Aids to the Pronunciation of Irish/Chapter 10

by the Christian Brothers

CHAPTER X.

Digraphs.

79. We have already shown in Chapter VIII. how glides are formed, and we have also explained why it is not necessary to write the glides in English, whilst it is necessary to do so in Irish; consequently there are a large number of digraphs in Irish, for it is frequently necessary to join a slender consonant to a broad vowel, and vice versa. The digraphs used in Modern Irish are eá, eo, iú, ái, úi, ae, aí, ia, ío, ói, ui, ea, ai, iu, and ei. If one of the vowels of the digraph carries a síneaḋ—e.g., ái, iú, ói, &c, there is no difficulty in recognising which is the vowel and which the glide; but when there is not a síneaḋ the matter is not quite so easy—e.g., in

liom, “o” is the vowel and “i” the glide, whilst in fios, “i” is the vowel and “o” the glide.

80. Before dealing with the sounds of the digraphs and trigraphs in detail it is well to give some drill exercises in joining a slender consonant to a broad vowel, and vice versa.

Examples similar to the following should be frequently written on the blackboard by the teacher.

The glides are printed in small type, and the student is not to pronounce them. As previously explained their sole function is to indicate the broadness or slenderness of the consonants.

81. (1)	Ó	(2)	Ó	(3)	Ó
	CÓ		BÓ		DÓ
	ÓG		ÓR		DeÓ
	CeÓ		BeÓ		ÓR
	ÓiG		ÓiR		ÓiR
	CÓG		BOR		DÓR
	CeÓG		BeÓR		DeÓR
	CÓiG		BÓiR		DÓiR
	CeÓiG		BeÓiR		DeÓiR
(4)	Ú	(5)	Ó	(6)	Ó
	GÚ		ÓL		FÓ
	US		sÓ		FeÓ
	GÚS		ÓiL		FóL
	ÚiS		SeÓ		FeÓL
	GiÚS		SeÓiL		FeÓiL
	GiÚiSe		SeÓLTA		FeÓLA

(7)	Ó	(8)	an	(9)	ar
	NÓ		ann		ara
	ÓN		rann		cara
	NÓN		reann		cairde
	NeÓN		treann		cairdeas
	NÓiN		streann		cairdeaṁail
	NeÓiN		streannc		cairdeaṁlaċt
	NÓiNÍN		streanncán		eascairdeas
			streanncán ceoil		eascairdeaṁail

EA.

82. It has been already pointed out in § 12 that there is no single character to represent the first or low caol vowel. The long sound of this vowel is heard in the words “father” “rather” “farther” as pronounced by country people. The position and shape of the tongue necessary for the production of this vowel have been already described. The digraphs ea and ai denote the short sound of this vowel when there are no disturbing influences due to the consonants. Ea is preceded by a slender consonant and followed by a broad one, whilst ai is preceded by a broad consonant and followed by a slender one.

bean	cead	fear	peata
cearc	mear	neart	greama
geata	meala	geal	scread
gearraḋ	leat	fearra	speal
lear	reaṫa	seas	creasa
leasa	gean	feasa	gealt
lean

83. In the following cases disturbing influences exist :—

(a) Ea, accented, and in first syllable, followed by a protected liquid, or by ḃ, ṁ, and a vowel or liquid is pronounced like ou in “house.” Ṁ produces a nasal diphthong (§ 14).

seaḃaċ	leaḃar	meaḃar
leaṁnaċt	cleaṁnas	geaṁar
ceann	peann	gleann
geall	meall	ceanntar

For a long list of words refer to § 60 also to § 75.

(b) When not in first syllable, ea followed by ḃ, ṁ, &c, = ú.

duilleaḃar	laeṫeaṁail	flaiṫeaṁail
biṫeaṁnaċ	croiḋeaṁail	breiṫeaṁnas

For longer list refer to § 62.

(c) When ea accented is followed by the broad gutturals ċ, g, ng (the ng not being final—Munster), the e is a mere glide and the a, if the ea be initial, gets the sound of the first a in “capall,” otherwise it gets a slightly flatter sound (Ulster, Munster, and Connaught).

eagla	eagal	eaglais
eagailse	eagair	teaċtaire
leag	ceaċt	creaċ
beaċ	teaċt	imṫeaċt
seaċain	teanga	seaċt
sceaċ	ceangail	freagra

(d) Beag=beog, seaċas (i.e., Seaċ)=seoċas (eo in deoċ § 100 (a)), In bead (C. béad), “e” is the vowel, and “a” the glide; eala=ala, ealaḋa=alaí.

(e) Ea = í + broad glide in: inġean,^[1] doilġeas, faiṫċeas, inḃear, coitċeann(ta). Refer to § 71.

84. Ea (unaccented). The e is a glide, and the a=the second a in “capall,” (Ulster, Munster and Connaught).

aistear	seisean	feiseanna
creideann	aingeal	cairdeas
páirceanna	áiteaċa	ṁilleas

AI.

85. Except in the cases mentioned below, ai, accented, has the short sound of the first caol vowel, preceded by a broad consonant and, followed by a slender one (Ulster, Munster, and Connaught).

aigneaḋ	ais	ait
aiteas	ainm	aistear
saic	tais	aibiġ
faic	ainnir	daingean
aingeal	aisce	taisce

(a) In Ulster, Munster, and Connaught ai=e in air, aige, aici; (and in raiḃ in Munster and Connaught).

(b) In Ulster ai in the following words:=“e” in “error,” “enter:” aire, faire, airgead, baile, ainm, aiṫne, aimsir, ṫainic (Craig).

(c) In the following words “a” is a mere glide, and “i” is the vowel in Minister:—

bain, faide, glaise, glaine, caime agaiḃ.

ai=í in crainn, gaill, baill, daill. Refer to § 67 (c).

86. Ai following a labial (b, p, m, f), or a guttural gets the sound of the first a in capall, and the “i” is a mere glide.

bail	blais	bainne
baile	caibidil	caidreaṁ
caise	caiseal	caismirt
cairrgeaċ	faire	fairrge
fairsing	flaiṫ[2]	flaiṫeas[2]
faitċeas	gairid	gaisce
Gailliṁ	mair	mairg
maidin	maide	mairḃ
maiseaṁail	maiṫ[2]	maiṫeas[2]
paidir	paiste	caiṫ[2]

87. Ai followed by a protected liquid or by Ḋ, Ġ, ḃ+a vowel or liquid is pronounced î = “i” in “high.”

aiġneas	laiġin	aiḃne
maiġdean	saiḋḃir	Taiḋg
aimsir	caill	cainnt
baintreaċ	sainnt	gaiḃne

For longer list of words refer to § 67.

(a) In Ulster ai followed by ṫ or ġ=î.

(b) In Desmond, ai=í in snaiḋm, saiġead, claiḋeaṁ. saiḋḃir and saiḋḃreas = sever and seviruss. In Desi saiḋḃir=sîr.

88. Ai, unaccented: a is a glide, and i the vowel (in Ulster, Munster and Connaught).

obair	ċonnaic	feadair
capaill	laḃair	leaḃair
socair	Gobnait	seasaiṁ

UI.

89. In this digraph the “u” is always the glide and the “i” the vowel (in Connaught and Munster).

buile	buille	cluig
cuisle	cnuic	cuilm
cuid	cluiṫċe	cuir
fuil	fuinneog	guiḋ
guirt	guirm	Muire
muin	muir	muirġin
muileann	Muiris	luisne
guib	duine	puirt
ruip	tuit	uisce

(a) In Ulster “u” of the digraph “ui” is often the vowel, and “i” the glide: muinntir, fuinneog, fuinnseog, fuiseog, cuid, cuisle, buideal, buinim, &c. In the following words “i” is the vowel: uisce, uilig, tuile, druim, ruibe, duine, cuiṁne, cruinn, tuig, duilleog, &c. (Craig).

90. When Ui is followed by a protected liquid, or by ḃ, ṁ, Ġ, Ḋ, + a vowel or liquid, the “u” remains a mere glide, but the “i” is lengthened to í.

Muiṁneaċ	buiḋe	dliġe
druim	sliġe	suim
luiḃeanna	suiḋe	luiġe

buiḋean	bruiġean	fuiġleaċ
guiḋe	muinntir	fuinnseog
cuiṁne	críostuiḋe	scéaluiḋe

For longer list refer to § 72.

The “i” of “ui” is short in scéaluiḋṫe, críostuiḋṫe, &c, the ṫ not being a vowel or liquid.

(a)	buiḋeaċ	=baoċ	$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$	Munster.
	buiḋeaċas	=baoċas

Amuiġ=Amuí in Connaught, but amu in Munster. (Second syllable stressed in both cases).

IO.

91. In the digraph io, when under tonic accent, “i” is the vowel, o the glide, except in the cases mentioned below (Ulster, Munster, Connaught):—

Giolla	fionna	Sionainn
crios	lios	fios
slios	bior	mion
giota	mioscais	pionna
piostal
siolla=s i O lla.

92. When io, under tonic accent, is followed by a labial or a guttural, the “i” becomes a glide, and “o” the vowel (Ulster, Munster, Connaught).

liobar	liobarnaċ	sioc
siopa	pioc	iomaire
liom	slioċt	rioċt
tiocfad	tiobraid	mioċair
sciob	gliogar
Also biolar and (f)iolar.
gliocas=glíocas.

93. Io, under tonic accent, followed by a protected liquid = iú in Desmond, and ou in Dēsi.

iompuiġ	fionn	iomċar
ionntaoiḃ	cionntuiġ	iongna (=úna)
ionnraic	(ós)cionn	prionnsa

Refer to § 66.

94. ioḋ and ioġ = í + “o” glide (Connaught and Munster).

ioḋna	tioḋlaic	ioḋbairt
ioḋal	dioġaltas	dioġrais
dioġla	fioġar	bioḋg
bioḋḃa	fioḋ	bioḋgaċ

The “i” is naturally long in ríoġain and díoġḃáil.

95. In io unstressed, “i” is the vowel and “o” the glide—e.g., ciotóg, miotóg, scioból, tionól, iománuiḋe, giobógaċ, &c. Tiomáin = tomáin (i.e., broad t).

Ionad = inead (old Ir. inad); cionnus = conus (cá + ionnus).

Oi.

96. The digraph oi has three distinct sounds, viz.:—

(1) o followed by a slender consonant.

(2) i preceded by a broad consonant.

(3) e preceded by a broad consonant.

It is very difficult to formulate definite rules to direct the student which pronunciation is to be given in a particular case. The following, however, may be of some assistance:—

(a) After gutturals (including l), or when followed by two different consonants (one may be silent owing to aspiration) the pronunciation is generally o.

scoil	coisde	cois	doirt
loit	foirḃṫe	coitċeann	doilġeas
loisc	soilḃir	doilḃir	boiċt

(b) When followed by r or another consonant and slender vowel the sound is usually i in Munster, but in Connaught the pronunciation is e in almost all cases, excepting rule (a).

foineann	coir	oir	foireann
coinne	roilig	doineann	oide
toir	oileaṁaint	soir	roimis

(c) In many words rules (a) and (b) will conflict, the pronunciation is then variable. In the following list the letters in brackets give the sound of the oi:—

goile (o or i)	croise (i, e)	croiḋṫe (i)
oifig (o, e)	goid (i, e)	toice (o, e)
troid (o, e)	troiġ (i)	gloine (i)
croiceann (e)	coin (i)	soiṫeaċ (o)
toil (o, e)	coille (i)	boiċte (o)
bois (o)	doire (e)	coiscéim (i)
oiread (i, e)	oibre (e)	roiṁ (e); C
foiṫin (o)	coirce (o)	roim (i); M

97. oi followed by a protected liquid = í in Desmond, but î in Desi.

coillcoimsiġroimpecloinnmoill

Refer to § 72.

(a) oi = î, in roinnt, doiṁin,^[3] foiġne, foiġid, leac-oiḋre, coicṫiḋeas.

98. oiḋ and oiġ (not final) = í (usually).

croiḋe	oiḋċe	oiḋean
ċoiḋċe	istoiḋċe	groiḋe

99. oi unstressed = unstressed e, or i.

oileán	oileaṁaint	oireaṁnaċ
oideaċas (§ 52 (4))	oireaċtas

EO

100. In this digraph the “o” is always the vowel, and, except in a very small number of words, gets its long sound—i.e., ó (except in Ulster). The e is a very audible glide (resembling the English sound of “y”). The “e” is not heard when initial, or when it follows s. In Ulster “e” is likewise the glide, but the “o” = “o” in “lord;” “adorn,” &c. (§ 12 (c)).

ceo	beo	teo
deo	teora	Eoġan
eolas	seod	ceol
seol	deor	seomra
feola	leor	fuiseog
driseog	eol	geoḃad

(a) The “o” is short in deoċ, eoċair, seo, and in Connaught, seomra. As there are very few words in which the digraph eo is pronounced short, it is not necessary to mark the “o” long.

IU.

101. In this digraph the “i” is always a glide, and “u” in the vowel; so that its sound is simply u (short) preceded by a slender consonant (Ulster, Munster and Connaught).

piuc				fiuċaḋ	fiuċaim
fliuċ				triuċ	tiuġ (ġ=ḃ in M.)
indiu	$\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$	pr. inniuḃ, M.	$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$	Siuḃán	iuċair
		pr. inniú, C.

AO.

102. This digraph has simply the sound of é preceded and followed by a broad consonant. After labials the sound resembles “wé.”

aos	baos	aonar
gaol	caol	saor
daor	gaoṫ	caoċ
maol	baoġal (=baol)	maor
faoḃar (=faor)	Aoḋ	paor
glaoḋ	taoḃ	saoṫar
aon	aonaċ	aosta
aol	daol	laoġ
baoṫ	caor	caoraċ
but caora=cuíre.

In Ulster ao is pronounced like ö in German, but ú is also frequently heard.

EÁ.

103. This digraph has not quite so open a sound as the “á” in “lán,” “bán,” &c, nor so flat a sound as the “a” in Maggie (i.e., the long sound of the first caol vowel, § 12 (a)). The “e” shows that the preceding consonant must be slender.

sleán	oileán	milleán
ciseán	caisleán	cineál
milseán (§ 144)	Seán
coimeád=cimád (§ 12).

104. When eá is followed by ḋ or ġ it is pronounced á (§ 12) or á.

breáġ	breáġṫaċt	meáḋon
meáḋċaint	spleáḋcas	cneaḋ

ÉA or EU.

105. Both these digraphs represent the same sound, and the first one (i.e., éa) has been adopted by the Gaelic League as it represents the sound of the digraph in Connaught and in Ulster—viz., é followed by a broad glide; and as eu does not denote the Munster sound better than éa, éa should be accepted as the standard spelling.

(a) In Munster the sound is generally i-ea—i.e., the long sound of í followed by the sound of ea in fear, lean, bean, &c. There is practically equal stress on the two vowels í-ea.

méar	féar	léas
éadaċ	déan	éadan
féad	béas	bréan

(b) Before gutturals, labials, and l, the sound varies between í-ea and í-a (second a in capall), while there is a tendency to put the tonic accent on the second vowel.

scéal	féaċ	béal
bréag		Séamas
Éaḋmonn (Éamon); often pronounced yamon.

In déag; and céad the stress on the second vowel is very marked.

(c) When grammatical inflections are added the sound usually = é—e.g., méar (= mí-ear), but méaranna (= mé-ranna), also spelled méireanna féadfaḋ (= fé-taċ), &c.

106. Ae = é preceded by a broad consonant; as the e in this digraph is always long it is unnecessary to write a síneaḋ on it.

lae	traen	Gaeḋeal
laeṫe	Gaeḋilig(e) (C.)	Gaeluinn (M.)
Gaeḋealaċ (Gaoḋalaċ)		aer (broad r)

EI.

107. In Modern Irish the vowel e occurs only at the end of words—e.g., baile, mé, lile, seamróige, &c.: in all other positions the digraph éi is used instead of é, and ei instead of e. The normal sounds of éi and ei are exactly those of é and e respectively (§12, c, d, e).

When ei (stressed) is followed by ḋ, ġ, ḃ, + a vowel or liquid; or by a protected liquid the diphthong Ei is produced (§ 68). In Dēsi ṁ, in addition to the above, produces this diphthong.

eiḋean	feiḋil	leiġeas
leiġeasaċ	meiḋir	meiḋg
meiḋreaċ	Eiḃlín	greim
deiṁeas	geiṁreaḋ

For longer list refer to § 68.

108. In the following words ei is pronounced “i” in Munster.

deifir	ḋeineas	teine
neid	smeig	smeigín
feicsint	gein	meiṫil
deiṫneas	meisneaċ	feiṫeaṁ
leinḃ=linḃ or lenḃ
leigint=ligint or leogaint (eo short, § 100 (a)).

(a) In Ulster ei=i in the following words: meisce, greim, eile beirc, ceiṫre, leigim, deiṁeas, geiṁreaḋ (Craig).

109. In the following words “i” is pronounced like “e,” in Munster:—

litir (=leitir), litireaċ, litearḋa, tinneas, file.

IA.

110. In the digraph ia, i is always the stressed vowel, and gets the full sound of í (§ 12), whilst the a is always unstressed, and consequently equals the second a in “capall.” (M. U. & C).

fial	ciall	triall
grian	Brian	rian
pian	siad	iad
siar	riaṁ	Liam
Dia	biaḋ	mian

(a) Dia (used with Luain, Máirt, &c.) = Dé.

(b) In the phrase “dia ḃeaṫa-sá,” dia = dé.

(c) Cia is pronounced (and now usually written) cé.

UA.

111. In this digraph, as in the last, both vowels are distinctly heard, but “u” gets the stress of the voice, and has its long sound—viz., ú; a has its unstressed value (M. U. and C).

cuan	gual	fuar
suas	anuas	luaṫ
luaċ	fuaċt	uasal
cluas	uaċtar	buaċaill
cuaċ	scuab	ċualas
bruaċ

(a) Ua in surnames = Ó (ú in Kerry, sometimes): Ua Dálaiġ.

(b) In Munster ua in the words nuaḋ and nuaḋaċt is pronounced ó: ḃfuil aon scéal nuaḋ (= nó) agat?

112. The digraphs ái, aí, ói, ío, úi, and íu present no difficulty as the vowel carrying the síneaḋ always gets its full long value, and the other vowel is a mere glide.

1. In these words it is not really the ea which = í, but the “helping vowel” (§ 124) which develops between the two consonants; thus—doiliġeas, iniġean, faitiċeas, &c. The helping vowel is lengthened by the absorbed silent consonant, and the ea is really the broad glide.
2. In Desmond these are pronounced flaṫ, flaṫas, maṫ, caṫ. See § 138.
3. In Desmond ḃn and ṁn often produce the sound of ng—e.g., Suiḃne=Suínge; doiṁin, quasi doiṁn=dhîng; aiḃní=îngí; gaiḃní=gîgní.