Fuaimniú agus Litriú na Gaeilge

(Sounds & Spelling of Irish)

Karen Reshkin
Ray Mac Mánais
 Dia duit
j
/d iə ɣɪtʃ/
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
 /v/
a bheith, leibhéal, sibh
village, eve
 Important concepts
for pronouncing Irish
1) broad and slender
(leathan agus caol)
2) fadas
3) séimhiú
4) urú
Concept 1: Broad and Slender
Gutaí = Vowels
a e i o u
leathan = broad
a o u
caol = slender
e i
 tae
(t is broad)

te
(t is slender)

taistil
(1st t is broad; s, 2nd t, l are all slender)
ceathrar

a ceathair
broad s = /s/
 slender s
/ʃ/
Síle, mise, anois
shoe, fish
 broad t = /t/

(actually, it's a dental /t/

as opposed to the
alveolar /t/ in English)
 slender t
/tʃ/
te, leite, Cait
similar to: chin, rich
 broad d = /d/

(actually, it's a dental /d/

as opposed to the
alveolar /d/ in English)
 slender d
/dʲ/
Dia, cuidiú, leid
Joe, vigil, ledge
 broad l = /l/

(actually, it's a dental /l/

as opposed to the
alveolar /l/ in English)
 slender l
/lʲ/
Liam, bileog, cáil
million, will you
(the /j/ sound is very slight
but noticeably different
than broad /l/)
broad n = /n/
 slender n
/nʲ/
níl, sloinne
sinew, minion
(rare at start of words in US Eng.)
Vowel Combinations
ae /e/tay tae, laethanta
ao /i/ see Aodh, caol
aoi /i/ me aoi, saoirse
ea/ᴂ/ apple eala, deas
ei /ɛ/ meh eisean, ceimic

-eadh deireadh, cuireadh

/ɛ/meh or /u/moo depending on dialect

eo /o/no Eoin, ceol, beo

-faidh /i/ see tiocfaidh
-fidh /i/ see feicfidh

ia /iə/ deal bia, pian

ua /uə/ dual fuath

io, oi, ui /ɪ/fit (usually)

gliondar, gloine, duine
Concept 2: Fadas
vowels without síneadh fada vowels with síneadh fada
a hata, mac á tá, bád
/a/ father, spa /ɑ:/ call, far
e ceist, de é cé, éist
/ɛ/ tell, get /e:/ bait, pay

i ith, duine, i í Síle, trí, íseal

/ɪ/ in, hit /i:/ tree, mean, he

o olc, deoch ó ól, bóthar

/ɔ/ tug, wonder /o:/ roll, toe, road

u dubh, fliuch ú tú, cúpla

/ʌ/ good, pull /u:/ too, rude
Concept 3: Séimhiú
 broad / leathan When you add slender / caol
séimhiú to
a, o, u i, e
this
consonant,
you get:
/w/ b /v/
wow, tower village, eve
(/v/violet in Munster dialect) a bheith, leibhéal, sibh
bhain, abhaile, dabht, gabh
/x/ c /ç/
loch (Scottish), Nacht (German) hue (pronounced strongly)
chomh, nócha, nach an cheist, fiche, deich
/ɣ/ d /j/
no equivalent yell
dhún ar dheireadh, a Dhia
silent f silent
:^∣ :^∣
an fhuaim, m’fhoireann an fhéile, an fhiacail

/ɣ/ g /j/
no equivalent yell
ghasúr, ghlór mo ghile, oighear
 broad / leathan When you add slender / caol
séimhiú to this
a, o, u i, e
consonant,
you get:
no séimhiú possible h no séimhiú possible

no séimhiú possible l no séimhiú possible

/w/
wow, tower
(/v/as in eve in Munster dialect)
gan mhoill, amháin, domhan
no séimhiú possible
m /v/
village, eve
mo mhéar, séimhiú, nimh
n no séimhiú possible

/f/ p /f/
follow fell
sa pholl, phós siad an pheil
no séimhiú possible r no séimhiú possible

/h/ s /h/
honey hello
Nollaig shona, mo shaol do shinsir, sheinn muid
/h/ t /h/
honey hello
mo thóin, ní thuigim trí thine, fotheideal
 Patterns in Séimhiú
1) B and M both turn into the same sounds
when you apply séimhiú: /w/ in broad
contexts and /v/ in slender contexts
2) D and G both turn into the same
sounds:/ɣ/ in broad contexts, /j/ in
slender contexts
3) S and T both turn to /h/
 Patterns in Séimhiú
4) P always becomes /f/
5) F always becomes silent
6) That leaves C with its two German
sounds: “ach” when broad and “ich” when
slender
Concept 4: Urú
If the word urú adds it looks and it sounds like this:
begins with: this letter like this:
at the
beginning
of the word:

b m mb... /m/
moo
ar an mbord, i mBéal Feirste
c g gc... /g/
goo
i gCorcaigh, bhur gcistin
d n nd... broad: slender:
/n/ /nʲ/
not sinew
i nDoire i ndiaidh
f bh bhf... broad: slender:
/w/ /v/
woo vein
an bhfuil tú i bhFear Manach

(always /v/ in Munster

dialect)
If the word urú adds it looks and it sounds like this:
begins with: this letter like this:
at the
beginning
of the word:

g n ng... /ŋ/
wing
i nGaillimh, i ngeimhreadh
---
h, l, m, n no urú ---
possible

p b bp... /b/
boy
i bPáras, ár bpictiúr
---
r no urú ---
possible

t d dt... broad: slender:

/d/ /dʲ/
do jet
i dTrá Lí ár dteach
 Patterns in Urú
1) Only happens at beginning of words
2) A blunt instrument: eclipses the first letter
of a word
3) Voiceless stops get voiced: c→g, p→b, t→d
4) Also called nasalization: b→m, d→n, g→ng
5) Can't apply to: h, l, m, n, r
Sin é!
Fuaimniú agus Litriú na Gaeilge
(Sounds & Spelling of Irish)

Karen Reshkin