EASY LESSONS IN MODERN IRISH.
THE IRISH ALPHABET.
§ 1. In commencing to study any language from books, we must first learn the alphabet—the characters in which the language is written and printed. A glance at an Irish manuscript or printed book will at once tell us that the letters used in writing and printing Irish are somewhat different from those we use in English. They are also fewer in number. We give the characters of the Irish alphabet, both capitals and small letters, with the English letters to which they correspond:—
| Irish Letters. | | Corresponding | |
| Capitals. | Small. | English Letters | |
| A | a | a | |
| B | b | b | |
| C | c | c | |
| D | d | d | |
| E | e | e | |
| F | f | f | |
| G | g | g | |
| H | h | h | |
| I | i | i | |
| L | l | l | |
| M | m | m | |
| N | n | n | |
| O | o | o | |
| P | p | p | |
| R | r | r | |
| S | s | s | |
| T | t | t | |
| U | u | u | |
§ 2. These eighteen letters are the only characters needed in writing Irish words. It will be noticed that the Irish “c” corresponds to the English “k,” as it is never soft as c is in the word “cell,” but always hard as in “cold,” or like k in “kill.” Similarly, g is never soft, as g in gem, gaol; but hard, as in rag, get, goal.
§ 3. It will also be noticed that these letters differ but little from the ordinary Roman letters which we use in printing or writing English. The Irish forms of the letters d, g, t, are often used in ornamental English lettering. The only letters which present any difficulty are the small letters r, r, and s, s; the student who can distinguish these from each other has mastered the Irish alphabet. This so-called “Irish Alphabet” is not of Irish origin; it was taught to the Irish by the early Christian missionaries who came from the Continent in the fifth and sixth centuries of the Christian era. The letters are thus of the same form as the letters then used on the Continent for writing Latin and Greek.
§ 4. The forms of the Irish letters used in writing do not differ from those used in printing. Irish copy-books can be procured of the Dublin booksellers.
VOWELS AND CONSONANTS.
§ 5. The letters are divided, as in other languages, into vowels and consonants. The vowels are a, e, i, o, u. The other letters are consonants.
THE VOWELS.
§ 6. Each vowel has two sounds—a SHORT sound and a LONG sound. When a vowel is to be pronounced with a LONG sound it has a mark over it, as, á, é, í, ó, í,. When there is no mark, the vowel has a SHORT sound.
§ 7. Vowels are also divided into two classes—the BROAD vowels, a, o, u; and the SLENDER vowels, e, i. This is an important division. The student is not to confound BROAD and LONG vowels; any of the three broad vowels may be either long or short; they are long when marked, as á, ó, ú; they are short when unmarked, as a, o, u. In the same way, the slender vowels may be long, é, í; or short, e, i.
THE CONSONANTS.
§ 8. A consonant is said to be BROAD when the vowel next it, in the same word, is BROAD; and SLENDER when the vowel next it is SLENDER. Thus, s in sona, as, mias, is BROAD; s in sí, siar, mise, is SLENDER.
§ 9. Consonants, in addition to their ordinary natural sounds, have, in modern Irish, softened sounds. These will be treated in a special chapter.
PRONUNCIATION OF IRISH.
§ 10. Although it is true that no one can learn, from books alone, the perfect pronunciation of any language like Irish, still it is possible to give a very fair approximation to every sound in the language except, perhaps, two. Of these two, one is not essential.
The plan of these lessons is the following:—We give in each exercise a number of simple sentences in Irish to be translated [ 252 ]into English, and other short sentences in English to be translated into Irish. At the head of these exercises are given the words which the student must know. After each word we give two things, its pronunciation and its meaning. Thus, the entry, “sál (saul), a heel,” will convey to the student that the Irish word sál is pronounced “saul,” and means a “heel.”
§ 11. We may call these words in brackets KEY-WORDS, as they give a key to the pronunciation.
It is, of course, absolutely necessary that we should know what is the sound of each letter, and each combination of letters, in the key-words.
§ 12. Sounds are divided into vowel sounds and consonant sounds.
THE VOWEL SOUNDS.
The vowel sounds of the English language are tabulated as follows by Mr. Pitman, the great authority on phonetics:—
I.—THE SIX LONG VOWEL-SOUNDS.
| 1. | The vowel-sound in the word | half; |
| 2. | do.do.do. | pay; |
| 3. | do.do.do. | he; |
| 4. | do.do.do. | thought; |
| 5. | do.do.do. | so; |
| 6. | do.do.do. | poor; |
II.—THE SIX SHORT VOWEL-SOUNDS.
| 7. | The vowel-sound in the word | that; |
| 8. | do.do.do. | bell; |
| 9. | do.do.do. | is; |
| 10. | do.do.do. | not; |
| 11. | do.do.do. | much; |
| 12. | do.do.do. | good; |
The six long vowel-sounds, then, are brought to mind when we repeat the words:—
- “Half-pay he thought so poor.”
Similarly, the six short vowel-sounds are brought to mind when we repeat the words:—
- “That bell is not much good.”
In our key-words the following symbols shall be used to represent those sounds:—
PHONETIC KEY.
§ 13. I.—THE VOWELS.
| In the key-words, | Are to be | In the English | |
| the letters | sounded like | words | |
| 1. | aa | a | half; calf |
| 2. | æ | ae | Gaelic |
| 3. | ee | ee | feel; see |
| 4. | au | au | naught; taught |
| 5. | ō | o | note; coke |
| 6. | oo | oo (long) | tool; room |
| 7. | a | a | bat; that |
| 8. | e | e | let; bell |
| 9. | i | i | hit; fill |
| 10. | o | o | knot; clock |
| 11. | ŭ | u | up; us |
| 12. | u | oo (short) | good; took |
| (same sound as in full.) | |||
It is useful to note that the sound (No. 6) of oo in poor is the same as the sound of u in rule; while the sound (No. 11) of u in up, us, is the same as that of o in son, done. It will be noticed that the same numbers are attached to the same sounds in both tables.
§ 14. II.—THE OBSCURE VOWEL-SOUND.
THE SYMBOLS ă and ĕ.
There is in Irish, as in English, a vowel sound usually termed “obscure.” In the word “tolerable” the a is pronounced so indistinctly that from the mere pronunciation one could not tell what is the vowel in the syllable. The symbols ă and ĕ will be used to denote this obscure vowel-sound. The use of two symbols for the obscure vowel-sound will be found to have advantages. The student should, therefore, remember that the symbols ă and ĕ represent one obscure vowel-sound, and are not to be sounded as “a” and “e” in the table of vowels above. Thus, when the Irish for “a well,” tobar, is said to be pronounced “thŭbăr,” the last syllable is not to be pronounced “ar,” but the word is to be sounded as any of the words, “thubbar, thubber, thubbor, thubbur,” would be in English.
§ 15. III.—THE DIPHTHONGS.
| In the Key words, | Are to be | In the English |
| the letters | sounded like | words |
| ei | ei | height |
| ou | ou | mouth |
| oi | oi | boil |
| ew | ew | few |
§ 16. IV.—THE CONSONANTS.
The consonants used in representing the pronunciation of Irish words will be sounded thus:—
- b, f, m, p, v, w, y, as in English. [ 253 ]v, w, as in English. But capital V and
W will be found useful in representing common Munster pronunciations, as will be explained.
h, as in English, except in dh, th, CH, sh.
k, l, n, r, as in English. But additional signs are needed, as explained below.
g, as in English, go, give; never soft as in gin.
ng, as in English, song, sing; never soft as in singe.
| dh | like | th | in | thy | ||
| d | „ | d | „ | duty | ||
| th | „ | th | „ | thigh | ||
| t | „ | t | „ | tune | ||
| r | „ | r | „ | run | ||
| r | (no sound exactly similar in English: see note.). | |||||
| s | like | s | in | so, alas | ||
| sh | „ | sh | „ | shall, lash | ||
| l | „ | sh | „ | look, lamb | ||
| L | thick sound not in English | |||||
| l | „ | l | in | valiant | ||
| n | „ | n | „ | noon | ||
| N | thick sound not in English | |||||
| n | „ | n | in | new | ||
| k | „ | k | „ | liking | See Note | |
| K | „ | k | „ | looking | ||
| g | „ | g | „ | begin | ||
| G | „ | g | „ | begun | ||
| CH | „ | gh | „ | O’Loughlin | ||
| γ | guttural sound not in English | |||||
The above table will be explained in the course of the following lessons.
§ 17. EXERCISE 1.
SOUNDS OF IRISH VOWELS.
| The Irish | Is sounded like the | i.e., like the vowel |
| Vowel | phonetic sign | sound in the word |
| á long | au | naught |
| a short | æ | knot |
| é long | ae | Gaelic |
| e short | e | let |
| í long | ee | feel |
| i short | i | hit |
| ó long | ō | note |
| o short | ŭ | done, much |
| ú long | oo | tool |
| u short | u | put, put, full, took |
Note.—Final short vowels are never silent; thus, mine, míle, are pronounced min′-ě, meel′-ě. From the above table it will be seen that a is never like a in fate, e like e in me, i like i in mine, o like o in not, or u like u in mule. The short vowels, as will be seen, are sometimes modified by the following consonant. The Munster sounds of the short vowels are treated separately below.
§ 18. CONSONANTS.
| b, f, m, p | are sounded | like | b, f, m, p | in | § 16 |
| d BROAD (see § 8) | „ | dh | „ | „ | |
| t „ | „ | th | „ | „ | |
| g, l, n, r, s, often like g, l, n, r, s. | |||||
§ 19. The Article and the Noun.
There is no INDEFINITE article in Irish; thus, gort means “a field.” The DEFINITE article is an, “the” (ăn: like the an- in “annoy”), as, an gort, the field. In such phrases (compare the English “a field”) the stress is laid on the noun; there is no stress on the article, and the vowel-sound of the article is obscure, as an gort (ăn gŭrth). In the spoken language the n of the article an is often omitted before nouns beginning with a consonant.
§ 20. The Adjective and the Noun.
All adjectives, except a few, are placed AFTER the noun which they qualify; as, im úr fresh butter; an gort mór, the big field; gort mór, árd, a big high field.
§ 21. Words.
| árd (aurdh), high, tall | mé (mae), I |
| bó (bō), a cow | mór (mōr), great, big, large |
| bos (bŭs), palm of hand | |
| cos (kŭs), a foot | óg (ōg), young |
| cú (koo),a greyhound | sál (saul), a heel |
| glas (glos), adj. green | srón (srōn), nose |
| glún (gloon), knee | tú (thoo), thou |
| gort (gŭrth), a field | úr (oor), fresh, new |
Proper names: Art (orth) Art, Úna (oon′-ă), Una.
The conjunction “and”: agus (og-ăs).
§ 22. ACCENTS. In words of two syllables the accent is upon the first syllable, as marked in oon′-ă, og′-ăs. The vowel of the last syllable, when short, is then, as a rule, obscure (see § 14, above).
§ 23. Translate into English, reading the Irish aloud: Tú agus mé. Bó óg. Glún agus sál. Cor agus bos. Cos agus sál Gort árd glas. Úna óg. Bó agus cú. Gort mór árd. Cú mór. Bó óg agus cú.
§ 24. Translate into Irish, reading the Irish aloud: A high heel. A foot, a heel, a nose, a palm. A green field. A high green field. A young cow. Young Art and I. Art and Una. A green field, a cow. A young greyhound. A big young greyhound.
[ 254 ]EXERCISE II.
§ 25. The verb To be. The English “am,” “art,” “is,” “are,” are all translated by the Irish word atá (ă-thau′). This word has, it will be noted, the accent on the last syllable, and is almost the same in sound as the English words “a thaw.” In the spoken language it is shortened to tá (thau).
§ 26. Verb and Nominative. In Irish the nominative case is placed immediately AFTER the verb; as, atá tú, thou art.
§ 27. Verb, Nominative Case, and Adjective. In English sentences like “the field is large,” the order of words is—1, nominative case; 2, verb; 3, adjective. In translating such sentences into Irish, the words must be placed in the following order:—1, verb; 2, nominative case; 3, adjective. Examples:—
| 1. | 2. | 3. | |
| atá | mé | mór, | I am big. |
| atá | tú | óg, | thou art young. |
| atá | an gort | mór, | the field is big. |
§ 28. When there is another adjective qualifying the nominative case, it is placed immediately after its noun, as:—
| atá | an gort mór | glas | the big field is green. |
| atá | an doras úr | árd | the new door is high. |
§ 29. Wors.
| asal (os′-ăl), an ass | fál (faul), a hedge |
| doras (dhŭr′-ăs), a door | glan (glon), clean |
| dún (dhoon), verb, close, shut | tobar thŭb′-ăr), a well. |
§ 30. The word tú, “thou,” is used when speaking to one person. In English, the plural form, “you,” is used. § 31. Translate into English: Atá mé mór. Atá tú óg agur mór. Atá mé óg agus árd. Gort mór agus tobar. Gort agus bó. Tobar úr agus bó. Bó agus im Im úr. Atá an fál mór. Atá an fál árd Atá an gort mór agus glan. Atá Una mór agus óg. Atá an doras árd. Atá an fál glas. Dún an doras mór. Atá an tobar úr. Asal óg agus gort glas. Atá án cú mór.
§ 32. Translate into Irish: Close the door. A high field. The field is big and green. The hedge is green and high. A green field and a cow. Close the big well. Una is tall. Thou art young and tall. The hound is young. The well is clean.
EXERCISE III.
§ 33. SOUNDS OF R AND S.
| The Letters in | Are sounded | In English |
| Key-words | like | Words. |
| r | r | run. |
| r | (no sound exactly similar in English: see note). | |
| s | s | so, alas |
| sh | sh | shall, lash. |
Note.—The sound of “r” is never slurred over as in the words “firm, warm, farm,” etc., as correctly pronounced in English. The sign “r” represents the “r” with rolling sound heard in the beginning of English words, as run, rage, row, etc. The sign “r” represents a peculiar Irish sound, midway between the “rr” of “carry” and the “zz” of “fizz.” The learner may pronounce it as as ordinary English "r" until he has learned the exact sound from a speaker of Irish. Note that “s” is never pronounced “z,” or “zh,” as in the English words “was,” “occasion,” etc.
§ 34. THE IRISH LETTERS r AND s:
| r broad | is sounded like | r | in § 33, | above |
| r slender[1] | „ | r | „ | |
| s broad | „ | s | „ | |
| s slender | „ | sh | „ |
§ 35. VOCABULARY.
| ag (og)[2], preposition, at | fór (fōs), yet, still, also |
| bog (bŭg), soft | sé (shae), he |
| bróg (brōg), a shoe | sí (shee), she |
| dún (dhoon), noun, a fort | stól (sthōl), stool. |
| fada (fodh-ă). long | te (te[3]), hot, warm |
| fág (faug), verb, leave (thou) | tír (teer), country, lang |
| tirim (tir′-im), dry |
§ 36. The verb atá often corresponds to the English “there is,” “there are;” as atá bo ag an tobar, there is a cow at the well; atá bó agus asal ag an tobar, there are a cow and an ass at the well.
[ 255 ] § 37. Translate into English:—Atá tú óg fós. Atá sé óg agus árd. Atá an gort fada agus glas. Atá bó ag an tobar úr. Atá an tobar tirim. Atá an tobar mór tirim. Atá mé te, agus atá an tobar tirim. Fág an stól ag an doras, atá me te. Atá an stól árd. Atá bróg úr ag an dún. Atá Art ag an dún agus atá bó ag an tobar fós. Dún an doras.
§ 38. Translate into Irish:—The field is soft. A soft green field. The field is green and soft. I am big and tall. Una is young. Art is big and heavy. She is at the door. There is a hedge at the well, and there is a cow at the fort. The stool is at the door. Leave the stool at the door. I am hot and the big well is dry yet. Leave a big stool at the door.
EXERCISE IV.
§ 39. VOCABULARY.
| ar (or[4]), preposition, on, upon | glas (glos), noun, a lock |
| bád (baudh), a boat | mála (maul′-ă), a bag |
| cóta (kōth′-ă), a coat |
§ 40. Sentences like “Art is wearing a new coat,” are usually translated into Irish by “there is a new coat (or any other article of DRESS) on Art,” atá cóta úr ar Art.
§ 41. The conjunction agus is usually omitted, in Irish, when two or more adjectives come together, especially when the adjectives are somewhat connected in meaning; as, atá an dún mór, árd, the fort is big (and) high.
§ 42. Translate:—Atá an bád mór. Atá an mála mór. Fág an mála ag an doras. Fág an bád ar an tír. Atá glas ar an doras. Atá glas mór ar an doras árd. Fág an mála ar an stól ag an doras. Atá bróg úr ar Úna. Atá an bád fada glan.
§ 43. Leave the boat on the land. The bag is long. The new boat is on the land yet. Art is wearing a new coat. The coat is warm. Leave the lock on the door. There is a high door on the fort. The land is warm (and) dry. The lock is on the door yet.
EXERCISE V.
§ 44. SOUNDS OF l AND n.
In Irish there are three sounds of l and three sounds of n.
§ 45. 1. As already stated, l and n are often pronounced as in English words, e.g., as in look, lamb, noon.
§ 46. 2. There are also what they call the thick sounds of l and n. If the upper part of the tongue be pressed against the back of the upper teeth, while the English word, “law,” is being pronounced, a thick sound of “l” will be heard. This sound does not exist in English. In the key-words we shall represent this sound by the symbol L (capital).
Similarly, if the tongue be pressed against the back of the upper teeth while the word “month” is being pronounced, a thick sound of “n” will be heard. This sound does not exist in English, and in the key-words it will be represented by N (capital).
§ 47. 3. The third sound of l is that given in English to the L in Luke, the l in valiant, or to the ll in William, million, as these words are usually pronounced. We shall represent this sound by italic l. In the same way, n has a third sound like that given in English to n in new, Newry, and we shall use n, italic, as a symbol for this sound.[5]
§ 48. We can now add to our table of consonant sounds the following:—
| In the Keywords | Are to be | In the English |
| the Letters | sounded like | words |
| l | l | look, lamb |
| L | thick sound not in English | |
| l | l | valiant |
| n | n | noon |
| N | thick sound not in English | |
| n | n | new |
§ 49. In many parts of Ireland
| l broad | is always sounded like our symbol | L |
| l slender | „„„ | l |
| n broad | „„„ | N |
| n slender | „„„ | n |
We recommend to private students this simple method of pronunciation in preference to the following more elaborate rule, which is followed in Connaught Irish.
§ 50. (A.) Between vowels, single t and n are pronounced as in English; as mála (maul-a′), a bag; milis (mil′ish), sweet; Úna (oo′-na), Una; minic (min′ik), often. At the end of words, single l and n, preceded by a vowel, are also pronounced as in English; as, bán (baun), white-haired; asal (os′-al), an ass. Single l and n, when next any of the gutturals, g, c, or the labials, b, f, p, are like English l, a; as, olc (ŭlk), bad; blas (blos), taste.
| (B.) In the beginning of words, | |||
| | l broad | is pronounced | L |
| l slender | „ | l | |
| n broad | „ | N | |
| n slender | „ | n | |
| (C.) | ll broad | is always pronounced | L |
| ll slender | „„ | l | |
| nn broad | „„ | N | |
| nn slender | „„ | n |
(D.) When next d, r, t, l, m, n, s (the consonants in “don’t let me stir”), l and n, if broad, are pronounced L, N; if slender, l, n.
§ 51. The student should not be discouraged by the rich variety of sounds for two characters. It may be borne in mind (1) that words involving these letters will be perfectly understood, even if each l and n is pronounced with the ordinary English sound; (2) that in many districts the people have simplified the pronunciation, as noted above in § 49; and (3) that, by a careful reference to our table of sounds, the student will soon learn by practice the sound to be given to l and n in each particular case. We give, for practice, some words for pronunciation.
L sounds. lag (Log), log (Lŭg), slán (sLaun), dlún (dhLoon), tlú (thLoo).
l sounds. lín (leen), slím shleem), fille (fil′-e).
N sounds. Nús (Noos), snag (sNog), Nóra (Nōr′ă), Nora.
n sounds. Finne (fin′-ĕ), binne (bin′-ĕ) ní (nee)
§ 52. VOCABULARY.
| balla (boL′-ă), a wall | lán (Laun), full |
| bán (baun), white-(haired) | milis (mil′-ish) sweet |
| bog (bŭg), soft | ná (Nau), not |
| capall (kop′-ăL), a horse | slán (sLaun), well, healthy |
| Conn (kŭN), Con | solas (sŭl′-ăs), light |
| fan (fon), wait, stay | |
| glan (glon), clean | |
| lá (Lau), a day |
§ 53. Ná is the negative particle to be used with the imperative mood; as fág an solas, leave the light; ná fág má, do not leave me.
§ 54. Dún an doras. Fan, ná dún an doras fós. Ná fan ag an doras. Ná fág an mála lán ag an doras. Atá stól mór ag an tobar. Atá an tobar glan. Atá Conn bán, agus atá Art óg. Atá Art agus Conn ag an dún. Atá mé slán. Atá an capall óg. Atá solas ag an doras.
§ 55. The day is long. The day is hot. The day is soft. There is a light on the door. Leave the light at the door. You are tall and he is white-haired. The wall is high. There are a wall and a high hedge at the well. There is a high wall on the fort. Leave the horse at the well. The well is full. He is young and healthy. Do not stay at the door.
The above lessons are being continued from week to week in the Weekly Freeman.