User:Mahagaja/Irish bh and mh

In Irish, the digraphs bh and mh (also, especially in Gaelic type, ḃ and ṁ) represent the lenition of b and m respectively, either synchronically (initial position only) or historically (in most cases noninitially). The two digraphs are pronounced identically in most contexts.

As is generally the case in Irish orthography, the value of a consonant letter depends on what the closest vowel letter is: if the nearest vowel letter is one of a, o, or u, the consonant is considered "broad", while if the nearest vowel letter is one of e or i, the consonant in considered "slender". Broad bh and mh stand in general for the phoneme (including its allophone ), while slender bh and mh stand for  (see Irish phonology for a full explanation of these symbols). Examples, using the pronunciation of Ring, County Waterford, include: bhuail "struck", sábháil  "act of saving", dubh  "black"; bheadh  "would be", saibhir  "rich", agaibh  "at you (plural)".


 * Word-internal -abh-:Broad bh merges with a preceding stressed a or ea to form the diphthong in all dialects. In Munster and Connacht, an unstressed vowel is deleted after this diphthong, with the result that (e)abha(i) also corresponds to  in those dialects. Examples, using the pronunciation of Cois Fhairrge, include: abhainn  "river", seabhac  "hawk". Forms of the verb tabhair "give" are exceptional in many dialects:  in West Muskerry and the Dingle Peninsula,  in Connacht.
 * In Donegal, (e)abh stands for the diphthong only before another consonant, e.g. Eabhrais  "Hebrew language", cabhlach  "fleet". The spelling (e)abha(i), on the other hand, stands for the monophthong, e.g. gabhar  "goat", feabhas  "excellence". This  contrasts with  spelled ó(i), eo(i), so the pair leabhar "book"/(go) leor "enough", contrast in Donegal as  vs.  (compare Munster and Connacht, where they are pronounced  vs. ).


 * Word-internal -ibh-:In Connacht and Ulster, word-internal slender bh is pronounced as expected. In Munster, however, it is not pronounced in most cases when a short vowel letter follows. A preceding short vowel is lengthened or diphthongized, while a following schwa is deleted. Examples include sléibhe  "mountain (genitive singular)", sléibhte  "mountains", taibhseach  "showy", taibhreamh  "dream", Eibhlín  "Evelyn; Eileen", cuibhreach  "fetter". Exceptions include saibhir  "rich" and aoibhinn  "charming".


 * Word-finally:At the end of a word after a stressed vowel, bh generally has its usual pronunciation of when slender and  (or its allophone ) when broad, e.g. treibh  "tribe", dubh  "black". A notable exception to this is that in the Aran Islands and Connemara, the word sibh "you (plural)" and the monosyllabic inflected prepositions in the second person plural (díbh "from you (pl.)", daoibh "to you (pl.)", fúibh "under you (pl.)", libh "with you (pl.)", uaibh "from you (pl.)", tríbh "through you (pl.)") are pronounced with  instead of expected . In Mayo and Donegal, the words gabh "take; go" and raibh "was" are exceptionally pronounced  and.
 * Very few Irish words end in broad bh after an unstressed vowel; one of the few is áitreabh "habitation". It is apparently pronounced the same as word-final broad mh after an unstressed vowel.
 * Word-final slender bh after an unstressed vowel is found mostly in the second personal plural forms of inflected prepositions, e.g. agaibh "at you (pl.)", oraibh "on you (pl.)". It was formerly found in the dative plural of nouns as well, but such forms no longer exist in the spoken language and are archaic in the written language. Word-final unstressed -(a)ibh is pronounced in Munster and Donegal,  in Connacht.


 * After r, l, and n:As mentioned below, an unwritten epenthetic vowel is heard when one of the consonants r, l, or n precedes bh. In Connacht and Ulster, if this sequence is word-final and broad, the resulting  +  sequence surfaces as  or, as in marbh  "dead", balbh  "mute", banbh  "young pig".  Word-internally, expected  +  +  surfaces as  in all major dialects, e.g. arbhar  or  "grain", searbhas  "sarcasm".


 * The group bhf:The group bhf represents two different pairs of phonemes depending on its position in the word. At the beginning of a word, it indicates the eclipsis of f and stands for (broad) and  (slender). Examples, using the pronunciation of the Dingle Peninsula, include: bhfuacht  "cold", bhfeirm  "farm". In the middle of a word, it occurs in the future and conditional tenses of verbs whose stem ends in bh, and stands for  (broad) and  (slender). Example: scríobhfaidh mé  "I will write".


 * Other notes:The word bhur "your (plural)" has an unexpected pronunciation in almost all dialects: in Munster,  in Connacht, ,  in Donegal.