Irish Lesson 11

PRONUNCIATION

The pair of letters "ea" within a word or at a word end often gets an (a) sound like that in the English word "hat". Examples: fear (far), man; bean (ban), woman; leat (lat), with you; is ea (sha), it is; níhea (nee HA), it is not.

At the beginning of a word, the "ea" often gets the (ah) sound in the English word "psalm". Examples: eagla (AH-gluh), fear; eaglais (AH-glish), church; each (ahk*), horse.

Sometimes "ea" is pronounced (ou), as in English "out", when it is inside a word.

Examples: ceann (kyoun) head; leabhar (LOU-wuhr), book; gleann (gloun), glen; seabhac (shouk), hawk.

If in an unaccented syllable, "ea" is usually pronounced (uh). Examples: seisean (SHESH-uhn), he (emphatic); aingeal (ANG-uhl), angel.

We will continue to give you the pronunciation guide for all new words and most of the exercises, but you will gradually develop ability to pronounce words by drawing on your experience with similarly spelled words, so that after a time you will not depend on the pronunciation guide.

REFLEX EXPRESSIONS

Here are several more expressions that you should learn for quick use in conversation and thought.

B'fhéidir (BAY*-dir), Perhaps.

Gan amhras (guhn OU-ruhs), Without doubt.

Fan go bhfeicfidh mé(fahn goh VEK-hee may*), Wait till I see.

Is maithésin (is MAH ay* shin), That's good.

Notice that the second "f" in "bhfeicfidh" is pronounced like an "h". This letter "f" indicates the future tense.

GRAMMAR

Last week we learned how to say that a person or thing is in a general class. An example:

Is seomraé(is SHOHM-ruh ay*), It is a room.

Here are the basic forms for this:

Is scoláire mé(is skuh-LAW*-re may*), I am a student.

Is scoláire tú(is skuh-LAW*-re too), You are a student.

Is scoláireé(is skuh-LAW*-re ay*), He is a student.

Is scoláireí(is skuh-LAW*-re ee), She is a student.

Is scoláirísinn(is skuh-LAW*-ree shin), We are students.

Is scoláirísibh (is skuh-LAW*-ree shiv), You (plural) are students

Is scoláiríiad (is skuh-LAW*-ree EE-uhd), They are students.

VOCABULARY
Masculine nouns

dinnéar (DIN-yay*r), dinner

Im, an t-im (im, un tim), butter, the butter

siúcra (SHOOK-ruh), sugar

fo-chupán (FOH-k*upaw*n), saucer

ith, ag ithe (i, eg I-he), eat, eating

éist, agéisteacht (ay*sht, eg AY*shtyahk*t), listen, listening

<== попередня сторінка	\|	наступна сторінка ==>
Irish Lesson 10	\|	Feminine nouns

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