Sounds & Spelling of Irish/Fuaimeanna agus Litriú na GaeilgeVowels (gutaí) : a, e, i, o, u Consonants (consain) : all the other letters Broad vowels (gutaí leathana) : a, o, u /ᴂ/ is considered a broad vowel sound. Slender vowels (gutaí caola) : i, e Consonants are classified as broad and slender, too; they take on the flavor of the nearest vowel, e.g. tae (‘t’ is broad), te (‘t’ is slender), taistil (the first ‘t’ is broad; ‘s’, the second ‘t’ and ‘l’ are all slender). You may need some time before you can hear the difference between some broad and slender consonants, or pronounce them yourself. Here are the most important ones to master first. slender s slender t slender d slender l slender n /ʃ/ /tʃ/ /dʲ/ /lʲ/ /nʲ/ Síle, mise, anois te, leite, Cait Dia, cuidiú, leid Liam, bileog, cáil níl, sloinne shoe, fish (similar to: chin, rich) Joe, vigil, ledge million, will you sinew, minion (rare at start of words in US Eng.) Spelling rule: Caol le caol; leathan le leathan. The vowels on either side of a consonant, or group of consonants, must both be slender or both be broad, e.g. déanfaidh, rithfidh, leabharlann, páirceanna, cupán, cipín, madra, maidrín, etc. (A couple notable exceptions: anseo, ansin ) Vowel combinations. ae /e/ ao /i/ aoi /i/ ea /ᴂ/ ei /ɛ/ -eadh /ɛ/ or /u/ depending on dialect eo /o/ -faidh /i/ -fidh /i/ ia /iə/ ua /uə/ io, oi, ui /ɪ/ (usually) tae, laethanta Aodh, caol aoi, saoirse eala, deas eisean, ceimic deireadh, cuireadh Eoin, ceol, beo tiocfaidh feicfidh bia, pian fuath gliondar, gloine, duine tay see me apple meh meh, moo no see see deal moo fit Fadas (síntí fada) change pronunciation of vowels and add length and stress, too. a /a/ e /ɛ/ i /ɪ/ o /ɔ/ u /ʌ/ hata, mac father, spa ceist, de tell, get ith, duine, i in, hit olc, deoch tug, wonder dubh, fliuch good, pull á /ɑ:/ é /e:/ í /i:/ ó /o:/ ú /u:/ Adapted from Ray Mac Mánais by Karen Reshkin. Updated November 2014 tá, bád call, far cé, éist bait, pay Síle, trí, íseal tree, mean, he ól, bóthar roll, toe, road tú, cúpla too, rude Page 1 Putting ‘h’ after a consonant is a device to show that the sound of the consonant is softened. domhan wow. tower /ç/ an cheist. u /w/ bhain. mo shaol honey /h/ mo thóin. oighear yell no séimhiú possible no séimhiú possible /v/ mo mhéar. o. gh = ġ. fiche. gabh wow. Nacht (German) hue (pronounced strongly) no equivalent silent an fhuaim. tower When you add séimhiú to this consonant. ⇦ you get ⇨ slender / caol e. nimh village. i /v/ a bheith. Updated November 2014 no séimhiú possible /f/ an pheil fell no séimhiú possible /h/ dhá shiocair. nócha. tharla honey n p r s t Adapted from Ray Mac Mánais by Karen Reshkin. dabht. m’fhoireann :^∣ /ɣ/ ghasúr. deich h l m /j/ ar dheireadh. séimhiú. an fhiacail :^∣ /j/ mo ghile. It’s called a séimhiú (séimh = soft) and used to be indicated by a dot above the letter: ch = ċ. th = ṫ broad / leathan a. phós siad follow no séimhiú possible /h/ Nollaig shona. eve (/v/ in Munster dialect) no séimhiú possible /f/ sa pholl. ghlór f g no equivalent no séimhiú possible no séimhiú possible /w/ gan mhoill. a Dhia yell silent an fhéile. amháin. eve b (/v/ in Munster dialect) /x/ chomh. leibhéal.Sounds & Spelling of Irish/Fuaimeanna agus Litriú na Gaeilge Séimhiú. nach c /ɣ/ dhún d loch (Scottish). an-the hello Page 2 . ar sheift hello /h/ trí thine. sibh village. abhaile. Sounds & Spelling of Irish/Fuaimeanna agus Litriú na Gaeilge Urú inserts a letter at the beginning of a word. l. Updated November 2014 Page 3 . n no urú possible --- p b bp r no urú possible --- t d dt /ŋ/ wing i nGaillimh. you only pronounce the new letter. m. bhur gcistin broad slender /n/ not /nʲ/ sinew i nDoire i ndiaidh broad slender /w/ woo /v/ vein an bhfuair tú i bhFear Manach (always /v/ in Munster dialect) g n ng h. ár bpictiúr --broad slender /d/ do /dʲ/ jet i dTrá Lí ár dteach A video to accompany this handout is available at http://youtu. i ngeimhreadh --/b/ boy i bPáras. The new letter suppresses the first letter of the word.be/oIokUII7LX0 Adapted from Ray Mac Mánais by Karen Reshkin. If the word begins with: urú adds this letter at the beginning of the word it looks like this: b m mb c g gc d n nd f bh bhf and sounds like this: /m/ moo ar an mbord. i mBéal Feirste /g/ goo i gCorcaigh.