AN GAODHAL
501
The following instructions for reading
the lrish 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 enemies of Ireland delight in using the epi¬
thet “Ignorant” to the Irish people, and though
It is cruel of them to do so because they are the
primary cause of that ignorance, we cannot say
that they lie, for he who has no knowledge of his
native language is, indeed, the essence of ignor¬
ance. This we assert without the slightest quali¬
fication, even though priests, doctors and lawyers
be included in the category. And, we go a little
further — we very much doubt their patriotism for,
we cannot love the child and at the same time hate
the mother who gave it birth ; and this is the ver¬
y position of our blatant politico-patriots.
THE GAELIC ALPHABET.
Irish.
Roman.
Sound
Irish.
Roman.
Sound.
a
a
aw
m
in
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, gold.
ú " "
u " rule,
" úr, fresh.
Short. —
a " "
a in what
as, gar, near.
e " "
e " bet.
" bebh, died,
i " "
i " ill;
" mil, honey
o " "
o " got,
" lot, wound.
u " "
u " put,
" rud, thing.
The following consonants may be
aspirated by having a dot placed over
them, or an H placed after them, which
changes the sound of the letter. —
bh sounds as w when joined to a slen-
der vowel, as : mo bhean, my wife —
pronounced, mo van; and sounds as
w when joined to a broad vowel, as,
mo bhó, my cow, pronounced, mo wo.
Ch broad sounds like ch, as; mo chos,
my foot, pronounced, mo chos; slen¬
der it sounds like k in kit.
Dh when it is the first letter of a word
sounds like y, as; Dia, God: mo Dhia,
my God, pronounced mo yee-a.
Fh is not sounded, as; fada, long;
sráid fhada, a long street, pronoun¬
ced, shrawidh adhah,
Gh sounds like y when it is the first
letter of a word, as; grádh, love; mo
ghrádh, my love, pronounced, mo yraw
Mh has the sound of w when joining a
a broad vowel, as: mac, a son; a
mhac, his son, pronounced, wack;
when joined to a slender vowel it
has the sound of y, as, meas, resp¬
ect, droch-mheas, disrespect, pronoun¬
ced, dhrough-vass.
Ph sounds as f, as; punt, pound; mo
phunt, mo pound, pronounced, funth.
Sh sounds like h, as; sál, heel, mo
shál, my heel, pronounced, hall.
Th sounds as h, as; tobar, a well;
mo thobar, 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; teach,
a house; ar d-teach, our house, pron¬
ounced, daugh.
A few of our subscribers find fault
with us for devoting so much space to
instruction; but those apparently for¬
get that the giving of instruction is
the mission of The Gael. It is rather
selfish of those people because they
are able to read Irish themselves, they
don’t care for the hundreds who get
the Gael, and who are trying to learn
the language through its means.
