{"id":1359,"date":"2011-10-28T17:49:40","date_gmt":"2011-10-28T17:49:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=1359"},"modified":"2016-01-28T18:08:34","modified_gmt":"2016-01-28T18:08:34","slug":"a-ai-ai-ai-not-to-mention-%e2%80%9caghaidh%e2%80%9d-more-irish-pronunciation-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/a-ai-ai-ai-not-to-mention-%e2%80%9caghaidh%e2%80%9d-more-irish-pronunciation-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00c1, \u00c1I, A\u00cd, \u00c1\u00cd, (Not To Mention \u201cAghaidh\u201d): More Irish Pronunciation Tips"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Don\u2019t blink, or you might miss the various long marks (s\u00ednt\u00ed fada<\/strong>) in the vowel sounds above.\u00a0 Actually, it\u2019s a lot easier to spot the long marks when the letters happen to be capitalized, rather than when they\u2019re lower case: \u00e1, \u00e1i, a\u00ed, \u00e1\u00ed<\/strong>.\u00a0 And actually it\u2019s really just over the letter \u201ci\u201d that there\u2019s ever much of an issue.\u00a0 And that\u2019s simply because in the Roman alphabet we typically \u201cdot\u201d the letter \u201ci,\u201d and, especially in a small font size, the s\u00edneadh fada<\/strong> (\u2018) can look just like the regular dot over the \u201ci.\u201d\u00a0 In the traditional Irish font (an seanchl\u00f3<\/strong>), the letter \u201ci\u201d was not dotted, and therefore there was never any doubt as to whether the \u201ci\u201d was \u201cgairid<\/strong>\u201d (short) or \u201cfada<\/strong>\u201d (long).\u00a0 You might still see an seanchl\u00f3<\/strong> used today for decorative purposes, signage and greeting cards, agus a leith\u00e9id\u00ed<\/strong>, but it hasn\u2019t been used much for publishing since the 1950s-60s.<\/p>\n

At any rate, a key point for distinction here is \u201c\u00e1i<\/strong>\u201d versus \u201ca\u00ed<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 There aren\u2019t too many words that actually have the third a+i combination, with both vowels long (\u00e1\u00ed<\/strong>), but there’s a good handful, at any rate.\u00a0 Here are the pronunciations (\u00e1, \u00e1i, a\u00ed, \u00e1\u00ed<\/strong>) and some samples.<\/p>\n

1) \u00e1<\/strong>: fairly straightforward, like English \u201caw\u201d in standard Irish, and in the North, more like the short \u201ca\u201d (IPA \/\u00e6\/) of typical American English \u201cbat,\u201d \u201ccat,\u201d \u201cjazz,\u201d or \u201crather,\u201d or, for that matter like Irish \u201cdeas<\/strong>\u201d or \u201cgeal<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 Sampla: T\u00e1 an l\u00e1 go bre\u00e1 (ar nd\u00f3igh)<\/strong><\/p>\n

2) \u00e1i<\/strong>: occurs quite frequently in the following situations:<\/p>\n

a)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 many many verbal nouns, such as \u201cf\u00e1il<\/strong>,\u201d \u201cgabh\u00e1il<\/strong>,\u201d \u201cs\u00e1bh\u00e1il<\/strong>,\u201d etc., and most new borrowings, like\u00a0\u201csurf\u00e1il<\/strong>,\u201d \u201csci\u00e1il<\/strong>,\u201d etc.<\/p>\n

b)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 plural (\u201ccommon form\u201d) or singular possessive of nouns normally ending in \u201c-\u00e1n,\u201d with the \u201c-\u00e1-\u201c changing to \u201c-\u00e1i-,\u201c mar shampla<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

cup\u00e1n, na cup\u00e1in, dath an chup\u00e1in<\/strong> (cup, the cups, the color of the cup)<\/p>\n

an spreas\u00e1n sin, na spreas\u00e1in sin, hata an spreas\u00e1in sin<\/strong>, (that worthless person, the worthless persons, or should that be \u201cthe worthless people?,\u201d and, the hat of that worthless person).\u00a0 As for why there\u2019s a single word meaning \u201cworthless person,\u201d in Irish, sin sc\u00e9al eile<\/strong>.\u00a0 Whenever I\u2019ve heard \u201cspreas\u00e1n<\/strong>,\u201d it\u2019s always in reference to a man, and it\u2019s sometimes translated as \u201ca big useless man.\u201d\u00a0 Among other places, it occurs in Harry Potter agus an \u00d3rchloch<\/em><\/strong> to describe Harry\u2019s father from the viewpoint of Petunia Dursley.\u00a0 To the Dursleys, James Potter was a \u201cspreas\u00e1n beag \u2026 chomh neamh-Dursley\u00fail lena bhfaca t\u00fa riamh<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

In pronunciation, the \u201d\u00e1\u201d sound in the \u201c-\u00e1i<\/strong>\u201d cluster stays basically the same, but there\u2019s a hint of an \u201cih\u201d sound before the final consonant, especially if the words are pronounced really slowly (cup\u00e1in<\/strong>, KUP-aw-in, spreas\u00e1in<\/strong> [SPRASS-aw-in], etc.)<\/p>\n

3) a\u00ed<\/strong> [ee]: as we\u2019ve seen in the previous blog, can occur at the end of a variety of types of words:<\/p>\n

r\u00fana\u00ed<\/strong> [ROON-ee], secretary<\/p>\n

hata\u00ed<\/strong> [HAH-tee], hats (plural)<\/p>\n

la\u00ed<\/strong> [lee], door-post<\/p>\n

go mbeanna\u00ed Dia daoibh<\/strong> [guh My<\/sup>AN-ee DJEE-uh deev], may God bless you (plural), which is a way to say \u201chello,\u201d with the verb in the (infamous) modh foshuiteach<\/strong><\/p>\n

geala\u00ed<\/strong>, as in \u201csolas na geala\u00ed<\/strong>\u201d [SUH-luss nuh Gy<\/sup>AL-ee], the light of the moon<\/p>\n

One situation we didn\u2019t discuss in the last blog was \u201c-a\u00edl<\/strong>\u201d [eel] as a verb ending (as opposed to \u201c-\u00e1il<\/strong>\u201d [aw-il] which looks similar and is much more common).\u00a0 Although the ending \u201c-a\u00edl<\/strong>\u201d occurs less frequently than \u201c-\u00e1il<\/strong>,\u201d it does turn up consistently.\u00a0 Examples include:<\/p>\n

feada\u00edl<\/strong> [FAD-eel], whistling, to whistle, as in the seanfhocal, \u201cN\u00ed f\u00e9idir le duine a bheith ag feada\u00edl agus ag ithe mine.\u201d\u00a0 (Aistri\u00fach\u00e1n th\u00edos)<\/strong><\/p>\n

brada\u00edl<\/strong> [BRAD-eel], hacking, to hack<\/p>\n

cranna\u00edl<\/strong> [KRAN-eel], cranning, to crann (on the uilleann pipes)<\/p>\n

porta\u00edl<\/strong> [PORT-eel], lilting, to lilt (another music term)<\/p>\n

4) \u00e1\u00ed<\/strong> [aw-ee or ah-ee]: this isn\u2019t very common in Irish but does occur, as in the following:<\/p>\n

p\u00e1\u00ed<\/strong>, an alternate form of \u201cp\u00e1<\/strong>\u201d (pay)<\/p>\n

l\u00e1\u00ed<\/strong>, pl: l\u00e1nta<\/strong>, a loy (type of spade and key weapon of destruction in J. M. Synge\u2019s 1907 drama, The Playboy of the Western World<\/em>).\u00a0 Note how this word differs in accent marks, pronunciation, and pluralization, not to mention meaning (most important of all), from\u00a0\u201cla\u00ed<\/strong>, pl. la\u00edonna<\/strong>\u201d (door-post, door-posts).<\/p>\n

The \u201c-\u00e1\u00ed<\/strong>\u201d cluster also occurs in some non-Irish place names, such as \u201cAn tS\u00e1\u00edr,\u201d “H\u00e1\u00edt\u00ed,\u201d <\/strong>and \u201cHav\u00e1\u00ed<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cMaui,\u201d d\u00e1la an sc\u00e9il<\/strong>, as far as I can tell, remains spelled the same as in English, as it seems to in the other languages I checked online.\u00a0 Interesting possibilities, nach ea<\/strong>, as to how one could gaelicize \u201cMaui,\u201d taking \u201cM\u00ed-eadha<\/strong>\u201d (miaow) as a model, but, creid \u00e9 n\u00f3 n\u00e1 creid \u00e9<\/strong>, I won\u2019t make that language voyage.\u00a0 At least not yet, not unless we undertake gaelicizing every place name from Aachen<\/em> (aka Aix-la-Chapelle<\/em>, or anciently Aquisgranum<\/em>) to \u017bywie<\/em>c (sa Pholainn<\/strong>), of cervisial fame.\u00a0 Cervisial?\u00a0 Think Irish \u201ccoirm<\/strong>\u201d (ale; as in \u201ccoirm cheoil<\/strong>,\u201d translated as \u201ca concert,\u201d but literally \u201cale-music\u201d).\u00a0 Or, sa Bhreatnais<\/strong>, \u201ccwrw<\/em>\u201d [KOO-roo].\u00a0 Short of that, just think \u201ccerveza<\/em>\u201d \u2013 they\u2019re all related linguistically.<\/p>\n

5) As for the word \u201caghaidh<\/strong>,\u201d which means \u201cface,\u201d all of the consonants are silent, and it sounds pretty much like \u201caye,\u201d \u201ceye,\u201d or \u201cI\u201d or, in IPA transcription, \/ai\/.\u00a0 Of course, pronunciation guides are only as good as the reader\u2019s interpretation of the comparisons made, so if your pronunciation of English \u201ceye\u201d leans more toward \u201cee\u201d (Scots, etc.) or if your pronunciation of \u201cI\u201d leans more toward \u201coi\u201d or \u201coy,\u201d the sample won\u2019t be as useful.\u00a0 That\u2019s why the IPA guide is also provided.\u00a0 But if your pronunciation of the three words \u201caye,\u201d \u201ceye,\u201d and \u201cI,\u201d is virtually the same (gotta love litri\u00fa aisteach neamhsheasmhach frithimfhiosach an Bh\u00e9arla<\/strong>, dontcha?), then you\u2019re on the right track for pronouncing \u201caghaidh<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s all vowel, mostly \u201caye\/eye\/I\u201d but with a bit of breathy \u201cee\u201d at the end, so, more or less like \u201caye-ee\u201d (or \u201ceye-ee\u201d or \u201cI-ee\u201d).<\/p>\n

As for why the consonants in \u201caghaidh<\/strong>\u201d are silent, sin sc\u00e9al eile<\/strong>, but the tip of the iceberg of an answer is that both Irish and English have silent consonants left over from a much earlier time when those consonants were pronounced.\u00a0 For examples in English, we can simply look at words like \u201cknife\u201d or \u201cright,\u201d or the word \u201cknight,\u201d which has both the silent \u201ck\u201d and the silent \u201cgh.\u201d \u00a0Double silent whammy!<\/p>\n

On that note, sl\u00e1n<\/strong>, but not “for aye<\/em>,”\u00a0R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gluais: aisteach<\/strong>, strange; an tS\u00e1\u00edr<\/strong> [un TAI-eer, silent \u201cs\u201d], Zaire; frithimfhiosach<\/strong> [FRIH-IM-us-ukh, note the \u201ct\u201d and second \u201cf\u201d are silent] counterintuitive; ithe<\/strong>, eating, to eat; ag ithe mine<\/strong> [egg IH-hy<\/sup>uh MIN-yuh], eating meal; min<\/strong>, meal (as in \u201cmin choirce<\/strong>,\u201d oatmeal, or \u201cmin eorna<\/strong>,\u201d barley meal, not \u201ca meal,\u201d like breakfast or dinner, which is \u201cb\u00e9ile<\/strong>\u201d); neamh-Dursley\u00fail<\/strong>, unDursleyish;\u00a0neamhsheasmhach<\/strong> [Ny<\/sup>OW-HASS-wukh], inconsistent<\/p>\n

An Seanfhocal<\/strong>: You can\u2019t whistle and eat meal (ground grain) at the same time.\u00a0 Cro\u00ed na f\u00edrinne, nach ea<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

Gluais don n\u00f3ta tr\u00e1chta don seanfhocal: cro\u00ed<\/strong>, here \u201cquintessence,\u201d generally it means \u201cheart\u201d<\/p>\n

Oh, and btw, in case you\u2019re wondering, how did this issue with the s\u00edneadh fada<\/strong> over the \u201ci\u201d come to my attention?\u00a0 I had a student once who kept reading \u201cn\u00edl<\/strong>\u201d out loud as \u201cNFL,\u201d since the \u201ci-fada<\/strong>\u201d looked like an \u201cf\u201d to her in the small and slightly faded print of an old copy of \u201cBunt\u00fas Cainte<\/em><\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 Not quite the same as seeing the s\u00edneadh fada<\/strong> as a simple \u201cponc<\/strong>\u201d but the same basic issue pertains \u2013 in the \u201cseanchl\u00f3<\/strong>,\u201d there was no ponc<\/strong> over the letter \u201ci.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) Don\u2019t blink, or you might miss the various long marks (s\u00ednt\u00ed fada) in the vowel sounds above.\u00a0 Actually, it\u2019s a lot easier to spot the long marks when the letters happen to be capitalized, rather than when they\u2019re lower case: \u00e1, \u00e1i, a\u00ed, \u00e1\u00ed.\u00a0 And actually it\u2019s really just over the letter \u201ci\u201d…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[111247,365107,390772,390769,12667,390770,390771,5125,390773,111334,2190,119412,5497,111308,120719,390765,111332,390774,390775,111337,390776,3336,275533,11,111333,111336,30603,111335,390768,111338,375043],"class_list":["post-1359","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-aghaidh","tag-buntus-cainte","tag-cerveza","tag-cervisial","tag-coirm","tag-coirm-cheoil","tag-cwrw","tag-fada","tag-frithimfhiosach","tag-gairid","tag-haiti","tag-hatai","tag-havai","tag-lai","tag-laionna","tag-lanta","tag-long-vowel","tag-min-choirce","tag-min-eorna","tag-neamh-dursleyuil","tag-neamhsheasmhach","tag-pa","tag-pai","tag-pronunciation","tag-short-vowel","tag-spreasain","tag-synge","tag-ta","tag-tsair","tag-undursleyish","tag-western-world"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1359","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=1359"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1359\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7584,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1359\/revisions\/7584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}