Irish Lesson 74

PRONUNCIATION REVIEW

The letter "a" has several sounds in Irish. If the "a" has a síneadh (SHEEN-uh) over it -- "á"-- pronounce it like the vowel in the English word "tot", but sound it for a longer time. The sound will be between an English (aw) in "paw" and an English (ah) in "ma".

Make sure that you open the mouth wide and place the tip of the tongue just below the lower teeth. The lips should be spread to the sides more than for English "aw". Practice on:ál,ádh (aw*),ár, bá, cá, dá, fá, bláth (blaw*), arán (uh-RAW*N).

We use the letter group (aw*) for this sound, indicating that it is similar to but not exactly like English "aw".

In many cases where the "a" has no síneadh but is alone in the accented syllable, the sound is more likely to resemble English (ah) in "ma". Examples: mac (mahk), capall (KAH-puhl), cad (kahd), fada (FAH-duh), cara (KAH-ruh). It will be easier for you to give it this sound at first rather than a short (aw*) sound, which is actually what it gets in most of Ireland. Later, you can gradually switch to the more correct sound, as you hear Irish speakers use it.

An "a" in an unaccented syllable often sounds like (uh) in English "uh-huh" or "love". Examples: fada (FAH-duh), aníos (uh-NEES), capall (KAH-puhl).

When other vowels, such as "e" or "i", or aspirated consonants, such as "bh, dh, gh, mh" are next to "a", the pronunciation of the letter group may differ from (aw*), (ah), or (uh). we will review this next week.

GRAMMAR

For the irregular verbs, the past-tense saorbhriathar (say*r-VREE-huhr), or free form, is fairly irregular. Learn these four this week:

thángthas (HAW*NG-uh-huhs), people come

níor thángthas (NEE0uhr HAW*NG-uh-huhs), people didn't come

ar thángthas? (r HAW*NG-uh-huhs), did people come?

nár thángthas (naw*r HAW*NG-uh-huhs), didn't people come?

chuathas (K*OO-uh-huhs), people went

nídheachthas (nee YAK*-huhs), people didn't go

an ndeachthas? (un NYAK*-huhs), did people go?

nach (nahk*) ndeachthas?, didn't people go?

chualathas (K*OOL-uh-huhs), it was heard

níor chualathas, it was not heard

ar chualathas?, was it heard?

nár chualathas?, wasn't it heard?

chonacthas (K*UHN-uhk-huhs), it was seen

nífhacthas (nee AHK-huhs), it was not seen

an bhfachthas? (un VWAHK-uhs), was it seen?

nach bhfacthas?, wasn't it seen?

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