I was reading through this béaloideas story and I was struck by the use of a broad s for the third person singular subject pronoun (“saoí” rather than “sí”):
- “d’fhéudfadh saoí” – she could
- “do chaitheadh saoí” – she used to have to
Having a look through “An Teanga Bheo: Oileán Chléire” I discovered that in Cléire “sé” and “sí” (rendered in the book as “saé” and “suí”, respectively) are pronounced with a broad s in 2 situations:
(1) When following a verb that ends in -dh (a /x/ or “ch” sound) [Sections: 2.13 (pg. 11), 6.1.4 (pg. 48)]
E.g. “do bhíodh sé” (“he used to be”) rendered as “do bhíoch saé”
(2) In the phrases “ar sé shin” and “ar sí shin”, which are the Cléire forms of the emphatic “ar seisean” and “ar sise” (“he said”, “she said”), as far as I can tell. [Section: 6.1.4 (pg. 48)]
E.g. “‘Ní fheadar’, ar suí shin” – “‘I don’t know’, she said.”
Tigh Mhuiris 