Author: Breandán an Píobaire
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Irish Phonetic Transcription (IPT)
This is the first installment in a series on pronunciation of Irish. In this unit we'll learn how to read Irish Phonetic Transcription (IPT), the Irish shorthand version of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).
This list of words is designed to help you learn IPT for the purposes of learning Irish pronunciation. IPT is a lot closer to the actual Irish pronunciation than any attempt at phonics using English syllables.
IPT is usually placed between slashes // as a form of brackets to separate it from the actual text it is describing.
A slender marker /´/ is used beside a consonant if it is slender. All consonants without a slender marker are broad. (This is different from IPA, where broad consonants are marked with a broad marker [ˠ] and slender consonants with a (different) slender marker [ʲ].)
The following list is accompanied by a sound file below. The pronunciation in the sound file is based on Conamara Irish.
The principles of broad and slender are similar in all native dialects and are transcribed using the same symbols but the realizations of the sounds are slightly different from dialect to dialect. For instance, broad w /w/ is more like a V in Munster, and slender /t´/ is closer to an English T in Munster but more like CH in Ulster, with Connacht lying somewhere in between.
1. Simple vowel sounds (long)
/i:/ sí /s´i:/ "she"
/e:/ sé /s´e:/ "he"
/æ:/ fear /f´æ:r/ "a man"
/a:/ Sasana /sa:səNə/ "England"
/ɑ:/ tá /tɑ:/ "is/are" (of state)
/o:/ cóta /ko:tə/ "a coat"
/u:/ tú /tu:/ "you (sg.)"
2. Simple vowel sounds (short)
/a/ cas /kas/ "turn"
/i/ milis /m´il´əs´/ "sweet"
/e/ eile /el´ə/ "other"
/o/ pota /potə/ "a pot"
/u/ tusa /tusə/ "you (sg. emphatic)
/ə/ milis /m´il´əs´/ "sweet"
eile /el´ə/ "other"
pota /potə/ "a pot"
3. Combined vowel sounds (diphthongs)
/i:ə/ siar /s´i:ər/ "west(ward)"
/ei/ beidh /b´ei/ "will be"
/ai/ staighre /stair´ə/ "a staircase, stairs"
/au/ treabhsar /t´r´ausər/ "a pair of trousers"
/u:ə/ slua /sLu:ə/ "a horde"
4. Broad consonants
/b/ Bairbre /ba:r´b´r´ə/ (woman's name)
buí /bi:/ "yellow"
/p/ Páidín /pɑ:d´i:n´/ (man's name)
/d/ Donncha /doNəxə/ (man's name)
/t/ Tomás /tumɑ:s/ (man's name)
/g/ gasúr /ga:su:r/ "a child"
gaoth /gi:/ "wind"
/h/ hata /hatə/ "a hat"
/k/ Cáit /kɑ:t´/ (woman's name)
caoi /ki:/ "way, means, path, order, condition"
/w/† Bhairbre /wa:r´b´r´ə/ (woman's name in the genitive/vocative)
Mháire /wɑ:r´ə/ (woman's name in the genitive/vocative)
/f/ fós /fo:s/ "still, yet"
faoi /fi:/ "under"
Pháidín /fɑ:d´i:n´/ (man's name in the genitive/vocative)
/s/ Sasana /sa:səNə/ "England"
/ɣ/ a ghasúr /ə ɣa:su:r/ "his child"
Dhonncha /ɣoNəxə/ (man's name in the genitive/vocative)
Ghaoth Sáile /ɣi: sɑ:l´ə/ "of Gweesale"
/x/ Cháit /xɑ:t´/ (woman's name in the genitive/vocative)
chaoi /ki:/ "way, means, path, order, condition" (lenited)
/m/ Máire /mɑ:r´ə/ (woman's name)
/N/ ná /Nɑ:/ "than"
naoi /Ni:/ "nine"
/ŋ/ a ngasúr /ə ŋa:su:r/ "their child"
a ngaoth /ə ŋi:/ "their wind"
/L/ lá /Lɑ:/ "day"
/r/ Ruairí /ru:ər´i:/ (man's name)
/dʒ/ jug /dʒug/ "jug"
†/w/ is sometimes represented by /v/
4. Slender consonants
/b´/ béal /b´e:L/ "a mouth"
bí /b´i:/ "be"
/p´/ Peige /p´eg´ə/ (woman's name)
/d´/ Diarmaid /d´i:ərmid´/ (man's name)
/t´/ tír /t´i:r´/ "country"
/g´/ geata /g´æ:tə/ "a gate"
/k´/ Ciarraí /k´i:əri:/ "Kerry"
ceo /k´o:/ "fog"
/w´/† a bhéal /w´e:L/ "a mouth"
Mheiriceá /w´er´ək´ɑ:/ "of America"
/f´/ feall /f´ɑ:L/ "deceit, treachery"
Pheige /f´eg´ə/ (woman's name in the genitive/vocative)
/s´/ Séamas /s´e:məs/ (man's name)
/ɣ´/ Dhiarmaid /ɣ´i:ərmid´/ (man's name in the genitive/vocative)
a gheata /ə ɣ´æ:tə/ "his gate"
/x´/ Chiarraí /x´i:əri:/ "of Kerry"
/m´/ milis /m´il´əs´/ "sweet"
/N´/ ní /N´i:/ "not" also "thing"
abhainn /auN´/ "a river"
/n´/ báidín /bɑ:d´i:n´/ "little boat"
/ŋ/ a ngeata /ə ŋ´æ:tə/ "their gate"
/L´/ léigh /L´ei/ or /L´e:/ "read"
coill /kaiL´/ "wood, forest"
/l´/ milis /m´il´əs´/ "sweet"
/r´/ Máire /mɑ:r´ə/ (woman's name)
†/w´/ is sometimes represented by /v´/
(Based on TABLE OF SOUNDS in "Learning Irish" by Mícheál Ó Siadhail, Yale
University Press, 1995)
Here is a sound file for the above, read with Conamara-based pronunciation:
http://www.awyr.com/ILF/saewndfaylz/IIP-1.mp3
About the Author:
Breandán has taught Irish (Gaeilge) professionally since 1998, where he started teaching Irish to Japanese adults in Tokyo. He started teaching online lessons from Australia in November 2019. Breandán speaks Cois Fhairrge (Connemara) dialect by preference but can speak and teach Connaught-based standard Irish (the Irish used in Buntús Cainte and many texbooks) and Ulster-based standard (such as taught in Now You're Talking, etc.), and is now learning Munster Irish as well. He is not a native speaker but has travelled to Ireland five times to study the language and culture and has native-level pronunciation. Breandán has contributed extensively to Forvo, Irish Language Forum, and to I am Learning Irish (Tá mé ag foghlaim na Gaeilge) and other groups on Facebook. He also sings "ar an sean-nós" (old-style unaccompanied Irish singing) and plays uilleann pipes, Irish flute and tin whistle.
