The Consonants Flashcards
Except for “h”, all Irish consonants come in two flavors, called “broad” and “slender”. Basically, broad consonants are pronounced with a “-w” off-glide, and slender consonants are pronounced with a “-y” off-glide. Broad consonants are always written with the letters a, o, or u next to them. Slender consonants are always written with the letters i or e next to them.
Examples:
Slender “b”
beo (byoh)
bí (bee)
Broad “b”
bó (boh)
buí (bwee)
bh (broad)
= w
bh (slender)
= v
ch (broad)
= ch as in German “Bach”, Scottish “loch”
ch (slender)
= ch as in German “ich”, or h
dh (broad)
= gh as the g in Spanish “abogado” or Greek “avgolemono” (this is the voiced equivalent of the “ch” in “Bach”); usually silent except at beginning of words; see a textbook on this
dh (slender)
= y
fh (broad)
= silent
fh (slender)
= silent
gh (broad)
= same as broad dh
gh (slender)
= y
mh (broad)
= w
mh (slender)
= v
ph (broad)
= fw
ph (slender)
= fy
sh (broad) = h
= h
sh (slender)
= h
th (broad)
= h
th (slender)
= h
mb
= m as in “na mban” (nuh mahn)
gc
= g as in “i gcarr” (uh gawr)
nd
= n as in “i ndán” (uh nawn)
bhf
= w as in “an bhfuil” or v as in “a bhfile” (uh will)
ng
= ng as in “i ngairdín” (ng as in English “king”) (uhNGAHR-jeen)
bp
= b as in “na bplátaí” (nuh BLAW-tee)
dt
= d as in “i dteach” (uh dyakh)
Slender B beo
(byoh)
Slender B bí
(bee)
Broad B bó
(boh)
Broad B buí
(bwee)
