Basic Irish Letters
| Vowels | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Letter | IPA | Valve Phoneme | Phonetic Example |
| a | /a/ | AA | father, spa |
| á | /ɑ:/ | AO | call, far |
| e | /ɛ/ | EH | tell, get |
| é | /e:/ | EY | bait, pay |
| i | /ɪ/ | IH | in, hit |
| í | /i:/ | IY | tree, mean, he |
| o | /ɔ/ | AH | tug, wonder |
| ó | /o:/ | OW | roll, toe, road |
| u | /ʌ/ | UH | good, pull |
| ú | /u:/ | UW | too, rude |
| Broad Consonants | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Letter | IPA | Valve Phoneme | Phonetic Example | Notes |
| b | /bˠ/ | B | broom, boy | |
| c | /k/ | K | cut, key | |
| d | /d̪ˠ/ | D | do, under | |
| f | /fˠ/ | ?? | ?? | |
| g | /ɡ/ | G | goo, egg | |
| h | /h/ | HH | honey, hello | Neither broad nor slender |
| l | /l/; also frequently /l̪ˠ/ | ?? | ?? | |
| ll | /l̪ˠ/ | ?? | ?? | |
| m | /mˠ/ | M | moo, woman | |
| n | /nˠ/; also frequently /n̪ˠ/ | N | not, under | |
| p | /pˠ/ | ?? | ?? | |
| r | /ɾˠ/ | ?? | ?? | always broad word-initially; always broad in rd, rl, rn, rr, rs, rt, rth, sr |
| s | /sˠ/ | ?? | ?? | |
| t | /t̪ˠ/ | ?? | ?? | |
| v | /w/~/vˠ/ | ?? | ?? | loan consonant |
| z | /zˠ/ | ?? | ?? | loan consonant |
| Slender Consonants | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Letter | IPA | Valve Phoneme | Phonetic Example | Notes |
| b | /bʲ/ | ?? | ?? | |
| c | /c/ | ?? | ?? | |
| d | /dʑ/ | ?? | ?? | /dʲ/ in other dialects |
| f | /fʲ/ | ?? | ?? | |
| g | /ɟ/ | ?? | ?? | |
| h | /h/ | HH | honey, hello | Neither broad nor slender |
| l | /lʲ/ | ?? | million, will you | |
| ll | /l̪ʲ/; also frequently /lʲ/ | ?? | ?? | |
| m | /mʲ/ | ?? | ?? | |
| n | /nʲ/ | N Y | sinew, minion | |
| p | /pʲ/ | ?? | ?? | |
| r | /ɾʲ/ | ?? | ?? | always broad word-initially; always broad in rd, rl, rn, rr, rs, rt, rth, sr |
| s | /ɕ/ | ?? | ?? | /ʃ/ in other dialects |
| t | /tʲ/ | ?? | ?? | |
| v | /vʲ/ | ?? | ?? | loan consonant |
| z | /ʑ/ | ?? | ?? | loan consonant; /ʒ/ in other dialects |
| Lenited Broad Consonants | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Letter | IPA | Valve Phoneme | Phonetic Example | Notes |
| bh | /w/ | W | wow, tower | |
| ch | /x/ | ?? | loch (Scottish), Nacht (German) | |
| dh | /ɣ/ word-initially; silent after a long vowel | — | (no equivalent) | |
| fh | silent | <SIL> | (silent) | |
| gh | /ɣ/ word-initially; silent after a long vowel | — | (no equivalent) | |
| mh | /w/ | W | wow, tower | |
| ph | /fˠ/ | F | follow, telephone | |
| sh | /h/ | HH | honey, hello | |
| th | /h/ | HH | honey, hello | Silent if at the end of a syllable |
| Lenited Slender Consonants | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Letter | IPA | Valve Phoneme | Phonetic Example | Notes |
| bh | /vʲ/ | V | village, eve | |
| ch | /ç/; /h/ between vowels | ?? | hue (pronounced strongly); ?? | |
| dh | /ʝ/ | Y | yell, eye? | |
| fh | silent | <SIL> | (silent) | |
| gh | /ʝ/ | Y | yell, eye? | |
| mh | /vʲ/ | V | village, eve | |
| ph | /fʲ/ | ?? | ?? | |
| sh | /h/ | HH | honey, hello | |
| th | /h/ | HH | honey, hello | Silent if at the end of a syllable |
| Eclipsed Broad Consonants | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Letter | Additive | Original | IPA | Valve Phoneme | Phonetic Example | Notes |
| bhf | bh | f | /w/ | W | wow, tower | |
| bp | b | p | /bˠ/ | B | broom, boy | |
| dt | d | t | /d̪ˠ/ | D | do, under | |
| gc | g | c | /ɡ/ | G | goo, egg | |
| mb | m | b | /mˠ/ | M | moo, woman | |
| nd | n | d | /nˠ/; also frequently /n̪ˠ/ | N | not, under | |
| ng | n | g | /ŋ/ | NG | wing, thing | |
| Eclipsed Slender Consonants | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Letter | Additive | Original | IPA | Valve Phoneme | Phonetic Example | Notes |
| bhf | bh | f | /vʲ/ | V | village, eve | |
| bp | b | p | /bʲ/ | ?? | ?? | |
| dt | d | t | /dʑ/ | ?? | ?? | /dʲ/ in other dialects |
| gc | g | c | /ɟ/ | ?? | ?? | |
| mb | m | b | /mʲ/ | ?? | ?? | |
| nd | n | d | /nʲ/ | N Y | sinew, minion | |
| ng | n | g | /ŋ/ | NG | wing, thing | |