A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
Irish orthography is the set of conventions used to write Irish. A spelling reform in the mid-20th century led to An Caighdeán Oifigiúil, the modern standard written form used by the Government of Ireland, which regulates both spelling and grammar.[1] The reform removed inter-dialectal silent letters, simplified some letter sequences, and modernised archaic spellings to reflect modern pronunciation, but it also removed letters pronounced in some dialects but not in others.
Irish spelling represents all Irish dialects to a high degree despite their considerable phonological variation, e.g. crann ("tree") is read /kɾˠan̪ˠ/ in Mayo and Ulster, /kɾˠaːn̪ˠ/ in Galway, or /kɾˠəun̪ˠ/ in Munster. Some words may have dialectal pronunciations not reflected by their standard spelling, and they sometimes have distinct dialectal spellings to reflect this.[2][3]
Alphabet
Latin script has been the writing system used to write Irish since the 5th century, when it replaced Ogham, which was used to write Primitive Irish and Old Irish.[4] Prior to the mid-20th century, Gaelic type (cló Gaelach) was the main typeface used to write Irish; now, it is usually replaced by Roman type (cló Rómhánach). The use of Ogham and Gaelic type today is restricted to decorative or self-consciously traditional contexts. The dot above a lenited letter in Gaelic type is usually replaced by a following ⟨h⟩ in Roman type (e.g. ⟨ċ⟩ → ⟨ch⟩).[5]
Letters and letter names
The traditional Irish alphabet (aibítir) consists of 18 letters: ⟨a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, l, m, n, o, p, r, s, t, u⟩. It does not contain ⟨j, k, q, v, w, x, y, z⟩, although they are used in scientific terminology and modern loanwords of foreign origin. ⟨v⟩ occurs in a small number of (mainly onomatopoeic) native words (e.g. vácarnach "to quack" and vrác "caw") and colloquialisms (e.g. víog for bíog "chirp" and vís for bís "screw").[6] ⟨h⟩, when not prefixed to a word initial vowel or after a consonant to show lenition, primarily occurs word initially in loanwords, e.g. hata "hat". ⟨k⟩ is the only letter not listed by Ó Dónaill.
Vowels may be accented with an acute accent (⟨á, é, í, ó, ú⟩; see below).[7] Accented letters are considered variants of their unaccented equivalent, and they follow their unaccented equivalents in dictionaries (i.e. a, á…abhac, ábhacht, abhaile...).
English letter names are generally used in both colloquial and formal speech but there are modern Irish letter names (based on the original Latin names), similar to other languages that use a Latin script alphabet. Tree names were historically used to name the letters. Tradition taught that they all derived from the names of Ogham letters, though it is now known that only some of the earliest were named after trees.
| Letter | Name | Name
(IPA) |
Tree Name (Bríatharogam) | Ogham equivalent | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aa | á a | /aː/ | ailm (pine) | ᚐ | |
| Bb | bé | /bʲeː/ | beith (birch) | ᚁ | |
| Cc | cé | /ceː/ | coll (hazel) | ᚉ | |
| Dd | dé | /dʲeː/ | dair (oak) | ᚇ | |
| Ee | é a | /eː/ | eadhadh (poplar) | ᚓ | |
| Ff | eif | /ɛfʲ/ | fearn (alder) | ᚃ | |
| Gg | gé | /ɟeː/ | gort (ivy) | ᚌ | |
| Hh | héis | /heːʃ/ | uath (hawthorn) | ᚆ | |
| Ii | í a | /iː/ | iodhadh (yew) | ᚔ | |
| Jj | jé | /dʒeː/ | is a foreign sound. | ||
| Kk | cá | /kaː/ | |||
| Ll | eil | /ɛlʲ/ | luis (rowan) | ᚂ | |
| Mm | eim | /ɛmʲ/ | muin (vine) | ᚋ | |
| Nn | ein | /ɛnʲ/ | nion (ash) | ᚅ | |
| Oo | ó a | /oː/ | onn (gorse) | ᚑ | |
| Pp | pé | /pʲeː/ | ifín (gooseberry or thorn) | ᚘ | See forfeda. |
| peith (dwarf alder) | ᚚ | ||||
| cú | /kuː/ | ᚊ | ⟨Q⟩ is used to transliterate ceirt (apple). | ||
| Rr | ear | /aɾˠ/ | ruis (elder) | ᚏ | |
| Ss | eas | /asˠ/ | sail (willow) | ᚄ | |
| Tt | té | /tʲeː/ | tinne (holly) | ᚈ | |
| Uu | ú a | /uː/ | úr (heather) | ᚒ | |
| Vv | vé | /vʲeː/ | |||
| Ww | wae | /weː/ | |||
| Xx | eacs | /ɛksˠ/ | |||
| Yy | yé | /jeː/ | |||
| Zz | zae | /zˠeː/ | ᚎ | ⟨Z⟩ is used to transliterate straif (blackthorn); is a foreign sound. |
Grapheme to phoneme correspondence
In grapheme to phoneme correspondence tables on this page:
- "U" stands for Mayo and Ulster Irish, "C" for southern Connacht Irish, and "M" for Munster Irish.
- Initially and finally mean word initial or final unless stated otherwise.
- /∅/ means silent, i.e. that the letter(s) are not pronounced.
- The IPA transcriptions of examples on this page are in Connacht Irish.
See Irish phonology for an explanation of the symbols used and Irish initial mutations for an explanation of eclipsis and lenition.
Consonants
Consonants are generally "broad" (velarised) when beside ⟨a, á, o, ó, u, ú⟩ and "slender" (palatalised) when beside ⟨e, é, i, í⟩.[3][9][10] Irish orthography does not allow consonant letters or digraphs to be doubled (except in ⟨ll, nn, rr⟩), in compound words which would result in doubled consonants they are broken up by a hyphen (see below).
| Letter(s) | Phoneme(s) | Example(s) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U | C | M | |||||
| b | broad | /bˠ/ | bain /bˠanʲ/ "take" (imper.), scuab /sˠkuəbˠ/ "broom" | ||||
| slender | /bʲ/ | béal /bʲeːlˠ/ "mouth", cnáib /knˠaːbʲ/ "hemp" | |||||
| bh | broad | ?pojem= | bhain /wanʲ/ "took", ábhar /ˈaːwəɾˠ/ "material", dubhaigh /ˈd̪ˠʊwiː/ "blacken" (imper.), taobh /t̪ˠiːw/ "side", dubh /d̪ˠʊw/ "black" | ||||
| slender | /vʲ/ | bhéal /vʲeːlˠ/ "mouth" (lenited), cuibhreann /ˈkɪvʲɾʲən̪ˠ/ "common table", aibhneacha /ˈavʲnʲəxə/ "rivers", sibh /ʃɪvʲ/ "you" (pl.) | |||||
| See below for ⟨(e)abh, (e)obh, (i)ubh⟩ | |||||||
| bhf (eclipsis of ⟨f⟩) |
broad | ?pojem= | bhfuinneog /ˈwɪn̠ʲoːɡ/ "window" (eclipsed) | ||||
| slender | /vʲ/ | bhfíon /vʲiːnˠ/ "wine" (eclipsed) | |||||
| bp (eclipsis of ⟨p⟩) |
broad | /bˠ/ | bpoll /bˠoːl̪ˠ/ "hole" (eclipsed) | ||||
| slender | /bʲ/ | bpríosún /ˈbʲɾʲiːsˠuːnˠ/ "prison" (eclipsed) | |||||
| c | broad | /k/ | cáis /kaːʃ/ "cheese", mac /mˠak/ "son" | ||||
| slender | /c/ | ceist /cɛʃtʲ/ "question", mic /mʲɪc/ "sons" | |||||
| ch | broad | /x/ | cháis /xaːʃ/ "cheese" (lenited), taoiseach /ˈt̪ˠiːʃəx/ "chieftain, Prime Minister of Ireland" | ||||
| slender | before ⟨t⟩ | boichte /bˠɔxtʲə/ "poorer" | |||||
| usually | /ç/ | cheist /çɛʃtʲ/ "question" (lenited), deich /dʲɛç/ "ten", oíche /ˈiːçə/ "night" | |||||
| d | broad | /d̪ˠ/ | dorn /d̪ˠoːɾˠn̪ˠ/ "fist", nead /n̠ʲad̪ˠ/ "nest" | ||||
| slender | /dʲ/ | dearg /dʲaɾˠəɡ/ "red", cuid /kɪdʲ/ "part" | |||||
| dh | broad | initially | /ɣ/ | dhorn /ɣoːɾˠn̪ˠ/ "fist" (lenited) | |||
| elsewhere | /∅/ | ádh /aː/ "luck" | |||||
| slender | usually | /j/ | dhearg /ˈjaɾˠəɡ/ "red" (lenited), fáidh /fˠaːj/ "prophet" | ||||
| finally | /j/ | /∅/ | /ɟ/ | ||||
| See below for ⟨(e)adh, (a)idh, eidh, odh, oidh⟩. See Exceptions in verb forms for -⟨dh⟩ at the end of verbs endings. | |||||||
| dt | broad | eclipsis of ⟨t⟩ | /d̪ˠ/ | dtaisce /ˈd̪ˠaʃcə/ "treasure" (eclipsed) | |||
| elsewhere | /t̪ˠ/ | greadta /ˈɟɾʲat̪ˠə/ "beaten" | |||||
| slender | eclipsis of ⟨t⟩ | /dʲ/ | dtír /dʲiːɾʲ/ "country" (eclipsed) | ||||
| elsewhere | /tʲ/ | goidte /ˈɡɛtʲə/ "stolen" | |||||
| f | broad | /fˠ/ | fós /fˠoːsˠ/ "still", graf /ɡɾˠafˠ/ "graph" | ||||
| slender | /fʲ/ | fíon /fʲiːnˠ/ "wine", stuif /sˠt̪ˠɪfʲ/ "stuff" | |||||
| See Exceptions in verb forms for -⟨f⟩- in future and conditional personal verb endings. | |||||||
| fh | /∅/ | fhuinneog /ˈɪn̠ʲoːɡ/ "window" (lenited), fhíon /iːnˠ/ "wine" (lenited) | |||||
| g | broad | /ɡ/ | gasúr /ˈɡasˠuːɾˠ/ "boy", bog /bˠɔɡ/ "soft" | ||||
| slender | /ɟ/ | geata /ˈɟat̪ˠə/ "gate", carraig /ˈkaɾˠəɟ/ "rock" | |||||
| gc (eclipsis of ⟨c⟩) |
broad | /ɡ/ | gcáis /ɡaːʃ/ "cheese" (eclipsed) | ||||
| slender | /ɟ/ | gceist /ɟɛʃtʲ/ "question" (eclipsed) | |||||
| gh | broad | initially | /ɣ/ | ghasúr /ˈɣasˠuːɾˠ/ "boy" (lenited) | |||
| elsewhere | /∅/ | Eoghan /ˈoːənˠ/ (male name) | |||||
| slender | usually | /j/ | gheata /ˈjat̪ˠə/ "gate" (lenited), dóigh /d̪ˠoːj/ "way, manner" | ||||
| finally | /j/ | /∅/ | /ɟ/ | ||||
| See below for ⟨(e)agh, aigh, eigh, ogh, oigh, (u)igh⟩. See Exceptions in verb forms for ⟨(a)igh⟩ at the end of verbs. | |||||||
| h | /h/ | hata /ˈhat̪ˠə/ "hat", na héisc /nə heːʃc/ "the fish" (plural) | |||||
| j (loan consonant) | /dʒ/ | jab /ˈdʒabˠ/ "job", jíp /dʒiːpʲ/ "jeep" | |||||
| l | broad | initially | usually | /l̪ˠ/ | luí /l̪ˠiː/ "lying (down)" | ||
| lenited | /lˠ/ | lann /lˠaːn̪ˠ/ "blade" (lenited) | |||||
| elsewhere | /lˠ/ or /l̪ˠ/ | béal /bʲeːlˠ/ "mouth" | |||||
| slender | initially | usually | /l̠ʲ/ | leisciúil /ˈl̠ʲɛʃcuːlʲ/ "lazy" | |||
| lenited | /lʲ/ | leanbh /ˈlʲanˠəw/ "baby" (lenited) | |||||
| elsewhere | /lʲ/ or /l̠ʲ/ | siúil /ˈʃuːlʲ/ "walk" | |||||
| ll | broad | /l̪ˠ/ | Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=Irish_alphabet|||||