Appendix:Scottish Gaelic pronunciation
The Scottish Gaelic language (called Gàidhlig in Gaelic) has 18 letters. The Latin/English letter set is used, but Gàidhlig assigns its own sounds and usages to the letters. It is this difference that confuses English speakers when they see "impossible" combinations like raon, dealbh, and cridhe. Fortunately, the pronunciation of Gaelic words is fairly regular and it is usually possible to predict the pronunciation from the spelling.
The letters j, k, q, v, w, x, y, and z are not included in the Gaelic alphabet, but are sometimes found in borrowed words. When present, these letters have their English sounds.
There are regional differences in Scottish Gaelic pronunciation, but standard Scottish Gaelic is understood by Scottish Gaelic speakers everywhere. The pronunciation guide below approximates the Gaelic letter sounds by using standard British English examples.
Vowels
[edit]Gaelic vowels have a grave accent, with the letters à, è, ì, ò, ù. Traditional spelling also uses the acute accent on the letters á, é and ó, but texts which follow the spelling reform only use the grave.
| Spelling | Pronunciation | English equivalent | As in |
|---|---|---|---|
| a, á | [a], [a] | cat | bata, lochan |
| à | [aː] | cad | bàta |
| e | [ɛ], [e] | let, late | le, teth |
| è, é | [ɛː], [eː] | led, lade | sèimh, fhéin |
| i | [ɪ], [i] | tin, sweet | sin, ith |
| ì | [iː] | evil | mìn |
| o | [ɔ], [o] | top, boat | poca, bog |
| ò, ó | [ɔː], [oː] | jaw, door | pòcaid, mór |
| u | [u] | brood | tur |
| ù | [uː] | brewed | tùr |
Vowel digraphs
[edit]| Spelling | Pronunciation | As in | English equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| ai | [a], [ə], [ɛ], [i] | caileag, iuchair, geamair, dùthaich | wall, answer, air, pick |
| ài | [aː], [ai] | àite, bara-làimhe | father, kite |
| ao(i) | [ɯː], [ɯi] | caol, gaoil, laoidh | no true equivalent; try saying "cool" without rounding the lips, wheel |
| ea | [ʲa], [e], [ɛ] | geal, deas, bean | y'all, great, hen |
| eà | [ʲaː] | ceàrr | y'all |
| èa | [ɛː] | nèamh | ever |
| ei | [e], [ɛ] | eile, ainmeil | jail, gel |
| èi | [ɛː] | cèilidh | ever |
| éi | [eː] | fhéin | rain |
| eo | [ʲɔ] | deoch | jock |
| eò(i) | [ʲɔː] | ceòl, feòil | lock |
| eu | [eː], [ia] | ceum, feur | became, Maria |
| ia | [iə], [ia] | biadh, dian | Maria |
| io | [i], [jũ] | fios, fionn | fit, young |
| ìo | [iː], [iə] | sgrìobh, mìos | sheet, Camille |
| iu | [ʲu] | piuthar | you |
| iù(i) | [ʲuː] | diùlt, diùid | few |
| oi | [ɔ], [ɤ] | boireannach, goirid | top, ugly |
| òi | [ɔː] | fòill | lost |
| ói | [oː] | cóig | alone |
| ua(i) | [uə], [ua] | ruadh, uabhasach, duais | wash, squash |
| ui | [u], [ɯ], [ui] | muir, uighean, tuinn | to, we |
| ùi | [uː] | dùin | two |
Consonants
[edit]Many consonants come in plain and lenited varieties, and also in slender (palatalized) and broad (non-palatalized or velarized) varieties, giving four combinations. Lenition is denoted with a h following the letter. A consonant or group of consonants is slender when they are next to e or i, broad when next to a, o or u. A consonant is never preceded by one kind of vowel and followed by the other kind at the same time, to avoid ambiguity. However, this does often lead to extra "silent" vowels being added to adhere to this rule.
| Plain | Lenited | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spelling | Pronunciation | English equivalent | Spelling | Pronunciation | English (or other language) equivalent | |||
| Broad | Slender | Broad | Slender | |||||
| b | initial | /p/* | /pj/* | span | bh | /v/ | /vj/ | veil |
| final | /p/ | /jp/ | lap | /jv/ | give | |||
| c | initial | /kʰ/ | /kʲʰ/ or /cʰ/ | cold, cute | ch | /x/ | /ç/ | loch, German ich |
| final | /xk/ | /çkʲ/ or /çc/ | rack, pick | |||||
| d | /t̪/* | /tʲ/* | stare, itch | dh | /ɣ/ | /ʝ/ | Spanish lago, Spanish hierba | |
| f | initial | /f/ | /fj/ | fall, fear | fh | silent | ||
| final | /jf/ | laugh, grief | ||||||
| g | /k/* | /kʲ/ or /c/* | scuba, skew | gh | /ɣ/ | /ʝ/ | Spanish lago, Spanish hierba | |
| l (initial) ll |
/l̪ˠ/ or /ɫ̪/ (velarized) | /ʎ/ | full, million | l | /l̪ˠ/ or /ɫ̪/ | /l/ | filth, land | |
| m | /m/ | /mj/ | mad, mean | mh | /v/ | /vj/ | vain | |
| n (initial) nn |
/n̪ˠ/ or /n̴̪/ | /ɲ/ | name, annual | n | /n/ | annual, name | ||
| p | initial | /pʰ/ | /pʰj/ | passion, pew | ph | /f/ | /fj/ | fashion, few |
| final | /hp/ | /jhp/ | wrap, cape | /jf/ | roof, reef | |||
| r (initial) rr |
/rˠ/ or /r̴/ | Spanish perro | r | /ɾ/ | /ɾʲ/ | Spanish pero | ||
| s | /s̪/ | /ʃ/ | sing, shine | sh | /h/ | /hj/ | hang, Hugh | |
| t | initial | /t̪ʰ/ | /tʃʰ/ | tread, check | th | |||
| final | /ht̪/ | /htʲ/ | hat, hatch | /h/ or silent | /jh/ or /j/ | raw | ||
| *An unaspirated voiceless stop, as in English spot, stick, or skate. | ||||||||