Re: Irish Gaelic Pronunciation

heya Steg!

    Well, here's my tips for Donegal Irish.

    slender - flanked by i and/or e
    broad - flanke4d by a, o, or u

         sl.          br.
   p    /pj/         /p(w)/
   t     /tj, tS/    /t/
   c    /kj/         /k(w)/
   ch  /C/         /x/
   b    /bj/        /b(w)/
   bh   /v/         /w/
   d    /dj, dZ/   /d/
   dh   /j/          /G/
   f      /fj/         /f/
   bhf  /v/          /w/
   g    /gj/         /g(w)/
   gh   /j/         /G/
   l      /lj/         /l/
   r      /ry, C/   /r/
   m    /mj/       /m(w)/
   mh  /v/         /w/
   n     /nj/        /n/
   s     /S/        /s/
   th    always /h/
   ph   always /f/
   sh   always /h/

   In other dialects, the lenited consonants (ch, bh, dh, gh) always have
slender values:

   mo bhaile 'my home'  - Don. /m@ walj@/  Kerry /m@ valj@/

   Mutations

         asp.          ecl.
   p    ph /f/        bp /b/
   t     th /h/        dt /d/
   c    ch /x,C/    gc /g/
   b    bh /v,w/    mb /m/
   d    dh /j,G/     nd /n/
   g    gh /j,G/     ng /N/
   f     fh (silent)   bhf /v,w)
   m   mh /v,w/
   s    sh /h/


   Some of the "teach Yourself Irish" books have good explanations of the
complicated vowel sequences (like eói, etc.) but basically think of them
like this:

   short vowel + i : like short vowel, often with w before back vowels (ai
as in baile often like /wa/. for example)
   long vowel + i : diphthong (táin (the famous story) like /tAjn/)
      note the different pronunciation of a/ (aka á or a fada) sort of like
au in British Paul
   e/i often ignored before a short vowel (except that it usually
introduces a /j/ after the consonant - i.e. no effect on vowel pron.)

   Hopefully this helps. There are others here who can help too. Feel free
to ask for clarification or if there's something you don't get. This info
comes from my experiences studying Irish from native speakers.

    Aidan

>So anyway, i'm now taking a course in Irish Gaelic, and i'd really
>appreciate it if someone could tell me all the rules for broad/slender
>vowels and consonants, and aspiration and eclipsis, and all the other
>stuff. My teacher isn't a native speaker, and she admits to mixing
>dialects a lot, and my dictionary isn't nearly as much help with
>pronounciation as i thought it would be.
>
>So would anyone be able to help me?

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