Pronunciation
Excercise
Read the Irish
phrases below out loud, referring to the pronunciation guide if necessary.
When you can read the phrases readily, look at the translation and
then go over the phrases again, visualizing the meaning as you say
each:
trí gheata;
ceithre ghúna; sé mhéadar; dhá mhadra;
cúig phingin; trí phaidir; dhá sheomra; ceithre
sholas; sé thicéad; cúig thoitín
naoi ngrian; acht
nglas; deich míle; seacht mála; ocht bpíopa;
deich bpunt; seacht seál; naoi sac; deich dteach; seacht dtobar
(tree YAT-uh;
KER-e GOON-uh; shay* VAY*-duhr; gaw* VWAH-druh; KOO-ig FEENG-in; tree
FAHD-ir; gaw* HOHM-ruh; KER-e HUH-luhs; shay* hi-KAY*D; KOO-ig hi-TYEEN
neeng REE-uhn;
ohk*t nglahs; de MEEL-e; shahk*t MAW*-luh; ohk*t BEEP-uh; de boont;
shahk*t shaw*l; nee sahk; de dyahk*; shak*t DOH-buhr)
three gates; four
dresses; six meters; two dogs; five cents; three prayers; two rooms;
four lights; six tickets; five cigarettes
nine suns; eight
locks; ten thousand; seven bags; eight pipes; seven pounds; seven
shawls; nine sacks; ten houses; seven wells
Grammar
You know several
verbs of two syllables whose endings in some forms differ somewhat
from the one-syllable verbs. "Ceannaigh" is an example:
"ceannaíonn sé" (kan-EE-uhn shay*) means "he
buys", and "cheannaíomar" (hyan-EE-uh-mar) means
"we bought". Other verbs similar to "ceannaigh"
are "imigh", "éirigh", and "deisigh".
Many verbs ending
in: ----il, ----in, ----ir and ----is are similar. They naturally
drop out a syllable in some forms because the omission makes them
easier to pronounce. Otherwise, they are very much like "ceannaigh".
Learn the following examples, starting with oscail (OH-skil) open.
Present:
osclaím
(OH-skleem), I open
osclaíonn
tú (oh-SKLEE-uhn too), you open
osclaíonn
sé, he opens
osclaíonn
sí, she opens
osclaímid
(oh-SKLEE-mid), we open
osclaíonn
sibh (shiv) you (pl) open
osclaíonn
siad (SHEE-uhd), they open
Ní osclaím,
ní osclaíonn tú, ní osclaímid,
etc.
An osclaím?
An osclaíonn tú? an osclaímid? etc.
Nach n-osclaím
(nahk* NOH-skleem), nach n-osclaíonn tú? etc.
Past:
d'oscail mé
(DOH-skil may*), I opened
d'oscail tú,
you opened
d'oscail sé,
he opened
d'oscail sí,
she opened
d'osclaíomar
(doh-SKLEE-uh-kuhr), we opened
d'oscail sibh,
you (pl) opened
d'oscail siad,
they opened
Níor oscail
mé, níor oscail tú, níor osclaíomar
(NEE-uhr oh-SKLEE-uh--muhr) etc.
Ar oscail mé?
ar oscail tú? ar osclaíomar? etc
Nár oscail
mé? nár oscail tú? nár osclaíomar?
etc.
cosain (KUH-sin)
defend
Present:
Cosnaím
(KUHS-neem), cosnaíonn tú (kuhs-NEE-uhn-too), cosnaímid
(kuhs-NEE-mid), cosnaíonn sibh, etc
Ní chosnaím
(nee K*UHS-neem), ní chosnaíonn tú, ní
chosnaímid (nee k*uhs-NEE-mid) etc.
An gcosnaim? etc.
Nach gcosnaim? etc.
Past:
Chosain mé
(K*UH-sin may*) I defend, etc. Chosnaíomar (k*uhs- NEE-uh-muhr),
we defend, etc.
Níor chosain
mé, níor chosain tú, níor chosnaíomar,
etc.
Ar chosain mé?
ar chosnaíomar? (er k*uhs-NEE-uh-muhr) etc.
Nár chosain
mé? nár chosnaíomar? etc.
Labhair (LOU-ir),
speak, becomes "labhraíonn sé" (lou-REE-uhn
shay*), he speaks, "labhraíomar" (lou-REE-uh-muhr)
we spoke. The basic form of this verb is "labhair", of course,
and "labhair sé" means "he spoke".
Inis (IN-ish),
tell, becomes "insíonn sé" (in-SHEE-uhn shay*),
he tells, and "d'insíomar" (din-SHEE-uh-muhr), we
told. The basic form of the verb is "inis", and "d'inis
sé" means "he told".
For "oscail,
cosain, labhair" and "inis," note the loss of the syllable
in pronouncing forms with added suffixes, such as oscail, osclaíonn.
Drill
Go through the
present and past tenses of these verbs: imigh (IM-ee), depart; tochail
(TOHK*-il), dig; cogain (KUHG-in), chew; bagair (BAHG-ir), threaten.
For example: Imím,
imíonn tú etc. Ní imím, ní imíonn
tú etc. An imím? etc. Nach n-imím? etc. D'imigh
mé, etc. Níor imigh mé, etc. Ar imigh mé?,
etc. Nár imigh mé?, etc.
The key forms
are: Imíonn, d'imíomar. Tochlaíonn, thochlaíomar.
Cognaionn, chognaíomar. Bagraíonn, bhagraíomar.
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(c) 1997 The
Irish People. May be reprinted with credit.
