Ó Cathasaigh


I'd be grateful if one of you Munster experts could do a pronunciation of this surname for me on Forvo, or even post a file here. And comment on this soundfile if you think it is wrong -

http://www.forvo.com/word/%C3%B3_cathasaigh/#ga

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It is recommended that you always wait for three to agree on a translation.
I speak Connemara Irish, and my input will often reflect that.
I will do an mp3 file on request for short translations.
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Well, I'm definitely not an expert, but since none of our resident Munster Irish experts have answered your question yet, I'll let you know what I've been taught.

I think it's pronounced "oh KA-ha-si" – that's "si" like in the English word "sit" but without the "t" on the end – as far as I know, it's never pronounced "see" (not in Munster anyway) like the recording that was posted on Forvo.

But "igh" sounds like "ig" (as in the word tigh) in a sentence like this:

Is leis na Cathasaigh an tigh sin.

Hopefully, one of the actual Munster experts will come along and either verify, or correct what I've written.

If I remember well, in Munster all -(a)igh endings of nouns are pronounced "igg" except those of the family names (where -(a)igh is an "uh" sound as in Connachta).
So normally, Ó Cathasaigh should be pronounced "oh KAH-huh-suh". ("Ó Cathasa")

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

Yeah that's right, ends in "igg" in Munster

Thanks everybody

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It is recommended that you always wait for three to agree on a translation.
I speak Connemara Irish, and my input will often reflect that.
I will do an mp3 file on request for short translations.
___________________________________________________________

In Munster, native speakers would pronounce the foircinn "aigh" and "aidh" the same as your first example on the recording, a kind of "uh" sound. But definitely not the second example.

Lately, the foircinn "aigh" and "aidh" are being pronounced as "igg", like most other nouns ending in "aigh" and "aidh" in Munster. This I believe is a result of schooling. A similar shift of pronunciation is occurring in the Future Tense with the foirceann "Faidh" in the foirm scartha. For example, native speakers pronounce "raghaidh mé" as Ragha' mé"- Rye-Ah(Uh) mé, but now, its being pronounced as "Raghaigg mé" or "Rachaigg mé".

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Please wait for corrections/ more input from other forum members before acting on advice

are you saying that teachers in Munster teach native speakers to pronounce like that?
By the way, don't people rather say "raghad" in Munster?...

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

In my experience surnames are pronounced as Lughaidh and Cionnfhaolach said:

Ceallaigh = Cealla
Cathasaigh = Cathasa

where the a is an indistinct "uh" sound.


Yes, unfortunately. This is always a really disheartening thing to hear, I know a few people who were told
in school that the synthetic forms like Raghad were just wrong or that there was no such thing as the dative
forms.

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The dialect I use is Cork Irish.
Ar sgáth a chéile a mhairid na daoine, lag agus láidir, uasal is íseal

If they wanted to kill the language they wouldn't do otherwise.

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