Now, there's a tattoo request!

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A fine 'batch a' béz'! Thick as honey is their accents agus blas maith atá air!


As for speaking, here are 13 patterns that are easy to do, nearly all can be sourced from English and some modifications made to achieve the Irish form:


b', p', v', f' and m' (pursed lips)

b, p, w, f and m (rounded lips)


L, N, t, d (hold water with tongue while mouth open; tongue will fan out and make the right shape)
s, z (as above, just a little weaker)

l, n (English 'ball' and 'fawn'

l', n' (English 'pill' and 'pin'

ll', nn' (English 'million' and 'minion'
d', t' (tongue as above)
ch' (English 'hue' said quickly
/j/, y (English 'yes'
s' ('ship' done similar to the above general pattern)


g, k (like 'gaw' and 'caw' but stronger and a bit further back)
g', k' (English 'argue' and 'cue'


ch (make 'h' sound then 'rougher' to get more friction)
gh (voice the above)


r (like American 'butter')

r' (like r above but with 'z' or 'zh' added in (other variants as well))

ng (like 'song' but stronger in articulation)

ng' (like 'sing' but stronger as well)

h

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__̴ı̴̴̡̡̡ ̡͌l̡̡̡ ̡͌l̡*̡̡ ̴̡ı̴̴̡ ̡̡͡|̲̲̲͡͡͡ ̲▫̲͡ ̲̲̲͡͡π̲̲͡͡ ̲̲͡▫̲̲͡͡ ̲|̡̡̡ ̡ ̴̡ı̴̡̡ ̡͌l̡̡̡̡.___

I like the holding water with tongue example.

I find while I can now pronounce most the sounds, i mix them up. e.g broad R in the place of slender etc.
Thats why i find good audio invaluable. I can practice saying the words as I learn them. Far better than just reading, which Im likely to mispronounce or not realise the pronounced word is different from how it reads. e.g lorg which sounds more like lorig.

Love some of the accents and expressions from the speakers in the various hands documentary's.
Think that bee keeper was born in West Cork before the 1920's so if he wasn't originally an Irish speaker his folks most certainly would have been.

I met a old farmer like him near Union hall in the 1990's, the first few times I spoke to him I thought he was speaking Irish. It was when I was picking cabbage with him one day that I realised it was English. Much to my embarrassment.

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Bíonn rudaí maithe mall

When people here refer to 'standard Irish' I assume they mean a non-native or non-traditional spoken Irish, since there is no official spoken standard, only the official written standard and grammar.

I definitely believe there is truth in the claim that some people make little effort to pronounce Irish correctly. The results can be hard to listen to. Others just don't have the ear, but usually have a relatively easy time with grammar.

At the end of the day the vast majority of us here are learners and we should be mindful of that when stating what is and what is not correct, idiomatic Irish. Relatively few non-native English speakers speak English without a noticeable accent or mispronounce words, so it's not a surprise that most learners of a minority language like Irish (whose native speakers are almost all bilingual!) when speaking will reflect a significant influence of English.

I'm not suggesting it should be a free for all when anything goes, however.

Having a standard is not a problem, I think, if first there are standards

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__̴ı̴̴̡̡̡ ̡͌l̡̡̡ ̡͌l̡*̡̡ ̴̡ı̴̴̡ ̡̡͡|̲̲̲͡͡͡ ̲▫̲͡ ̲̲̲͡͡π̲̲͡͡ ̲̲͡▫̲̲͡͡ ̲|̡̡̡ ̡ ̴̡ı̴̡̡ ̡͌l̡̡̡̡.___

Bíodh bliain nua den scoth agat.

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Bí cinnte de go nglacfaidh triúr le gach aistriúchán a thabharfar.
Be sure to get three in agreement with a translation given.

that's normal but the specific problem with Irish (and certain other "minority" languages) is that in general you'll hear much more people who don't pronounce properly (in songs, in videos, on the radio & TV, and, worst of all, in teaching material) than native speakers, or people who pronounce properly in general.

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Is fearr Gaeilg na Gaeltaċta ná Gaeilg ar biṫ eile
Agus is í Gaeilg Ġaoṫ Doḃair is binne

I suppose it comes down to power relations -people don't respect minorities

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__̴ı̴̴̡̡̡ ̡͌l̡̡̡ ̡͌l̡*̡̡ ̴̡ı̴̴̡ ̡̡͡|̲̲̲͡͡͡ ̲▫̲͡ ̲̲̲͡͡π̲̲͡͡ ̲̲͡▫̲̲͡͡ ̲|̡̡̡ ̡ ̴̡ı̴̡̡ ̡͌l̡̡̡̡.___