Dia daoibh,

After binge listening to/watching as many things as I could find featuring native Gaoth Dobhair speakers (such as videos with Noel Ó Gallchóir), I’m actually becoming more comfortable with the concept of pronouncing slender r’s as “y.”

Thanks to some help on this forum, I know that slender r’s are only pronounced as y’s in certain cases (such as at the end of words and between vowels).

I think that there are even some cases between vowels where slender r’s are not pronounced as y though (for example, Noel Ó Gallchóir says Gaoth Dobhair as “Gwee DOH-ee” but “aisteoirí” as “ASH-tchaw-r’ee”…not “ASH-tchaw-yee”)…I’m guessing that’s because the sounds just wouldn’t flow right together the second way?

In similar fashion, I’m guessing certain other words would also not feature the y-type r (I’m only guessing here, as I can’t seem to find any examples of Gweedore natives saying certain words…I wish there were more listening materials available for the Gweedore region in particular)…for example, I’m guessing “iascaireacht” wouldn’t be “EE-usk-ee-yahrt,” as that seems a bit unnatural. And, similarly, I’m assuming “aréir” wouldn’t be “uh-YAY” and that “ríomhaire” wouldn’t be “REEw-uh-yeh”…

I was wondering if anyone (maybe Lughaidh or Labhrás) who is familiar with Ulster/Gweedore pronunciation could confirm or correct my assumptions here?

Thank you so much if so!