Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Lesson 1 - Tá

Tá mé = I am
Tá tú = You are
Tá sé = He, it is
Tá sí = she is
Táimid = We are
Tá sibh = You all are
Tá siad = They are

Replace "tá" with "níl" for the negative.
Example: Níl mé = I am not

Pronounciation

Vowels
  • Long Vowels 
á = Pa
é = May
í = See
ó = Bow
ú = Boo
  • Short Vowels
a = Ago
e = Peck
i = Pick
o = Lock
u = Luck

"i" and "e" are slender vowels
"a", "o", and "u" are broad vowels

Consonants

  • Broad Consonants:
b = baby
c = cat
d = dog
f = fog
g = goal
l = lemon
m = money
n = nine
p = pot
r  = perro [rolled]
s = sit
t = tank

  • Slender Consonants
b*
c*
d = j, as in jam
f*
g*
l*
m*
n*
p*
r = ram
s = sham
t = ch, as in chicken

(* denotes the broad consonant is same as slender)

Aspirated Consonants
  • Broad Consonant
bh = w, as in win
mh = w, as in win
ch = loch
dh = ch, based on 'g' sound
gh = ch, based on 'g' sound
fh = silent consonant
ph = f, as in fan
sh = h, as in ham
th = h, as in ham
  • Slender Consonant
bh = v, as in vanish
mh = v, as in vanish
ch*
dh = y, as in yuck
gh = y, as in yuck
ph*
sh*
th*

(Exceptions:
dh/gh in the middle of a word is usually slender
broad bh/mh sometimes changes to 'v' when word is hard to say
                                                             at the end of a word)

Eclipsed Consonants

In Irish, when the first letter of a word changes, the spelling gives the first letter as pronounced, followed by the original letter before it was changed.

mb = m
gc = g
nd = n
bhf = bh
ng = n
bp = b
ts = t
dt = d

Dipthongs

Glide vowel = a vowel that is not favored in pronunciation, but just changes the quality from broad to slender. When two vowels are together, and one of them is long, the long vowel predominates. 

There are a few cases that have two long vowels together, in which you would pronounce the one after the other.

LONG DIPTHONGS

ae = tray
ao = tree
eo = low
ia = see a
ua = truant

These can be followed by 'i', making a slender glide vowel

SHORT DIPTHONGS

ea = mass (slender before)
io = miss (broad before)
ui = miss (broad after)

ACCENT
The accent almost always occurs on the first syllable.

DOUBLE CONSONANTS

You can add an indistinct vowel if double consonant combinations are hard to say.

gn, lm, lg, bl, nm, rb, rbh, rch, rg, rm, rn, thn

Don't confuse these with eclipsed consonants. Double consonants can appear anywhere within a word.

EXCEPTIONS

is = iss
f in verb ending = h (verb usually comes first)