Re: 'Slainte': pronunciation?

This is extremely helpful, Keith.  What *I* would like to know, because I
can NEVER remember it, is how consonants are palatalized and velarized.  I
have a vague sense that d and t become /tS/ and /dZ/, but others have told
me that they are merely pushed up closer to the teeth.

Could you, after your extraordinary efforts, be moved to go through the
affected consonants for us?  There are also some consonant clusters that are
silent, but still represented, I think.  Also, what if you have a slender
vowel before a consonant but a broad one after it... if that is possible?
If it is, which vowel decides the pronunciation of the consonant?

Not to mention the entire headache over initial mutations!

ignorantly yours, or yry voppreoht eftoihs-jo, or "unknowledgeable grateful
me"
Sally


----- Original Message -----
From: "Keith Gaughan" <kmgaughan@...>
To: <CONLANG@...>
Sent: Tuesday, October 24, 2006 12:36 PM
Subject: Re: 'Slainte': pronunciation?


> On Tue, Oct 24, 2006 at 05:34:20PM +0200, Henrik Theiling wrote:
>
>> How is Gaelic 'slainte' pronounced?
>
> It's pronounced exactly as it's spelt. :-)
>
> Its pronunciation varies depending on where you are, but it's always quite
> consistent with the orthography. Here in the north-west of Ireland, it'd
> be
> pronounced /'sla:n_jt_j@/, where /t_j/ is realised as [tS] and /a/ as /A/.
>
>> And why?  (I.e., the orthographic
>> rules leading to the pronunciation would be interesting to me,
>> too. :-))
>
> The only thing I can think of that might confuse somebody not familiar
> with
> the Irish and Scots Gaelic orthographies is palatalisation, which in this
> case is indictated with the use of 'slender' vowels ('e' and 'i') on
> either
> side of a palatalised consonant cluster. Orthographic vowels don't quite
> correspond one-to-one with the phonological vowels as you might expect
> them
> to. Here's a rough concordance that works more or less for my local
> dialect,
> such as it is. I'll use the letters 'B' to indicate unplatalised ('broad')
> consonant clusters and 'S' to indicate palatalised ('slender') consonant
> clusters.
>
>  a   B-/a/-B   [a]
>  á   B-/a:/-B  [A:]
>  e   S-/e/-S   [E]
>  é   S-/e:/-S  [e:]
>  i   S-/i/-S   [I]
>  í   S-/i:/-S  [i:]
>  o   B-/o/-B   [A] or [o]
>  ó   B-/o:/-B  [o:]
>  u   B-/u/-B   [U] or [o]
>  ú   B-/u:/-B  [u:]
>  ai  B-/a/-S
>  ea  S-/a/-B
>  eá  S-/a:/-B
>  eái S-/a:/-S
>  ái  B-/a:/-S
>  ei  S-/e/-S
>  ae  B-/e:/-S
>  éa  S-/e:/-B
>  éi  S-/e:/-S
>  aei B-/e:/-S
>  ui  B-/i/-S
>  io  S-/i/-B  (also pronounced /jo/)
>  aí  B-/i:/-S
>  oí  B-/i:/-S
>  uí  B-/i:/-S
>  uío B-/i:/-B
>  ío  S-/i:/-B
>  oi  B-/o/-S
>  eo  S-/o:/-B
>  eoi S-/o:/-S
>  eó  S-/o:/
>  ói  B-/o:/-S
>  úi  B-/u:/-S
>  iúi S-/u:/-S
>
> I'm sure there are others, but none come to mind. I also haven't brought
> up
> the correspondence between true diphthongs (as opposed to orthographic
> ones
> you see above) and how they're written.
>
> One other thing. In unstressed short syllables, _a_, _e_, _o_, and _ea_
> are
> pronounced as a schwa. This, if I remember correctly, can also be
> triggered
> by certain neighbouring consonant clusters.
>
> How length, quality, position and palatalisation are indicated using
> vowels
> is probably one of the most complex area of Scots and Irish Gaelic
> orthography. The rest is pretty simple.
>
>> And is it written correctly?
>
> Almost. You missed the fada on the 'a'. It should be "sláinte".
>
> K.
>
> --
> Keith Gaughan -- kmgaughan@eircom.net -- http://talideon.com/
> It's like having Valentine's Day once a month.
>    -- Jeff Parke, on the monthly arrival of bills
>

Replies