A Pronunciation Guide to Irish

Heroic & Dark Fantasy and Science Fiction Character created by Kevin L. O'Brien

s pointed out in The Name of Medb hErenn, Kevin L. O'Brien decided to make Primitive Irish an amalgam of the languages of the Heidhbernigh, the Tuatha Dé Danann, the Fir Bholg, and the Fomóraigh. Since Primitive Irish ultimately envolved into modern Gaeilge (Irish Gaelic), this allows him to use the modern Irish language and some Old Irish words without creating anachronistic difficulties. However, Gaeilge is not pronounced the same as English, so to help readers Mr. O'Brien provides pronunciation guides at the end of each story. Here we present a master guide Mr. O'Brien wrote for his own use.

Introduction

The pronunciation of Gaeilge has drifted over time, as with any language, but for the most part has remained unchanged since the close of the Iron Age. Nonetheless, there can be some disagreement over how words from ancient Irish should be pronounced. I have chosen to use modern pronunciation, but even here there can be a difference of opinion. As such, the pronunciations given below are my best guess based on my mediocre knowledge of modern Irish. Also, if there are differences due to regional dialect, I have chosen to go with the Connacht pronunciation, since being from that province, that is how Medb hErenn would pronounce those particular sounds.

Spelling, on the other hand, has changed a great deal over time, as the way that letter sounds are represented have changed. The spellings given below represent one possible version, but in many cases there can be two, three, even four possible versions for each word sound.

Word Stress

In Connacht, stress generally falls on the first syllable, with only a few exceptions. However, in other provinces, stress can fall on a syllable that contains a long vowel. This rule has generally been adopted by many people outside of Ireland. In any event, capitalization indicates which syllable should be stressed.

Vowels

Vowels come in four forms: long and short, and broad and slender. The broad vowels are a, o, and u, and the slender vowels are e and i. They determine whether a consonant they are paired with is itself broad or slender. Also, one of the rules of modern Irish spelling is that broad must go with broad and slender with slender, so a broad consonant must have a broad vowel on either side of it, and a slender consonant must have a slender vowel on either side of it. However, broad and slender vowels do not have different pronunciations from long and short.

Long vowels are marked with the sineadh fada (´) and are á, é, í, ó, and ú; there are also certain combinations of vowels that are pronounced long. They are always pronounced the same way, whatever their position in a word. Often, these vowels will be written with another short vowel before or after it. This generally does not affect the pronunciation of the long vowel, but is written to obey the broad with broad and slender with slender rule. The only exception to this rule is for personal names, especially those based on ancient Irish spelling.

á	aw, as in law
ae	ay, as in day
ao	ee, as in eel
aoi	ee, as in eel
é	ay, as in day
eo	oh, as in go
í	ee, as in eel
ia	EE-uh
iai	EE-uh
ó	oh, as in go
ú	oo, as in too
ua	OO-uh
uai	OO-eh

Short vowels are pronounced as follows only when they are part of the stressed syllable of a word. In unstressed syllables, those that are combined with broad consonants are pronounced "uh", as in duh, whereas those combined with slender consonants are pronounced "ih", as in hit.

a	ah, as in father
ai	a, as in cat
e	eh, as in bet
ea	ah, as in father a, as in cat
ei	eh, as in bet
i	ih, as in hit
io	ih, as in hit yuh
o	o, as in pot
oi	eh, as in bet
u	u, as in book
ui	wi, as in quick

Certain short vowel combinations have different sounds when they occur at the beginning of a word:

eo	oh, as in go
i	oo, as in too
oi	ih, as in hit
ui	ih, as in hit eh, as in bet

Short vowels that precede certain combinations of consonants are pronounced long (see below). Finally, certain combinations of consonants have unwritten vowel sounds between them (see below).

Consonants

Consonants come in two forms, broad and slender. Broad consonants are those that are paired with the broad vowels a, o, and u; slender consonants are those that are paired with the slender vowels e and i.

	Broad Pronunciation	Slender Pronunciation
b	b	by
bh	w v before l and r, and at end of word	v
bhf	v	v
bp	b	by
c	hard k, as in kangaroo	ky
ch	hard guttural ck, as in lock	soft ch, as in chair
d	d	soft j, as in jelly
dh	hard g, as in gate	y, like eye
dt	d	soft j, as in jelly
f	f	fy
fh	(silent)	(silent)
g	hard g, as in gate	gy
gc	g	gy
gh	hard guttural gh as in ghost	y, like eye
h	h	h
l	l	ly
ll	ll-l	ll-y
m	m	my
mb	m	my
mh	w v before l and r, and at end of word	v
n	n	ny
nd	n	ny
nn	wn, as in own	ny
p	p	py
ph	f	fy
r	r	r
s	s	sh
sh	h	h
t	t	soft ch, as in chair
th	h	h

Note that the slender pronunciation of certain consonants includes a 'y' sound after the consonant sound. This is a glide, in which the consonant sound is followed immediately by the 'y' sound. Proper pronunciation is difficult for anyone not raised on Gaeilge, but essentially the two sounds are blended, with the consonant sound "gliding" into the 'y' sound.

Certain combinations of consonants cause short vowels that precede them to be pronounced long:

ll, nn, rr, rd, and m

Other combinations of consonants have unwritten vowel sounds between them:

	Broad Pronunciation	Slender Pronunciation
lb	luhb	lihb
lbh	luhw	lihv
lg	luhg	lihg
lm	luhm	lihm
nb	nuhb	nihb
nbh	nuhw	nihv
ng	nuhg	nihg
nm	nuhm	nihm
rb	ruhb	rihb
rbh	ruhw	rihv
rg	ruhg	rihg
rm	ruhm	rihm

Finally, there are certain combinations of vowels and consonants that produce specific sounds:

abh	ow, as in cow
adh	oy, as in toy
-adh	ah, as in father
agh	oy, as in toy
aidh	ay, as in day
aigh	eye, as in eye
aobh	yuh
eabh	ow, as in cow
eadh	eh, as in bet
eagh	ay, as in day
eibh	eye, as in eye
edh	ay, as in day
eidh	eye, as in eye
idh	ee, as in eel
igh	ee, as in eel
iodh	EE-o
obh	ow, as in cow
odh	ow, as in cow
ogh	ow, as in cow
oidh	ay, as in day
uadh	OO-uh
uagh	OO-uh
uaigh	OO-ih

 

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