{"id":7079,"date":"2015-08-31T01:59:36","date_gmt":"2015-08-31T01:59:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=7079"},"modified":"2015-09-04T02:06:48","modified_gmt":"2015-09-04T02:06:48","slug":"how-to-pronounce-leathbheart-i-mbeart-and-other-consonant-clusters-in-irish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/how-to-pronounce-leathbheart-i-mbeart-and-other-consonant-clusters-in-irish\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Pronounce ‘Leathbheart,’ ‘i mbeart,” and Other Consonant Clusters in Irish\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

In today’s blog we’ll look at how to pronounce words\u00a0 and phrases like “leathbheart<\/strong>” and “i mbeart<\/strong>.”\u00a0 “Leathbheart<\/strong>” is a classic example of “lenition,” or the “softening” (s\u00e9imhi\u00fa<\/strong>) of the sounds of certain Irish consonants.\u00a0 And the phrase “i mbeart<\/strong>” is a classic example of “eclipsis” (ur\u00fa<\/strong>), which is covering over the sound of the original consonant, much like the covering of the sun or the moon during an eclipse.<\/p>\n

LENITION (S\u00c9IMHI\u00da)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Let’s start with lenition.\u00a0 As you may already know, when you see an Irish word with a consonant followed by the letter “h,” the consonant has usually been “lenited.”\u00a0 This can apply to nine consonants in Irish: b, c, d, f, g, m, p, s, t.\u00a0\u00a0 Today’s blog will primarily be concerned with the combination “bh,” since that applies to the compound words based on “beart<\/strong>” (byte).<\/p>\n

When this “bh” cluster is followed by the vowel “e,” it is pronounced like a “v.”\u00a0 You might have already seen and heard this in phrases like “mo bhean<\/strong>” (my wife, my woman) or “mo bh\u00e9ir\u00edn<\/strong>” (my teddybear).\u00a0 So remember all those “byte” words we did last time?\u00a0 Here they are again with a pronunciation guide:<\/p>\n

leathbheart <\/strong>[ly<\/sup>\u00e6-vy<\/sup>art, with the vy<\/sup> pronounced like the “v” in “view,” not as in “voodoo“]<\/strong>– nibble, nybble (in computing), lit. “half-byte”<\/p>\n

The ” vy<\/sup> ” sound will apply to all the compound words below.\u00a0 BTW, there is a similar approach to pronouncing “leath-<\/strong>” — the “l” is like the double “l” in “million” or “billion.”\u00a0 So we have this sound in English but we usually don’t see it at the beginning of a word.\u00a0 The “-th” in this word is silent.\u00a0 “Leath-<\/strong>” means “half” and is found in numerous compound words, like “leathuair<\/strong>” (a half hour), “leathcheann<\/strong>” (profile of the head, lit. half-head), and “leathdhuine<\/strong>” (half-wit, lit. half-person).<\/p>\n

The “ea” sound in “leath<\/strong>-” isn’t quite the same as the “ea” sound in “bheart<\/strong>.”\u00a0 In “leath<\/strong>-,” it’s like the “ea” in Irish “bean<\/strong>” or “deas<\/strong>,” or like the English “bat” or “cat.”\u00a0 In “beart<\/strong>,” it’s like the “ea” in Irish “neart<\/strong>” or “ceart<\/strong>” or like the “a” in English “art” or “cart.”<\/p>\n

beart, <\/strong>no lenition here unless we skip to the “tuiseal ginideach<\/strong>” form, where we could have a phrase like “giot\u00e1in an bhirt<\/strong>” (the bits of the byte).<\/p>\n

cilibheart <\/strong>[KIL-ih–<\/strong>VY<\/sup>ART]<\/p>\n

meigibheart<\/strong> [MEG-ih–<\/strong>VY<\/sup>ART]<\/p>\n

gigibheart <\/strong>[GIG-ih–<\/strong>VY<\/sup>ART]<\/p>\n

teiribheart<\/strong> [TCH<\/sup>ERZH<\/sup>-ih–<\/strong>VY<\/sup>ART]<\/p>\n

peitibheart <\/strong>[PETCH<\/sup>-ih–<\/strong>VY<\/sup>ART]<\/p>\n

(exabyte)<\/p>\n

zeitibheart <\/strong>[ZETCH<\/sup>-ih–<\/strong>VY<\/sup>ART<\/p>\n

(yottabyte)<\/p>\n

As you may recall, I couldn’t find an official Irish term yet for “exabyte” or “yottabyte.”\u00a0 I don’t think it’ll keep me “i mo shu\u00ed<\/strong>” all through the night, but I am fiosrach<\/strong> to see what emerges.<\/p>\n

ECLIPSIS (UR\u00da)<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n

One of the other major changes that happens to the beginning of Irish words is “ur\u00fa<\/strong>” (eclipsis).\u00a0 The phrase “i mbeart<\/strong>” is a good example, as are phrases like “i mBost\u00fan<\/strong>” and “i mBaile \u00c1tha Cliath<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

With ur\u00fa<\/strong>, the new consonant covers over the sound of the original consonant.\u00a0 So for “i mbeart<\/strong>,” the ‘b” is no longer pronounced and the “m” is the only consonant sound at the beginning of the word.\u00a0 It sounds like “ih my<\/sup>art,” with the “my<\/sup>” sound like the “m” in “muse” or “museum,” not like English “my” or “moo.”<\/p>\n

In other blogs, we’ve already looked at eclipsis for other consonants besides “b,” but for now, “b” is our emphasis.\u00a0 In a nutshell, the others are (c, i gcaife; d, i nDoire; f, an bhf\u00e1gann s\u00e9…?, g, ocht ngiot\u00e1n, p, i bPeiri\u00fa, and t, seacht dteach<\/strong>) and no doubt, we’ll be seeing them ar\u00eds agus ar\u00eds eile<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Of those additional examples, “ocht ngiot\u00e1n<\/strong>” is the most relevant to our current discussion.\u00a0 Remember what it means?\u00a0 If not, here’s a “leid<\/strong>“:<\/p>\n

T\u00e1 ocht ngiot\u00e1n i mbeart<\/strong>. There are eight ________ in a byte.<\/p>\n

Still stumped?\u00a0 Check an ghluais th\u00edos. Bhuel<\/strong>, I guess I’ve used my share of giot\u00e1in <\/strong>and bearta<\/strong> in writing this, so for now, I’ll sign off.\u00a0 SGF — R\u00f3isl\u00edn \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gluais: ceann<\/strong>, head; duine<\/strong>, person; f\u00e1gann<\/strong>, leaves (verb); giot\u00e1n<\/strong>, a bit (in computing; based on “giota<\/strong>,” a small bit or piece of something.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) In today’s blog we’ll look at how to pronounce words\u00a0 and phrases like “leathbheart” and “i mbeart.”\u00a0 “Leathbheart” is a classic example of “lenition,” or the “softening” (s\u00e9imhi\u00fa) of the sounds of certain Irish consonants.\u00a0 And the phrase “i mbeart” is a classic example of “eclipsis” (ur\u00fa), which is covering over the sound…<\/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":[315963,390369,390390,8667,390404,5878,390395,273850,390406],"class_list":["post-7079","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-beart","tag-bearta","tag-byte","tag-eclipsis","tag-half-byte","tag-lenition","tag-mbeart","tag-nibble","tag-nybble"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t