The Consonants

Question 1

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.

Answer 1

Examples:

Slender “b”

beo (byoh)
bí (bee)
Broad “b”

bó (boh)
buí (bwee)

Question 2

bh (broad)

Answer 2

= w

Question 3

bh (slender)

Answer 3

= v

Question 4

ch (broad)

Answer 4

= ch as in German “Bach”, Scottish “loch”

Question 5

ch (slender)

Answer 5

= ch as in German “ich”, or h

Question 6

dh (broad)

Answer 6

= 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

Question 7

dh (slender)

Answer 7

= y

Question 8

fh (broad)

Answer 8

= silent

Question 9

fh (slender)

Answer 9

= silent

Question 10

gh (broad)

Answer 10

= same as broad dh

Question 11

gh (slender)

Answer 11

= y

Question 12

mh (broad)

Answer 12

= w

Question 13

mh (slender)

Answer 13

= v

Question 14

ph (broad)

Answer 14

= fw

Question 15

ph (slender)

Answer 15

= fy

Question 16

sh (broad) = h

Answer 16

= h

Question 17

sh (slender)

Answer 17

= h

Question 18

th (broad)

Answer 18

= h

Question 19

th (slender)

Answer 19

= h

Question 20

mb

Answer 20

= m as in “na mban” (nuh mahn)

Question 21

gc

Answer 21

= g as in “i gcarr” (uh gawr)

Question 22

nd

Answer 22

= n as in “i ndán” (uh nawn)

Question 23

bhf

Answer 23

= w as in “an bhfuil” or v as in “a bhfile” (uh will)

Question 24

ng

Answer 24

= ng as in “i ngairdín” (ng as in English “king”) (uhNGAHR-jeen)

Question 25

bp

Answer 25

= b as in “na bplátaí” (nuh BLAW-tee)

Question 26

dt

Answer 26

= d as in “i dteach” (uh dyakh)

Question 27

Slender B beo

Answer 27

(byoh)

Question 28

Slender B bí

Answer 28

(bee)

Question 29

Broad B bó

Answer 29

(boh)

Question 30

Broad B buí

Answer 30

(bwee)