))
sollan - salt; y sollan - the salt; baneid y tollan - the whiteness of the salt
shugyr - sugar; y shugyr - the sugar; miljid yn çhugyr - the sweetness of the sugar
slattys - a statute; lhiurid y clattys - the length of the statute
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Feminine nouns in the genitive singular

In old Manx (and in Scots Gaelic and Irish), ‘of the’ followed by a feminine noun in the singular is ‘ny’ with the feminine noun unmutated. Look at these examples:

moir - mother (‘moir’ is feminine)
mayrey - of mother (‘mayrey’ is a special genitive form)
çhengey - language
Çhengey ny Mayrey - the Language of the Mother / The Mother Tongue

moain - peat, turf (‘moain’ is feminine)
moaney - of peat, of turf (‘moaney’ is the genitive form)
cronk - a hill
Cronk ny Moaney / Cronk ny Mona - The Hill of the Peat
Feminine nouns in the genitive singular (contd.)

You can find lots of other examples In the placenames of the Isle of Man (Creg ny Baa, Baaie ny Carrickey, etc.)

With masculine nouns, the treatment is different in the genitive singular (lenition with ‘yn’ or ‘y’ as ‘of the’):

cronk - a hill (‘cronk’ is masculine)
cruink / crink - of hill (the genitive form)
balley - town (‘farm’ in old Manx)
Balley yn Chrink / Ballachrink - The Farm of the Hill

A very long time ago, the Manx began to drop the special gentive forms and use them just like adjectives, and to treat feminine nouns in the genitive singular as if they were masculine nouns in the genitive singular. So this would have given things like:

Çhengey’n Voir (instead of ‘Çhengey ny Mayrey’)
Cronk y Voain (instead of ‘Cronk ny Moaney’)

There are lots of examples of this in the Manx Bible. One fairly common example involves the word for ‘country’:
çheer - country (‘çheer’ is feminine)
çheerey - of country (genitive form)

Old Manx: Ree ny çheerey - The king of the country.
Later Manx: Ree’n çheer - The king of the country.

Also, it is common in the Manx Bible to find ‘ben’ (‘woman’) treated as a masculine noun - just in the genitive singular:
kione y ven - the woman’s head

So, in later Manx, feminine nouns in the genitive singular were lenited just like masculine nouns. In general, genitive forms were not used, except as ‘adjectives’:
balley beg - a little town
balley beg çheerey - a village (‘a little town of (the) country’)

The ‘classical’ forms of old Manx have stayed with us mainly in placenames and set phrases. (Çhengey ny Mayrey; Irree ny Greiney - The Rising of the Sun; Thie ny Gaelgey - The House of the Manx Language, etc.)

Note that there are NO mutations in genitive plurals, masculine or feminine:
mooadys ny baljyn - the size of the towns
argid ny mraane - the women’s money

Lenition (Aspiration) in adjectives

This happens after feminine nouns in the singular. The changes are similar to those after ‘m’, ‘dty’ and ‘e’ (‘his’), except that ‘s’, ‘sh’, ‘d’, ‘t’ and ‘çh’ are often left unchanged.

‘b’ becomes ‘v’ (occasionally ‘w’); ‘bw’ becomes ‘w’.
boght - poor; ben voght - a poor woman; y ven voght - the poor woman
bwaagh - pretty; inneen waagh - a pretty girl; yn inneen waagh - the pretty girl

‘m’ becomes ‘v’ (occasionally ‘w’).
mooar - big; ben vooar - a big woman; y ven vooar - the big woman

‘c’ and ‘k’ become ‘ch’ (as in Scottish ‘loch’).
creeney - wise; ben chreeney - a wise woman; y ven chreeney - the wise woman
kiarailagh = careful; mwarree chiarailagh - a careful grandmother; y warree chiarailagh - the careful grandmother

‘g’ becomes ‘gh’; ‘gi’ becomes ‘ghi’, pronounced like English ‘y’.
gastey - nimble; inneen ghastey - a nimble girl; yn inneen ghastey - the nimble girl
giastyllagh - charitable; ben ghiastyllagh / yiastyllagh - a charitable woman

‘qu’ becomes ‘wh’.
quaagh - strange; y ven whaagh - the strange woman

Realistically, ‘f’ is not dropped.
feayr - cold; panney feayr - a cold pan; y phannag feayr - the cold pan

‘d’ and ‘dh’ become ‘gh’ - rare in later Manx
doo - black; booa ghoo / booa doo - a black cow; y vooa ghoo / y vooa doo - the black cow

‘j’ becomes ‘y’ (as in English).
jesh - nice; ben yesh - a nice woman

‘p’ becomes ‘ph’.
paa - thirsty; innee phaa - a thirsty girl

‘s’ and ‘sh’ become ‘h’ - rare.
seihlltagh - worldly; ben heihlltagh / ben seihlltagh - a worldly woman
sheelt - sober; ben heelt / ben sheelt - a sober woman

‘t’, ‘th’ and ‘çh’ become ‘h’ - rare.
tastagh - discerning; ben hastagh / ben tastagh - a discerning woman
thieoil - domestic; inneen hieoil / inneen thieoil - a domestic girl
shamyr -a room; shamyr çheh - a hot room
 

Other cases of lenition

After ‘un’ (‘one’),‘daa’ (‘two’) and ‘chied’ (‘first’) - reasonably regular lenition.
‘daa’ causes changes similar to those caused by ‘my’, ‘dty’ and ‘e’ (‘his’):
ben - woman; daa ven - two women
cass - a foot; daa chass - two feet
çhengey - a language; daa hengey - two languages
dooinney - a man; daa ghooinney as feed - twenty-two men
feailley - festival; daa ‘eailley / daa feailley - two festivals
goayr - a goat; daa ghoayr - two goats
jalloo - a picture; daa yalloo - two pictures
kione - a head; daa chione - two heads
moddey - a dog; daa voddey -a two dogs
paag - a kiss; daa phaag - two kisses
queeyl - a wheel; daa wheeyl yeig - twelve wheels
soieag - a seat; daa hoieag - two seats
thie - a house; daa hie - two houses

‘un’ (‘one’) and ‘chied’ (‘first’) cause similar changes - except for dentals (‘t’, ‘d’, ‘çh’ and ‘j’) and ‘s’:
un ven - one woman; y chied ven - the first woman
un chass - one foot; y chied chass - the first foot
un çhengey - one language; y chied çhengey - the first language
un dooinney - one man; y chied dooinney - the first man
un ‘eailley / un feailley - one festival; y chied feailley - the first festival
un ghoayr - one goat; y chied ghoayr - the first goat
un jalloo - one picture; y chied jalloo - the first picture
un chione jeig - eleven heads; y chied chione - the first head
un voddey as feed - twenty-one dogs; y chied voddey - the first dog
un phaag - one kiss; y chied phaag - the first kiss
un wheeyl as daeed - forty-one wheels; y chied wheeyl - the first wheel
un soieag - one seat; y chied soieag - the first wheel
un thie - one house; y chied thie - the first house

There are regular lenitions like those after ‘my’, etc., after the ordinal numbers ‘second’, ‘third’, etc., etc.
yn nah ven - the second woman
yn trass chass - the third foot
yn chiarroo hengey - the fourth language
yn wheiggoo ghooinney - the fifth man
yn çheyoo ‘eailley - the sixth festival
yn çhiaghtoo ghoayr - the seventh goat
yn hoghtoo yalloo - the eighth picture
yn nuyoo chione - the ninth head
yn jeihoo voddey - the tenth dog
yn chied phaag jeig - the eleventh kiss
Lenitions after ordinals (contd.)
yn nah wheeyl yeig - the twelfth wheel
yn trass hoieag jeig - the thirteenth seat
yn chiarroo hie jeig - the fourteenth house

Very few adjectives indeed in Manx go before the noun. Rare examples are ‘shenn’ (‘old’), ‘drogh’ (‘bad’), ‘ard’ (‘chief’, ‘prime’) and ‘lhag’ (‘weak’). These cause rather variable lenitions.
Often, dentals (‘t’, ‘d’, ‘çh’ and ‘j’) are not affected by ‘shenn’, ‘ard’ and ‘lhag’. Examples:
balley - town; ard-valley - city
cass - a foot; drogh chass - a bad foot
çhengey - a language; shenn çhengey - an old language
drogh çhengey - bad language
dooinney - a man; shenn dooinney - an old man; drogh dooinney / drogh ghooinney - a bad man; yn ard ghooinney - the chief man
slaynt - health; lhag ‘laynt - ill health

There are lenitions in both masculine and feminine nouns in the singular after the article (‘the’) and a preposition. These lenitions are similar to those in nominative-accusative feminine nouns in the singular:
ben - woman; ec y ven - at the woman
cass - foot; er y chass - on the foot
caashey - cheese; da’n chaashey - to the cheese
çhengey - tongue; lesh y çhengey - with the tongue
dooinney - man; veih’n dooinney - from the man
feeyn - wine; er y feeyn - on the wine
garey - garden; ayns y gharey - in the garden
jalloo - picture; fo’n jalloo - under the picture
kione - head; er y chione - on the head
moddey - a dog; ec y voddey - at the dog
pabyr - paper; lesh y phabyr - with the paper
queeyl - a wheel; fo’n wheeyl - under the wheel
sollan - salt; er yn tollan - on the salt
thalloo - land; er y thalloo - on the land

There is variable lenition (as well as nasalisation) after ‘er’ (‘after’) in verbs when forming the perfect and past perfect tenses:
clashtyn - hearing; ta mee er chlashtyn - I have heard (I am after hearing)
cur - giving, putting; t’ou er chur - you have given, you have put
gra - saying; va shin er ghra - we had said (we were after saying)
 
 
 
 
 

There is variable lenition in a noun in the genitive singular acting as an adjective after a feminine singular noun:
sheshaght - a society (‘sheshaght’ is feminine)
kiaull - music
kiaulllee - of music (genitive form)
sheshaght-chiaullee - a music society

There is variable lenition in adjectives after nouns in the plural if the last consonant of the noun is ‘slender’ (in Gaelic spelling, has ‘e’ or ‘i’ before it), or if the plural was formed by replacing ‘-agh’ with ‘-ee’:
fir - men; fir vooarey / fir mooarey - big men
peccee - sinners; treih - miserable; peccee hreih - miserable sinners
Note also:
mooinjer veggey - little folk
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Nasalisation (Eclipsis) - the other type of mutation (quite rare)
The full list of possible changes is:

‘b’ becomes ‘m’
‘p’ becomes ‘b’
‘d’ becomes ‘n’
‘j’ becomes ‘n’y’
‘t’, ‘th’ become ‘d’, ‘dh’
‘çh’ becomes ‘j’
‘c’, ‘k’ becomes ‘g’
‘g’ becomes ‘n’gh’, ‘ng’
‘qu’ becomes ‘gu’
‘f’ becomes ‘v’

The most regular nasalisation (eclipsis) takes place after ‘nyn’, meaning ‘our’ / ‘your’ (plural) / ‘their’. Forms associated with ‘nyn’ give the same changes.

‘b’ becomes ‘m’
bainney - milk; nyn mainney - our/your/their milk

‘p’ becomes ‘b’
poagaghyn - bags; nyn boagaghyn - our/your/their bags

‘d’ becomes ‘n’
There was some confusion over this change in later written Manx where it was reproduced as, for example:
dooinney - man; nyn ghooinney (‘nin-WUN-ya’) - our/your/their man
People writing Manx seem to have been reluctant to write this as:
‘nyn nooinney’
 

Nasalisation after ‘nyn’ (contd.)

‘j’ becomes ‘n’y’
jalloo - a picture; nyn n’yalloo - our/your/their picture

‘çh’ becomes ‘j’
çhengey - language; nyn jengey - our/your/their language

‘c’, ‘k’ becomes ‘g’
coraaghyn - voices; nyn goraaghyn - our/your/their voices
coayl - losing; v’ad er nyn goayl - they were lost
king - heads; nyn ging - our/your/their heads

‘g’ becomes ‘n’gh’, ‘ng’
glionteeyn - glens; nyn nglionteeyn - our/your/their glens

‘qu’ becomes ‘gu’
queeyllaghey - wheeling; t’eh dyn gueeyllaghey - he is wheeling us/you/them

‘f’ becomes ‘v’
fakin - seeing; t’ee dyn vakin - she sees us/you/them
farrane - fountain; nyn varrane - our/your/their fountain

Ambiguity over ‘our’ / ‘your’ / ‘their’ is avoided by using the ‘at’ construction:
bainney - milk y bainney ain - our milk (the milk at-us)
y bainney eu - your milk (the milk at-you)
y bainney oc - their milk (the milk at-them)

If the noun is feminine, carry out the necessary lenition:
booa - cow y vooa ain - our cow
 

Other cases of nasalisation

In forming the perfect and past perfect
çheet - coming; t’ad er jeet - they have come
fakin - seeing; va shin er vakin - we had seen
geddyn - getting, finding; bee ad er ngeddyn - they will have got
goll - going; v’ee er ngoll - she had gone
goaill - taking; cha row mee er ngoaill - I hadn’t taken
jannoo - doing, making; Vel oo er n’yannoo? - Have you done/made?

In old Manx, there was nasalisation in the genitive plural of masculine and feminine nouns. This feature disappeared from spoken Manx centuries ago and only survives in placenames (particularly in records of field names) and in a few set phrases.