Caibidil a Seacht D�agIrish Orthography (Litri� na Gaeilge) |
The orthography of Irish is at first a bit confusing.
In addition, the pronunciation and written Irish are not identical, especially
the pronunciation varies from dialect to dialect.
Although, the order in which letters appear is not random, but follows specific
rules.
One can just as well develop a feeling for how a written word is to be pronounced,
spelling and pronunciation are certainly closer knit as in English or French.
The names of the letters resemble those from the German:
�, b�, c�, d�, �, eif, g�, h�is, �, j�, c� (k), eil, eim, ein, �, p�, c� (q), ear, eas, t�, �, v�, wae, ex, y�, zae
Old tree names were once the alphabet,as taken over from the Ogham Alphabet:
a (ailm = white fir), b (beith = birch), c (coll = hazel), d (dair = oak), e
(edad/eabhadh = poplar), f (fern/fearn = alder), g (gath/gort = ivy), h (uath
= hawthorn), i (idad/�odhadh = yew), l (luis = rowan), m (muin = vine),
n (nin/nion = ash), o (onn = gorse), p (peith = dwarf alder), r (ruis = holander),
s (sail = willow), t (tinne/teithne = holly), u (�r = heather)
The Irish Alphabet consists of:
In old script there are also certain abbreviations in use, taken from tironic
notes, a medieval short hand. Especially common is the symbol for agus (and):
In modern writings, this is replaced by a 7 (e.g. 7rl. = agus araile = and so
on).
Still common is .i. the sign for id est, in English i.e.. Written out
it would be in Irish: eadhon = es (is) (an emphatic form of ea)
e, �, i, � are termed in
Irish as slender vowels (guta� caola)
a, �, o, �, u, � and
also the ligature ae are termed as broad
vowels (guta� leathana)
Those "slender" vowels are accompanied by consonants which are slender
(consain chaola)
And "broad" vowels are accompanied by consonants which are broad
(consain leathana)
In German a slender consonant can be preceded by a slender vowel then follows
by a broad one, differences in the pronunciation of the consonants are hardly
noticed and are unimportant for the meaning.
Still, such differences are there: (i.e. im ch in ich and
ach). In Irish, these differences are much more evident.
In Irish, it goes like this:
preceding and directly followingbroad consonants only a broad vowel is allowed. preceding and directly following slender consonants only a slender vowel is allowed. |
With that, it becomes very clear if the consonant is to be pronounced slender
or broad.
i.e. combinations like abe or abi are next to impossible in Irish.
Possible is only e.g. aba, abo, abu, abae (broad b) or ebi, ebe, ibi,
ibe (slender b)
What's the point?
While in German, one has consonants that automatically fit to the accompanying
vowels (think "ich" and "ach"), in Irish a broad consonant can directly follow
a slender vowel and vice versa; the consonants are independent of the vowels.
This is only true of the spoken language.
In the written language, there would be no clarity as to if a consonant is broad
or slender, if it were not for this rule.
This clarity is very much needed and is made possible in writing through the
use of vowels. It is for this reason that broad consonants may only be framed
by broad vowels, and slender consonants only by slender vowels.
Many written vowels serve only as a marker of the "broadness" or "slenderness"
of the neighbouring consonants. I.e. vowels are inserted, which are not to
be spoken!
examples
e.g. b�d = a boat, b�id = boats, of a boat(gen.)It is through this that many vowels appear in written Irish.
the i in b�id only serves to mark d as slender, it is not spoken [ba:d']
e.g. b�odh = it shall be
the o in b�odh denotes the dh as broad, and is not spoken [b'i:x]
About the usage of vowels as a marker of the broadness or slenderness of consonants
see above.
For information on Irish phonetics see Phonology
The following are only suggestions of the whole, without wanting to or being
able to explain the pronunciation in full (due to the great variation in the
dialects)
ao: ao is spoken like a long e [e:] (in
Munster) or like a long i [i:] (in Connacht, Ulster, Standard). Despite the
pronunciation it counts as broad, and is also framed by broad consonants. Should
a slender consonant follow, one writes aoi.
This is always pronounced [i:].
ao used to be, and partially still is pronounced in Donegal as an unrounded
[�].
ae: this is a long e [e:] (most not
[�:]). While and despite the appearance of an e, it is considered broad!
It is treated almost as one single letter. (prior to the spelling reform it
was written "aedhea" e.g. in Gaedheal > Gael).
So, an i must follow if the next consonant is slender: aei.
(e.g.: Gaeilge earlier Gaedhilge)
ei, �i: Even though e is a slender
vowel, it's followed by a (voiceless) i preceding slender consonants: (�ire
= Ireland [e:r'@])
ea: the e actually serves only to the slenderness
of a possible preceding consonant, so in the standard [a] following slender
consonants (fear [f'ar]) Although in Connacht it's spoken like the German
"�" [� (fear [f'�])
Etymologically, it was often the case that e was the spoken part, the later
a served the broadness of the following consonant (old ir.: fer = Mann,
new ir.: fear)
ai: also often as "�" [�
eo: almost always a long o [o:]. In a few
words as a short o [o]: deoch, seo.
"eo" takes the place of "�" after slender consonants.
abh, odh, ogh: at the beginning or within
a word often like German "au"(ow!) [au] (e.g. umlabht = Umlaut)
amh: at the beginning or within a word in
Cois Fhairrge also "au" [au], in remaining Connemara more like[av].
adh, agh, eidh: at the beginning or within
a word often like the German "ai"(aye) [ai]
aidh, aigh: at the beginning or within a
word like the German "ai" [ai]
omh(a): long o [o:]
umh(a): long u [u:]
-th-: actually [h],but in Cois Fhairrge
the inital h is mostly omitted, neighbouring vowels fuse and become long: athair
[ah@r'] or [�:r']
-ch-: slender ch [x'] as an initial often
pronounced [h] and treated like th: fiche [fih@] or [fi:]
pronunciation of the suffix -(a)idh, -(a)igh
-(a)igh appears as a verb root and imperative (e.g. �irigh = climb!)
and as the preterite of the 2nd conjugation (e.g. d'�irigh s�
= he climbed) but also as the genitive of the noun -(e)ach: (e.g. an
mharcaigh = of the rider).
-(a)idh takes its place next to genitive forms of the noun -adh (an tsamhraidh
= of summer) and in prepositional pronouns of the 3rd person masc (uaidh
= from him) as well as in verbal suffixes (e.g. �lfaidh s�
= he will drink)
| p.o.s. | Munster | Connemara | Donegal | L�rchan�int | example |
| all�������������������� | [ig'] | [@] | [i]/[@] | [i:] | shalaigh s� na br�ga = he soiled the shoes |
In Ulster, this suffix is spoken [@] in the case of verbs preceding pronouns (m�, t�, s�, etc.) otherwise [i].
The future verb suffix -�idh is
pronounced in Munster [o:ig], in Connemara only [o:] and in the L�rchan�int
[o:i:].
In Ulster the old suffix -ochaidh is used instead (pronunciation [ahi]/[ah@]
or [ohi]/[oh@])
pronunciation of the suffix -(e)adh
This suffix performs many functions, not only as verbal noun suffix, but also
as a suffix of the analyt. verb form in the imperfect tense (as well as the
conditional and imperative) and last but not least as the autonomous form in
the preterite.
This is why it is pronounced differently in the dialects, also depending on
the function.
The original pronunciation according to the written [a�, later [aγ].
It is no longer pronounced like this in any of the Gaeltachts (da [γ]
only at the beginning of a word).
| p.o.s. | Munster | Connemara | Donegal | example |
| Imperfect preceding noun | [@x] | [@x] | [u] | ghlanadh an fear = the man cleaned (habit.) |
| Imperfect preceding s�/s�/sinn/sibh/siad | [@x] | [@t'] | [@t'] | ghlanadh s� = he cleaned (habit.) |
| autonomous form preterite | [@g]* | [u:] | [u] | glanadh an bord = one cleaned the table |
| verbal noun | [@] | [@] | [u] | T� s� ag glanadh = he is cleaning (now) |
*same in Muskerry and Ring, but in Kerry (Dingle) [@x], in Southwest-Cork (Cl�ire)
[@v]
The L�rchan�int form is comparable to that of Connemara.
The Donegal forms apply also to Mayo (autonomous form in Mayo also [@f])
The verb suffix -�odh is similar,
but with a preceding [i:] (in Munster [i:x], in Connemara [i:@x])
pronunciation of the suffix -(e)abh, -(e)amh
This is purely a noun suffix, that appears often in many verbal nouns.
| p.o.s. | Munster | Connemara | Donegal | L�rchan�int | example |
| noun���� | [@v] | [@] | [u] | [@v] | talamh = ground, ollamh = professor, seasamh = sitting |
pronunciation of the suffix -(a)ibh, -(a)imh
The suffix -(a)ibh is the old dative plural suffix of nouns, -(a)imh
is a noun suffix.
| p.o.s. | Munster | Connacht�� | Donegal | L�rchan�int | example |
| noun���� | [iv'] | [@], [i:] | [iv'] | [iv'] | do na fearaibh = for the men, Gaillimh = Galway |
The pronunciation [i:] in Nord-Connacht (Mayo) and Ulster is (outside of Donegal,
now extinct, there also[u:]) commonplace.
In Connemara rather [@] (Gaillimh = Galway [gaL'@])
The genitive form -(a)imhe is universally
pronounced [iv'@] (Contae na Gaillimhe = County Galway [koNde: n@ gaL'iv'@])
Other consonants appear only once.
Should by compound words or after presyllables it come to pass that other identical
consonants follow, this must be prevented with a hyphen.(e.g. mo chos-sa
= my feet). The hyphen has no effect on the pronunciation: e.g. [m@ xos@]
Also -rd, -rl, -rn, -m. -ng, at the end of a word will have a similar effect on preceding vowels as do -ll, -nn, -rr. Also in this case, the vowels are lengthened or diphthongised: cam [kaum], ard [a:rd], etc.
This vowel is in many languages the most common, and certainly is in Irish.
In only a few languages have meade the effort to transcribe this vowel, and
so it is lacking in Irish as well.
In German the "e" does the most of the dirty work (like e in Blume [blu:m@],
the so-called "mumbly e").
In Welsh it's a non-terminalsyllabic "y", that's why there are so many Ys in
Welsh.
In Irish is can be an a, e, i, o, or u, and in many dialects close to every
short vowel in an unstressed syllable.
e.g. consain leathana = [cons@n' l'�@n@]
l, n, r are not just any old consonants,
but liquids and have noch so manche Besonderheit. Here, an important one:
Between� l, n, r, following vowels and preceding b, bh, ch, g, m, mh,
(so in combinations like: lb, nb, rb, lbh, nbh, rbh, lch, nch, rch, lg, ng*,
rg, lm, nm, rm, lmh, nmh, rmh, rn) one speaks an [@] (spoken wie e in Blume)
, but it is never written.
This is the auxilliary vowel (c�namh = help) It is also
called the epenthetic vowel (epenthetic = inserted).
*: The consonant cluster ng are mostly to denote the velar nasal (like
English"ng"), then no aux. vowel is needed.
only in a few cases would one pronounce n and g separately and
only then is an aux. vowel inserted. (e.g. th�inig > thangamair =
we came [han@g@m@r'])
examples: gorm [gor@m] = blue; dearg [d'ar@g] = red;
leanbh [l'an@bh] = child; ainm [an'@m'] = name; Colm [Col@m];
dorcha [dor@cha] = dark
If this aux. vowel was to be written, then most likely as "a" or "i": e.g.:
*goram, *dearag, *leanabh, *ainim, *Colam, *doracha. But it is not done.
Today the writing of the aux. vowel is only following a double-l,n,r, e.g. farraige
= sea (earlier fairrge)
The aux. vowel allows for easier pronunciation. It is necessary due to the
shortness of Irish vowels.
(very different from German: e.g. dt."Holm" is easy to pronounce without help,
but the dt. o in Holm is much longer as the Irish o in Colm)
In Munster, by cases of e.g. cn, mn, gn, also those at the beginning of a word (mn�, gn�, cn�mh)[ 1 ] and other connections with l,n,r, an aux. vowel is inserted.
Here, a sample text (the Lord's Prayer)
Other usage as the h-prefix: hA, ha, hE, he, hI, hi,
hO, ho, hU, hu
Within a word, or the lone h is only common in foreign-/borrowed words (e.g.
hata = hat)
In cases of eclipsis and t-,h-,n-prefixes
of capital letters (e.g. in titles) the added consonant is written small directly
followed be the capital letter.
e.g. Poblacht na h�ireann = Republic of Ireland; Tir na n�g =
Land of Youth, D�n na nGall = Donegal
Sometimes in compound words the 2nd part is written large: e.g.: an tSeanGhaeilge
= Old Irish
Foreign words are tailored to meet the rules of Irish pronunciation and spelling.
In this way they become almost impossible to recognise.
The flood of foreign words comes mostly via English, and their pronunciation
of Latin words e.g. is often taken on and then set in writing.
When possible, Irish suffixes or. word stems are used
e.g. teilif�sean = television, s�ceola�ocht = Psychology
(s�c from the Greek psych + Irish. eola�
= sage+ Irish -cht as noun suffix)
In the 40s, a spelling reform took place, in which relatively thoroughly the
written word was matched up with the pronunciation. The problems arising in
the dialectical differences, making the necessity of a central "middle
of the road" dialect.
With this, the written Irish became more similar to the pronunciation, but a
complete congruence is not the case. The artificial L�rchan�int
(central dialect) came into being as a result of this reform; in which the
written Irish mirrors the pronunciation the most.
In the spelling reform, one omitted many of the letters that were voicelss in
the majority of dialects, e.g. -�chaidh > -�idh, -uchadh >
-�, -aedhea- > -ae-, -amhail > -�il,-ighe > �, -idhe
> �, etc. In addition to this, there were conventions of spelling,
whose roots are in the pronunciation: , -ighea > �o, ln/nl/dl
> ll, dn/nd > nn, etc.
Parallel to the spelling reform one switched from the Gaelic script (sample
text ) to the modern script.
[ 1 ] in the North
(Connacht, Ulster) this is spoken [kr, mr, gr]
[ 2 ] In Old
Irish only the lenited letters f and s were noted with a dot
(the dot was generally used as a sign of deletion, punctum delens. Since
a lenited f loses its voice, and a lenited s is spoken as h, they were, quasi,
"deleted").
lenited c, p, t were denoted with an h (ch, ph, th) , as "ch",
"ph", "th" were known from the Latin (or from the Greek).
lenited b, d, g, m were completely without notation, because letter combinations
like "bh", "dh", "gh"� and "mh" were unknown to Latin speaking scholars.
First later, in Classical Irish became the dot over all lenited consonants the
rule. Now, in the age of modern script, the h in its place (supposedly because
typewriters had no key for dotted letters)
The letters l, n are lenitable in spoken Irish, but in the written form
they remain unlenited.
