Re: NATLANG: Gaidhlig volunteer needed

Sgrìobh Mark Reed:
> I picked Scottish Gaelic to match my own heritage (1/4 Scots)
Good choice! :-)

> and am now trying to figure out what the dang thing sounds like.
> Which ain't easy.
Elliott already gave you the link to Akerbeltz, which is the best resource for
Scottish Gaelic pronunciation on the web. I also highly recommend just
listening to the language on Radio nan Gaidheal (www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/alba)
to hear the sounds, the rhythm, etc.

> So, some dumb questions for anyone able to answer:
>Are lenited |bh| and |mh| really [v]?   Not [B]?
Yes, both are [v]. In Old Gaelic (aka Old Irish) |bh| was [B] and |mh| was [B~]
(i.e. nasalised [B]). In modern Gaelic they have fallen together as [v] and the
nasalisation in the case of |mh| is transferred to the adjacent vowel(s).

> What's the IPA symbol for a palatalized voiceless dental stop?
Palatalized voiceless dental stop? I don't think SG has one of those; in most (if not all)
dialects palatalised [t] is realised as [tS]. The big thing to remember where
stop consonants are concerned is that all are voiceless in SG, the difference
being one of aspiration: |b|, |d|, |g| are realised as [p], [t], [k] while |p|,
|t|, |c| are realised as [p_h], [t_h], [k_h] (before vowels; after vowels
theire realisation varies depending on vowel length and whether the vowel is
stressed or unstressed). The fact that |b|, |d|, |g| are voiceless unaspirated
stops leads many textbooks to say things like "_b_ is pronounced like the
English 'b' at the beginning of a word, and like English 'p' in the middle or
at the end of a word".

> What the heck is a "velarized dental"  (e.g. broad single initial
> unlenited |l| and |n|)?  How do you do that with your tongue??
Unfortunately I have no linguistic training, so I can't describe this properly. Basically,
you press your tongue into your top teeth all the way around the front og your
mouth. This gives the |l| or |n| a "thick" sound. I don't know how to describe
it any better than that -- I think the Akerbeltz site has sound files.

Le deagh dhùrachd,

Thomas