v1.0
Published 01/10/24
abhsporag f. [ˈaus̪pɔɾaɡ̊] (MacLennan 1925: [aüsporac]), gen. abhsporaig -[æɡ̊ʲ], -[ɛɡ̊ʲ], also allsporag, ‘cow’s tongue; cow’s throat; cow’s stomach, tripe; paunch’ is thought to be from a compound of ON hals m. ‘neck’ and an unknown element (MacBain 1896; Henderson 1910, 113; McDonald 2009, 361
All of whom cite ON háls (sic).
). The final element is possibly ON *gróp ?f. ‘hollow’, cf. Ice. gróp f., Norw. grop (Haugen 1984; Torp 1992, s.v. grôp). ON *halsgróp (cf. Norw. halsgrop ‘hollow of the throat, indentation above the collarbone’) might yield SG *[ˈɑɫ̪s̪kɾoːb̥] with loss of initial h-, > *[ˈɑɫ̪s̪pɾoːɡ̊] or *[ˈɑɫ̪s̪pɔːɾɡ̊] with metathesis (for [s̪k b̥] > [s̪p ɡ̊], cf. Lat. episcopus > EG epscop > escop > SG easpaig ‘bishop’; for Vr > rV, cf. ON þorsk acc. m. > SG trosg, q.v., and SG adhbarn > adhbrann ‘ankle’ (Ó Maolalaigh 2020, 252–65: 252, 257)), and finally *[ˈɑɫ̪s̪pɔɾaɡ̊] with shortening of the long, unstressed vowel and morphemic substitution of the Gaelic suffix -ag (EG -óc). The lateral has been vocalised in northerly/westerly dialects, yielding the diphthong [au] (Robertson 1908c, 80; Calder 1972, 68), cf. allsadh ~ abhsadh, q.v.
AFB˄ gives abhsporag /ˈãũsbɔrag/ with a nasalised diphthong, cf. (South Uist) amhsporag [ãũspɔrak] (McDonald 1972, 27: MS annsporag) and (Lewis) annsporag [ɑ̃ũ̟spɔɾɑɡ] (Faclan bhon t-Sluagh˄); cf. SG an tabh ~ an tamh etc. ‘the open sea’, s.v. tabh.
For spontaneous nasalisation in stressed syllables in Scottish Gaelic, see Ó Maolalaigh 2003, 109–17.