Dea-maidin!

I would like some information regarding the differences between Irish and Scottish Gaelic mainly on pronunciation.
Which one sounds more mysterious?
Thank you so much for your time.

Cháim,
Alexander Adelbert

Scottish pronunciation seems less fathomable.

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[hr]Múinteoir Gaeilge - Irish Teacher[/hr]
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect, but I can also speak Ulster and Munster Irish with native-level pronunciation.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), Gaeilic Uladh (GU), Gaelainn na Mumhan (GM), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).

Breandán's response made me laugh OUT LOUD. I think I'd have to agree with him. To me Scottish Gaelic sounds like adulterated slurred mispronounced Irish.

There are a lot of pronunciation differences between Irish and Scottish Gaelic, and it would be hard to sum them all up briefly (and I'm no expert anyway). To Irish speakers, Gaelic can in some cases sound more guttural (it has preserved some guttural sounds which have been lost, or are being lost, in Irish) and somewhat more clipped than Irish, with some vowel sounds pronounced with a bit more of a pursed mouth. The sound of vowels can also be different in other ways. As an example, compare the Irish tá ("taw") with its Gaelic equivalent tha ("haah"). There are also some very interesting differences between the two languages, which appear to be at least partially the result of Norse influence on Gaelic. Here are some examples:

-- In Gaelic, there's a sibilant sound which doesn't occur in the same place in Irish: compare Irish ard ["ard"] with Gaelic àrd (roughly: "aahrsht").

-- In some cases, Gaelic has what is referred to as "pre-aspiration": compare Irish mac ("mak") with Gaelic mac ("makhk"),in which the superscript "kh" in my rough phonetic version is like the guttural "ch" sound in words like loch (and is hard for non-native speakers to pronounce before a final "k" like that).

-- The letter "r", when it is located next to an "i" or and "e", can become a light "th" sound (technically, there are several ways an "r" can be pronounced, but this is a simple description of what happens). This was originally a dialectical variant found mostly in the Hebrides, but it has spread fairly widely, due to the predominance of Hebridean speakers now (this sound change was not present in most mainland dialects).

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I'm not a native (or entirely fluent) speaker, so be sure to wait for confirmations/corrections, especially for tattoos.

Just to add to what Caoimhín has said, on the Foot Stompin' Forum, there's a discussion of the pronunciation of puirt a beul (plural) as poorsht a bay-l and the singular port a beul porsht a bay-l, and in Lewis beul would be pronounced bee-al/bee-ul. If you compare that to the way port or ort are pronounced in Irish, there's quite a difference there. And of course there's the negative particle cha/chan that is used in Ulster Irish as well as in Gàidhlig, that you wouldn't find further south in Ireland. I suggest that you get hold of the CD Dual where Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh and Julie Fowlis have recorded together and you can listen to their respective styles of singing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raOhfgsft8I
Julie Fowlis and Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh (tomscotland)

Though Scottish Gaelic sounds a lot like Ulster Irish, it has much grammar and features in common with Munster Irish.

Cian

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

That's a good point. An example is that Munster Irish uses bhuaim, bhuait, etc., and Scottish Gaelic uses bhuam, bhuat, etc., where the CO and other dialects use uaim, uait, etc..

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I'm not a native (or entirely fluent) speaker, so be sure to wait for confirmations/corrections, especially for tattoos.

I remember reading somewhere that at one time there were Gàidhlig-speaking men and their families posted in the Corca Dhuibhne - lighthouse keepers perhaps they might have been, although I can't remember exactly what they were. Anyway apparently they were able to comunicate with the local people without too much difficulty and brought their own music and dances and songs with them that had some influence on the local Gaelic culture.

Hi,

Just to add, NW Donegal Irish uses bhuam, bhuaid, bhuaidh etc. also.

Slán,

Domhnall

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Ultach mé agus Gaeilg Uladh a labhraim go measardha maith!

I read that somewhere as well, franc, and supposedly there's a style of music in the area even today which originated with those Scottish Gaelic speakers. If I can find the article again, I'll post it (or a link).

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I'm not a native (or entirely fluent) speaker, so be sure to wait for confirmations/corrections, especially for tattoos.