PRONUNCIATION
REVIEW
In Irish, any "r" beginning a word gets the
broad sound. Roll this "r" by placing the tongue
tip near the hard ridge behind the upper front
teeth as you pronounce "r.² The tongue should
vibrate during the sound. Practice on: ré
(ray*), rá (raw*), rí, rás,
rón, rún (roon), rud (ruhd), reatha
(RA-huh), raca (RAHK-uh), reic (rek).
If an "r" is inside or at the end of a word,
and if the nearest vowel is "a", "o", or "u",
the "r" sound may be closer to the English sound.
Examples: ordóg (ohr-DOHG), daor (day*r),
port (pohrt), sráid (SRAW*-id). In other
cases, the "r" is rolled to varying degree.
Examples: orm (OH-ruhm), crua (KROO-uh), doras
(DUH-ruhs).
Pronounce "rr" near an "a", "o", or "u" with
the rolled sound, as in carr (kahr), carraig
(KAHR-rig), tarraing (TAHR-ring).
When an "r" is inside or at a word end and the
nearest vowel is "e" or "i", pronounce the "r"
with its slender sound. Although this is a difficult
sound to describe, you have heard it from Irish
persons and, on radio and television, from performers
seeking to imitate Irish accents. You should
be able to recognize it when you have it correctly.
One way of forming the sound is to make a shallow
pocket in the tongue tip, curling the tongue
and placing the tongue tip near the top rear
of your upper front teeth. Pronounce "r", and
you should feel air blow down against your lower
lip as your tongue drops. Do not let the tongue
tip go forward as it drops, or you will make
a sound like English "th".
Practice first on English "where", "Mary", and
"we're here", pronouncing these with the Irish
slender "r". Then try: fir (fir), féir
(fay*r), féirín (fay*r-EEN), préachán
(pray*-K*AW*N), péire (PAY*R-e).
If a slender "r" follows a consonant, a sound
like (i) may come between the consonants. For
example, "breá" may sound like (bir-RAW*),
and "preab" may sound like (pir-RAB).
GRAMMAR
The saorbhriathar (say*r-VREE-huhr) or free
form exists in all tenses. We will study the
past tense of it now. In Irish, "It was put
on the table" is "Cuireadh (KIR-uh) ar an mbord
é.² The negative is "Níor (NEE-uhr)
cuireadh ar an mbord é", meaning "it
was not put on the table". The questions are:
Ar (er) cuireadh ar an mbord é?; Was
it put on the table?
Nár (naw*r) cuireadh ar an mbord é?;
Wasn't it put on the table?
For many verbs, form the past-tense saorbhriathar
by adding "_ _ _ adh" or "_ _ _ eadh" to the
root, which is the singular imperative. For
"tóg", it becomes "Tógadh é²
(TOHG-uh ay*), meaning "It was taken".
Other examples:
briseadh é (BRISH-uh ay*); it was broken
níor briseadh é; it was not broken
ar briseadh é; was it broken?
tuigeadh é (TIG-uh ay*); it was understood
níor tuigeadh é; it was not understood
nár tuigeadh é; wasn't it understood?
Notice that in this form there is no aspiration
by "ar", "níor", or "nár".
The two-syllable second-conjugation verbs, such
as "ceannaigh" (KAN-ee), "cosain" (KUH-sin),
"oscail" (OH-skil), and "freagair" (FRAG-ir),
form the past-tense saorbhriathar a little differently.
Learn these examples:
ceannaíodh é (KAN-ee-ohk* ay*),
it was bought
cosnaíodh é (KUHS-nee-ohk* ay*),
it was defended
osclaíodh é (OHSK-lee-ohk* ay*),
it was opened
freagraíodh é (FRAG-ree-ohk* ay*),
it was answered
DRILL
Go through a progressive drill with the saorbhriathar
of these verbs and words:
dún (doon), an doras; close, the door
cas (KAHS), an cúinne (KOON-ye); turn,
the corner
stop (stohp), carr; stop, car
creid (kred), an scéal; believe, the
story
mínigh (MEEN-ee), an cheist (hyesht);
explain, the question
Examples: Ar dúnadh an doras? Níor
dúnadh an doras. Nár dúnadh
an doras? Dúnadh an doras.
When you have finished, check your sentences
against these key words: casadh, stopadh, creideadh,
míníodh (MEEN-ee-ohk*).
COMHRÁ
(KOH-raw*)
(The effort to improve television reception
continues.)
Pól
(pohl): Ná bíodh eagla ort
(naw* BEE-ohk* AH-gluh OH-ruht). Oibreoidh mé
an-chúramach (ib-ROH-ee may* AHN-k*oor-uh-mahk*).
Don't be afraid. I will work very carefully.
Bláthnaid
(BLAW*-nid): Suas leat, mar sin. Tá
súil agam -- go bhfuil gach rud i gceart.
Up with you then. I hope that everything is
in order.
Pól:
Is fusa an obair seo -- ná an druileáil
(DRIL-aw*-il) a rinne mé (RIN-ye may*)
-- ar an gcúldoras (GOOL-duh-ruhs) --
anuraidh (uh-NOOR-ee). Níl an t-adhmad
seo (TEYE-muhd shuh) chomh crua (hoh KROO-uh)
-- agus a bhí an t-adhmad sa chúldoras.
This work is easier than the drilling I did
on the back door last year. This wood isn't
as hard as the wood in the back door.
Bláthnaid:
Ná sleamhnaigh, mar sin féin
(naw* SHLOU-nee, mahr shin fay*n). Níl
mórán árachais (AW*-ruh-k*ish)
agam ort. Don't slip, just the same. I don't
have much insurance on you.
(c)
1998 The Irish People. May be reprinted with
credit.
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