Irish Lesson 46

Pronunciation review

The letter "i" has several sounds in Irish. If there is a síneadh fada (SHEEN-uh FAH-duh) over the "i", it will have an (ee) sound, resembling the English sound in "bee". The tongue tip, however, should be touching the lower front teeth, and the tongue center should arch up to the hard ridge behind the upper front teeth. Examples: cailín (kah-LEEN), mín (meen), bhí(vee), dílis (DEE-lish). The sound is held for a longer time than in English.

If the "i" has no síneadh fada, it may still get the (ee) sound, especially if it is in an accented syllable. Examples: bia (BEE-uh), mian (MEE-uhn), Dia (DEE-uh).

Usually, however, a pronounced "i" in an unaccented syllable will have a sound between (i) of English "hit" and (ee) of English "heat". Depending on the locality and the need to differentiate between similar words, such as "briste" and "bríste", the sound may be closer to (ee) or (i). It should never be exactly an English (i) as in "hit", although in words like "sin" (shin) and "cuir" (kir) it is close to that.

The letter (i) may get the sound of (eye) in English "high" in some words in certain parts of Ireland. "Binn" may be (beyen).

Finally, "i" may be in a word merely to show you that you must give the consonant next to it its slender sound. Examples: fuar (FOO-uhr), fuair (FOO-ir). As you go from (FOO) to the slender "r", you make a gliding sound. We represent the combination by (ir). "Áit" is another example. In going from (aw*) to the slender "t", you will make a sound that will cause the word to resemble "cynch" to some extent. Pól (pohl), Póil (POH-il) is another example.

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