b ---> bh sounds like v (if slender) or w (if broad)
c ---> ch sounds like the ch in Loch or the german Bach or Ich or Hebrew l'chaim or channukah
d ---> dh sounds like y (if slender) or like gargling if broad (it's like ch, but with voice behind it)
f ---> fh is silent
g ---> gh sounds exactly like dh
m ---> mh sounds exactly like bh
p ---> ph sounds like f
s ---> sh sounds like h
t ---> th sounds like h
ECLIPSIS (úrú)
Another change which happens to consonants is the replacement (or eclipsing) of the consonant sound by another sound. This is indicated by writing the letter which represents the new sound in front of the original letter. There are several ways to categorize consonants - stopped and unstopped, voiced and unvoiced, bilabial, dental, glottal, fricative, etc. Generally, unvoiced consonants (c f p t) will become voiced (g v b d) and voiced consonants (b d g) will become nasal (m n ng). This is another very Irish-looking spelling trait. Here is list of eclipses:
b ---> mb sounds like m
c ---> gc sounds like g
d ---> nd sounds like n
f ---> bhf sounds like v (if slender) or w (if broad)
g ---> ng sounds like the end of sing, but NOT like the middle of finger
p ---> bp sounds like b
t ---> dt sounds like d
GENERAL NOTES
Úrú only occurs at the beginning of words. Séimhiú can occur anywhere - beginning, middle or end of a word.
Generally, bh and mh at the ends of words sound like v, no matter whether they're broad or slender. Sometimes they are silent. So, riamh {ever} sounds like [REE-uhv] and ubh {egg} sounds like [OOV], while dubh {black} can sound like [DOOV] or [DOO] . I will continue to use this pattern - { } will be used to show the English meaning of a word or phrase and [ ] will be used to show the sound of a word or phrase.
The Irish sound ng is quite strange to English speakers, especially at the start of a word. The word geata {gate} sounds like [GA-ta], but when changed to ngeata it sounds like [NGAT-ta]. You can hear this sound by saying 'sing at a' and drop the 'si' sound at the start of it. It will probably take some practice.
When you run across a new word and you want to look it up in a dictionary, remember that séimhiú and úrú are changes that have happened to the original word - look it up WITHOUT the change. In the example above, you'd look for geata, not ngeata. The are very few words which actually start with a séimhiú or úrú, and these are mostly prepositions -- thar {across}, chuig / chun {to}, etc.
Many words will change at the end of the word to indicate a change in the use of a word in a sentence - plural, possessive, etc. There are far too many changes to list here, but they DO NOT involve changing a letter via séimhiú or úrú. These changes involve adding endings or changing a letter between slender and broad via inserting a 'helper' vowel or changing a vowel. Some words have entirely different words for these other forms - bean {woman} becomes mná {women} in the plural. These forms should be noted in a good dictionary as variations on the original words.
Irish is unlike English in that nouns have different cases to indicate their usage in the sentence. This should be familiar to anyone who has studied Latin. When a noun changes cases, it usually involves a change in the ending of the noun, and sometimes the beginning also. Some irregular nouns can take on entirely different forms in different cases -- e.g., bean (woman) vs mnaoi (of women). This will be covered more thoroughly in later lessons. The following is a list of the different cases and when each will come into use in Irish.
Nominative Case - Tuiseal Ainmneach
This case is used whenever a noun stands as the subject or direct object of a verb. This is the most familiar form as it is the way nouns are listed in the dictionary.
Vocative Case - Tuiseal Gairmeach
This is familiar to people because it is the way they normally hear their own names. The Vocative is used when addressing people directly -- e.g., "Hi John, how are you today?" Although it is most commonly used with names, it can also be used with any noun -- e.g., "Children, open your books to page 15." or "Hey cow, get out of my way!"
Genitive Case - Tuiseal Ginideach
This case is widely used to indicate possession (where English uses 's) or description (where English uses "of"). A couple examples should illustrate this:
Seán's book - leabhair Sheáin - i.e. book of Seán
a cat's tail - eireaball cait - i.e. tail of a cat
the cat's tail - eireaball an chait - i.e. tail of the cat
Dative Case - Tuiseal Tabharthach
This case is used whenever a noun follows a simple preposition, but has fallen into disuse and now only exists for a very few words -- e.g., to Éire {Ireland} = go hÉirinn. Normally the Nominative case is used instead. (Note that in Scottish Gaelic the Dative is still widely used.)
Plural Nouns - Ainmfhocail Iolra
Plurals are called strong (if an additional syllable is added) or weak (if the last vowel sound is changed). This can be found in English in the words ox / oxen (strong) and man / men (weak).
Some examples of strong plurals are:
leabhar (book) / leabhracha (book)
ceacht (lesson) / ceachtanna (lessons)
Some examples of weak plurals are:
bád (boat) / báid (boats)
fear (man) / fir (men)
There are too many ways to make plurals, and the rules not always clear, to include here. Rules for making plurals will be introduced in later lessons on the various noun groups.
Gender - Inscne
All nouns in Irish are either masculine (firinscneach) or femnine (baininscneach). Sometimes the gender of the noun seems to be in direct conflict with the gender of the person to whch the noun refers -- eg cailín (girl) is masculine while gasóg (scout) is feminine. The noun is treated as its own gender, but any pronouns standing in for the noun will agree with the person. "Féach an cailín óg. Tá sí go deas." (Look at the young girl. She is pretty.) Inanimate objects are also gender-specific -- e.g., doras (door) is masculine while fuinneog (window) is feminine. The gender of nouns will be explored more thoroughly in later sections and lessons.
The Article - An tAlt
There is no equivalent to the indefinite article "a" in Irish. To say "a man" we simply say "fear". The definite article "the" is different depending on the number (singular / plural), case (nominative / genitive) and gender (masculine / feminine) of the noun. For example, in the nominative singular, the definite article is "an", while in the nominative plural, the definite article is "na". The definite article will often change the beginnings of words. The following table shows some of these changes for masculine and feminine nouns in the Nominative Case.
Masculine nouns:
fear {man}
an fear {the man}
na fir {the men}
sneachta {snow}
an sneachta {the snow}
na sneachtaí {the snows}
úll {apple}
an t-úll {the apple}
na húlla {the apples}
Feminine nouns:
fuinneog {window}
an fhuinneog {the window}
na fuinneoga {the windows}
sráid {street}
an tsráid {the street}
na sráideanna {the streets}
ubh {egg}
an ubh {the egg}
na huibheacha {the eggs}
Notice:
an prefixes t- to all masculine nouns beginning with a vowel
an lenites all feminine nouns beginning with b, c, d, f, g, m, p, t
an prefixes t to all feminine nouns beginning with sl, sn, sr
na prefixes h to all nouns beginning with a vowel, regardless of gender
These examples are only intended to provide an insight into the use of the definite article. The actual details will be explored further in later lessons.
Declension - Diochlaonadh
Irish nouns are categorized into five groups, or declensions, based primarily on how the plurals and genitive cases are formed. Later lessons will concentrate on each of these groups.
There are 5 widely used tenses in Irish - present, past, future, conditional and habitual past. There are other "hybrid" tenses which are formed in conjunction with the verb "be". In addition to these, there are the command and wish modes. Also, all verbs can be converted into a noun or adjective by the addition of a suffix. English speakers will be happy to learn that there are only 11 irregular verbs in Irish - the rest being fully regular. Even the irregular verbs are often fully regular in one or more tenses.
The sense of the verb in Irish (negative, question, etc) is indicated by a word which is placed before the verb. This word will usually mutate the beginning letter of the verb. For example:
Ní makes the negative and will always lenite the verb.
An makes a question and will always eclipse the verb.
Nach makes a negative question and will always eclipse the verb.
In the past tense, these words are níor, ar and nár respectively, and they will all lenite the verb.
Go & nach indicates the verb is in a relative position to the main verb of the
sentence and will eclipse the verb.
These become gur & nár in the past tense and will lenite the verb.
Ná makes the negative command and will add h to a vowel.
The following sections elaborate on some of these "helper" words.
The Negative Verb - An Briathar Diúltach
Ceannaíonn Seán caife gach maidin. Ní cheannaíonn sé tae.
Sean buys coffee each morning. He doesn't buy tea.
Baileoidh Nóra róis amárach. Ní bhaileoidh sí nóiníní.
Nora will gather roses tomorrow. She will not gather daisies.
The Question Verb - An Briathar Ceisteach
An gceannaíonn Seán sú oráiste gach maidin?
Does Sean buy orange juice every morning?
An mbaileoidh Nóra bláthanna amárach?
Will Nora gather flowers tomorrow?
The Negative Question Verb - An Briathar Diultach Ceisteach
Nach gceannaíonn Seán uisge beatha gach maidin?
Doesn't Sean buy whiskey each morning?
Nach mbaileoidh Nóra duilleoga amárach?
Won't Nora gather leaves tomorrow?
The Relative Verb - An Briathar Coibhneasta
Sílim go gceannaíonn Seán nuachtán gach maidin.
I think that Sean buys a paper every morning.
Tá a fhios agam nach mbaileoidh Nóra eidhneán nimhe amárach.
I know that Nora won't gather poison ivy tomorrow.
The Command Mode - An Modh Ordaitheach
Ceannaigh an rothar sin. Ná ceannaigh an carr seo.
Buy that bike. Don't buy this car.
Ith na húlla dearga, ach ná hith na húlla glasa.
Eat the red apples, but don't eat the green apples.
The Tenses - Na hAimsire
There are two conjugations of Irish verbs, determined by the number of syllables in the verb stem, which are identical to the singular command form. Some examples of first conjugation verbs are dún {close}, éist {listen}, tóg {take}, while some second conjugation verbs are ceannaigh {buy}, codail {sleep}, inis {tell}. The tenses are usually identified by an ending which is added to the verb stem; however, the endings vary slightly depending on the conjugation to which the verb belongs and whether the last syllable is broad or slender.
The normal present tense in Irish is more like what we would think of as a habitual present tense -- ie the actions are performed on a recurring basis. The simple present tense -- an action occuring at the moment -- is a "hybrid" tense using Tá and the verbal noun in the form "Tá Seán ag X" meaning "Seán is at (the act of) X" or "Seán is X-ing" in more common English terms. Here X is the verb in the verbal noun form. For all forms of this, see the lesson on tá.
The future tense is a simple tense stating what will happen sometime in the future. An on-going future tense can be made by using Beidh (future of Tá) with the verbal noun again. "Beidh Seán ag X" means "Seán will be X-ing". For all forms of this, see the lesson on tá.
The simple past tense is the only tense which does not add an ending to the verb stem. Instead the verb is lenited to show the past tense. This is a holdover from an old "helper" word (do) which was used to show the past tense and always lenited the verb. Today the word do is only used in Munster Irish, but the lenition remains in all dialects. In addition, where the verb starts with a vowel (ith - eat) or an f which becomes silent with lenition (foghlaim - learn), the helper word do remains as d'. When the other helper words are used to form the negative and question forms, the d' is removed -- d'ith & d'fhoghlaim but níor ith & ar fhoghlaim?. An on-going past tense (different from the habitual past below) can be made by using Bhí (past of Tá) with the verbal noun. "Bhí Seán ag X" means "Seán was X-ing". For all forms of this, see the lesson on tá.
The habitual past is translated in English as "... used to ...". This indicates an action which was a recurring action - more so than the on-going past above. It is possible to make a "hybrid" with Bheadh (habitual pastof Tá) which would translate "Seán used to be X-ing", but the beginner needn't worry about the subtlety of this kind of construction.
The conditional tense (or mode as called in Irish) denotes an action which could take place given some other circumstances. Often the conditional will appear with another conditional verb in a relative sentence -- "He would A if she would B."
The command mode has forms for all persons, which is odd to English speakers. The second-person commands are familiar, but the first- and third-person command forms are translated into English as "Let us A" or "Let him B". These are intended as commands for the third-person, and not as a command to someone else to "allow" an action to happen. Again, the subtlety of this kind of command is usually more than he beginner need to worry about. However, there are some common sentence constructions which demand this third-person command, so it cannot be neglected. An example of this would be commanding an emotion -- i.e., "Don't be afraid". Because emotions are the subject of the verb, the sentence must be "turned around" to express a command. Here is an example:
Tá eagla ort.
You are afraid literally, Fear is on you.
Bíodh eagla ort.
Be afraid literally, (let) Fear be on you.
Ná bíodh eagla ort.
Don't be afraid literally, (let) Fear not be on you.
The wishing mode is commonly used for blessing, greeting, etc and is seen in English by the word "may". The common phrase "Go raibh maith agat" (Thank you) is a good example of this wish mode. "Go raibh" is the wish mode for Tá, and the phrase literally means "May you have good(ness)". The greeting "Go mbeannaí Dia duit" means "May God bless you". As you can see, Go is used to indicate the wish mode and it eclipses the verb.
Before you go on to further verbs, you must learn the verb "be". This is probably the most widely used verb in Irish (or any language for that matter). In Irish, it has 2 different present tenses, depending on whether the action is immediate or habitual. It is irregular in the immediate present tense and the past tense. In all other tenses it is fully regular. No matter which tense or form the verb bí is in, it can only be used to describe the subject or tell what state the subject is in, NOT define what the subject is. There is a different, unrelated verb, the copula, which is used for identification and various grammatical functions. It will explained in another lesson.
