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Irish orthography has a reputation as being very difficult to learn and bearing only a tenuous relationship to the pronunciation. The reputation is not entirely undeserved; the statements on this page must be interpreted as tendencies, not hard and fast rules. Among the vowels, there are exceptions to virtually every letter/sound correspondence listed below. Exceptions in the consonants are fewer, but there are still some. The orthography of a language is the set of rules of how to write correctly in the writing system of a language. ...
In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language that is characterized by an open configuration of the vocal tract, in contrast to consonants, which are characterized by a constriction or closure at one or more points along the vocal tract. ...
A consonant is a sound in spoken language that is characterized by a closure or stricture sufficient to cause audible turbulence, at one or more points along the vocal tract. ...
There are three dialects of spoken Irish: Ulster (now predominantly in County Donegal), Connacht (Counties Mayo and Galway), and Munster (Counties Kerry and Cork). None of these has the status of a standard pronunciation, and in schools pupils learn the pronunciation of whatever dialect is geographically closest, or else a mixture of all the dialects. In the media (for example the Irish language television channel TG4 and the Irish language radio station Raidió na Gaeltachta), the Connacht pronunciation is probably the most widely heard, and is therefore a good choice for a beginner, especially one outside Ireland and with no ties to one of the other dialects, to focus on. Note: This page contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ...
Ulster (Irish: Cúige Uladh, IPA: ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland. ...
For other uses, see Donegal (disambiguation) Donegal (Irish: Dún na nGall) is a county in the northwest of Ireland. ...
Connaught redirects here. ...
County Mayo (Irish: Maigh Eo, the plain of the yews) is a county on the west coast of Ireland. ...
County Galway (Contae na Gaillimhe in Irish) is located on the west coast of Ireland. ...
For other places with the same or similar names, and other uses of the word, see Munster (disambiguation). ...
County Kerry (Irish: CiarraÃ) is a county in the southwest of Ireland, in the Munster province of the Republic of Ireland, informally referred to as The Kingdom. ...
County Cork (Contae Chorcaà in Irish) is the most southwesterly and the largest of the modern counties of Ireland. ...
A standard language (also standard dialect or standardized dialect) is a particular variety of a language that has been given either legal or quasi-legal status. ...
TG41 is a television channel for speakers of the Irish language which was launched on 31 October 1996; it was known as Teilifís na Gaeilge or TnaG before a rebranding campaign in 1999. ...
RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta (RnaG; Irish for Gaeltacht Radio) is the Irish language radio service of Radio TelefÃs Éireann in Ireland, and is available on 92-94FM in Ireland and via the Internet. ...
In addition, a committee from the Linguistics Institute of Ireland devised a standardized pronunciation called the Lárchanúint ('central dialect') that was intended to become a standardized, spelling-based pronunciation. It is easy for a beginner to learn, but it is quite artificial and is almost never used by native speakers or teachers.
The alphabet The native Irish alphabet consists of the following letters: - a á b c d e é f g h i í l m n o ó p r s t u ú
In addition, foreign words may contain j k q v w x y z; of these, only v is at all common.
Consonants The consonant letters generally correspond to the consonant phonemes as shown in this table. See Irish phonology for an explanation of the symbols used. The phonology of the Irish language varies from dialect to dialect. ...
| Letter(s) | Phoneme(s) | Examples | | b | /b/, /bʲ/ | bain /banʲ/ 'take' (imper.), scuab /skuəb/ 'broom', béal /bʲe:l/ 'mouth', cnáib /kna:bʲ/ 'hemp' | | bh (broad) | /w/ at beginning of syllable | bhain /wanʲ/ 'took', ábhar /a:wər/ 'material', Bhairbre /warʲəbʲrʲə/ 'Barbara' (genitive), tábhachtach /ta:wəxtəx/ 'important', dubhaigh /duwi:/ 'blacken' (imper.) | | /v/ at end of syllable | scríobh /ʃkʲrʲi:v/ 'wrote', taobh /ti:v/ 'side', dubh /duv/ 'black', gabh /gav/ 'get' (imper.) | | See vowel chart for abh, eabh, obh | | bh (slender) | /vʲ/ | bhéal /vʲe:l/ 'mouth' (lenited), cuibhreann /kivʲrʲən/ 'common table', aibhneacha /avʲnʲəxə/ 'rivers', sibh /ʃivʲ/ 'you' (pl.) | | bhf | /w/, /vʲ/ (eclipsis of f-) | bhfuinneog /winʲo:g/ 'window' (eclipsed), bhfíon /vʲi:n/ 'wine' (eclipsed) | | bp | /b/, /bʲ/ (eclipsis of p-) | bpoll /bo:l/ 'hole' (eclipsed), bpríosún /bʲrʲi:su:n/ 'prison' (eclipsed) | | c | /k/, /kʲ/ | cáis /ka:ʃ/ 'cheese', mac /mak/ 'son', ceist /kʲeʃtʲ/ 'question', mic /mʲikʲ/ 'sons' | | ch (broad) | /x/ (always broad before t) | cháis /xa:ʃ/ 'cheese' (lenited), taoiseach /ti:ʃəx/ 'chieftain' (also the term for the Prime Minister of Ireland), boichte /boxtʲə/ 'poorer' | | ch (slender) | /xʲ/
/h/ between vowels | cheist /xʲeʃtʲ/ 'question' (lenited), deich /dʲexʲ/ 'ten'
oíche /i:hə/ 'night' | | d | /d/, /dʲ/ | dorn /do:rn/ 'fist', nead /nʲad/ 'nest', dearg /dʲarəg/ 'red', cuid /kidʲ/ 'part' | | dh (broad) | /ɣ/ word-initially
silent after a long vowel | dhorn /ɣo:rn/ 'fist' (lenited), ádh /a:/ 'luck' | See vowel chart for adh, eadh, odh.
See Special pronunciations in verb forms for -dh at the end of verbs. | | dh (slender) | /j/ | dhearg /jarəg/ 'red' (lenited), fáidh /fa:j/ 'prophet' | See vowel chart for aidh, eidh, idh, oidh.
See Special pronunciations in verb forms for -(a)idh at the end of verbs. | | dt | /d/, /dʲ/ (eclipsis of t-) | dtaisce /daʃkʲə/ 'treasure' (eclipsed), dtír /dʲi:rʲ/ 'country' (eclipsed) | | f | /f/, /fʲ/ | fós /fo:s/ 'still', graf /graf/ 'graph', fíon /fʲi:n/ 'wine', stuif /stifʲ/ 'stuff' | | See Special pronunciations in verb forms for -f- in future and conditional tenses | | fh | silent (lenition of f-) | fhuinneog /inʲo:g/ 'window' (lenited), fhíon /i:n/ 'wine' (lenited) | | g | /g/, /gʲ/ | gasúr /gasu:r/ 'boy', bog /bog/ 'soft', geata /gʲatə/ 'gate', carraig /karəgʲ/ 'rock' | | gc | /g/, /gʲ/ (eclipsis of c-) | gcáis /ga:ʃ/ 'cheese' (eclipsed), gceist /gʲeʃtʲ/ 'question' (eclipsed) | | gh (broad) | /ɣ/ (word-initially)
silent after a long vowel | ghasúr /ɣasu:r/ 'boy' (lenited), Eoghan /o:ən/ 'Owen' | | See vowel chart for agh, ogh. | | gh (slender) | /j/ | gheata /jatə/ 'gate' (lenited), dóigh /do:j/ 'way, manner' | See vowel chart for aigh, eigh, igh, oigh.
See Special pronunciations in verb forms for -(a)igh at the end of verbs. | | h | /h/ (no broad/slender distinction) | hata /hatə/ 'hat', na héisc /nə he:ʃkʲ/ 'the fish' (plural) | | l, ll | /l/, /lʲ/ | luí /li:/ 'lying (down)', poll /po:l/ 'hole', leisciúil /lʲeʃkʲu:lʲ/ 'lazy', coill /kailʲ/ 'woods' | | m | /m/, /mʲ/ | mór /mo:r/ 'big', am /a:m/ 'time', milis /mʲilʲəʃ/ 'sweet', im /i:mʲ/ 'butter' | | mb | /m/, /mʲ/ (eclipsis of b-) | mbaineann /manʲən/ 'takes' (eclipsed), mbéal /mʲe:l/ 'mouth' (eclipsed) | | mh (broad) | /w/ at beginning of syllable
/v/ at end of syllable | mhór /wo:r/ 'big' (lenited), lámha /la:wə/ 'hands'
léamh /lʲe:v/ 'reading' | | See vowel chart for amh, eamh, omh | | mh (slender) | /vʲ/ | mhilis /vʲilʲəʃ/ 'sweet' (lenited), uimhir /ivʲərʲ/ 'number', nimh /nʲivʲ/ 'poison' | | n, nn | /n/, /nʲ/ | naoi /ni:/ 'nine', ceann /kʲa:n/ 'head', neart /nʲart/ 'strength', tinneas /tʲinʲəs/ 'illness' | | nd | /n/, /nʲ/ (eclipsis of d-) | ndorn /no:rn/ 'fist' (eclipsed), ndearg /nʲarəg/ 'red' (eclipsed) | | ng | /ŋ/, /ŋʲ/ initially(eclipsis of g-) | ngasúr /ŋasu:r/ 'boy' (eclipsed), ngeata /ŋʲatə/ 'gate' (eclipsed) | | /ŋg/, /ŋʲgʲ/ internally and finally | long /lu:ŋg/ 'ship', teanga /tʲaŋgə/ 'tongue', cuing /kiŋʲgʲ/ 'yoke', ingear /iŋʲgʲər/ 'vertical' | | /-ənʲ/ in final -ing | scilling /ʃkʲilʲənʲ/ 'shilling' | | p | /p/, /pʲ/ | poll /po:l/ 'hole', stop /stop/ 'stop', príosún /pʲrʲi:su:n/ 'prison', truip /tripʲ/ 'trip' | | ph | /f/, /fʲ/ | pholl /fo:l/ 'hole' (lenited), phríosún /fʲrʲi:su:n/ 'prison' (lenited) | | r, rr | /r/, /rʲ/. Always broad word-initially. Always broad in rr, rt, rth, rd, rn, rl, sr. | rí /ri:/ 'king', barr /ba:r/ 'tip, point', cuairt /kuərtʲ/ 'visit', oirthear /orhər/ 'east', airde /a:rdʲə/ 'height', coirnéal /ko:rnʲe:l/ 'corner', duirling /du:rlʲənʲ/ 'stony beach', sreang /sraŋg/ 'string'
tirim /tʲirʲəmʲ/ 'dry' | | s | /s/, /ʃ/. Always broad word-initially before p, m. | Sasana /sasənə/ 'England', tús /tu:s/ 'beginning', sean /ʃan/ 'old', cáis /ka:ʃ/ 'cheese', speal /spʲal/ 'scythe', sméar /smʲe:r/ 'blackberry' | | sh | /h/ (no broad/slender distinction) | Shasana /hasənə/ 'England' (lenited), shean /han/ 'old' (lenited) | | /xʲ/ when lenited from /ʃa:-, ʃo:-, ʃu(:)-/ | Sheáin /xʲa:nʲ/ 'John' (genitive), sheol /xʲo:l/ 'sailed', shiúil /xʲu:lʲ/ 'walked', shiopa /xʲupə/ 'shop' (lenited) | | t | /t/, /tʲ/ | taisce /taʃkʲə/ 'treasure', ceart /kʲart/ 'correct', tír /tʲi:rʲ/ 'country', beirt /bʲertʲ/ 'two (people)' | | See Special pronunciations in verb forms for -t- in verbal adjectives | | th | /h/ (no broad/slender distinction) | thaisce /haʃkʲə/ 'treasure' (lenited), athair /ahərʲ/ 'father' | | /xʲ/ when lenited from /tʲa:-, tʲo:-, tʲu(:)-/ | theann /xʲa:n/ 'tight' (lenited), theocht /xʲo:xt/ 'heat' (lenited), thiúilip /xʲu:lʲəpʲ/ 'tulip' (lenited), thiocfadh /xʲukəx/ 'would come', thiubh /xʲuv/ 'thick' (lenited) | | Silent at the end of a syllable | bláth /bla:/ 'blossom', cith /kʲi/ 'shower', cothrom /korəm/ 'equal' | | See Special pronunciations in verb forms for -th- in verbal adjectives | | ts | /t/, /tʲ/ (special lenition of s- after an 'the') | an tsolais /ən toləʃ/ 'of the light', an tSín /ən tʲi:nʲ/ 'China' | | v | /v/, /vʲ/ | vóta /vo:tə/ 'vote', veidhlín /vʲailʲi:nʲ/ 'violin' | In linguistics, vowel length is the duration of a vowel sound. ...
Vowels The following chart indicates how written vowels are generally pronounced. Each dialect has certain divergences from this general scheme. In the Context column, C stands for a broad consonant and Cʲ for a slender consonant. | Letter(s) | Phoneme | Context | Examples | | a (stressed) | /a/ | (C)_C | fan /fan/ 'stay' (imper.)
abair /abərʲ/ 'say' (imper.) | | /a:/ | - before rl, rn, rd
- before syllable-final ll, nn, rr
- before word-final m
| tarlú /ta:rlu:/ 'happening'
carnán /ka:rna:n/ '(small) heap'
garda /ga:rdə/ 'policeman'
mall /ma:l/ 'slow, late'
ann /a:n/ 'there'
barr /ba:r/ 'tip, point'
am /a:m/ 'time' | | a (unstressed) | /ə/ | C_(C) | ólann /o:lən/ 'drink' (present)
mála /ma:lə/ 'bag' | | á | /a:/ | (C)_C | bán /ba:n/ 'white'
ábhar /a:wər/ 'material'
amadán /aməda:n/ 'idiot' | | abh(a(i)) (stressed) | /au/ | (C)_ | abhainn | |
