Basic Irish Letters

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Introduction

Irish letters are classified into 2 distinct groups, referred to as broad and slender.

• The broad (velarized) consonants b, c, f, g, m can sound as if they’re being followed by a very subtle “w”.
• Slender (palatalized) consonants can sound as if they’re followed by a slight “y”.

Determining the correct group:

• Of the vowels, a, o, and u are always broad, whereas e and i are always slender.
• Consonants vary based on which group the closest vowel is in.
  • Examples: tae (‘t’ is broad), te (‘t’ is slender), taistil (the first ‘t’ is broad; ‘s’, the second ‘t’ and ‘l’ are all slender).
• The vowels on either side of a consonant, or group of consonants, must both be slender or both be broad.
  • Examples: déanfaidh, rithfidh, leabharlann, páirceanna, cupán, cipín, madra, maidrín.
  • Note: There are some rare exceptions, such as anseo; ansin.

Vowels

Letter	IPA	Valve Phoneme	EX	Phonetic Example
a	/a/	AA	<AudioButton>phoneme_0061.mp3</AudioButton>	father, spa
á	/ɑ:/	AO	<AudioButton>phoneme_0061-02D0.mp3</AudioButton>	call, far
e	/ɛ/	EH	<AudioButton>phoneme_025B.mp3</AudioButton>	tell, get
é	/e:/	EY	<AudioButton>phoneme_0065-02D0.mp3</AudioButton>	bait, pay
i	/ɪ/	IH	<AudioButton>phoneme_026A.mp3</AudioButton>	in, hit
í	/i:/	IY	<AudioButton>phoneme_0069-02D0.mp3</AudioButton>	tree, mean, he
o	/ɔ/	AH	<AudioButton>phoneme_0254.mp3</AudioButton>	tug, wonder
ó	/o:/	OW	<AudioButton>phoneme_006F-02D0.mp3</AudioButton>	roll, toe, road
u	/ʌ/	UH	<AudioButton>phoneme_028C.mp3</AudioButton>	gut, fun
ú	/u:/	UW	<AudioButton>phoneme_0075-02D0.mp3</AudioButton>	too, rude

Vowel Combinations

Note that some combinations are not consistent, and vary in pronunciation based on the word.

Letters	IPA	Valve Phoneme	EX	Phonetic Example	Notes
ae	/e/	EY	<AudioButton>phoneme_0065.mp3</AudioButton>	bait, pay
ao	/i/	IY	<AudioButton>phoneme_0069.mp3</AudioButton>	tree, mean, he
aoi	/i/	IY	<AudioButton>phoneme_0069.mp3</AudioButton>	tree, mean, he
ea	/ᴂ/	??	<AudioButton>phoneme_.mp3</AudioButton>	??
	/a/	AA	<AudioButton>phoneme_0061.mp3</AudioButton>	father, spa
	/ja/	??	<AudioButton>phoneme_.mp3</AudioButton>	??
	/iɑ:/	??	<AudioButton>phoneme_.mp3</AudioButton>	??
ei	/ɛ/	EH	<AudioButton>phoneme_025B.mp3</AudioButton>	tell, get
eo	/o/	OW	<AudioButton>phoneme_006F.mp3</AudioButton>	roll, toe, road
ia	/iə/	??	<AudioButton>phoneme_.mp3</AudioButton>	idea
io	/ɪ/	IH	<AudioButton>phoneme_026A.mp3</AudioButton>	in, hit
oi	/ɪ/	IH	<AudioButton>phoneme_026A.mp3</AudioButton>	in, hit
ua	/uə/	??	<AudioButton>phoneme_.mp3</AudioButton>	truant
ui	/ɪ/	IH	<AudioButton>phoneme_026A.mp3</AudioButton>	in, hit
-(e)adh	/u/	UW	<AudioButton>phoneme_0075.mp3</AudioButton>	too, rude
-faidh	/i/	IY	<AudioButton>phoneme_0069.mp3</AudioButton>	tree, mean, he
	/ɪ/	IH	<AudioButton>phoneme_026A.mp3</AudioButton>	in, hit
-fidh	/i/	IY	<AudioButton>phoneme_0069.mp3</AudioButton>	tree, mean, he
	/ɪ/	IH	<AudioButton>phoneme_026A.mp3</AudioButton>	in, hit

Standard Consonants

Broad

Letter	IPA	Valve Phoneme	EX	Phonetic Example	Notes
b	/bˠ/	B	<AudioButton>phoneme_0062-02E0.mp3</AudioButton>	broom, boy
c	/k/	K	<AudioButton>phoneme_006B.mp3</AudioButton>	cut, key
d	/d̪ˠ/	D	<AudioButton>phoneme_0064-032A-02E0.mp3</AudioButton>	do, under
f	/fˠ/	F	<AudioButton>phoneme_0066-02E0.mp3</AudioButton>	elf, fool
g	/ɡ/	G	<AudioButton>phoneme_0261.mp3</AudioButton>	goo, egg
h	/h/	HH	<AudioButton>phoneme_0068.mp3</AudioButton>	honey, hello	Neither broad nor slender
l	/l̪ˠ/; /l/	L	<AudioButton>phoneme_006C-032A-02E0.mp3</AudioButton>	filth, will	occasionally /l/, which is considered neither broad nor slender
ll	/l̪ˠ/	??	<AudioButton>phoneme_006C-032A-02E0.mp3</AudioButton>	??
m	/mˠ/	M	<AudioButton>phoneme_006D-02E0.mp3</AudioButton>	moo, woman
n	/n̪ˠ/; /n/	N	<AudioButton>phoneme_006E-032A-02E0.mp3</AudioButton>	not, under	occasionally /n/, which is considered neither broad nor slender
p	/pˠ/	P	<AudioButton>phoneme_0070-02E0.mp3</AudioButton>	span, stop
r	/ɾˠ/	R	<AudioButton>phoneme_027E-02E0.mp3</AudioButton>	rule (but tapped)	always broad word-initially; always broad in rd, rl, rn, rr, rs, rt, rth, sr
s	/sˠ/	S	<AudioButton>phoneme_0073-02E0.mp3</AudioButton>	soon, east
t	/t̪ˠ/	T	<AudioButton>phoneme_0074-032A-02E0.mp3</AudioButton>	stand (but dental)
v	/w/	W	<AudioButton>phoneme_0077.mp3</AudioButton>	wood, water	loan consonant; /vˠ/ in other dialects*
z	/zˠ/	??	<AudioButton>phoneme_007A-02E0.mp3</AudioButton>	??	loan consonant

Slender

Letter	IPA	Valve Phoneme	EX	Phonetic Example	Notes
b	/bʲ/	B Y	<AudioButton>phoneme_0062-02B2.mp3</AudioButton>	beautiful
c	/c/	K Y	<AudioButton>phoneme_0063.mp3</AudioButton>	skew, cucumber
d	/dʲ/	??	<AudioButton>phoneme_0064-02B2.mp3</AudioButton>	dear	/dʑ/ in other dialects*
f	/fʲ/	F Y	<AudioButton>phoneme_0066-02B2.mp3</AudioButton>	fuel, futile
g	/ɟ/	G Y	<AudioButton>phoneme_025F.mp3</AudioButton>	argue
h	/h/	HH	<AudioButton>phoneme_0068.mp3</AudioButton>	honey, hello	Neither broad nor slender
l	/lʲ/	L Y	<AudioButton>phoneme_006C-02B2.mp3</AudioButton>	million, will you
ll	/lʲ/; /l̪ʲ/	??	<AudioButton>phoneme_006C-02B2.mp3</AudioButton>	??	occasionally /l̪ʲ/
m	/mʲ/	M Y	<AudioButton>phoneme_006D-02B2.mp3</AudioButton>	mute
n	/nʲ/	N Y	<AudioButton>phoneme_006E-02B2.mp3</AudioButton>	sinew, minion
p	/pʲ/	P Y	<AudioButton>phoneme_0070-02B2.mp3</AudioButton>	spew
r	/ɾʲ/	R IY?	<AudioButton>phoneme_027E-02B2.mp3</AudioButton>	real (but tapped)	always broad word-initially; always broad in rd, rl, rn, rr, rs, rt, rth, sr
s	/ɕ/	SH	<AudioButton>phoneme_0283.mp3</AudioButton>	ship, wish	/ʃ/ in other dialects*
t	/tʲ/	T	<AudioButton>phoneme_0074-02B2.mp3</AudioButton>	stew
v	/vʲ/	V Y	<AudioButton>phoneme_0076-02B2.mp3</AudioButton>	view	loan consonant
z	/ʑ/	ZH	<AudioButton>phoneme_0292.mp3</AudioButton>	vision	loan consonant; /ʒ/ in other dialects*

Lenited Consonants

Lenition changes the sound of a letter by adding the letter "h". The consonant sound is then regarded as "softened".

Broad

Letter	IPA	Valve Phoneme	EX	Phonetic Example	Notes
bh	/w/	W	<AudioButton></AudioButton>	wow, tower
ch	/x/	??	<AudioButton></AudioButton>	loch (Scottish), Nacht (German)
dh	/ɣ/	—	<AudioButton></AudioButton>	(no equivalent)	/ɣ/ word-initially; silent after a long vowel
fh	silent	<SIL>	—	(silent)
gh	/ɣ/	—	<AudioButton></AudioButton>	(no equivalent)	/ɣ/ word-initially; silent after a long vowel
mh	/w/	W	<AudioButton></AudioButton>	wow, tower
ph	/fˠ/	F	<AudioButton></AudioButton>	follow, telephone
sh	/h/	HH	<AudioButton></AudioButton>	honey, hello
th	/h/	HH	<AudioButton></AudioButton>	honey, hello	Silent if at the end of a syllable

Slender

Letter	IPA	Valve Phoneme	EX	Phonetic Example	Notes
bh	/vʲ/	V	<AudioButton></AudioButton>	village, eve
ch	/ç/	??	<AudioButton></AudioButton>	hue (pronounced strongly); ??	used unless between vowels
	/h/	HH	<AudioButton></AudioButton>	honey, hello	only used between vowels
dh	/ʝ/	Y	<AudioButton></AudioButton>	yell, eye?
fh	silent	<SIL>	—	(silent)
gh	/ʝ/	Y	<AudioButton></AudioButton>	yell, eye?
mh	/vʲ/	V	<AudioButton></AudioButton>	village, eve
ph	/fʲ/	F Y	<AudioButton>phoneme_0066-02B2.mp3</AudioButton>	fuel, futile
sh	/h/	HH	<AudioButton></AudioButton>	honey, hello
th	/h/	HH	<AudioButton></AudioButton>	honey, hello	Silent if at the end of a syllable

Eclipsed Consonants

Eclipsis inserts a letter at the beginning of a word. This letter "eclipses", or supresses the existing first letter, so that only the new letter is pronounced.

Broad

Letter	Additive	Original	IPA	Valve Phoneme	EX	Phonetic Example	Notes
bhf	bh	f	/w/	W	<AudioButton></AudioButton>	wow, tower
bp	b	p	/bˠ/	B	<AudioButton></AudioButton>	broom, boy
dt	d	t	/d̪ˠ/	D	<AudioButton></AudioButton>	do, under
gc	g	c	/ɡ/	G	<AudioButton></AudioButton>	goo, egg
mb	m	b	/mˠ/	M	<AudioButton></AudioButton>	moo, woman
nd	n	d	/n̪ˠ/	N	<AudioButton></AudioButton>	not, under	occasionally /nˠ/
ng	n	g	/ŋ/	NG	<AudioButton></AudioButton>	wing, thing

Slender

Letter	Additive	Original	IPA	Valve Phoneme	EX	Phonetic Example	Notes
bhf	bh	f	/vʲ/	V	<AudioButton></AudioButton>	village, eve
bp	b	p	/bʲ/	B Y	<AudioButton>phoneme_0062-02B2.mp3</AudioButton>	beautiful
dt	d	t	/dʲ/	??	<AudioButton>phoneme_0064-02B2.mp3</AudioButton>	dear	/dʑ/ in other dialects*
gc	g	c	/ɟ/	G Y	<AudioButton>phoneme_025F.mp3</AudioButton>	argue
mb	m	b	/mʲ/	M Y	<AudioButton>phoneme_006D-02B2.mp3</AudioButton>	mute
nd	n	d	/nʲ/	N Y	<AudioButton></AudioButton>	sinew, minion
ng	n	g	/ŋ/	NG	<AudioButton></AudioButton>	wing, thing

Sources

• Sounds & Spelling of Irish/Fuaimeanna agus Litriú na Gaeilge - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iF6a4FZnBjuqhSATZkenr3PthdyiN18E/view
• Wikipedia:
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulster_Irish
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Irish
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_phonology
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet
• Valve Phoneme Tool - http://www.lagspike.com/valve-phoneme-tool