{"id":7994,"date":"2016-06-05T19:42:25","date_gmt":"2016-06-05T19:42:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=7994"},"modified":"2016-06-12T18:18:53","modified_gmt":"2016-06-12T18:18:53","slug":"pronunciation-guide-for-30-teideal-scannan-flower-terms-and-miscellaneous-irish-pronunciation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/pronunciation-guide-for-30-teideal-scannan-flower-terms-and-miscellaneous-irish-pronunciation\/","title":{"rendered":"Pronunciation Guide for ’30 Teideal Scann\u00e1n’ — Flower Terms and Miscellaneous Irish Pronunciation"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"grafaic:<\/a>

(grafaic: http:\/\/www.clker.com\/clipart-people-talking.html)<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

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

Before wrapping up our recent films and flowers theme, I figured it might be helpful to look at a couple of the more unusual pronunciations.\u00a0 So here are my top ten contenders for the least intuitive spellings of the phrases we used recently.<\/p>\n

As you can see, some of the phrases are a little more awesome-looking because they have mutations at the beginning to show changes in how the words are used in the sentence.\u00a0 If we look at “g\u00e1ma-ghathanna<\/strong>” instead of “ng\u00e1ma-ghathanna<\/strong>,” it’s not quite so complex.\u00a0 Similarly “Tr\u00e1 L\u00ed<\/strong>” is probably more familiar-looking than “Thr\u00e1 L\u00ed<\/strong>” and likewise, “bl\u00e1tha\u00edonn<\/strong>” instead of “a bhl\u00e1tha\u00edonn<\/strong>” or “a mbl\u00e1tha\u00edonn<\/strong>.”\u00a0 But nevertheless, this is exactly what Irish does all the time.\u00a0 “Madra<\/strong>” (dog) becomes “mhadra<\/strong>” (say: WAH-druh) in phrases like “mo mhadra<\/strong>” (my dog) and “Gaillimh<\/strong>” becomes “i nGaillimh<\/strong>” (say: ing-AHL-yiv) for “in Galway.”\u00a0 Welcome to Irish!<\/p>\n

1) cla\u00edomh<\/strong>, three vowels in a row, but one of them has the long mark, so that’s the one that really tells us how to pronounce the word: kleev.\u00a0 This word is a distant cousin of the Latin ‘gladius<\/em>,’ a clue to its meaning, which is “sword.” (An Cla\u00edomh agus an R\u00f3s<\/em><\/strong>)<\/p>\n

2) na dTi\u00failip\u00ed<\/strong>, from the phrase “Aimsir na dTi\u00failip\u00ed<\/strong>.\u00a0 If start with the basics, we have “ti\u00failip<\/strong>” (a tulip), “ti\u00failip\u00ed<\/strong>” (tulips), and finally, “na dti\u00failip\u00ed<\/strong> [nuh Dy<\/sup>OO-lip-ee]” (of the tulips).\u00a0 The key point is that the letter “t” is silent once it gets covered over with the letter “d” (because of the “ur\u00fa<\/strong>“).\u00a0 Also, this is a “slender” d, so it’s more like the Irish and British pronunciation of words like “dew” or “duke,” which I have indicated with the superscript “y.”\u00a0 Of course, it’s also the slender “d” of thousands of Irish words, like “deas<\/strong>” or “deisigh<\/strong>” or “Diarmaid<\/strong>,” but my point is that we do<\/em> have this sound in English as well.\u00a0 This “d” sound is not<\/em> the pronunciation John Wayne would have used for “duke” if he had said he was going to “duke it out with someone.”<\/p>\n

Remember also, “aimsir<\/strong>” can mean “time” as well as “weather,” so this phrase literally means, “the time of the tulips.” \u00a0(An Ollainn in Aimsir na dTi\u00failip\u00ed<\/strong><\/em>)<\/p>\n

3) Luaithr\u00edona<\/strong>, based on the word “luaith<\/strong> [LOO-uh]” (ashes), this is the Irish for “Cinderella.”\u00a0 The “th” is silent in both words; there may be a slight puff of breath as it’s pronounced, but not much.\u00a0 The ending is as in names like Caitr\u00edona<\/strong> or Lasair\u00edona<\/strong>. \u00a0(An Slip\u00e9ar agus an R\u00f3s: Sc\u00e9al Luaithr\u00edona<\/strong><\/em>)<\/p>\n

4) na nG\u00e1ma-ghathanna<\/strong>.\u00a0 First, let’s undo the ur\u00fa<\/strong>\u00a0(which changed the first “g” to “ng.”\u00a0\u00a0 Let’s also undo the s\u00e9imhi\u00fa<\/strong> that changed the second “g” to “gh”.\u00a0 Then let’s split the compound word apart, and we simply have “g\u00e1ma<\/strong>” [GAW-muh] and “gathanna<\/strong>” [GAH-huh-nuh], the plural of “ga<\/strong>,” which means “a ray.”<\/p>\n

With the mutations, we have an “ng” sound as in “singing” and a “gh” sound that doesn’t exist in English.\u00a0 This “gh” is a bit like the guttural “ch” in “Chutzpah” or “Challah” or “das Buch<\/em>” or Welsh “bobl bach<\/em>,” but it’s a little softer and deeper in the throat.\u00a0 It occurs constantly in Irish, in phrases like “An Ghaeilge<\/strong>,” “a Ghr\u00e1inne<\/strong>,” “a ghr\u00e1<\/strong>,” and “mo gh\u00far\u00fa<\/strong>” (my guru).\u00a0 Phonetically, it’s the voiced velar fricative, show in IPA as \/\u0263\/, but I’ll just stick to using the “gh” here.\u00a0 So for “na nG\u00e1ma-ghathanna<\/strong>,” say “nung-AWM-uh-GHAH-huh-nuh.”\u00a0 The “t” is completely silent.\u00a0 Its meaning is pretty straightforward, all things considered– “gamma-rays.”\u00a0 Those “uh’s” are pronounced like the “u” in “fun” or the “a” in “about” (not<\/em> as in “put” or as in the German “Huhn<\/em>“).\u00a0 (\u00c9ifeacht na nG\u00e1ma-ghathanna ar Phlanda\u00ed \u00d3r Muire D\u00f3nall-na-Geala\u00ed<\/strong><\/em>)<\/p>\n

5) Cruach<\/strong>, say “KRr<\/sup>OO-ukh,” meaning “steel” or “of steel.”\u00a0 Here we have the “flapped” (slightly trilled) Irish “r” and the “ch” sound described above (as in Chutzpah, Challah, das Buch<\/em>, and bobl bach<\/em>). (Magn\u00f3ilianna Cruach<\/strong><\/em>)<\/p>\n

6) N\u00e1 hIth<\/strong>, say: “naw hih,” with the second “h” just like a bit of breath.\u00a0 The “t” is completely silent.\u00a0 Why do we have that initial “h” anyway (if “Ith!<\/strong>” means “Eat!”)?\u00a0 “N\u00e1” here means “don’t” and it causes an “h” to be prefixed before vowels.\u00a0 We see this also in “N\u00e1 h\u00f3l sin!<\/strong>” (Don’t drink that!) and “N\u00e1 habair \u00e9!<\/strong>” (Don’t mention it!).\u00a0 (N\u00e1 hIth na n\u00f3in\u00edn\u00ed, le do thoil!<\/em><\/strong>)<\/p>\n

7) a Bhl\u00e1tha\u00edonn<\/strong>, as in Nuair a Bhl\u00e1tha\u00edonn Na Poip\u00edn\u00ed Ar\u00eds<\/strong><\/em>. \u00a0From the verb “bl\u00e1thaigh<\/strong>” ([BLAW-hee], bloom, blossom), based on “bl\u00e1th<\/strong>” (a flower).\u00a0 “Bl\u00e1tha\u00edonn<\/strong>” ([BLAW-hee-un]) means “blooms” (as in “This flower blooms in April”). \u00a0In this movie title, we have s\u00e9imhi\u00fa<\/strong> after “nuair a<\/strong>,” so the phrase is pronounced “uh VLAW-hee-un.”<\/p>\n

8) ina mBl\u00e1tha\u00edonn<\/strong>, as in An \u00c1it ina mBl\u00e1tha\u00edonn na Lil\u00ed<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0(lit. the place in which the lilies bloom).\u00a0 Here we have ur\u00fa<\/strong>, changing the initial “b” to “mb,” so we say “IN-uh MLAW-hee-un.”\u00a0 The “b” is silent and only the inital “m” is now pronounced.<\/p>\n

9) ar an nGaoth<\/strong>, meaning “on the wind,” from “gaoth<\/strong>” (wind).\u00a0 Say: erzh<\/sup> ung EE.\u00a0 The “th” is silent and the “ng” really flows from the preceding “n” sound.\u00a0 (Peitil ar an nGaoth).<\/p>\n

10) Thr\u00e1 L\u00ed<\/strong>, meaning “of Tralee.” The only tricky thing is the “t” is now silent, because of the s\u00e9imhi\u00fa.\u00a0 So the initial sound is really like “hraw,” with a flapped “r”, giving us “hrr<\/sup>aw lee.” \u00a0\u00a0(R\u00f3s Thr\u00e1 L\u00ed).<\/p>\n

I hope that was helpful. \u00a0Of course, if all of these movies were dubbed into Irish, all we’d have to do is listen! \u00a0—\u00a0R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) Before wrapping up our recent films and flowers theme, I figured it might be helpful to look at a couple of the more unusual pronunciations.\u00a0 So here are my top ten contenders for the least intuitive spellings of the phrases we used recently. As you can see, some of the phrases are a…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":7997,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[2132,332174,9611,5667,11,307154,30166],"class_list":["post-7994","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-film","tag-flapped","tag-flower","tag-irish","tag-pronunciation","tag-title","tag-voiced-velar-fricative"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7994","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=7994"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7994\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8002,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7994\/revisions\/8002"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}