Folk Dance Federation of California, South, Inc.
Irish
By Dick Oakes
A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g,
H h, I i, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p,
R r, S s, T t, U u
Irish is a Celtic language with nearly 1.5 million people who have some knowledge of the language.
There is also the addition of an acute diacritic mark, the "fada."
Accent is almost always on the first syllable.
When the first letter of a word changes in what is called urú or "eclipsis," the spelling gives first the letter as pronounced, followed by the original letter before it was changed as in mb, gc, nd, bhf, ng, bp, ts, and dt.
Letters not listed below are pronounced approximately as in English.
A, a - a as in about Á, á - a as in father E, e - e as in let É, é - e as in hey I, i - i as in pin Í, í - i as in machine O, o - o as in mock Ó, ó - o as in note U, u - u as in muck Ú, ú - u as in duke BROAD CONSONANTS: D, D - d as in duck R, r - slightly rolled S, s - s as in saw T, t - t as in turnip SLENDER CONSONANTS: D, D - j as in jaw R, r - r as in raw S, s - s as in sugar T, t - ch as in church ASPIRATED BROAD CONSONANTS: Bh, bh - w as in war Ch, ch - ch as in loch Dh, dh - ch as in loch but with a g sound Fh, fh - silent Gh, gh - ch as in loch but with a g sound Mh, mh - w as in war Ph, ph - f as in far Sh, sh - h as in how Th, th - h as in how ASPIRATED SLENDER CONSONANTS: Bh, bh - v as in victor Ch, ch - ch as in church Dh, dh - y as in yes Fh, fh - silent Gh, gh - y as in yes Mh, mh - v as in victor Ph, ph - f as in far Sh, sh - h as in how Th, th - h as in how LONG DIPTHONGS: Ae, ae - a as in bray Ao, ao - ee as in tree Eo, eo - o as in throw Ia, ia - a as in bray Ua, ua - ua as in truant SHORT DIPTHONGS: Ea, ea - a as in travel Io, io - i as in pin Ui, ui - i as in pin