PRONUNCIATION REVIEW

Pronounce "í" in Irish like "ee" in English "she", but with the tongue tip down against the back of the lower front teeth. Do not bring the center of the tongue so close to the roof of the mouth as to cause hissing. Hold the sound for a longer time than the sound in English "she". Practice on:

í(ee); sí(shee); lí; níl; blí; díol (DEE-uhl); slí(shlee); buíoch (BWEE-uhk*).

Without the síneadh (SHEEN-uh), Irish "i" has a shorter sound which may be a short (ee) or a sound closer to that in English "pin", although it never is exactly that. Clear examples of the short (ee) sound are:

bia (BEE-uh); lia (LEE-uh)

Words in which the (ee) nature of the sound is not as evident are:

smig (smig); smid (smid); sin (shin); cic (kik)

Nevertheless, do not pronounce any of these exactly as if they were English words. Keep the tongue down against the back of the lower front teeth as you pronounce the "i". Try "sín" (sheen), then "sin" (shin) several times.

Often an "i" next to a broad vowel, "a, o, u", gets no sound but merely indicates that the consonant after or before the "i" has its slender sound. Examples:

fuar (FOO-uhr), fuair (FOO-ir); lán (law*n), lián (lyaw*n); balla (BAHL-uh), baile (BAHL-e); bás (baw*s), báis (BAW*-ish). The last word may sound somewhat like (boysh) to you.

GRAMMAR

Here are the saorbhriathra (say*r-VREE-uh-ruh), or free forms, for the last two irregular verbs in the past tense:

rugadh air (RUG-uh er), he was seized

níor (NEE-uhr) rugadh air, he wasn't seized

ar (er) rugadh air?, was he seized?

nár (naw*r) rugadh air?, wasn't he seized?

itheadh (I-huh), it was eaten

níor itheadh, it wasn't eaten

ar itheadh?, was it eaten?

nár itheadh?, wasn't it eaten?

Notice that "ith" is regular in the past, resembling verbs like "ól", with its "óladh" (OHL-uh), "níoróladh, aróladh, náróladh" forms.

VOCABULARY

Masculine nouns

radharc (RYE-uhrk), view, sight

glaoch (GLAY*-uhk*), call, phone call

Feminine nouns

stoirm (STUHR-im), storm

báisteach, an bháisteach (BAW*SH-tuhk*, un VWAW*SH-tuhk*), rain

measaim, ag measadh (MAS-im, uh MAS-uh), think

druidim, ag druidim (DRID-im, uh DRID-im), draw close

<== попередня сторінка	\|	наступна сторінка ==>
Feminine nouns	\|	REFLEX EXPRESSIONS

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