Tag Archives: voiceless
Some Irish Words Starting with the Letter ‘X’ (Part 1 of 2) Posted by róislín on Sep 14, 2015
(le Róislín) As you might suspect, there are relatively few words in Irish that start with the letter ‘x,’ since it wasn’t part of the traditional original Irish alphabet (which was a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, l, m, n, o, p, r, s, t, and u). We’ve seen something similar for…
Pronunciation Tips for ”Six Ways to Say ‘I Want Some More’ in Irish” Posted by róislín on May 14, 2014
(le Róislín) From time to time (ó am go ham), I like to go back to a previous blog and provide more pronunciation notes. Here are a few more tips for ” Six Ways to Say, ‘I Want Some More’ in Irish (ag cur Gaeilge ar athfhriotal clúiteach Oilibhéir)” (10 Bealtaine 2014; nasc thíos). As…
Bígí Ciúin! Ba é an cat é! Or Should That Be “Ba Iad Na Deich gCat Dhubha Iad”? Posted by róislín on Oct 15, 2012
(le Róislín) Just when you may have thought there couldn’t possibly be any more rialacha for comhaireamh in Irish, there is at least one more point to be addressed — the use of adjectives with the nouns being counted (e.g. two big dogs, five small cats). Given the season, let’s count black cats. As you’ll…
How To Congratulate Someone in Irish: Comhghairdeas leat, a Katie, srl. Posted by róislín on Aug 9, 2012
(le Róislín) Agus go díreach mar a réamhinis an t-amhrán “Croílár na Féile,” níor stop duine ar bith Katie Taylor! An cuimhin leat an líne seo san amhrán: ” ‘S níl duine a stopas riamh í”? An bonn óir aici ag na Cluichí Oilimpeacha! So what would you say if you met her? Ar bhuail…
Saying “I love you” in Irish and Minding Your Velar Fricatives Posted by róislín on Oct 9, 2011
(le Róislín) We’ve recently been looking at different ways to say “I love you” in Irish. Some of you might have been wondering how to pronounce them, especially the phrases where the straightforward “grá” [graw] changes to “ghrá” [γraw, to be explained below, note the IPA gamma symbol for the “gh”] and the straightforward “croí” changes…
Treoir don Treoir: A Guide to the Guide (for Pronunciation), Cuid a 3 Posted by róislín on Jul 29, 2010
(le Róislín) The past few blogs discussed the use of the superscript letters “zh” and “y” and the use of the gamma symbol (γ) to represent broad “dh” and “gh.” This blog will deal with the use of “kh” to represent the “guttural ch” pronunciation in Irish in words like “ach” and “loch.” The linguistic term…
Treoir don Treoir: A Guide to the Guide (for Pronunciation), Cuid a 2 Posted by róislín on Jul 27, 2010
(le Róislín) Treoir don treoir, an ea? Well, here’s more! The most accurate way to transcribe the sound of the broad Irish “gh,” as in “gharbh,” is by using the Greek gamma symbol, γ. It looks a little like a “v” with an extra loop at the bottom. It represents the voiced velar fricative, a sound…