gaeilge101
Irish Pronunciation Guide

last edited 5th/aug/2018

WORD STRESS

All words are strongly accented on the first syllable, except for a few common words with an unstressed prefix.

VOWELS

LONG (vowels with a fada – an accent)

  • á pronounced “aw” — as in “awesome”
  • é pronounced “ey” — as in “hey”
  • í pronounced “ee” — as in “bee”
  • ó pronounced “oh” — as in “banjo”
  • ú pronounced “oo” — as in “kangaroo”

vowel combinations (long sounding)

  • ae pronounced “ey” (similar to é)
  • eo pronounced “oh” (similar to ó)
  • ao pronounced “ey” or “ee” depending on dialect (similar to é / í)

SHORT

  • a pronounced “ah” — as in “cat”
  • e pronounced “eh” — as in “went”
  • i pronounced “ih” — as in “in”
  • o pronounced “ow” — as in “goat”
  • u pronounced “uh” — as in “put”
  • ea pronounced “ah” — as in “cat”

Short vowels are given their full pronunciation ONLY in the first syllable of a word.
In all other syllables, they are all reduced to the neutral “uh” sound — as in “but”.

VOWELS + CONSONANTS

The “ow” sound (as in clown)

  • abha pronounced “ow”
  • amh pronounced “ow”

The “eye” sound

  • agha pronounced “eye”
  • adh pronounced “eye”

CONSONANTS

  • Except for “h”, all Irish consonants are either “broad” or “slender”.
  • Broad consonants are always written with the letters a, o, or u next to them.
  • Slender consonants are always written with the letters i or e next to them.
  • Broad consonants are pronounced with a “-w” off-glide.
  • Slender consonants are pronounced with a “-y” off-glide.

Examples:

Slender “b”

  • Beo (byoh) – b is slender so a b+y sound, eo has a “oh” sound, therefore byoh
  • bí (bee) – b is slender so has a b+y sound, í has a “ee” sound, therefore bee

Broad “b”

  • bó (boh) b is broad so a b+w sound, ó is a “oh” sound, therefore boh
  • buí (bwee) b is broad so a b+w sound, u is a “uh” sound, í is a ee sound, therefore bwee

The difference between “beo” and “bó” is only the y-glide heard in “beo”.
Likewise, the difference between “bí” and “buí” is only the w-glide heard in “buí”.

Here is a list of combinations, which can be either broad of slender, depending on the adjacent vowels:

  • bh (broad) = w
  • bh (slender) = v
  • ch (broad) = ch as in “loch” (k sound)
  • ch (slender) = ch as in “h”
  • dh (broad) = gh as in “girl” (usually silent except at beginning of words.)
  • dh (slender) = y
  • fh (broad) = silent
  • fh (slender) = silent
  • gh (broad) = same as broad dh
  • gh (slender) = y
  • mh (broad) = w
  • mh (slender) = v
  • ph (broad) = fw
  • ph (slender) = fy
  • sh (broad) = h
  • sh (slender) = h
  • th (broad) = h
  • th (slender) = h

URÚ (ECLIPSES)

Eclipses are letters added to the beginning of a word depending on the context.
In every case of eclipses pronounce the first consonant and ignore the second, except for “ng”. 

  • mb = “m” sound
  • gc = “g” sound
  • nd = “n” sound
  • bhf = “w” (or sometimes v)
  • ng = “ng” as in “king”
  • bp = “b”
  • dt = “d”

TRY IT YOURSELF!

  • File (poet) – FIH-leh (emphasis on the first syllable)
  • Draoi (druid)
  • Filíocht (poety)
  • Draíocht (magic)
  • Bean sí (fairy woman)
  • Samhain (November)
  • Oíche Shamhna (Samhain eve – Halloween)
  • Bealtaine (May)
  • Lúnasa (August)
  • Cara (friend)
  • Dia (god)
  • Slán (goodbye)

For answers see here!

Sources: [X] [X] [X] [X]
Listening: [X] [X]
Complete pronunciation guide on wikipedia

Source: gaeilge101