{"id":6427,"date":"2015-02-27T05:18:17","date_gmt":"2015-02-27T05:18:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=6427"},"modified":"2015-10-01T16:34:06","modified_gmt":"2015-10-01T16:34:06","slug":"irish-pronunciation-round-up-for-o-uncail-oscar-go-garmhac-fhionn-mhic-cumhaill-the-irish-roots-of-the-name-oscar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/irish-pronunciation-round-up-for-o-uncail-oscar-go-garmhac-fhionn-mhic-cumhaill-the-irish-roots-of-the-name-oscar\/","title":{"rendered":"Irish Pronunciation Round-up for “\u00d3 ‘Uncail Oscar’ go garmhac Fhionn Mhic Cumhaill: The Irish Roots of the Name ‘Oscar’"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

How do you pronounce “garmhac<\/strong>,” “gheimhri\u00fail<\/strong>,” “othar<\/strong>,” “Cumhall<\/strong>” and “Cumhaill<\/strong>“?\u00a0 Does “uncail<\/strong>” in Irish sound any different from “uncle” in English?\u00a0 And can we depend on “Oscar<\/strong>” in Irish sounding like “Oscar” in English?\u00a0 What about when it’s “Oscair<\/strong>“?<\/p>\n

This blog will look at a few pronunciation issues for some of the Irish words in the most recent blog.\u00a0 May as well proceed in the order the words appear in the title and the first paragraphs of the blog:<\/p>\n

1) garmhac<\/strong> [gahr-wahk], grandson. The main thing here is that the “mh” is pronounced like a “w” (or a “v,” depending on dialect).\u00a0 \u00a0Also, remember this is a compound word, literally meaning “near\/approximate-son,” so it doesn’t follow the usual “-rm” pronunciation rules we find in words like “orm<\/strong>” and “gorm<\/strong>”\u00a0 Those two words\u00a0 have an additional “uh” sound between the “r” and the “m,” giving us “orm<\/strong>” [OR-um, meaning “on me”] and “gorm<\/strong>” [GOR-um, meaning “blue”].\u00a0 With “garmhac<\/strong>,” the “r” to “m” sequence is basically a coincidence, since “gar<\/strong>” happens to end with “r” and “mac<\/strong>” (lenited as “mhac<\/strong>“) happens to start with “m.”\u00a0 Other “gar<\/strong>-” words?\u00a0\u00a0 There are several, including garin\u00edon, garmheastach\u00e1n, garph\u00e1irc<\/strong>, and garthimpeallacht<\/strong>.
\n2) gheimhri\u00fail<\/strong> [YEV-rzh<\/sup>oo-il], “wintry,” based on the adjective “geimhri\u00fail<\/strong>” [GEV-rzh<\/sup>oo-il], winter.\u00a0 The “oo-il” part really runs together, barely two syllables.<\/p>\n

The “g” [hard “g” sound] becomes “gh” [“y” sound, so “gheimh<\/strong>-” sounds like “yev”] after “aimsir<\/strong>” [AM -shirzh<\/sup>], since “aimsir<\/strong>” is feminine.<\/p>\n

And what’s that word for winter, that this is based on?\u00a0 __ e i m __ rea __\u00a0 __ (freagra th\u00edos)<\/strong><\/p>\n

3) othar<\/strong> [UH-hur], “a patient.”\u00a0 The key thing here is that the “t” is silent, so we have, approximately “UH-hur.”\u00a0 The “o” is the same as in the Irish “pota<\/strong>.”\u00a0 I can’t indicate it with “oh,” since most English speakers would pronounce that as in “Oh my!”<\/p>\n

We see this word repeated in such comhfhocail<\/strong> as: othar__ann, othar__harr<\/strong>, and othar__heomra<\/strong>.\u00a0 And these mean …? (freagra\u00ed th\u00edos)<\/strong><\/p>\n

4) Cumhall<\/strong>, the name of Fionn Mac Cumhaill’s father, pronounced “KOO-ull,” with the “mh” like a “w.”\u00a0 The “l” sound is broad, as in “\u00fall<\/strong>” or “ball<\/strong>,” but not as in “s\u00fail<\/strong>” or “baill<\/strong>,” which have “slender l’s.” \u00a0For more on the broad “l,” please see the note below, on the “Louisville L.”<\/p>\n

5) Cumhaill<\/strong>: That broad “l” sound changes when we say “Fionn Mac Cumhaill<\/strong>,” since “Cumhaill<\/strong>” now has a slender “l,” with the “-ill” spelling showing that “Fionn<\/strong>” is the “son of” Cumhaill<\/strong> (Mac Cumhaill<\/strong>).\u00a0 Just like, in more typical modern names, McManus, the son of “M\u00e1nas<\/strong>” [MAWN-uss], is “Mac M\u00e1nais<\/strong>” [mahk MAWN-ish, with “-ish” not “-uss”] and “Johnson” is “Mac Se\u00e1in<\/strong>,” based on “Se\u00e1n<\/strong>,” but with a slender “n” at the end.<\/p>\n

So for the slight distinction of “Cumhaill<\/strong>,” I’d suggest imagining another syllable, as if it were “Cumhaill<\/strong>-ya,” but then don’t pronounce the “-ya.”<\/p>\n

I was just about to say that you might not need that subtle distinction that much in modern daily life, since I don’t seem to meet that many people with the surname “McCool.”\u00a0 Then I figured I’d check the name out online, just in case.\u00a0 At least five well known persons with the anglicized form of this surname showed up: Billy McCool (baseball), Colin McCool (cricket), Courtney McCool (gymnastics), Michelle McCool (wrestling), and, sad to note, the late William Cameron McCool, pilot of the Space Shuttle Columbia.<\/p>\n

The story gets even more complicated, since we have such spellings as Mac Giolla Chomhaill<\/strong> for “Mac Cool” and even “Mac Dh\u00faghaill<\/strong>” for “Coole.”\u00a0 So how does “Dh\u00faghaill<\/strong>” end up sounding like “Coole”? \u00a0Bhuel<\/strong>, the “dh” is our old friend from previous blogs, the voiced velar fricative, which means, in practical terms, that some people “gargle” the sound and some people, in essence, swallow it.\u00a0 So it can be silent or nearly silent, although technically it shouldn’t be.\u00a0 The “-gh-” of “Dh\u00faghaill<\/strong>” can also legitimately be silent, leaving us with an “-ool” sound.\u00a0 We tack that on to the “c” of “Mac<\/strong>” and voil\u00e0<\/em>, “Coole.”\u00a0 The same core of the surname, meaning “black-haired foreigner,” also shows up, perhaps more familiarly in the name “Doyle” (\u00d3 D\u00faghaill<\/strong>), but that’s \u00e1bhar blag eile<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

And then, there were the cartoon characters “Cool McCool” (“Cumhall Mac Cumhaill<\/strong>,” if we could gaelicize the name!) and his father, “Harry McCool.”\u00a0 And “Droopy McCool” from Star Wars<\/em>‘ Max Rebo Band, who, in true lost bagpiper Celtic fashion, apparently is still heard playing his pipes on the deserts of Tatooine, although no one has seen him for ages, whatever “ages” means in futuristic-seeming past time (fad\u00f3 fad\u00f3 i r\u00e9altra i bhfad i bhfad uainn<\/strong>).\u00a0 Hmmm, looking at the other band members, I see there’s Doda Bodonawieedo, but this being a family-blog, I’m not going to cross-examine that name from an Irish language perspective.<\/p>\n

6) As for distinguishing Irish “uncail<\/strong>” from English “uncle,” well, the difference is very subtle.\u00a0 Just as a reminder, the “l” of “uncail<\/strong>” is slender, like the “l” of “s\u00fail<\/strong>” or “scoil<\/strong>,” so it has a little of the “yuh” quality, stopping short just before saying the “yuh.”<\/p>\n

And finally, for today, pronouncing “Oscar<\/strong>” in English and Irish — not a huge difference.<\/p>\n

7) \u00a0Oscar<\/strong>: in English the “o” is more of an “ah” sound whereas in Irish, it’s a true “short o” sound, as in “pota<\/strong>” or “lofa<\/strong>.”\u00a0 The “r” of the Irish “Oscar<\/strong>” is flapped (the slightly trilled), like the beginning of the Spanish trilled “r” in words like “perro<\/em>.”<\/p>\n

8) Oscair<\/strong>: in Irish, this is the possessive and vocative form of the name, so to quote the last blog, we use this form to say:<\/p>\n

ascaill Oscair<\/strong>: Oscar’s armpit (love that near-alliteration!)<\/p>\n

Dia dhuit, a Oscair<\/strong>: Hello, Oscar<\/p>\n

So now the final “r” is slender, which gives us a sound which is virtually unknown in English.\u00a0 In previous blogs, I’ve suggested the pronunciation of the Czech name “Ji\u0159\u00ed<\/em>” as a parallel.\u00a0 I represent this sound in my rough pronunciation guide, in square brackets, with “zh,” often as a superscript.\u00a0 It’s like the French “j” as in “Jacques” combined with an “r.”<\/p>\n

Well, that’s another sample of Irish pronunciation, reminding us that Irish has many silent consonants and surprising sounds, from an English perspective.\u00a0 But there is a system, and most pronunciations can be explained by rialacha<\/strong>.\u00a0 It’s just that there’s a lot of them!<\/p>\n

Now if you were Fionn<\/strong>, addressing your grandson as “grandson,” you’d actually say “a gharmhic<\/strong>.” \u00a0Unless, you’re Fionn<\/strong> speaking Conamara Irish, in which case you’d probably say “a gharmhac<\/strong>.”\u00a0 But the “a mhic-a mhac<\/strong>–avick<\/em>” scenario will have to wait for blag \u00e9igin eile.\u00a0 SGF — R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

N\u00f3ta maidir leis an “L” i “Louisville”<\/strong>: The “broad” Irish “l” always reminds me of the distinctive pronunciation some English speakers have for the “L” of “Louisville.” \u00a0Other than this example, there’s very little in English that really sounds like a broad Irish “l.” \u00a0You can hear a couple of examples at the “Louisville” Wikipedia page — contrast the “local” sounds to the pronunciation sample representing “others.”\u00a0 If you’re really intrigued by the “Louisville L,” check out the “Louisville Gear” website, which offers gift items with five (count ’em) alternate spellings of the place name, including “Luhvul” and “Looavul,” which illustrate my point well.\u00a0 And yes, the various items are nicely designed and colorful, pretty impressive when you consider that what they’re illustrating is the velarized alveolar lateral approximant.<\/p>\n

Anyway, this broad Irish “l,” is needless to say, the opposite of the slender Irish “l,” which we hear in “bairille<\/strong>” and “tu\u00e1ille<\/strong>.”\u00a0 Those two always remind me of “l” in “Ilya,” if we could pronounce it without the final “-ya.” \u00a0Curiously, when I listened to the four pronunciations of “Louisville Slugger” on Forvo, none of them had this feature, although the one person pronouncing “University of Louisville” did.<\/p>\n

Freagra\u00ed<\/strong><\/p>\n

1) geimhreadh<\/strong> (winter)<\/p>\n

2) otharlann<\/strong> (hospital, infirmary); otharcharr<\/strong> (ambulance), otharsheomra<\/strong> (sick bay, lit. “sickroom”)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) How do you pronounce “garmhac,” “gheimhri\u00fail,” “othar,” “Cumhall” and “Cumhaill“?\u00a0 Does “uncail” in Irish sound any different from “uncle” in English?\u00a0 And can we depend on “Oscar” in Irish sounding like “Oscar” in English?\u00a0 What about when it’s “Oscair“? This blog will look at a few pronunciation issues for some of the Irish…<\/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":[376479,376478,390477,390475,390476,376464,25444,11],"class_list":["post-6427","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-cumhaill","tag-cumhall","tag-looavul","tag-louisville","tag-luhvul","tag-oscair","tag-oscar","tag-pronunciation"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6427","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=6427"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6427\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7142,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6427\/revisions\/7142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}