Irish orthography

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Irish orthography has evolved over many centuries, since Old Irish was first written down in the Latin alphabet in about the sixth century AD. Prior to that, Primitive Irish was written in Ogham. Irish spelling is mainly based on etymological considerations, very much like English orthography, although a spelling reform in the mid-20th century simplified the relationship between spelling and pronunciation somewhat.

There are three dialects of spoken Irish: Ulster (now predominantly in County Donegal), Connacht (Counties Mayo and Galway), and Munster (Counties Kerry, Cork, and Waterford). Some spelling conventions are common to all the dialects, while others vary from dialect to dialect. In addition, individual words may have in any given dialect a pronunciation that is not reflected by the spelling.

Contents 1 The alphabet 2 Consonants 3 Vowels 4 The epenthetic vowel 5 Special pronunciations in verb forms 6 Diacritics 7 Punctuation 8 Capitalisation 9 Abbreviations 10 See also 11 Notes 12 References

[edit] The alphabet

Prior to the middle of the 20th century Irish was usually written using the uncial Gaelic script. The uncial alphabet, together with letter name pronunciations and lenited letters is shown below.

Use of the uncial script is today almost entirely restricted to decorative and/or self-consciously traditional contexts. The dot above the lenited letter is usually substituted with a following h in the standard Roman alphabet. The only other use of h Irish is for vowel-initial words after certain proclitics (e.g. go hÉirinn, "to Ireland") and for words of foreign derivation such as hata "hat".

The alphabet now used for writing the Irish language consists of the following letters, written in antiqua:

a á b c d e é f g h i í l m n o ó p r s t u ú;

Modern loanwords also make use of j k q v w x y z. Of these, j and v are the most common. The letter v also occurs in a small number of words of native origin in the language such as vácarnach, vác and vrác, all of which are onomatopoeic. It also occurs in a number of alternative colloquial forms such as víog instead of bíog and vís instead of bís as cited in Niall Ó Dónaill's Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla. The letters q, w, x, y and z are used primarily in scientific terminology, although the phoneme /z/ does exist naturally in at least one dialect, that of West Muskerry, Co. Cork. k is the only letter not to be listed by Ó Dónaill. h when not prefixed to an initial vowel as an aspirate in certain grammatical functions, occurs primarily in loanwords as an initial consonant. The letters' names are spelt out thus:

á bé cé dé é eif gé héis í eil eim ein ó pé ear eas té ú

along with jé cá cú vé wae eacs yé zae.

Tree names were once popularly used to name the letters. Tradition taught that they all derived from the names of the Ogham letters, though it is now known that only some of the earliest Ogham letters were named for trees.

ailm (white fir), beith (birch), coll (hazel), dair (oak), edad/eabhadh (poplar), fern/fearn (alder), gath/gort (ivy), uath (hawthorn), idad/íodhadh (yew), luis (rowan), muin (vine), nin/nion (ash), onn (gorse), peith (dwarf alder), ruis (holander), sail (willow), tinne/teithne (holly), úr (heather)

Although the uncial script remained common until the mid-20th century, efforts to introduce antiqua began much earlier. Theobald Stapleton's 1639 catechism was printed in antiqua, and also introduced simplified spellings such as suí for suidhe and uafás for uathbhás, though these did not become standard for another 300 years.

[edit] Consonants

The consonant letters generally correspond to the consonant phonemes as shown in this table. See Irish phonology for an explanation of the symbols used and Irish initial mutations for an explanation of eclipsis. In most cases, consonants are "broad" (velarized) when the nearest vowel letter is one of a, o, u and "slender" (palatalized) when the nearest vowel letter is one of e, i.

Letter(s)		Phoneme(s)	Examples
b	broad	/bˠ/	bain /bˠanʲ/ "take" (imper.), scuab /sˠkuəbˠ/ "broom"
	slender	/bʲ/	béal /bʲeːɫ̪/ "mouth", cnáib /kn̪ˠaːbʲ/ "hemp"
bh	broad	/w/	bhain /wanʲ/ "took", ábhar /ˈaːwəɾˠ/ "material", Bhairbre /ˈwaɾʲəbʲɾʲə/ "Barbara" (genitive), tábhachtach /ˈt̪ˠaːwəxtəx/ "important", dubhaigh /ˈd̪ˠʊwiː/ "blacken" (imper.), scríobh /ʃcrʲiːw/ "wrote", taobh /t̪ˠiːw/ "side", dubh /d̪ˠʊw/ "black", gabh /gaw/ "get" (imper.)
	slender	/vʲ/	bhéal /vʲeːɫ̪/ "mouth" (lenited), cuibhreann /ˈkɪvʲɾʲən̪ˠ/ "common table", aibhneacha /ˈavʲnʲəxə/ "rivers", sibh /ʃɪvʲ/ "you" (pl.)
	See vowel chart for abh, eabh, obh
bhf (eclipsis of f-)	broad	/w/	bhfuinneog /ˈwɪnʲoːg/ "window" (eclipsed)
	slender	/vʲ/	bhfíon /vʲiːn̪ˠ/ "wine" (eclipsed)
bp (eclipsis of p-)	broad	/bˠ/	bpoll /bˠoːɫ̪/ "hole" (eclipsed)
	slender	/bʲ/	bpríosún /ˈbʲɾʲiːsˠuːn̪ˠ/ "prison" (eclipsed)
c	broad	/k/	cáis /kaːʃ/ "cheese", mac /mˠak/ "son"
	slender	/c/	ceist /cɛʃtʲ/ "question", mic /mʲɪc/ "sons"
ch	broad (Always broad before t.)	/x/	cháis /xaːʃ/ "cheese" (lenited), taoiseach /ˈt̪ˠiːʃəx/ "chieftain" (also the term for the Prime Minister of Ireland), boichte /bˠɔxtʲə/ "poorer"
	slender	/ç/ /h/ between vowels	cheist /çɛʃtʲ/ "question" (lenited), deich /dʲɛç/ "ten" oíche /ˈiːhə/ "night"
d	broad	/d̪ˠ/	dorn /d̪ˠoːɾˠn̪ˠ/ "fist", nead /nʲad̪ˠ/ "nest"
	slender	/dʲ/	dearg /dʲaɾˠəg/ "red", cuid /kɪdʲ/ "part"
dh	broad	/ɣ/ word-initially Silent after a long vowel	dhorn /ɣoːɾˠn̪ˠ/ "fist" (lenited) ádh /aː/ "luck"
	slender	/j/	dhearg /ˈjaɾˠəg/ "red" (lenited), fáidh /fˠaːj/ "prophet"
	See vowel chart for adh, aidh, eadh, eidh, idh, oidh, odh. See Special pronunciations in verb forms for -dh at the end of verbs.
dt (eclipsis of t-)	broad	/d̪ˠ/	dtaisce /ˈd̪ˠaʃcə/ "treasure" (eclipsed)
	slender	/dʲ/	dtír /dʲiːɾʲ/ "country" (eclipsed)
f	broad	/fˠ/	fós /fˠoːsˠ/ "still", graf /gɾˠafˠ/ "graph"
	slender	/fʲ/	fíon /fʲiːn̪ˠ/ "wine", stuif /sˠt̪ˠɪfʲ/ "stuff"
	See Special pronunciations in verb forms for -f- in future and conditional tenses
fh (lenition of f-)		silent	fhuinneog /ˈɪnʲoːg/ "window" (lenited), fhíon /iːn̪ˠ/ "wine" (lenited)
g	broad	/g/	gasúr /ˈgasˠuːɾˠ/ "boy", bog /bˠɔg/ "soft"
	slender	/ɟ/	geata /ˈɟat̪ˠə/ "gate", carraig /ˈkaɾˠəɟ/ "rock"
gc (eclipsis of c-)	broad	/g/	gcáis /gaːʃ/ "cheese" (eclipsed)
	slender	/ɟ/	gceist /ɟɛʃtʲ/ "question" (eclipsed)
gh	broad	/ɣ/ (word-initially) silent after a long vowel	ghasúr /ˈɣasˠuːɾˠ/ "boy" (lenited) Eoghan /ˈoːən̪ˠ/ "Owen"
	slender	/j/	gheata /ˈjat̪ˠə/ "gate" (lenited), dóigh /d̪ˠoːj/ "way, manner"
	See vowel chart for agh, aigh, eigh, igh, ogh, oigh. See Special pronunciations in verb forms for -(a)igh at the end of verbs.
h		/h/	hata /ˈhat̪ˠə/ "hat", na héisc /nə heːʃc/ "the fish" (plural)
l, ll	broad	/ɫ̪/	luí /ɫ̪iː/ "lying (down)", poll /poːɫ̪/ "hole"
	slender	/lʲ/	leisciúil /ˈlʲɛʃcuːlʲ/ "lazy", coill /kəilʲ/ "woods"
m	broad	/mˠ/	mór /mˠoːɾˠ/ "big", am /aːmˠ/ "time"
	slender	/mʲ/	milis /ˈmʲilʲəʃ/ "sweet", im /iːmʲ/ "butter"
mb (eclipsis of b-)	broad	/mˠ/	mbaineann /ˈmˠanʲən̪ˠ/ "takes" (eclipsed)
	slender	/mʲ/	mbéal /mʲeːɫ̪/ "mouth" (eclipsed)
mh	(broad)	/w/	mhór /woːɾˠ/ "big" (lenited), lámha /ˈɫ̪aːwə/ "hands", léamh /lʲeːw/ "reading"
	(slender)	/vʲ/	mhilis /ˈvʲilʲəʃ/ "sweet" (lenited), uimhir /ˈɪvʲəɾʲ/ "number", nimh /nʲɪvʲ/ "poison"
	See vowel chart for amh, eamh, omh
n, nn	broad	/n̪ˠ/	naoi /n̪ˠiː/ "nine", ceann /caːn̪ˠ/ "head"
	slender	/nʲ/	neart /nʲaɾˠt̪ˠ/ "strength", tinneas /ˈtʲɪnʲəsˠ/ "illness"
nc	broad	/ŋk/	ancaire /ˈaŋkəɾʲə/ "anchor"
	slender	/ɲc/	rinc /ɾˠɪɲc/ "dance"
nd (eclipsis of d-)	broad	/n̪ˠ/	ndorn /n̪ˠoːɾˠn̪ˠ/ "fist" (eclipsed)
	slender	/nʲ/	ndearg /ˈnʲaɾˠəg/ "red" (eclipsed)
ng	broad	/ŋ/ word-initially (eclipsis of g-) /ŋg/ word-internally and finally	ngasúr /ˈŋasˠuːɾˠ/ "boy" (eclipsed) long /ɫ̪uːŋg/ "ship", teanga /ˈtʲaŋgə/ "tongue"
	slender	/ɲ/ word-initially (eclipsis of g-) /ɲɟ/ word-internally and finally	ngeata /ˈɲat̪ˠə/ "gate" (eclipsed) cuing /kɪɲɟ/ "yoke", ingear /ˈɪɲɟəɾˠ/ "vertical"
		/nʲ/ in final unstressed -ing	scilling /ˈʃcilʲənʲ/ "shilling"
p	broad	/pˠ/	poll /pˠoːɫ̪/ "hole", stop /sˠt̪ˠɔpˠ/ "stop"
	slender	/pʲ/	príosún /ˈpʲɾʲiːsˠuːn̪ˠ/ "prison", truip /t̪ˠɾˠɪpʲ/ "trip"
ph	broad	/fˠ/	pholl /fˠoːɫ̪ʲ/ "hole" (lenited)
	slender	/fʲ/	phríosún /ˈfʲɾʲiːsˠuːn̪ˠ/ "prison" (lenited)
r	broad (Always broad word-initially. Always broad in rt, rth, rd, rn, rl, rs, sr.)	/ɾˠ/	rí /ɾˠiː/ "king", cuairt /kuəɾˠtʲ/ "visit", oirthear /ˈɔɾˠhəɾˠ/ "east", airde /aːɾˠdʲə/ "height", coirnéal /ˈkoːɾˠnʲeːɫ̪/ "corner", duirling /ˈd̪ˠuːɾˠlʲənʲ/ "stony beach", sreang /sˠɾˠaŋg/ "string"
	slender	/ɾʲ/	tirim /ˈtʲɪɾʲəmʲ/ "dry"
rr		/ɾˠ/	barr /baːɾˠ/ "tip, point", cairr /kaːɾˠ/ "car" (genitive)
s	broad	/sˠ/ (Always broad word-initially before m, p, r.)	Sasana /ˈsˠasˠən̪ˠə/ "England", tús /t̪ˠuːsˠ/ "beginning", speal /sˠpʲaɫ̪/ "scythe", sméar /sˠmʲeːɾˠ/ "blackberry", sreang /sˠɾˠaŋg/ "string"
	slender	/ʃ/	sean /ʃan̪ˠ/ "old", cáis /kaːʃ/ "cheese"
sh	broad	/h/	Shasana /ˈhasˠən̪ˠə/ "England" (lenited)
	slender	/h/ /ç/ before /aː, oː, u(ː)/	shean /han̪ˠ/ "old" (lenited) Sheáin /çaːnʲ/ "John" (genitive), sheol /çoːɫ̪/ "sailed", shiúil /çuːlʲ/ "walked", shiopa /ˈçʊpˠə/ "shop" (lenited)
t	broad	/t̪ˠ/	taisce /ˈt̪ˠaʃcə/ "treasure", ceart /caɾˠt̪ˠ/ "correct"
	slender	/tʲ/	tír /tʲiːɾʲ/ "country", beirt /bʲɛɾˠtʲ/ "two (people)"
	See Special pronunciations in verb forms for -t- in verbal adjectives
th	broad	/h/	thaisce /ˈhaʃcə/ "treasure" (lenited), athair /ˈahəɾʲ/ "father"
	slender	/h/ /ç/ when lenited from /tʲaː-, tʲoː-, tʲu(ː)-/	theanga /ˈhaŋgə/ "tongue" (lenited) theann /çaːn̪ˠ/ "tight" (lenited), theocht /çoːxt̪ˠ/ "heat" (lenited), thiúilip /ˈçuːlʲəpʲ/ "tulip" (lenited), thiocfadh /ˈçʊkəx/ "would come", thiubh /çʊw/ "thick" (lenited)
	Silent at the end of a syllable		bláth /bˠɫ̪aː/ "blossom", cith /cɪ/ "shower", cothrom /ˈkɔɾˠəmˠ/ "equal"
	See Special pronunciations in verb forms for -th- in verbal adjectives
ts (special lenition of s- after an 'the')	broad	/t̪ˠ/	an tsolais /ən̪ˠ ˈt̪ˠɔɫ̪əʃ/ "of the light"
	slender	/tʲ/	an tSín /ənʲ tʲiːnʲ/ "China"
v	broad	/w/	vóta /ˈwoːt̪ˠə/ "vote"
	slender	/vʲ/	veidhlín /ˈvʲəilʲiːnʲ/ "violin"

[edit] Vowels

The following chart indicates how written vowels are generally pronounced. Each dialect has certain divergences from this general scheme.

Letter(s)		Phoneme	Examples
a	stressed	/a/	fan /fˠan̪ˠ/ "stay" (imper.)
		/aː/ before rl, rn, rd before syllable-final ll, nn, rr before word-final m	tarlú /ˈt̪ˠaːɾˠɫ̪uː/ "happening", carnán /ˈkaːɾˠn̪ˠaːn̪ˠ/ "(small) heap", garda /ˈgaːɾˠd̪ˠə/ "policeman" mall /mˠaːɫ̪/ "slow, late", ann /aːn̪ˠ/ "there", barr /bˠaːɾˠ/ "tip, point" am /aːmˠ/ "time"
	unstressed	/ə/	ólann /ˈoːɫ̪ən̪ˠ/ "drink" (present), mála /ˈmˠaːɫ̪ə/ "bag"
á		/aː/	bán /bˠaːn̪ˠ/ "white"
abh(a(i))	stressed	/əu/	abhainn /əunʲ/ "river", cabhrach /ˈkəuɾˠəx/ "helpful"
adh(a(i))	stressed	/əi/	adhairt /əiɾˠtʲ/ "pillow", Tadhg /t̪ˠəig/ (man's name)
adh	unstressed	/ə/	margadh /ˈmˠaɾˠəgə/ "market"
	See also Special pronunciations in verb forms
ae(i)		/eː/	Gaelach /ˈgeːɫ̪əx/ "Gaelic", Gaeilge /ˈgeːlʲɟə/ "Irish (language)"
agh(a(i))		/əi/	aghaidh /əij/ "face", saghsanna /ˈsˠəisˠən̪ˠə/ "sorts, kinds"
ai	stressed	/a/	baile /ˈbˠalʲə/ "home"
		/aː/ before rl, rn, rd before syllable-final ll, nn, rr	airne /aːɾˠnʲə/ "sloe" caillte /ˈkaːlʲtʲə/ "lost, ruined", crainn /kɾˠaːnʲ/ "trees"
		/ɛ/ before bh in a handful of words	raibh /ɾˠɛvʲ/ "was" (dependent), daibhir /ˈd̪ˠɛvəɾʲ/ "poor", saibhir /ˈsˠɛvʲərʲ/ "rich"
	unstressed	/ə/	eolais /ˈoːɫ̪əʃ/ "knowledge" (genitive)
ái		/aː/	dáil /d̪ˠaːlʲ/ "assembly", gabháil /ˈgawaːlʲ/ "taking"
aí		/iː/	maígh /mˠiːj/ "claim" (imper.), gutaí /ˈgʊt̪ˠiː/ "vowels"
aidh, aigh	stressed	/əi/	aidhm /əimʲ/ "aim", saighdiúir /ˈsˠəidʲuːrʲ/ "soldier"
	unstressed	/iː/	cleachtaidh /ˈclʲaxt̪ˠiː/ "practice" (genitive), bacaigh /ˈbˠakiː/ "beggar" (genitive)
	See also Special pronunciations in verb forms
aío		/iː/	naíonán /ˈn̪ˠiːn̪ˠaːn̪ˠ/ "infant", beannaíonn /ˈbʲan̪ˠiːn̪ˠ/ "blesses"
amh(a(i))		/əu/	Samhain /sˠəunʲ/ "November", amhantar /ˈəun̪ˠt̪ˠəɾˠ/ "venture", ramhraigh /ˈɾˠəuɾˠiː/ "fattened"
ao		/iː/	saol /sˠiːɫ̪/ "life, world"
		/eː/ in the word aon /eːn̪ˠ/ "one" and its derivatives, e.g. aontacht /ˈeːn̪ˠt̪ˠəxt̪ˠ/ "union", na Stáit Aontaithe /n̪ˠə sˠt̪ˠaːtʲ ˈeːn̪ˠt̪ˠəhə/ "the United States"
aoi		/iː/	gaois /giːʃ/ "shrewdness"
e	stressed	/ɛ/	te /tʲɛ/ "hot"
	unstressed	/ə/	míle /ˈmʲiːlʲə/ "thousand"
é		/eː/	sé /ʃeː/ "he"
ea	stressed	/a/	bean /bʲan̪ˠ/ "woman"
		/aː/ before rl, rn, rd before syllable-final ll, nn, rr	bearna /ˈbʲaːɾˠn̪ˠə/ "gap" feall /fʲaːɫ̪/ "treachery", feanntach /ˈfʲaːn̪ˠt̪ˠəx/ "severe"
		/ɔ/ in the word beag /bʲɔg/ "small"
	unstressed	/ə/	seisean /ˈʃɛʃən̪ˠ/ "he" (emph.)
éa		/eː/	déanamh /ˈdʲeːn̪ˠəw/ "doing", buidéal /ˈbˠɪdʲeːɫ̪/ "bottle"
eá		/aː/	Seán /ʃaːn̪ˠ/ "John" caisleán /ˈkaʃlʲaːn̪ˠ/ "castle"
eabh(a(i))		/əu/	leabhair /lʲəuɾʲ/ "books" Feabhra /ˈfʲəuɾˠə/ "February"
eadh(a(i)	stressed	/əi/	meadhg /mʲəig/ "whey"
-eadh	unstressed	/ə/	briseadh /ˈbʲɾʲɪʃə/ "breaking"
	See also Special pronunciations in verb forms
eai		/a/	veain /vʲanʲ/ "van"
eái		/aː/	meáin /mʲaːnʲ/ "middles", caisleáin /ˈkaʃlʲaːnʲ/ "castles"
eamh(a(i))		/əu/	sleamhain /ʃlʲəunʲ/ "smooth", leamhnacht /ˈlʲəun̪ˠəxt̪ˠ/ "new milk"
ei		/ɛ/	ceist /cɛʃtʲ/ "question"
		/ɪ/ before m, mh, n	creimeadh /ˈcɾʲɪmʲə/ "corrosion, erosion", geimhreadh /ˈɟɪvʲrʲə/ "winter", seinm /ˈʃɪnʲəmʲ/ "playing"
		/eː/ before rl, rn, rd	eirleach /ˈeːɾˠlʲəx/ "destruction", ceirnín /ˈceːɾˠnʲiːnʲ/ "record album", ceird /ceːɾˠdʲ/ "trade, craft"
		/əi/ before syllable-final ll	feill- /fʲəilʲ/ "exceedingly"
		/iː/ before syllable-final nn and word-final m	greim /ɟɾʲiːmʲ/ "grip"
éi		/eː/	scéimh /ʃceːvʲ/ "beauty", páipéir /ˈpˠaːpʲeːɾʲ/ "papers"
eidh(i/ea), eigh(i/ea)		/əi/	feidhm /fʲəimʲ/ "function", leigheas /lʲəisˠ/ "healing"
eo		/oː/	ceol /coːɫ̪/ "music", baileofar /ˈbˠalʲoːfˠəɾˠ/ "one will gather"
		/ɔ/ in the words anseo /ənʲˈʃɔ/ "here", deoch /dʲɔx/ "a drink", eochair /ˈɔxəɾʲ/ "a key", and seo /ʃɔ/ "this"
eoi		/oː/	dreoilín /ˈdʲɾʲoːlʲiːnʲ/ "wren", baileoimid /ˈbˠalʲoːmʲədʲ/ "we will gather"
i	stressed	/ɪ/	pic /pʲɪc/ "pitch", ifreann /ˈɪfʲɾʲən/ "hell"
		/iː/ before syllable-final ll, nn before word-final m	cill /ciːlʲ/ "church", cinnte /ˈciːnʲtʲə/ "sure" im /iːmʲ/ "butter"
	unstressed	/ə/	faoistin /ˈfˠiːʃtʲənʲ/ "confession"
í		/iː/	gnímh /ɟnʲiːvʲ/ "act, deed" (gen.), cailín /ˈkalʲiːnʲ/ 'girl'
ia		/iə/	Diarmaid /dʲiərmədʲ/ "Dermot"
iai		/iə/	bliain /bʲlʲiənʲ/ "year"
idh, igh	unstressed	/iː/	tuillidh /ˈt̪ˠɪlʲiː/ "addition" (gen.), coiligh /ˈkɛlʲiː/ "rooster" (gen.)
	See also Special pronunciations in verb forms
io		/ɪ/ before coronals and th	fios /fʲɪsˠ/ "knowledge", bior /bʲɪɾˠ/ "spit, spike", cion /cɪn̪ˠ/ "affection", giota /ˈɟɪt̪ˠə/ "bit, piece", giodam /ˈɟɪd̪ˠəmˠ/ "restlessness", friotháil /ˈfʲɾʲɪhaːlʲ/ "attention"
		/ʊ/ before noncoronals	siopa /ˈʃʊpˠə/ "shop", liom /lʲʊmˠ/ "with me", tiocfaidh /ˈtʲʊkiː/ "will come", Siobhán /ˈʃʊwaːn̪ˠ/ "Joan", briogáid /ˈbʲɾʲʊgaːdʲ/ "brigade", tiomáin /ˈtʲʊmaːnʲ/ "drive" (imper.), ionga /ˈʊŋgə/ "(finger)nail"
		/iː/ before syllable-final nn	fionn /fʲiːn̪ˠ/ "light-haired"
ío		/iː/	síol /ʃiːɫ̪/ "seed"
iu		/ʊ/	fliuch /fʲlʲʊx/ "wet"
iú		/uː/	siúl /ʃuːɫ̪/ "walk", bailiú /ˈbˠalʲuː/ "gathering"
iúi		/uː/	ciúin /cuːnʲ/ "quiet", inniúil /ˈɪnʲuːlʲ/ "able, fit"
o	stressed	/ɔ/	post /pˠɔsˠt̪ˠ/ "post"
		/ʊ/ before n, m	Donncha /ˈd̪ˠʊn̪əxə/ (man's name), cromóg /ˈkɾˠʊmˠoːg/ "hooked nose"
		/oː/ before rl, rn, rd before syllable-final ll, rr	bord /bˠoːɾˠd̪ˠ/ "table", orlach /ˈoːɾˠɫ̪əx/ "inch" poll /pˠoːɫ̪/ "hole", corr /koːɾˠ/ "odd"
		/uː/ before syllable-final nn before word-final m, ng	fonn /fˠuːn̪ˠ/ "desire, inclination" trom /t̪ˠɾˠuːmˠ/ "heavy", long /ɫ̪uːŋg/ "ship"
	unstressed	/ə/	mo /mˠə/ "my", cothrom /ˈkɔɾˠəmˠ/ "equal"
ó		/oː/	póg /pˠoːg/ "kiss", armónach /ˈaɾˠəmˠoːn̪əx/ "harmonic"
obh(a(i)), odh(a(i)), ogh(a(i))		/əu/	lobhar /ɫ̪əuɾˠ/ "leper", bodhar /bˠəuɾˠ/ "deaf", rogha /ɾˠəu/ "choice"
oi	stressed	/ɛ/	scoil /sˠkɛlʲ/ "school", troid /t̪ˠɾˠɛdʲ/ "fight" (imper.), toitín /ˈt̪ˠɛtʲiːnʲ/ "cigarette", oibre /ˈɛbʲɾʲə/ "work" (gen.), thoir /hɛɾʲ/ "in the east", cloiche /ˈkɫ̪ɛhə/ "stone" (gen.)
		/ɔ/ before s, cht, rs, rt, rth	cois /kɔʃ/ "foot" (dat.), cloisfidh /ˈkɫ̪ɔʃiː/ "will hear", boicht /bˠɔxtʲ/ "poor" (gen. sg. masc.), doirse /ˈd̪ɔɾˠʃə/ "doors", goirt /gɔɾˠtʲ/ "salty", oirthear /ˈɔɾˠhəɾˠ/ "east"
		/ɪ/ next to n, m, mh	anois /əˈn̪ˠɪʃ/ "now", gloine /ˈgɫ̪ɪnʲə/ "glass", cnoic /kn̪ˠɪc/ "hills", roimh /ɾˠɪvʲ/ "before", coimeád /ˈkɪmʲaːd̪ˠ/ "keep" (imper.), loinge /ˈɫ̪ɪɲɟə/ "ship" (gen.)
		/əi/ before syllable-final ll	coill /kəilʲ/ "forest, woods", coillte /ˈkəilʲtʲə/ "forests"
		/iː/ before syllable-final nn and word-final m	foinn /fˠiːnʲ/ "wish" (gen.), droim /d̪ˠɾˠiːmʲ/ "back"
		/oː/ before rl, rn, rd	coirnéal /ˈkoːɾˠnʲeːɫ̪/ "corner", oird /oːɾˠdʲ/ "sledgehammers"
	unstressed	/ə/	éadroime /eːdrəmʲə/ 'lightness'
ói		/oː/	móin /mˠoːnʲ/ "sod, turf", bádóir /ˈbˠaːd̪ˠoːrʲ/ "boatman"
oí		/iː/	croíleacán /ˈkɾˠiːlʲəkaːn̪ˠ/ "core"
oidh(i/ea), oigh(i/ea)		/əi/	oidhre /əirʲə/ "heir", loighic /ɫ̪əic/ "logic"
oío		/iː/	croíonna /ˈkɾˠiːn̪ˠə/ "hearts"
omh(a(i))		/oː/	tomhail /t̪ˠoːlʲ/ "consume" (imper.), Domhnach /ˈd̪ˠoːn̪ˠəx/ "Sunday"
u	stressed	/ʊ/	dubh /d̪ˠʊw/ "black"
		/ɔ/ in English loanwords, corresponds to /ʌ/	bus /bˠɔsˠ/, club /kɫ̪ɔbˠ/
		/uː/ before rl, rn, rd	burla /ˈbˠuːɾˠɫ̪ə/ "bundle", murnán /ˈmˠuːɾˠn̪ˠaːn̪ˠ/ "ankle", urlár /ˈuːɾˠɫ̪aːɾˠ/ "floor"
	unstressed	/ə/	agus /ˈagəs/ "and"
ú		/uː/	tús /t̪ˠuːsˠ/ "beginning"
ua		/uə/	fuar /fˠuəɾˠ/ "cold"
uai		/uə/	fuair /fˠuəɾʲ/ "got"
ui	stressed	/ɪ/	duine /ˈd̪ˠɪnʲə/ "person"
		/ʊ/ before cht, rs, rt	tuirseach /ˈt̪ˠʊɾˠʃəx/ "tired", cluichte /ˈkɫ̪ʊxtʲə/ "harassment" (gen.)
		/iː/ before syllable-final ll, nn before word-final m	tuillteanach /ˈt̪ˠiːlʲtʲən̪ˠəx/ "deserving", puinn /pˠiːnʲ/ "much" suim /sˠiːmʲ/ "interest"
		/uː/ before rl, rn, rd	duirling /ˈd̪ˠuːɾˠlʲənʲ/ "stony beach", tuirne /ˈt̪ˠuːɾˠnʲə/ "spinning wheel"
	unstressed	/ə/	aguisín /ˈagəʃiːnʲ/ "addition"
úi		/uː/	súil /suːlʲ/ "eye", cosúil /ˈkɔsˠuːlʲ/ "like, resembling"
uí		/iː/	buígh /bˠiːj/ "turn yellow" (imper.)
uío		/iː/	buíon /bˠiːn̪ˠ/ "band, troop"

Observations

• When e, é, i, or í come after or before a consonant, they make the consonant slender.
• Between a consonant and a vowel, or vice-versa, e and i are usually silent, and just indicate that the adjacent consonants are slender. However, they may be pronounced in the digraphs ei, ia, io, oi, ui.
• The accented letters é and í are always pronounced.
• In digraphs and trigraphs containing a vowel with an acute accent (known in Irish as a fada or síneadh fada), only the accented vowel is normally pronounced.

[edit] The epenthetic vowel

In a sequence of short vowel + /l, r, n/ + labial or velar consonant an unwritten /ə/ gets pronounced between the /l, r, n/ and the following consonant:

• gorm /ˈgɔɾˠəmˠ/ "blue"
• dearg /ˈdʲaɾˠəg/ "red"
• dorcha /ˈd̪ˠɔɾˠəxə/ "dark"
• ainm /ˈanʲəmʲ/ "name"
• seanchaí /ˈʃan̪ˠəxiː/ "storyteller"
• leanbh /ˈlʲan̪ˠəw/ "child"
• colm /ˈkɔɫ̪əm/ "dove"

There is no epenthesis before voiceless stops or after long vowels and diphthongs:

• corp /kɔɾˠpˠ/ "body"
• olc /ɔɫ̪k/ "bad"
• téarma /tʲeːɾˠmˠə/ "term"
• dualgas /ˈd̪ˠuəɫ̪gəsˠ/ "duty"

[edit] Special pronunciations in verb forms

In verb forms some letters and letter combinations are pronounced differently from elsewhere.

In the imperfect, conditional, and imperative, -dh is pronounced /tʲ/ before a pronoun beginning with s-:

• mholadh sé /ˈwɔɫ̪ətʲ ʃeː/ "he used to praise"
• bheannódh sibh /ˈvʲan̪ˠoːtʲ ʃɪvʲ/ "you (pl.) would bless"
• osclaíodh sí /ˈɔsˠkɫ̪iːtʲ ʃiː/ "let her open"

Otherwise it is pronounced /x/:

• mholadh an buachaill /ˈwɔɫ̪əx ə ˈbˠuəxəlʲ/ "the boy used to praise"
• bheannódh na cailíní /ˈvʲanoːx n̪ˠə ˈkalʲiːnʲiː/ "the girls would bless"
• osclaíodh Siobhán /ˈɔsˠkɫ̪iːx ˈʃʊwaːn̪ˠ/ "let Siobhán open"

In the preterite impersonal, -dh is pronounced /w/:

• moladh é /ˈmˠɔɫ̪əw eː/ "he was praised"
• beannaíodh na cailíní /ˈbʲan̪iːw nə ˈkalʲiːnʲiː/ "the girls were blessed"

-(a)idh and -(a)igh are pronounced /ə/ before a pronoun, otherwise /iː/:

• molfaidh mé /ˈmˠɔɫ̪hə mʲeː/ "I will praise"
• molfaidh Seán /ˈmˠɔɫ̪hiː ʃaːn/ "Seán will praise"
• bheannaigh mé /ˈvʲan̪ˠə mʲeː/ "I blessed"
• bheannaigh Seán /ˈvʲan̪ˠiː ʃaːn/ "Seán blessed"

In the future and conditional, f (broad or slender) has the following effects:

1. After vowels and sonorants (/ɫ̪ lʲ mˠ mʲ n̪ˠ nʲ ɾˠ ɾʲ/) it is pronounced /h/:
   • molfaidh /ˈmˠɔɫ̪hiː/ "will praise"
   • dhófadh /ˈɣoːhəx/ "would burn"
   • déarfaidh /ˈdʲeːɾˠhiː/ "will say"
2. It makes a voiced obstruent (/bˠ bʲ vʲ d̪ˠ g/) or /w/ voiceless:
   • scuabfadh /ˈsˠkuəpəx/ "would sweep"
   • goidfidh /ˈgɛtʲiː/ "will steal"
   • leagfadh /ˈlʲakəx/ "would lay"
   • scríobhfaidh /ˈʃcɾʲiːfˠiː/ "will write"
   • shnámhfadh /ˈhn̪ˠaːfˠəx/ "would swim"
3. It is silent after a voicless obstruent (/k c x ç pˠ pʲ sˠ ʃ t̪ˠ tʲ/)
   • brisfidh /ˈbʲɾʲɪʃiː/ "will break"
   • ghlacfadh /ˈɣɫ̪akəx/ "would accept"
4. But in the future and conditional impersonal f is often /fˠ, fʲ/
   • molfar /ˈmˠɔɫ̪fˠəɾˠ/ "one will praise"
   • dhófaí /ˈɣoːfˠiː/ "one would burn"
   • scuabfar /ˈsˠkuəbˠfˠəɾˠ/ "one will sweep"
   • brisfear /ˈbʲɾʲɪʃfʲəɾˠ/ "one will break"
5. In the past participle th (also t after d) is silent but makes a voiced obstruent voiceless:
   • scuabtha /ˈsˠkuəpˠə/ "swept"
   • troidte /ˈt̪ˠɾˠɛtʲə/ "fought"
   • ruaigthe /ˈɾˠuəcə/ "chased"

[edit] Diacritics

Irish spelling makes use today of only one diacritic, and formerly used a second. The acute accent (Irish: síneadh fada "long sign") is used to indicate a long vowel, as in bád /bˠaːd̪ˠ/ "boat". However, there are some circumstances under which a long vowel is not indicated by an acute accent, namely:

• before rd, rl, rn, rr, for example ard /aːɾˠd̪ˠ/ "high", eirleach /ˈeːɾˠlʲəx/ "destruction", dorn /d̪ˠoːɾˠn̪ˠ/ "fist"
• in the groups ae, ao, eo, for example aerach /ˈeːɾˠəx/ "gay", maol /mˠiːɫ̪/ "bare", ceol /coːɫ̪/ "music"
• in the groups omh(a) and umh(a), for example comharsa /ˈkoːɾˠsˠə/, Mumhain /mˠuːnʲ/ "Munster"
• long /iː/ and /uː/ before /aː/ or /oː/, e.g. fiáin /ˈfʲiːaːnʲ/ "wild", ruóg /ˈɾˠuːoːɡ/ "twine"

The overdot (Irish: ponc séimhithe "dot of lenition", buailte "struck", or simply séimhiú, "lenition") was formerly used, especially in Gaelic script, to indicate the lenited version of a consonant; currently a following letter h is used for this purpose. Thus the letters ḃ ċ ḋ ḟ ġ ṁ ṗ ṡ ṫ are equivalent to bh ch dh fh gh mh ph st th. In Old Irish orthography, the dot was used only for ḟ ṡ, while the following h was used for ch ph th; lenition of other letters was not indicated. Later the two systems spread to the entire set of lenitable consonants and competed with each other. Eventually the standard practice was to use the dot when writing in Gaelic script and the following h when writing in Roman letters.

As with most European languages such as French^[1], Spanish or German, Irish diacritics must be preserved in uppercase forms. If diacritics are unavailable (for example, on a computer using ASCII), there is no generally accepted standard for replacing it (unlike some languages like German, where the umlaut is replaced by a following "e" and ß is replaced by "ss"), and so it is generally just omitted entirely.

The tittle over the lower-case "i" is generally omitted in signage in Ireland, and in Gaelic script, lower-case "i" has no tittle. However, the tittle is generally included in printed material like books and newspapers and in electronic media like the Internet and CD-ROMs. Irish makes no graphemic distinction between dotted i and dotless ı, as languages like Turkish and Azeri do.

[edit] Punctuation

In general, punctuation marks are used in Irish much as they are in English. One punctuation mark worth noting is the Tironian et ⁊ which is generally used to abbreviate the word agus "and", much as the ampersand is generally used to abbreviate the word and in English.

The hyphen (Irish: fleiscín) is used in Irish after the letters t and n when these are attached to a vowel-initial word through the rules of the initial mutations, as in an t-arán "the bread", a n-iníon "their daughter". However, the hyphen is not used when the vowel is capitalized, as in an tAlbanach "the Scotsman", Ár nAthair "Our Father".

The hyphen is also used in compound words under certain circumstances:

• between two vowels, e.g. mí-ádh "misfortune"
• between two similar consonants, e.g. droch-chaint "bad language", grod-díol "prompt payment"
• in a three-part compound, e.g. buan-chomhchoiste "permanent joint committee"
• after the prefixes do-, fo-, so- before a word beginning with bha, bhla, bhra, dha, gha, ghla, ghra, mha, e.g. do-bhlasta "bad tasting", fo-ghlac "subsume", so-mharfacht "mortality"
• in capitalized titles, e.g. An Príomh-Bhreitheamh "the Chief Justice"
• after an- "very" and dea- "good", e.g. an-mhór "very big", dea-mhéin "goodwill"

The apostrophe (Irish: uaschama) is used to indicate an omitted vowel in the following cases:

• the prepositions de "from" and do "to" both become d’ before a vowel (or fh + vowel, since fh is silent), as in Thit sí d'each "She fell from a horse" and Tabhair d'fhear an tí é "Give it to the landlord"
• the possessive pronouns mo "my" and do "your (singular)" become m’ and d’ before a vowel or fh + vowel, as in m'óige "my youth", d'fhiacail "your tooth"
• the preverbal particle do becomes d’ before a vowel or fh + vowel, as in d'ardaigh mé "I raised", d'fhanfadh sé "he would wait"
• the copular particle ba becomes b’ before a vowel or fh + vowel, as in B'ait liom é sin "I would like that" and b'fhéidir "maybe". However, ba retains its vowel before the pronouns é, í, iad, as in Ba iad na ginearáil a choinnigh an chumhacht "It was the generals who kept the power"

[edit] Capitalisation

Capitalisation rules are similar to English. However, a prefix letter remains in lowercase when the base initial is capitalised (an tSín "China"). For text written in all caps, the prefix letter is often kept in lowercase, or small caps (STAIR NA HÉIREANN "THE HISTORY OF IRELAND").^[2] An initial capital is used for:^[3]

• The first word of a sentence
• Personal names and placenames, though not the words an, na, de^[4] (Micheál Ó Murchú "Michael Murphy"; Máire Mhac an tSaoi "Mary McEntee" de Búrca "Burke"; Sliabh na mBan "Slievenamon")
• Adjectives from personal names and placenames; though not for adjectives uses in extended senses (bia Iodálach "Italian food", but cló iodálach "italic type")
• Names of months, feast-days, and languages (Meán Fómhair "September"; Oíche Nollag "Christmas Eve"; Fraincis "French")
• Names of days of the week (an Luan "Monday"), as well as Dé (Dé Luain "on Monday")
• Definite titles^[5]
• Names of God; though not pronouns referring to God^[6]

[edit] Abbreviations

Irish has a number of abbreviations, most of which, like lch. for leathanach ("p."/"page") and m.sh. for mar shampla ("e.g."/"for example") are straightforward. Two that may require explanation are .i. (which begins and ends with a full stop) for eadhon ("i.e."/"that is") and ⁊rl. or srl. for agus araile ("etc."/"and so forth").

[edit] See also

• Scottish Gaelic alphabet

v • d • e Irish linguistics History of the language · Primitive Irish · Old Irish · Middle Irish · Modern Irish Connacht Irish · Munster Irish · Newfoundland Irish · Ulster Irish Initial mutations · Morphology (declension, verbs) · Phonology · Syntax · Orthography · Ogham · Gaelic script

[edit] Notes

1. ^ It is a common misconception that French rules are to remove diacritics from capital letters. In fact, Académie Française prescription requires letters to maintain their diacritics regardless of case. However, due to difficulties in doing so with early typewriters and printers, a tradition of omission developed. This continues, but is also contributed to by the inability of standard French keyboards to input certain diacritics with capital letters. See French orthography: Diacritics.
2. ^ (1999) Graiméar Gaeilge na mBráithre Críostaí (in Irish). Dublin: An Gúm, §3.2. ISBN 1-85791-327-2. 
3. ^ Graiméar Gaeilge na mBráithre Críostaí, §3.1
4. ^ Graiméar Gaeilge na mBráithre Críostaí, §§ 3.1, 7.6, 10.2-10.3
5. ^ Graiméar Gaeilge na mBráithre Críostaí, §§ 3.1, 3.4
6. ^ Graiméar Gaeilge na mBráithre Críostaí, §3.5

[edit] References

• (1994) Gramadach na Gaeilge agus Litriú na Gaeilge: An Caighdeán Oifigiúil. Dublin: Oifig an tSoláthair. 
• Mac Eoin, Gearóid (1993). "Irish", in Martin J. Ball and James Fife (eds.): The Celtic Languages. London: Routledge, 101–44. ISBN 0-415-01035-7. 
• Ó Baoill, Dónall P. (1986). Lárchanúint don Ghaeilge (in Irish). Dublin: The Linguistics Institute of Ireland. ISBN 0-946452-06-7. 
• Ó Siadhail, Mícheál (1988). Learning Irish, 2nd edn., New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-04224-8.