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You could also spell the Ulster form tífidh mé CHEE-fih meh /t´i:f´ə m´e:/ without changing the pronunciation, though it isn't normally done. Historically it is tchífidh mé CHEE-fih meh /t´i:f´ə m´e:/, as Lughaidh said. (An Teanga Bheo: Gaeilge Uladh has tife mé/tífe mé/tiuha mé for the pronunciation.)
aye, the -f- pronunciation in this form is exceptional (in all other verbs it's an h sound).
Btw certain people pronounce f as h in tchífidh mé too (heard it in Gaoth Dobhair), so in the speech of these people there's no exception.
It gives /t'ihə m'a/. The í is short in pronunciation, actually.
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I think the dropping of the t is partly from confusion with the Munster form chífidh mé KHEE-fih meh /x´i:f´ə m´e/ and partly because it looks like the English ch.
and probably because they want both forms to be spelt the same way so there's one variant instead of two. In the university, we were allowed to use "chífidh" but written this way. Which is quite surprising because our teachers knew it didn't correspond to pronunciation nor to the historical form. But I think they thought writing "standard" (for both Munster and Ulster) was more important. I wrote like that in the exams. And since then, you know how I write it...
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