"Sound alikes"

Lughaidh · **Joined:** Thu 15 Sep 2011 12:06 pm **Posts:** 2436

my two cents about Donegal Irish

Quote:

An tae- the tea (i.e the drink)

an t-ae- the liver

these don't sound alike in Ulster, according to what I heard, because in "an tae" the t is as in English, while in "an t-ae" it's the Irish dental t.
I'm not sure if the "ae" is pronounced the same way too, in "tae" it's a long close é ; in "an t-ae" I don't know if it's close or open.

Quote:

ár- our

ár- slaughter

I'd say these sound alike only in Munster ; the possessive ár is pronounced like "a" in Connemara and as "ár" with a short a in Ulster.

Quote:

ar- on

"ar" (preposition) and "air" (=on him, on it) sound alike. In Gaoth Dobhair, normally "air" is pronounced /ej/ and "ar" is pronounced /er'/ (or /er/ before a broad consonant), sometimes /ej/ too.

Bríd Mhór · **Joined:** Sun 28 Aug 2011 8:29 pm **Posts:** 2996

ae - liver

I pronounce it like "ee_wa" I have no idea how that would be written.

An Cionnfhaolach · **Joined:** Fri 09 Mar 2012 6:16 pm **Posts:** 1527

Lughaidh wrote:

my two cents about Donegal Irish

these don't sound alike in Ulster, according to what I heard, because in "an tae" the t is as in English, while in "an t-ae" it's the Irish dental t.
I'm not sure if the "ae" is pronounced the same way too, in "tae" it's a long close é ; in "an t-ae" I don't know if it's close or open.

By dental "t" is that when ye pronounce "t" like the English "j"?

Bríd Mhór wrote:

ae - liver

I pronounce it like "ee_wa" I have no idea how that would be written.

ee_wa

Bríd Mhór · **Joined:** Sun 28 Aug 2011 8:29 pm **Posts:** 2996

An Cionnfhaolach wrote:

Bríd Mhór wrote:

ae - liver

I pronounce it like "ee_wa" I have no idea how that would be written.

ee_wa

Breandán · **Posted:** Sun 26 Aug 2012 10:20 am

An Cionnfhaolach wrote:

ee_wa

Nice one, a Chiain. :LOL:

Dinneen has aebha (aeḃa) as an alternative old plural form.

Saoirse · **Posted:** Sun 26 Aug 2012 10:27 am

Redwolf wrote:

I've been asked to do a lesson on words that, to a learner, may sound very much alike (words in which the chief sound difference may be slender vs. broad consonants, for example, such as "cathair" and "ceathair," which can sound very much alike to a beginner). I'm also thinking of including words that are frequently confused by beginners, such as "súil" vs. "siúl").

The thing is, aside from "cathair/ceathair," I'm drawing a bit of a blank. Can any of the rest of you think of words that sound very similar in Irish, or that are easily confused by beginners?

Redwolf

What about including the importance of the fada and giving examples of words being completely different if a fada is omitted/included/put over the wrong letter. sean , séan, Seán. Does that fit in with your original plan for the class?

Redwolf · **Posted:** Sun 26 Aug 2012 2:41 pm

Saoirse wrote:

Redwolf wrote:

I've been asked to do a lesson on words that, to a learner, may sound very much alike (words in which the chief sound difference may be slender vs. broad consonants, for example, such as "cathair" and "ceathair," which can sound very much alike to a beginner). I'm also thinking of including words that are frequently confused by beginners, such as "súil" vs. "siúl").

The thing is, aside from "cathair/ceathair," I'm drawing a bit of a blank. Can any of the rest of you think of words that sound very similar in Irish, or that are easily confused by beginners?

Redwolf

What about including the importance of the fada and giving examples of words being completely different if a fada is omitted/included/put over the wrong letter. sean , séan, Seán. Does that fit in with your original plan for the class?

I think we may have already approached that, but I'll double check. If not, it's a good thing to mention in the context of this lesson, yes. GRMA!

Redwolf

An Cionnfhaolach · **Joined:** Fri 09 Mar 2012 6:16 pm **Posts:** 1527

Breandán wrote:

Dinneen has aebha (aeḃa) as an alternative old plural form.

Suimeamhail, I did a quick check online, granted its wikipedia but:

Manx: aane

Goidelic; from Mid.Ir. ae < O.Ir. óa; cf. Ir. ae, Sc.G. adha

Saoirse · **Posted:** Sun 26 Aug 2012 8:30 pm

Saoirse wrote:

What about including the importance of the fada and giving examples of words being completely different if a fada is omitted/included/put over the wrong letter. sean , séan, Seán.

mala agus mála; seo agus seó; féar agus fear; cead agus céad; ciste agus císte..... There are probably loads of others, but they are hard to think of when you want them. Almost an idea for its own thread, especially as it may not even be relevant to your lesson!

Lughaidh · **Joined:** Thu 15 Sep 2011 12:06 pm **Posts:** 2436

Quote:

By dental "t" is that when ye pronounce "t" like the English "j"?

no, dental t doesn't exist in standard English ; however in Hiberno-English, many people pronounce th as a dental t (although not velarised as in Irish, I think).

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