{"id":11246,"date":"2019-12-21T21:29:38","date_gmt":"2019-12-21T21:29:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=11246"},"modified":"2020-03-07T01:27:13","modified_gmt":"2020-03-07T01:27:13","slug":"some-consonant-clusters-in-irish-thbhl-thbh-thbhr-thchl-thfh-and-ch-chl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/some-consonant-clusters-in-irish-thbhl-thbh-thbhr-thchl-thfh-and-ch-chl\/","title":{"rendered":"Some Consonant Clusters in Irish (thbhl, thbh, thbhr, thchl, thfh, and ch-chl)"},"content":{"rendered":"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

bunghrafaic: http:\/\/www.i2clipart.com\/clipart-chat-icon-bbc3 ; t\u00e9acs agus dearadh le R\u00f3isl\u00edn, 2019<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Irish can have up to five consonants in a row, something we rarely encounter in English.\u00a0 These situations usually occur because a prefix has been added to a word, so the seemingly simple “cleas<\/strong>” (trick) can become “droch-chleas<\/strong>” when we add the prefix “droch<\/strong>-” (bad).\u00a0 In this case, with “ch” followed by “ch,” we use the hyphen (an fleisc\u00edn<\/strong>), so reading the word isn’t too difficult.\u00a0 But if the second set of consonants is different from the first one, the fleisc\u00edn<\/strong> is not usually used anymore (in the past, up to ca. 1950, it was often used).\u00a0 So, nowadays, we have combinations like “drochbhriongl\u00f3id<\/strong>” (a bad dream), from “droch- + b(h)riongl\u00f3id<\/strong>” or “drochbhraon<\/strong>” (from “droch- + b(h)raon<\/strong>“).\u00a0 \u00a0In both cases, the initial “bhr” sound is pronounced like a “vr”, as in “a Bhriain<\/strong>” or “a bhrat<\/strong>” (his cloak), respectively.<\/p>\n

In these examples, the prefix “droch<\/strong>-” has caused a change to the beginning of the second word in all of these cases, so “cleas<\/strong>” became “chleas<\/strong>,” “briongl\u00f3id<\/strong>” became “bhriongl\u00f3id<\/strong>,” and “braon<\/strong>” became “bhraon<\/strong>.”\u00a0 This process of adding an “h” is called “lenition,” and happens very, very frequently in Irish.<\/p>\n

So how about the combination “thbhl”? \u00a0It’s in the graphic above and we’ll add a few more examples below. \u00a0Well, of course, we can throw in some vowels before and after the cluster, which will help with pronunciation.\u00a0 First, let’s look at an example from the recent blog on seasonal phrases:<\/p>\n

Athbhliain faoi sh\u00e9an agus faoi mhaise duit.<\/strong>\u00a0 Happy New Year to you (lit. A prosperous and flourishing New Year to you)<\/p>\n

Once you recognize that “ath-<\/strong>” is a prefix, the situation gets easier.<\/p>\n

Then remembering that the second word is really “bliain<\/strong>” (simply with “bl” ), it becomes even more straightforward.\u00a0 \u00a0“Bliain<\/strong>” changes to “bhliain<\/strong>” because of the prefix being added, and the new pronunciation is like “VLEE-in.”\u00a0 “VL” may not be a typical combination in English but we do know it from names like Vlad, Vladivostok, and in the US, Vlasic Pickles.<\/p>\n

So when you put it together, “-thbhl-” isn’t really that bad, as long as it has vowels before and after it, as in “athbhliain<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

Next, let’s look at a few more examples of consonant clusters (thbh, thbhl, thbhr, thchl, thfh):<\/p>\n

1)) \u00a0thbh: the “th” is almost silent, at most a breathy sound, with no “t” and no actual “h”; “bh” like “w” or “v”<\/p>\n

leathbhuille<\/strong>, half-shot (re: golf);<\/p>\n

scothbheoir<\/strong>, premium beer; “bh” like “v”<\/p>\n

sn\u00e1thbhuama<\/strong>, yarn bomb (yarn installation) — that must be a new addition to the language since the concept of the “yarn bomb” was only established in 2005 or perhaps in the 1990s, if you allow for crocheting the “bomb,” instead of knitting it.<\/p>\n

And a few other examples “thbhl and thbhr<\/p>\n

2) thbhl: as above, the “th” is almost silent, at most a breathy sound, with no “t” and no actual “h”; “bhl” like “v”<\/p>\n

bithbhlast<\/strong>, bioblast<\/p>\n

leathbhliant\u00fail<\/strong>, half-yearly<\/p>\n

3) thbhr: “th” as above; “bhr” like “vr”<\/p>\n

athbhrat\u00fa<\/strong>, recoating (as in “Chuir s\u00e9 athbhrat\u00fa ar an d\u00edon tu\u00ed<\/strong>, He recoated the thatch roof)<\/p>\n

athbhreosl\u00fa<\/strong>, refueling<\/p>\n

athbhr\u00edoch<\/strong>, tonic (the beverage)<\/p>\n

bithbhreosla<\/strong>, biofuel<\/p>\n

4) And a few more fun consonant combinations:<\/p>\n

thchl: uathchl\u00e1irseach<\/strong>, autoharp, from “uath-<\/strong>” and “c(h)l\u00e1irseach<\/strong>“; “th” as above; “chl” like German “ch” in “Buch<\/em>” followed by an “l” or like Welsh “ei chloch<\/em>” (her bell)<\/p>\n

thfh: uathfheidhmeach<\/strong>, automatic, which neatly divides into “uath-” <\/strong>and f(h)eidhmeach”<\/strong>; “th” as above; “fh” is completely silent, so “OO-uh-IE-makh” and that’s “IE” as in “pie” or “tried” or “eye”<\/p>\n

Naturally, the whole idea of what make an unusual consonant cluster is relative to what you’re used to.\u00a0 From a variety of languages around the world, we have the following: bdellium, tmesis, kshatriya, Gstaad (town in Switzerland), Nghymru<\/em> (in the phrase “yng Nghymru,<\/strong>” which may or may not help — it means “in Wales”), dirndl, and Republika Srpska<\/em> (when I hear it pronounced, it sounds like there’s a bit of a vowel sound between the “s” and the “r”). \u00a0I’m sure that to native speakers of these languages, these clusters are perfectly normal.\u00a0 I’m not really sure what a modern Greek speaker would do with “tmesis” but I guess the ancient Greeks managed it OK.\u00a0 Gr\u00e9agach ar bith anseo?\u00a0 N\u00f3 seanGhr\u00e9agach ag c\u00fal\u00e9isteacht?<\/strong><\/p>\n

And, of course, seeing the cluster as challenging can sometimes depend on recognizing that two or more parts of a compound words are separate elements.\u00a0 For example, in English, a word like “Peachtree” (street in Atlanta), shouldn’t present much difficulty, as long as we recognize “peach” plus “tree”.\u00a0 But if we found a word that started with “chtr”, English-speakers, at least would probably find it daunting.\u00a0\u00a0 Ironically, if we’re actually talking about the trees, it’s two separate words (a peach tree).<\/p>\n

Well, that’s probably enough of “cairn chonsan<\/strong>” (consonant clusters) for now.\u00a0 Ach, ar nd\u00f3igh, t\u00e1 i bhfad n\u00edos m\u00f3 ag fanacht lena n-uain.\u00a0 T\u00e1 s\u00fail agam go rachaidh siad i bhfeidhm ort agus go s\u00edlfidh t\u00fa go bhfuil \u00a0cuma an-chumhachtach agus f\u00edordhra\u00edochtach orthu<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

SGF –\u00a0 R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong> (taking a short break from the “Nature Words” series, in honor of the season)<\/p>\n

PS: In the graphic above, we see another interesting situation.\u00a0 It’s not a consonant cluster as such, since it’s not one word.\u00a0 But we do have a phrase with one word ending in a final “ch” and another word beginning with a “ch.”\u00a0 In English, we have situations like this constantly (crab boat, good dog), and they don’t really present any major difficulties, especially if the context is clear.\u00a0 But in a new language, it can be tricky when two sounds are repeated.\u00a0\u00a0 The first time I tried saying “Nollaig Sh\u00fagach chugat<\/strong>,” it felt like a tongue-twister, albeit a short one.\u00a0 \u00a0Remember, both of these “ch’s ” have the broad pronunciation, like the Scottish pronunciation of “ch” in “Loch Ness,” the German “das Buch,” or the Welsh “bachgen bach<\/em>.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) Irish can have up to five consonants in a row, something we rarely encounter in English.\u00a0 These situations usually occur because a prefix has been added to a word, so the seemingly simple “cleas” (trick) can become “droch-chleas” when we add the prefix “droch-” (bad).\u00a0 In this case, with “ch” followed by “ch,”…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":11248,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[4240,307111,13534,514404,4695,298724,4996,11],"class_list":["post-11246","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-athbhliain","tag-bliain","tag-carn-consan","tag-chleas","tag-cleas","tag-consonant-cluster","tag-droch","tag-pronunciation"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11246"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11246\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11258,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11246\/revisions\/11258"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}