Lughaidh wrote:
Quote:
The thing to remember is that "lenition" (often incorrectly referred to as "aspiration") is a process, not a sound. Some sounds are slightly lenited, some are very lenited.
what do you mean? A consonant is lenited or not, but it can't be more or less lenited...

Actually, I think I understand what NiallBeag means here.
Lenited consonants like all consonants (and indeed all sounds in a language) map to spectra that don't necessarily have clear-cut boundaries. The position of each consonant on its spectral map is influenced by the sounds around it and therefore shifts somewhat from word to word.
The exyent of these influences may also change over time and in some cases consonants have gotten lenited completely out of existence (i.e., t -> th -> h -> ∅).