Help:IPA/Irish

This is thepronunciation keyforIPAtranscriptions of Irish on Wikipedia.

It provides a set of symbols to represent the pronunciation of Irish in Wikipedia articles, and example words that illustrate the sounds that correspond to them. Integrity must be maintained between the key and the transcriptions that link here; do not change any symbol or value without establishingconsensuson thetalk pagefirst.

For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA.For the distinction between[ ],/ /and ⟨⟩, seeIPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

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The charts below show the way in which theInternational Phonetic Alphabet(IPA) representsIrish-languagepronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, seeTemplate:IPAandWikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.

SeeIrish phonologyandIrish orthographyfor a more thorough look at the sounds of Irish and how they are represented in writing, respectively.

Key

Consonants^[1]
Broad			Slender
IPA	Example	English approximation	IPA	Example	English approximation
bˠ	bain, scuab	boot	bʲ	béal, cnáib	beautiful
d̪ˠ	dorn, nead	do (but dental),though (Ireland)	dʲ	dearg, cuid	media
fˠ	fós, graf,pholl	fool	fʲ	fíon, stuif,phríosún	fuel
ɡ	gasúr, bog	goose	ɟ	geata, carraig	argue
ɣ	dhorn,ghasúr	Spanishhigo	j^[2]^[3]	dhearg,gheata	yellow
h^[4]	Shasana,shean,thaisce,theanga,hata, nahéisc	hand	—
k	cáis, mac	cart	c	ceist, mic	cube
l̪ˠ^[5]	labhair, balla	filth	l̠ʲ^[5]	leabhair, goilleadh	million
lˠ^[5]	fhlaith, bealach	pool	lʲ^[5]	fhleasc, goile	leaf
mˠ	mór, am	moot	mʲ	milis, im	mute
n̪ˠ^[6]	naoi, donna	tenth	n̠ʲ^[6]	ní, bainne	inch
nˠ^[6]	dona	noon	nʲ^[6]	bainis	opinion
ŋ	ngasúr	long	ɲ	ngeata	angular
pˠ	poll, stop	poor	pʲ	príosún, truip	pure
ɾˠ	barr,carr	rule (buttapped)	ɾʲ	fhréamh, tirim	real (but tapped)
sˠ	Sasana, tús,speal	soon	ʃ	sean, cáis	sheet
t̪ˠ	taisce, ceart	tool (but dental),thorn (Ireland)	tʲ	tír, beirt	tune (accents withoutyod dropping)
w^[7]^[3]	bhain, dubh,mhór, léamh,vóta	wood orvoodoo	vʲ	bhéal, sibh,mhilis, nimh,veidhlín	view
x	cháis, taoiseach	loch(Scotland)	ç	cheist, deich,theann,theocht,thiúilip,thiocfadh,thiubh	hue (pronounced strongly)

Vowels
IPA	Examples	English approximation	IPA	Examples	English approximation
a	mac	trap	aː	tá	father
ɛ	ceist	best	eː	mé,gael	pay
ɪ	ith, duine	kit	iː	mín, naoi	mean
ɔ	olc, deoch	off	oː	bó,ceol	core
ʊ	dubh, fliuch	good	uː	tú	cool
ə	solas, milis	sofa	—

Diphthongs
IPA	Examples	English Approximation
iə^[8]	bia	idea
uə^[8]	fuar	truant
əi^[8]	saghas	light
əu^[8]	leabhar	about

Suprasegmentals
IPA	Explanation
ˈ	primary stress(placed before the stressed syllable); usually the first syllable except inMunster
ˌ	secondary stress(usually found only incompounds)

Comparison of transcription schemes

Materials published elsewhere use somewhat different conventions from those used at Wikipedia. For example, it is a longstanding tradition to leave velarized ( "broad" ) consonants unmarked and mark palatalized ( "slender" ) consonants with theprime,but that is not standard IPA usage.

This section compares the IPA system used at Wikipedia (which is based on that used by Ailbhe Ní Chasaide in her description of Irish in theHandbook of the International Phonetic Association,ISBN 0-521-63751-1) with the systems used in some other works.

IPA	Ní Chasaide (1999)^[9] (Gweedore)	Quiggin (1906)^[10] (Glenties)	Breatnach (1947)^[11] (Ring)	Ó Sé (2000)^[12] (Dingle Peninsula)	Mhac an Fhailigh (1968)^[13] (Erris)	Ó Siadhail (1988)^[14] (Cois Fharraige)	Foclóir Póca(1993)^[15] (Lárchanúint)
a	a	æ, α	a	a	a	æ:, a:	a
aː	æ	α:	a:	ɑː	a:	ɑ:	a:
bˠ	bˠ	b	b	b	b	b	b
bʲ	bʲ	b′	b′	b′	b′	b′	b′
c	c	k′	k′	k′	k′	k′	k′
ç	ç	ç	ç	x′	ç	x′	x′
d̪ˠ	d̪ˠ	d	d	d	d	d	d
dʲ	d̠ʲ	d′	d′	d′	d′	d′	d′
eː	e	e:	e:	eː	e:	e:	e:
ɛ	ɛ	ɛ, e	e	e	e	e	e
ə	ə	ə	ə	ə, ɪ	ə	ə	ə
əi	—	αi	əi	ai	əi	ai	ai
əu	au	αu	əu	ou	əu	au	au
fˠ	fˠ	f	f	f	f	f	f
fʲ	fʲ	f′	f′	f′	f′	f′	f′
ɡ	ɡ	g	g	ɡ	g	g	g
ɣ	ɣ	ℊ	γ	ɣ	ɣ	ɣ	γ
h	h	h	h, h′	h	h	h	h
iː	i	i:	i:	iː	i:	i:	i:
ɪ	ɪ	ï, i, y	i	i	i	i	i
iə	ia	iə	iə	iːə	iə	i:ə	iə
j	j	j	j	ɣ′	j	ɣ′	γ′
ɟ	ɟ	g′	g′	ɡ′	g′	g′	g′
k	k	k	k	k	k	k	k
l̪ˠ	l̪ˠ	L	l	l	L	L	l
lˠ	l̪ˠ	l	l	l	l	L	l
l̠ʲ	l̠ʲ	L′	l′	l′	L′	L′	l′
lʲ	l	l′	l′	l′	l′	l′	l′
mˠ	mˠ	m	m	m	m	m	m
mʲ	mʲ	m′	m′	m′	m′	m′	m′
n̪ˠ	n̪ˠ	N	n	n	N	N	n
nˠ	n	n	n	n	n	N	n
n̠ʲ	n̠ʲ	N′	n′	n′	N′	N′	n′
nʲ	n̠ʲ	n′	n′	n′	n′	n′	n′
ɲ	ɲ	ɲ	ŋ′	ŋ′	ŋ′	ŋ′	ŋ′
ŋ	ŋ	ŋ	ŋ	ŋ	ŋ	ŋ	ŋ
oː	o	o:, ɔ:	o:	oː	o:	o:	o:
ɔ	ʌ	ɔ, o̤	o	o	o	o	o
pˠ	pˠ	p	p	p	p	p	p
pʲ	pʲ	p′	p′	p′	p′	p′	p′
ɾˠ	ɾˠ	r, R	r	r	r	r	r
ɾʲ	ɾʲ	r′	r′	r′	r′	r′	r′
sˠ	sˠ	s	s	s	s	s	s
ʃ	ɕ	ʃ	ʃ	ʃ	ʃ	s′	s′
t̪ˠ	t̪ˠ	t	t	t	t	t	t
tʲ	t̠ʲ	t′	t′	t′	t′	t′	t′
uː	u	u:	u:	uː	u:	u:	u:
ʊ	ɤ	U	u	u	u	u	u
uə	ua	uə	uə	uːə	uə	u:ə	uə
vʲ	vʲ	v	v′	v′	v′	w′	v′
w	w	w	v	v	w	w	v
x	x	χ	x	x	x	x	x

Notes

^Irish makes contrasts betweenvelarized( "broad" ) andpalatalized( "slender" ) consonants. Velarized consonants, denoted in the IPA by a superscript⟨ˠ⟩(that is not a capital Y but a Latin letter, based on a Greek lowercasegamma,⟨γ⟩), are pronounced with the back of thetongueraised toward thevelum,which happens to the/l/in Englishpillin some accents likeRPandGeneral Americanbut notHiberno-English.InIrish orthography,broad consonants are surrounded by⟨a⟩,⟨o⟩,and⟨u⟩.Slender consonants, denoted in the IPA by a superscript⟨ʲ⟩,are pronounced with the body of the tongue raised toward thehard palatelike the articulation of the[j]sound inyes/jɛs/.In Irish orthography, slender consonants are surrounded by⟨e⟩and⟨i⟩.
^Also[ʝ]in some positions in some dialects. In Munster word final/j/isfortifiedto[ɟ],merging with/ɟ/.
^^a ^bWord final/əj/(⟨(a)idh, (a)igh⟩) and/əw/(⟨(e)abh, (e)amh⟩or⟨bh, mh⟩after an epenthetic schwa) have merged with with/ə/in South Connacht. In North Connacht and Ulster they merge with/iː/and/uː/,respectively. In Munster, the former is realised as[əɟ]and the latter as[əvˠ].
^/h/is neither broad nor slender.
^^a ^b ^c ^dFew, if any, modern dialects of Irish distinguish all four types of L sound. Most dialects have merged/l̪ˠ/and/lˠ/as[l̪ˠ],and some have also merged/l̠ʲ/and/lʲ/as[lʲ].Still others have merged/lˠ/and/lʲ/as[l].
^^a ^b ^c ^dFew, if any, modern dialects of Irish distinguish all four types of N sound. Most dialects have merged/n̪ˠ/and/nˠ/as[n̪ˠ],and some have also merged/n̠ʲ/and/nʲ/as[nʲ].Still others have merged/nˠ/and/nʲ/as[n].In parts ofMunster,/n̠ʲ/has merged with/ɲ/in non-initial position.
^[w~βˠ~vˠ]depending on dialect and position.
^^a ^b ^c ^dAll Irish diphthongs havefallingsonority; they could therefore more precisely be transliterated as[iə̯,uə̯,əi̯,əu̯].
^Ní Chasaide, Ailbhe (1999)."Irish"(PDF).Handbook of the International Phonetic Association.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 111–116.ISBN 0-521-63751-1.
^Quiggin, E. C. (1906).A Dialect of Donegal: Being the Speech of Meenawannia in the Parish of Glenties.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
^Breatnach, Risteard B. (1947).The Irish of Ring, Co. Waterford.Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.ISBN 0-901282-50-2.
^Ó Sé, Diarmuid (2000).Gaeilge Chorca Dhuibhne(in Irish). Dublin: Institiúid Teangeolaíochta Éireann.ISBN 0-946452-97-0.
^Mhac an Fhailigh, Éamonn (1968).The Irish of Erris, Co. Mayo.Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.ISBN 0-901282-02-2.
^Ó Siadhail, Mícheál(1988).Learning Irish: An Introductory Self-tutor.New Haven: Yale University Press.ISBN 0-300-04224-8.
^Foclóir póca: English-Irish/Irish-English dictionary.Dublin: An Gúm. 1993.ISBN 1-85791-047-8.

External links

Irish Phonetic Transcription Converter—Free Online Tool to convert Irish Text to IPA Phonetic Transcription

[1] Irish makes contrasts betweenvelarized( "broad" ) andpalatalized( "slender" ) consonants. Velarized consonants, denoted in the IPA by a superscript⟨ˠ⟩(that is not a capital Y but a Latin letter, based on a Greek lowercasegamma,⟨γ⟩), are pronounced with the back of thetongueraised toward thevelum,which happens to the/l/in Englishpillin some accents likeRPandGeneral Americanbut notHiberno-English.InIrish orthography,broad consonants are surrounded by⟨a⟩,⟨o⟩,and⟨u⟩.Slender consonants, denoted in the IPA by a superscript⟨ʲ⟩,are pronounced with the body of the tongue raised toward thehard palatelike the articulation of the[j]sound inyes/jɛs/.In Irish orthography, slender consonants are surrounded by⟨e⟩and⟨i⟩.

[2] Also[ʝ]in some positions in some dialects. In Munster word final/j/isfortifiedto[ɟ],merging with/ɟ/.

[wj-3] Word final/əj/(⟨(a)idh, (a)igh⟩) and/əw/(⟨(e)abh, (e)amh⟩or⟨bh, mh⟩after an epenthetic schwa) have merged with with/ə/in South Connacht. In North Connacht and Ulster they merge with/iː/and/uː/,respectively. In Munster, the former is realised as[əɟ]and the latter as[əvˠ].

[h-4] /h/is neither broad nor slender.

[l-5] Few, if any, modern dialects of Irish distinguish all four types of L sound. Most dialects have merged/l̪ˠ/and/lˠ/as[l̪ˠ],and some have also merged/l̠ʲ/and/lʲ/as[lʲ].Still others have merged/lˠ/and/lʲ/as[l].

[n-6] Few, if any, modern dialects of Irish distinguish all four types of N sound. Most dialects have merged/n̪ˠ/and/nˠ/as[n̪ˠ],and some have also merged/n̠ʲ/and/nʲ/as[nʲ].Still others have merged/nˠ/and/nʲ/as[n].In parts ofMunster,/n̠ʲ/has merged with/ɲ/in non-initial position.

[7] [w~βˠ~vˠ]depending on dialect and position.

[diph-8] All Irish diphthongs havefallingsonority; they could therefore more precisely be transliterated as[iə̯,uə̯,əi̯,əu̯].

[9] Ní Chasaide, Ailbhe (1999)."Irish"(PDF).Handbook of the International Phonetic Association.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 111–116.ISBN 0-521-63751-1.

[10] Quiggin, E. C. (1906).A Dialect of Donegal: Being the Speech of Meenawannia in the Parish of Glenties.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[11] Breatnach, Risteard B. (1947).The Irish of Ring, Co. Waterford.Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.ISBN 0-901282-50-2.

[12] Ó Sé, Diarmuid (2000).Gaeilge Chorca Dhuibhne(in Irish). Dublin: Institiúid Teangeolaíochta Éireann.ISBN 0-946452-97-0.

[13] Mhac an Fhailigh, Éamonn (1968).The Irish of Erris, Co. Mayo.Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.ISBN 0-901282-02-2.

[14] Ó Siadhail, Mícheál(1988).Learning Irish: An Introductory Self-tutor.New Haven: Yale University Press.ISBN 0-300-04224-8.

[15] Foclóir póca: English-Irish/Irish-English dictionary.Dublin: An Gúm. 1993.ISBN 1-85791-047-8.

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Key

Comparison of transcription schemes

See also

Notes

External links