{"id":4107,"date":"2013-06-06T16:15:54","date_gmt":"2013-06-06T16:15:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=4107"},"modified":"2016-07-29T01:27:14","modified_gmt":"2016-07-29T01:27:14","slug":"how-to-pronounce-a-dheaide-a-dhaidi-and-other-forms-of-daddaddy-in-irish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/how-to-pronounce-a-dheaide-a-dhaidi-and-other-forms-of-daddaddy-in-irish\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Pronounce ‘A Dheaide,’ ‘A Dhaid\u00ed,’ and Other Forms of ‘Dad\/Daddy’ in Irish"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Since June is m\u00ed L\u00e1 na nAithreacha<\/strong>, let’s look once more at the various words for “Dad” and “Daddy” \u00a0in Irish, specifically in direct address.\u00a0 So we’ll take a brief break from the Irish names we were working on in the last blog \u00a0(Se\u00e1n, Sin\u00e9ad, srl.<\/strong>) and their direct address forms (“Dia duit, a She\u00e1in!,” “Sl\u00e1n agat, a Shin\u00e9ad!,” srl.).\u00a0 T\u00e1 nasc don bhlag sin th\u00edos<\/strong> (link below, nasc<\/strong> 1).<\/p>\n

First a quick review of “direct address.”\u00a0 In English, the concept exists and, in writing, it’s marked by punctuation, specifically, the comma (an cham\u00f3g<\/strong>).\u00a0 Perhaps you’ve been diligently applying that comma all along, as in “Let’s eat, Grandma!”\u00a0 In speech, direct address is generally marked a little bit by a slight pause before the person’s name, but there’s no grammatical change to the noun of direct address as there is in Irish (or for that matter, Scottish Gaelic, Latin, etc.).\u00a0 If we don’t use the comma or make that slight pause in English, the implication is more like “Let’s eat Grandma!,” a much more drastic suggestion.\u00a0 For English, commas rule!\u00a0 In Irish, there would never be any confusion in these two Grandma phrases, as long as direct address was properly marked.\u00a0 Which of the following means “Let’s eat, Grandma!” in Irish?: a) “Ithimis, a Mham\u00f3!”<\/strong>\u00a0 b) “Ithimis Mam\u00f3!” \u00a0(Freagra th\u00edos).<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now let’s look at what happens to the “Dad\/Daddy” words we identified in the recent blog about the word father: daid, deaid, deaide, daid\u00ed, daide, deaid\u00ed (nasc 2 th\u00edos)<\/strong>.\u00a0 As you might have noticed, some begin with “de-” and some begin with “da-.”\u00a0 That will make a world of difference in pronunciation, both in their basic form and when \u00a0they’re put into direct address (a Dhaid, a Dheaid, srl.<\/strong>)<\/p>\n

Before we actually turn to the direct-address forms, let’s briefly look at the pronunciation of the “slender d” (as in “Deaid<\/strong>,” for both of the “d’s”) and the pronunciation of the “broad d” (the first “d” of “Daid<\/strong>“).\u00a0 Before they change to “a Dheaid<\/strong>” and “a Dhaid<\/strong>,” that is.\u00a0 First, the “slender d” of “Deaid<\/strong>“:<\/p>\n

Deaid<\/strong> (slender d): this “d” has a slight “j” sound with it, somewhat like the British (but not the American) pronunciation of “Duke.”\u00a0 I usually transcribe it as “dj.”\u00a0 In some dialects, the “j” element is stronger, in others it’s less noticeable.\u00a0 At any rate, I’d transcribe “Deaid<\/strong>” as “djadj” (a near rhyme with “badge” or “Madge), because both “d’s” are slender. \u00a0Another example of this sound in Irish would be “deo<\/strong>,” as in “go deo<\/strong>,” which, by the way, is not at all like Latin “deo<\/em>,” nor like Belafonte’s “Day-O!” for that matter.\u00a0 <tentative grin>.\u00a0\u00a0 Irish “deo<\/strong>” is closer to English “Joe” and it’s just one syllable.\u00a0 Additional examples of the slender “d” in Irish are: Diarmaid, deor, deas, dian<\/strong>, etc.\u00a0 By the way, that comparison is to English<\/em> “j,” not to “j” in Spanish or German, perhaps other languages, which would be a completely different sound.<\/p>\n

And now, the “broad d” of “Daid<\/strong>“:<\/p>\n

Daid<\/strong> (broad initial d): this is the “dental d,” meaning that as you pronounce it, the tip of the tongue is pressed against the back of the upper teeth.\u00a0 It’s about halfway between English “dinner” and “thinner.”\u00a0 Saying “back” of the upper teeth is almost superfluous here , since it would be just about impossible to say anything if you were pressing the tip of the tongue against the front of the upper teeth.\u00a0 Try it!\u00a0 This broad “d” sound is basically impossible to represent in standard Roman letters.\u00a0 We could use the actual International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), not the “Irish-modified” International Phonetic Alphabet, in which case, the symbol\u00a0 would be \/d\u032a\u02e0\/.\u00a0 That’s good and accurate and all, but a bit cumbersome for present purposes.\u00a0 In the Irish-modified IPA, “broad d” is simply represented by \/d\/, which doesn’t really tell us anything about the “dental” aspect.\u00a0 Also, I don’t want to mix my transcriptions with half-IPA, half-non-IPA, so I’ll stick to describing the sound and recommending listening to recordings of native speakers.<\/p>\n

So that’s the “d” sound at the beginning of the various words for Dad and Daddy–almost like a “j” for “Deaid<\/strong>”\u00a0 and “dental” for the first “d” of “Daid<\/strong>.”\u00a0 The second “d” of “Daid<\/strong>” is slender, and isn’t really our main focus here.\u00a0\u00a0 Now let’s look at those sounds in direct address.\u00a0 There’s a change both in spelling and pronunciation at the beginning of the word.\u00a0 In both cases, the spelling change is adding an “h” after the “d” (marking lenition or s\u00e9imhi\u00fa<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

For the slender “d,” the new sound (slender “dh”) is like English “y” as in the following basic phrase:<\/p>\n

Haigh, a Dheaid<\/strong>! [… uh yadj], “Hi, Dad!”<\/p>\n

Sl\u00e1n abhaile, a Dheaide<\/strong>! [… uh YADJ-uh], “Safe home, Dad!”<\/p>\n

L\u00e1 na nAithreacha Sona duit, a Dheaid\u00ed<\/strong>! [… uh YADJ-ee], “Happy Father’s Day, Daddy!”<\/p>\n

A transcription note before we proceed.\u00a0 The three examples above have a “y” sound as in English “yak” or “Yazoo.”\u00a0 The gamma sign (\/\u0263\/), used to transcribe the voiced velar fricative that we’ll discuss below, looks a lot like a “y” but please do note the difference.\u00a0 Visually the gamma sign is curvier at the bottom and in this font, at least, it’s perfectly vertical while the lower-case “y” is on a slant.<\/p>\n

So now we have the broad “dh” versions, with the guttural (voiced velar fricative) pronunciation, often described as “throaty.”\u00a0 This sound has been discussed in various previous blogs in this series (nasc 3 th\u00edos<\/strong>).\u00a0\u00a0 It’s a bit like the guttural “ch” of “Chutzpah<\/em>” and “Achtung<\/em>,” but a little softer and it comes from lower down in the throat.\u00a0 One good reason to master this sound is that then you can convincingly also say “Mo ghr\u00e1 th\u00fa<\/strong>” ([muh \u0263raw hoo], I love you!), since broad “gh-” has the same sound.\u00a0 This sound is also needed to talk to D\u00f3nal (a Dh\u00f3nail)<\/strong> or to Gr\u00e1inne (a Ghr\u00e1inne)<\/strong>, to say that you have two oxen (dh\u00e1 dhamh<\/strong>), to talk about an x-ray (x-gha<\/strong>) or to say that Scotty beamed you up “Gha-sheol Scotty an\u00edos m\u00e9<\/strong>” (for more on “ga-sheoladh<\/strong>,” check out yet another earlier blog, nasc 4 th\u00edos<\/strong>).\u00a0 At any rate, here are our examples for “Dad” and “Daddy” with the broad initial “d”:<\/p>\n

C\u00e1 bhfuil eochracha an chairr, a Dhaid<\/strong>? [… uh \u0263adj], Where are the car keys, Dad?<\/p>\n

T\u00e1 m\u00e9ad\u00fa i mo li\u00fantas de dh\u00edth orm, a Dhaid\u00ed<\/strong>! [… uh \u0263ADJ-ee] “I need an increase in my allowance, Daddy!”<\/p>\n

A Dhaide dh\u00edlis, \u00f3 a Dhaide dhil, a’ mb\u00edonn madra\u00ed ag briongl\u00f3ideach? \u00a0A’ bhfuil cluasa\u00a0ag lachain<\/strong>? ! [uh \u0263ADJ-uh; the full vocative phrases here are: uh \u0263ADJ-uh YEEL-ish, uh \u0263ADJ-uh yil], “Daddy dear, o Daddy dear, do dogs dream? Do ducks have ears?”\u00a0 In case you wondering about the surreal nature of that, you might want to go back and check out Sesame Street ca.\u00a0 1972 (“Daddy Dear, O Daddy Dear”). \u00a0You might remember how the man and little girl sang “dee, dee, dee, dee,” as the actual letters popped out on the screen.\u00a0 I can just imagine a chorus of children singing the voiced velar fricative version “dhaoi, dhaoi, dhaoi, dhaoi<\/strong>“!<\/p>\n

We could extend this to practice the word “Daideo<\/strong>” (Granddad or Grandpa), which has both a broad “d” (da-) and a slender “d” (-de-):<\/p>\n

L\u00e1 breithe sona duit, a Dhaideo<\/strong>!\u00a0 [… uh \u0263ADJ-oh], “Happy Birthday, Granddad!”<\/p>\n

Well, we haven’t exactly exhausted all the “Dad” possibilities, but I’d say we’ve made a good dent in the daddy paradigms and some of the pronunciation issues (broad and slender d, broad and slender lenited d).\u00a0\u00a0 One of these days we’ll catch up with the Irish for “Daddy-Long-Legs” (not a “daddy” word in Irish) and maybe even “sugar daddies.”\u00a0 And\/or the difference between “d\u00e1d\u00f3nna” and “daideonna.<\/strong>”\u00a0 Leid<\/strong>: they’re completely unrelated.\u00a0 \u00a0Unless “Daideo<\/strong>” is an “ailtire<\/strong>,” that is, in which case he might have built a “d\u00e1d\u00f3<\/strong>.”\u00a0 And still in the offing, “na Daid\u00edn\u00ed<\/strong>” as such. \u00a0\u00a0And maybe even “a Dhaid\u00edn<\/strong>” as part of an intriacht<\/strong>, which I’ve seen a few times ar an Idirl\u00edon<\/strong>, traceable back to one of our faithful readers (Mise\u00c1ine).\u00a0 SGF, R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gluais: ailtire<\/strong>, architect; gr\u00e1<\/strong>, love (becomes “ghr\u00e1<\/strong>” after “mo<\/strong>“); intriacht<\/strong>, interjection; mo,<\/strong> my; seoladh<\/strong>, sending, to send<\/p>\n

Freagra: a) “Ithimis, a Mham\u00f3!”<\/strong> means “Let’s eat, Grandma!”\u00a0 The second choice, “Ithimis Mam\u00f3!<\/strong>” means “Let’s eat Grandma!”<\/p>\n

Nascanna:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1) \u00a0\u00a0https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/deir-tusa-slan-deirimse-halo-saying-hello-and-goodbye-in-irish-cuid-a-do-goodbye\/<\/a> and https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/you-just-call-out-my-name-sa-tuiseal-gairmeach-of-course-in-irish-pt-1\/<\/a><\/p>\n

2) https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/when-is-an-athair-not-a-father-literally-that-is\/<\/a><\/p>\n

3) Maidir leis na cuimiltigh choguasacha<\/strong>: https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/saying-i-love-you-in-irish\/<\/a>, for which the subtitle is “and minding your velar fricatives,” so, yes, there is a connection<\/p>\n

4) Maidir le “ga-sheoladh”<\/strong> (lit. beam-sending), https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/%E2%80%9Cga-sheol-go-filideilfia-no-go-detroit-me-a-scotty-ta-me-ag-iarraidh-an-taispeantas-exhibition-%E2%80%98realtaistear%E2%80%99-a-fheiceail%E2%80%9D\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) Since June is m\u00ed L\u00e1 na nAithreacha, let’s look once more at the various words for “Dad” and “Daddy” \u00a0in Irish, specifically in direct address.\u00a0 So we’ll take a brief break from the Irish names we were working on in the last blog \u00a0(Se\u00e1n, Sin\u00e9ad, srl.) and their direct address forms (“Dia duit…<\/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":[3972,384297,384310,384294,289855,4676,384296,218992,384295,7368,289732,384311,384299,384298,9756,9758,4889,384313,289758,384303,289890,9757,289757,384304,384302,289891,289895,384312,289894,289892,289893,289896,172902,5142,111216,384309,5322,384308,111207,5466,374813,85,331880,5663,384301,9748,384300,9765,384305,11,6726,9292,289856,13056,384306,207457,111218,384307],"class_list":["post-4107","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-achtung","tag-ailtire","tag-allowance","tag-beam-me-up","tag-broad","tag-chutzpah","tag-coguasach","tag-comma","tag-cuimilteach","tag-dad","tag-daddy","tag-daddy-dear","tag-dado","tag-dadonna","tag-daid","tag-daide","tag-daideo","tag-daideonna","tag-daidi","tag-day-o","tag-deaid","tag-deaide","tag-deaidi","tag-dental","tag-deo","tag-dhaid","tag-dhaide","tag-dhaideo","tag-dhaidi","tag-dheaid","tag-dheaide","tag-dheaidi","tag-direct-address","tag-fathers-day","tag-fricative","tag-ga-sheoladh","tag-gamma","tag-gha-sheol","tag-ghra","tag-guttural","tag-haigh","tag-interjection","tag-intriacht","tag-ipa","tag-ithimis","tag-la-na-naithreacha","tag-lets-eat-grandma","tag-na-daidini","tag-phonetic","tag-pronunciation","tag-scotty","tag-sesame-street","tag-slender","tag-sona","tag-throaty","tag-velar","tag-voiced","tag-x-gha"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4107","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=4107"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8193,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4107\/revisions\/8193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}