AN GAOḊAL
513
The following instructions for reading
the Irish language have been sent to
us by Mr J. J. Lyons of Phila Pa and
any Irish-speaking person paying at¬
tention to them will have no difficulty
in reading Irish. It is not too much to
expect to learn these instructions by
heart — it can be done in less than two
weeks — and we pledge ourselves to
him who does that he will be able to
read Irish well in three months.
THE GAELIC ALPHABET.
Irish.
Roman.
Sound
Irish.
Roman.
Sound.
a
a
aw
m
m
emm
b
b
bay
n
n
enn
c
c
kay
o
o
oh
d
d
dhay
p
p
pay
e
e
ay
r
r
arr
f
f
eff
s
s
ess
g
g
gay
t
t
thay
i
i
ee
u
u
oo
l
l
ell
The vowels are, a e i o u, and
the rest are consonants, a o u are
called BROAD, and e i, SLENDER vow¬
els: A consonant sounded, in the same
syllable, with a broad vowel has a
broad sound, a consonant sounded in
the same syllable with a slender vow¬
el has a slender sound.
Sound of the Vowels — long —
á sounds like
a in war,
as bárr, top.
é " "
e " ere.
" céir, wax,
í " "
ee " eel,
" mín' fine.
ó " "
o “ old
ór, ór, gold.
ú " "
u " rule,
" úr, fresh.
Short. —
a " "
a in what
as, gar, near.
e " "
e " bet,
" beḃ, died,
i " "
i “ ill,
" mil, honey
o " "
o " got,
" lot, wound.
u " "
u “ put
" rud, thing.
The following consonants are aspirated by pla¬
cing a dot over, or an H after, them. This change
or mortification, as it is called, is caused by gov¬
ernment, for the initial consonant of a word, if in¬
troducing a sentense, is never aspirated. The pro¬
nouns my thy preceding a noun invariably aspir¬
ate the initial consonant (if aspirable). Students
shoud bear in mind that an aspirated letter is com¬
pletely changed in sound by such aspiration.
Ḃ sounds as y when joined to a slen¬
der vowel, as; mo ḃean, my wife —
pronounced, mo van; and sounds as
w when joined to a broad vowel, as ;
mo ḃó, my cow, pronounced, mo wo.
Ċ broad sounds like gh in the word
lough, as; mo ċos, my foot, pron¬
ounced mo chos; slender it sounds
like k in kit.
Ḋ when it is the first letter of a word
sounds like y, as; mo Ḋia, my God,
pronounced mo yee-a.
Ḟ is not sounded, as; sráid ḟada, a
long street, pronounced, shrawidh
adhah,
Ġ sounds like y when it is the first
letter of a word, as; mo ġráḋ, my
love, pronounced, mo yraw.
Ṁ has the sound of w when joining a
a broad vowel as; a ṁac, his son,
pronounced, wack ; when joined to
a slender vowel it has the sound of
y, as ; droċ-ṁeas, disrespect, pron¬
ounced, dhrough-vass.
Ṗ sounds as f, as; mo ṗunt, mo pound,
pronounced, funth.
Ṡ sounds like h, as; mo ṡál, my heel,
pronounced, hall.
Ṫ sounds as h, as; mo ṫobar, my well,
pron'cd, hobar.
Some consonants in the beginning
of words are eclipsed by other conson¬
ants ; the first letter is then silent and
the prefixed letter sounded, as; teaċ,
a house; ar d-teaċ, our house, pron¬
ounced, daugh.
To “Irish Patriots," — Gentlemen, How long will
it take you to raise a crop of wheat if you continu¬
ally sow cockle in your land? Are you more in¬
fallible than He Who said, — “Whatever you sow,
of that you shall reap.” You sow English liter¬
ature and, with it, English sentiment, and you
expect to reap a crop of genuine Irish patriotism!
Tell that story to a donkey and he will bray you
either a fool or a knave, There is no real patriot¬
ism to-day outside the Philo Celts,
Irish and Irish American Editors, you could in
five years restore the Irish Language to such a de¬
gree that every Irishman and woman would know
something about it. Will you do so? If not how
dare you claim Irish pariotism?
