Appendix:Irish pronunciation

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The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Irish-language pronunciations in Wiktionary entries.

See Irish phonology for detailed discussion of the phonology of Irish.

Consonants
broad^[1]		slender^[2]		English approximations
IPA	Example	IPA	Example	English approximations
bˠ	bain, scuab	bʲ	béal, cnáib	boot; beautiful
d̪ˠ	dorn, nead	dʲ	dearg, cuid	do (but dental), though in Hiberno-English; dew
fˠ	fós, graf pholl	fʲ	fíon, stuif phríosún	fool; fuel
ɡ	gasúr, bog	ɟ	geata, carraig	goose; argue
ɣ	dhorn ghasúr	j	dhearg gheata	(no equivalent); yellow
h^[3]	Shasana, shean thaisce, theanga hata, na héisc			hand
k	cáis, mac	c	ceist, mic	coot; cute
l̪ˠ^[4]	labhair, balla	l̠ʲ^[4]	leabhair, goilleadh	filth; million
lˠ^[4]	fhlaith, bealach	lʲ^[4]	fhleasc, goile	pool; leaf
mˠ	mór, am	mʲ	milis, im	moot; mute
n̪ˠ^[5]	naoi, donna	n̠ʲ^[5]	ní, bainne	tenth; inch
nˠ^[5]	dona	nʲ^[5]	bainis	noon; new
ŋ	ngasúr	ɲ	ngeata	long; angular
pˠ	poll, stop	pʲ	príosún, truip	poor; pure
ɾˠ	rí, cuairt, barr, cairr	ɾʲ	fhréamh, tirim	rule (but tapped); real (but tapped)
sˠ	Sasana, tús, speal	ʃ	sean, cáis	soon; sheet
t̪ˠ	taisce, ceart	tʲ	tír, beirt	tool (but dental), thorn in Hiberno-English; tune
w^[6]	bhain, dubh mhór, léamh vóta	vʲ	bhéal, sibh mhilis, nimh veidhlín	woo; view
x^[7]	cháis, taoiseach	ç	cheist, deich	loch (Scottish English); hue (pronounced strongly)

Vowels
IPA	Examples	English approximation
a	cead	trap
aː	meán	tar (Boston); tie (Southern U.S.)
ɑ	cad	cod (General American)
ɑː	mán	llama
ɛ	ceist	best
ɞ	cois	word (Hiberno-English)
eː	mé, Gael	pay
ɪ	ith, duine	kit
iː	mín	mean
ɔ	olc, deoch	cloth
oː	bó, ceol	roll
ʊ	dubh, fliuch	good
uː	tú	too
ə	solas, milis	sofa
iə^[8]	bia	fear (non-rhotic accent)
uə^[8]	fuar	tour (non-rhotic accent)
əi^[8]	saghas	light
əu^[8]	leabhar	about

Supersegmentals
IPA	Explanation
ˈ	Primary stress (placed before the stressed syllable); usually the first syllable except in Munster
ˌ	Secondary stress (usually found only in compounds)

Comparison to other phonetic transcription schemes

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

This section compares the IPA system used at Wiktionary(which is based on that used by Ailbhe Ní Chasaide in her description of Irish in the Handbook of the International Phonetic Association, →ISBN) with the system 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 Fhairrge)	Foclóir Póca (1993)^[15] (Lárchanúint)
a	a	æ, α	a	a	a	æ꞉, a꞉^[16]	a
aː	æ	α꞉	a꞉	ɑː	a꞉	ɑ꞉	a꞉
bˠ	bˠ	b	b	b	b	b	b
bʲ	bʲ	bʹ	bʹ	bʹ	bʹ	bʹ	bʹ
c	c	kʹ	kʹ	kʹ	kʹ	kʹ	kʹ
ç	ç	ç	ç	xʹ	ç	xʹ	xʹ
d̪ˠ	d̪ˠ	d	d	d	d	d	d
dʲ	d̠ʲ	dʹ	dʹ	dʹ	dʹ	dʹ	dʹ
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	fʹ	fʹ	fʹ	fʹ	fʹ	fʹ
ɡ	ɡ	g	g	ɡ	g	g	g
ɣ	ɣ	ꬶ	γ	ɣ	ɣ	ɣ	γ
h	h	h	h, hʹ	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	ɣʹ	j	ɣʹ	γʹ
ɟ	ɟ	gʹ	gʹ	ɡʹ	gʹ	gʹ	gʹ
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	Lʹ	lʹ	lʹ	Lʹ	Lʹ	lʹ
lʲ	l	lʹ	lʹ	lʹ	lʹ	lʹ	lʹ
mˠ	mˠ	m	m	m	m	m	m
mʲ	mʲ	mʹ	mʹ	mʹ	mʹ	mʹ	mʹ
n̪ˠ	n̪ˠ	N	n	n	N	N	n
nˠ	n	n	n	n	n	N	n
n̠ʲ	n̠ʲ	Nʹ	nʹ	nʹ	Nʹ	Nʹ	nʹ
nʲ	n̠ʲ	nʹ	nʹ	nʹ	nʹ	nʹ	nʹ
ɲ	ɲ	ɲ	ŋʹ	ŋʹ	ŋʹ	ŋʹ	ŋʹ
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	pʹ	pʹ	pʹ	pʹ	pʹ	pʹ
ɾˠ	ɾˠ	r, R	r	r	r	r	r
ɾʲ	ɾʲ	rʹ	rʹ	rʹ	rʹ	rʹ	rʹ
sˠ	sˠ	s	s	s	s	s	s
ʃ	ɕ	ʃ	ʃ	ʃ	ʃ	sʹ	sʹ
t̪ˠ	t̪ˠ	t	t	t	t	t	t
tʲ	t̠ʲ	tʹ	tʹ	tʹ	tʹ	tʹ	tʹ
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	vʹ	vʹ	vʹ	wʹ	vʹ
w	w	w	v	v	w	w	v
x	x	χ	x	x	x	x	x

Notes

^ Irish makes contrasts between velarized ("broad") and palatalized ("slender") consonants. Velarized consonants, denoted in the IPA by a superscript ⟨ˠ⟩, are pronounced with the back of the tongue raised toward the velum, which happens to the /l/ in English pill in some accents, like RP and General American, but not in Hiberno-English. In Irish orthography, broad consonants are surrounded by ⟨a⟩, ⟨o⟩, ⟨u⟩.
^ "Slender" (palatalized) consonants, denoted in the IPA by a superscript ⟨ʲ⟩, are pronounced with the body of the tongue raised toward the hard palate, in a manner similar to the articulation of the ⟨y⟩ sound in yes. In Irish orthography, slender consonants are surrounded by ⟨e⟩, ⟨i⟩.
^ /h/ is neither broad nor slender.
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 ^4.3 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].
↑ ^5.0 ^5.1 ^5.2 ^5.3 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 of Munster, /n̠ʲ/ has merged with /ɲ/ in non-initial position.
^ [w]~[βˠ]~[vˠ] depending on dialect and position.
^ [a(x)] in Ulster transcriptions signifies [a] ~ [ah] ~ [ax].
↑ ^8.0 ^8.1 ^8.2 ^8.3 All Irish diphthongs have falling sonority; they could therefore more precisely be transliterated as iə̯, uə̯, əi̯, əu̯.
^ Ní Chasaide, Ailbhe (1999), “Irish”, in Handbook of the International Phonetic Association‎^[1], Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, retrieved 11 January 2012, pages 111–16
^ Quiggin, E. C. (1906), A Dialect of Donegal: Being the Speech of Meenawannia in the Parish of Glenties, Cambridge University Press
^ Breatnach, Risteard B. (1947), The Irish of Ring, Co. Waterford, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, →ISBN
^ Ó Sé, Diarmuid (2000), Gaeilge Chorca Dhuibhne (in Irish), Dublin: Institiúid Teangeolaíochta Éireann., →ISBN
^ Mhac an Fhailigh, Éamonn (1968), The Irish of Erris, Co. Mayo, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, →ISBN
^ Ó Siadhail, Mícheál (1988), Learning Irish: An Introductory Self-tutor, New Haven: Yale University Press, →ISBN
^ anonymous author (1993), Foclóir póca: English-Irish/Irish-English dictionary, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
^ These vowels are always marked long in accounts of Cois Fharraige Irish, but they are short in all other dialects and are marked short in Wiktionary entries.

[1] Irish makes contrasts between velarized ("broad") and palatalized ("slender") consonants. Velarized consonants, denoted in the IPA by a superscript ⟨ˠ⟩, are pronounced with the back of the tongue raised toward the velum, which happens to the /l/ in English pill in some accents, like RP and General American, but not in Hiberno-English. In Irish orthography, broad consonants are surrounded by ⟨a⟩, ⟨o⟩, ⟨u⟩.

[2] "Slender" (palatalized) consonants, denoted in the IPA by a superscript ⟨ʲ⟩, are pronounced with the body of the tongue raised toward the hard palate, in a manner similar to the articulation of the ⟨y⟩ sound in yes. In Irish orthography, slender consonants are surrounded by ⟨e⟩, ⟨i⟩.

[h-3] /h/ is neither broad nor slender.

[l-4] 4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 ^4.3 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-5] 5.0 ^5.1 ^5.2 ^5.3 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 of Munster, /n̠ʲ/ has merged with /ɲ/ in non-initial position.

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

[7] [a(x)] in Ulster transcriptions signifies [a] ~ [ah] ~ [ax].

[diph-8] 8.0 ^8.1 ^8.2 ^8.3 All Irish diphthongs have falling sonority; they could therefore more precisely be transliterated as iə̯, uə̯, əi̯, əu̯.

[9] Ní Chasaide, Ailbhe (1999), “Irish”, in Handbook of the International Phonetic Association‎^[1], Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, retrieved 11 January 2012, pages 111–16

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

[11] Breatnach, Risteard B. (1947), The Irish of Ring, Co. Waterford, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, →ISBN

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

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

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

[15] ymous author (1993), Foclóir póca: English-Irish/Irish-English dictionary, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN

[16] These vowels are always marked long in accounts of Cois Fharraige Irish, but they are short in all other dialects and are marked short in Wiktionary entries.

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