User:Mahagaja/Irish orthography

Consonants
Most consonant sounds in Irish make a phonemic distinction between being "broad" (velarized) and "slender" (palatalized). In the orthography, this distinction is shown by the nearest vowel letter. In most cases, consonants are broad when the nearest vowel letter is one of a, o, u and slender when the nearest vowel letter is one of e, i. See Irish phonology for an explanation of the symbols used and for discussion of the allophones of the various phonemes.

b
In all dialects, the letter b represents the phoneme when broad and  when slender. Examples include: bád "boat", béal  "mouth".

The groups bth and bf (the latter occurring only in future and conditional verb forms) are pronounced when broad and  when slender, e.g. scuabtha  "swept" (verbal adjective), ribfidh  "will snare".

The group bp, appearing only at the beginning of a word, indicates the eclipsis of p. It is pronounced (broad) and  (slender), e.g. na bpáistí  "of the children", i bpríosún  "in prison".

bh
The digraph bh (also, especially in Gaelic type, ḃ) represents in most cases when broad and  when slender. Examples include: bhó "cow", scríobh  "wrote", bhí  "was", sibh  "you (plural)".

Word-internal abh(a) generally represents the diphthong, as in abhainn "river", leabhar  "book".

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 include: bhfaca "see (past)", bhfeiceann  "see (present)". 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), e.g. scríobhfaidh mé  "I will write".

c
Broad c stands for, as in cú "hound" and mac  "son", while slender c stands for , as in ciúin  "quiet" and mic  "sons".

ch
The digraph ch (also, especially in Gaelic type, ċ) stands for when broad and  when slender. Note that ch is always broad before t, even where t itself is slender. Examples: broad in chara "friend" (lenited), loch  "lake, lough", boichte  "poorer"; slender in Chéadaoin  "Wednesday" (lenited), deich  "ten".

In Munster, slender ch is pronounced between vowels, as in oíche  "night". In Dunquin and West Muskerry, slender ch is also in word-final position, while in Ring it is silent there: deich  ~  "ten".

In Cois Fhairrge, slender ch is silent word-internally and finally, and a following schwa is absorbed into the preceding vowel, which undergoes compensatory lengthening if originally short. Examples include fichead "twenty", droichead  "bridge", and cloich  "stone (dative)".

The word cheana "already" is generally pronounced with initial.

The word chonaic "see (past)" is pronounced with initial, and is often homophonous with tháinig "came", in Donegal and some parts of Connacht.

The word chuig "to, toward" and its inflected forms chugam "to me", etc., are pronounced with in Donegal and parts of Connacht. To some extent, however, these forms have fallen together in these areas with the preposition ag "at" and its inflected forms agam, etc.

d
The letter d is pronounced when broad and  when slender. Examples include dó "two", nead  "nest", deoch  "a drink", and cuid  "part".

Exceptionally, d is silent in Pádraig "Patrick" in Connacht. The prepositions de "from" and do "to" are both pronounced in Connacht. The verbal noun meaning "going" is pronounced in Connacht; some authors interpret this as a pronunciation of dul (which is the standard form),  while others interpret it as a pronunciation of gabháil,  and still others simply treat it as an independent word phonetically spelled goil.

The group dl in codladh "sleeping" is pronounced.

The group dt occurs word-initially as the eclipsis of t- and is pronounced when broad and  when slender, as in i dtaisce  "in a treasury" and i dteach  "in a house". Word-internally, dt occurs only in certain verb forms where a stem ending in d receives a suffix beginning with t. In such cases, the d is silent and the pronunciation is ~, as in stadta  "stopped" and troidte  "fought".

dh
The digraph dh (also written ḋ, especially in Gaelic type) represents the lenition of d, both synchronically (word-initial position only) and historically (mostly word-internally and finally). Word-initially, dh is pronounced when broad and  when slender, as in dhá  "two" (lenited) and dhíol  "sold". Noninitially, broad dh is not pronounced directly at all in most circumstances, but it can have an effect on how neighboring vowels are pronounced; for example, word-internal adh(a) represents the diphthong in a stressed syllable, as in radharc  "sight" and Tadhg  (man's name). Word-final slender dh is generally in Munster, silent in Galway, and  in Mayo and Donegal; thus réidh "ready" is  on the Dingle Peninsula,   in Cois Fhairrge,  and  in Erris and Torr.

f
The letter f represents when broad and  when slender, as in fuar  "cold", graf  "graph", fear  "man", stuif  "stuff".

In the future and conditional tenses of first-conjugation verbs, f (broad or slender) has the following effects: However, in the future and conditional impersonal f is often, as in ólfar "one will drink", creidfear  "one will sweep", brisfear  "one will break".
 * After vowels and sonorants it is pronounced, as in ólfaidh  "will drink", léifeadh  "would read", cuirfidh  "will put".
 * It makes a voiced obstruent voiceless and converts  to, as in stadfaidh  "will stop", bhogfadh  "would soften", scríobhfadh  "would write", snámhfaidh  "will swim".
 * It is silent after a voiceless obstruent, as in chasfadh "would twist", thitfeadh  "would fall".

The word féin "self" is generally pronounced in Ring, Connacht, and Donegal. The "expected" pronunciation is found only in western Munster and on the Aran Islands, but even in those places it has a by-form. On the Aran Islands and in Erris, it is pronounced after a prepositional pronoun ending in m (e.g. dhom féin  "to myself").

Other words in which f is pronounced in some dialects include cófra "chest", féach "look!", and ofráil "offering".

fh
The digraph fh (also, especially in Gaelic type, ḟ) represents the lenition of f and is always silent. Examples include fhuinneog "window" (lenited) and fhéasóg  "beard" (lenited).

g
In general, the letter g corresponds to when broad and to  when slender. Examples include gasúr "boy", bog  "soft", geata  "gate", carraig  "rock".

In Connacht and Donegal, word-final g after an unstressed vowel is usually devoiced to or, as in Nollaig  "Christmas", easpag  "bishop".

In parts of Connacht and Donegal, the g in the inflected forms of the preposition ag "by" is often elided, resulting in pronunciations like for agam "at me" and  for againn "at us".

The g of the progressive particle ag is elided before a consonant, as in ag caint "talking", ag troid  "fighting".

In Connacht and Donegal, the g of gach "each" is elided in the phrases gach aon (Connacht ; Donegal ) and gach uile (Connacht ; Donegal.

The groups gth and gf (the latter occurring only in future and conditional verb forms) are pronounced, e.g. leagfadh "would lay", ruaigthe  "chased".

The group gc represents the eclipsis of c- and stands for when broad and  when slender: gcuirfidh  "will put" (eclipsed), gCeanada  "Canada" (eclipsed).

gh
The digraph gh (also written ġ, especially in Gaelic type) represents the lenition of g, both synchronically (word-initial position only) and historically (mostly word-internally and finally). Word-initially, gh is pronounced when broad and  when slender, as in ghortaigh  "hurt" (past) and ghearr  "short" (lenited). Noninitially, broad gh is not pronounced directly at all in most circumstances, but it can have an effect on how neighboring vowels are pronounced; for example, word-internal agh(a) represents the diphthong in a stressed syllable, as in saghas  "kind, sort". Word-final slender gh is generally in Munster, silent in Galway, and  in Mayo and Donegal; thus uaigh "grave" is  on the Dingle Peninsula,   in Cois Fhairrge,  and  in Tourmakeady and Rosguill.

h
Except when it used as the second member of a digraph, h stands for, as in hata "hat" and na héin  "the birds".

l, ll
The letter l and the digraph ll stand for any of various lateral consonants in Irish. Both the number of lateral phonemes and the way those phonemes are represented in the orthography vary from dialect to dialect.

When broad, l and ll represent, as in lá "day" and halla  "hall". In some dialects, single broad l also represents or  in some positions. For example, geal "bright, white" is in Munster,     Cois Fhairrge,  and Rosguill,  but  in Mayo   and southern and western Donegal,    and  on Aran.

Depending on dialect and position, slender l represents, , or , while slender ll represents or. For example, míle "thousand" is in Munster,     Cois Fhairrge,  Mayo,   and southern and western Donegal,   but  on Aran  and in Rosguill. On the other hand, buille "a blow" is in Munster    and  in Connacht and Donegal.

m
Broad m is pronounced ; slender m is. Examples include mór "big" and mé  "I, me".

The groub mb represents the eclipsis of b- and is also pronounced when broad and  when slender. Examples include na mbróg "of the shoes", na mbrístí  "of the trousers".

mh
The digraph mh (also, especially in Gaelic type, ṁ) represents in most cases when broad and  when slender. Examples include: mhol "praised", léamh  "reading", mhéar  "finger" (lenited), nimh  "poison".

Word-internal amh(a) generally represents the diphthong, as in amharc "sight", samhradh  "summer".

The group mhf occurs in the future and conditional tenses of verbs whose stem ends in mh, and stands for (broad) and  (slender), e.g. snámhfaidh  "will swim".

n, nn
The letter n and the digraph nn stand for any of various coronal nasal consonants in Irish. Both the number of coronal nasal phonemes and the way those phonemes are represented in the orthography vary from dialect to dialect.

When broad, n and nn represent, as in náire "shame" and céanna  "same". In some dialects, single broad n also represents or  in some positions. For example, bán "white" is in Munster,     Cois Fhairrge,  and Rosguill,  but  in Mayo   and southern and western Donegal,    and  on Aran.

Depending on dialect and position, slender n represents, , or , while slender nn represents , , or. For example, tine "fire" is in Munster,     Cois Fhairrge,  Mayo,  and southern and western Donegal,   but  on Aran  and in Rosguill. On the other hand, neart "strength, a lot" is in Munster  and  in Connacht and Ulster,        while coinne "appointment" is  in West Muskerry and Ring,    on the Dingle Peninsula,   and  in Connacht and Donegal.

In Connacht and Ulster, the letter n in the word-initial groups cn, gn, mn, tn (as well as their mutations chn, ghn, mhn, thn, gcn, ngn, dtn), as well as in word-internal mn, represents when broad and  when slender. Examples include cneasta "sincere", damnú  "damnation", gníomh  "action, deed", mná  "women", tnúth  "envy".

The group nc represents when broad (e.g. banc  "bank") and  when slender (e.g. Fraincis  "French").

The group nd represents the eclipsis of d- and is pronounced just like word-initial n, i.e. when broad (e.g. ndúnann  "closes" (eclipsed)) and  or  (depending on dialect) when slender (e.g. ndéanann  "does" (eclipsed)).

ng
The pronunciation of the group ng varies according to its environment within the word and according to dialect. The five most important positions to be distinguished are:
 * 1) Word-initial position
 * 2) Intervocalic position
 * 3) Word-final position after a stressed vowel
 * 4) Word-final position after an unstressed vowel
 * 5) The ending -ingt

In word-initial position, the group ng represents the eclipsis of g- and is pronounced when broad (e.g. a nglúine  "their knees") and  when slender (e.g. ngrian  "sun" (eclipsed)).

In most dialects, ng between two vowels (intervocalic position) is pronounced when broad (e.g. teanga  "tongue") and  when slender (e.g. aingeal  "angel"). However, in Cois Fhairrge, and sometimes on the Dingle Peninsula and the Aran Islands, ng is this position represents and, thus  and.

In word-final position after a stressed vowel (basically, in monosyllabic words), ng represents and  on the Aran Islands and in Mayo and Donegal (e.g. long  "ship", moing  "mane; marsh"),      while in Cois Fhairrge and Munster it represents  and, thus ,.

In word-final position after an unstressed vowel, ng is pronounced as if it were spelled nn. Broad ng is rare in this position, but is attested for éalang "defect" in Cois Fhairrge as  and for fulang "suffering" (a Munster by-form of fulaingt) in Ring as. Slender ng in this position, like slender nn, represents in West Muskerry and Ring (e.g. scilling  "shilling"),    on the Dingle Peninsula,  and  in Connacht and Ulster.

The ending -ingt is pronounced as if spelled -int, as in tarraingt "pulling, tugging".

The word pingin "penny" is exceptionally pronounced (as if spelled pínn) in Connacht and Ulster. In Munster, the pronunciation is predictable from the spelling:    or.

p
The letter p stands for when broad and  when slender. Examples include póg "kiss" and suipéar  "supper".

ph
The digraph ph (also, especially in Gaelic script, ṗ) stands for the lenition of p and is pronounced when broad and  when slender. Examples include phós "married" (past) and phionna  "pin" (lenited).

r, rr
The letter r stands for when broad and  when slender, e.g. rud  "thing", tirim  "dry". The determination of when written r is broad or slender, however, is more complicated than with most other letters. There are many instances where r is broad even though the nearest vowel letter is i or e, and in some dialects there are instances where r is slender even though the nearest vowel letter is a, o, or u.

In word-initial position, r is generally broad regardless of the following letter. Thus, both rud "thing" and rí  "king" have a broad r.

R is generally broad in the groups rd, rl, rn, rs, and rt. cuairt "visit", oirthear  "east", airde  "height", coirnéal  "corner", duirling  "stony beach"

In rth, broad in verbal adjectives and some other words (uirthi, oirthear)

sr sreang "string"

The group rr is when broad, e.g. farraige  "sea". Historically, slender rr has become broad in most circumstances, but the spelling has usually been altered to indicate this. For example, farraige had a slender rr in Old Irish and was spelled fairrge until the mid-20th century. cairr "car" (genitive)