How are the names Meallan and Dubhghall pronounced? I wrote a series of
books and those are the names of two of my characters (1014 Ireland).

I am going to make an audio version of the books and I want to make sure I
say them correctly.

Can someone send me an audio clip saying the names properly? dougkirk@gvtc.com

Thanks.

Doug

www.LookForMeIWillFindYou.com

I won't attempt it as LL was a different sound from L in older forms of Irish.
I know Connacht (and Ulster?) keeps the distinction between slender L and slender LL still, but does
any dialect still have broad LL.

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

Thank you. I did neglect to say something. These characters were in the Dublin vicinity in the year 1014, if that helps anyone zero in on how to say the names.

yes. There are four L phonemes in Donegal, according to An Teanga Bheo: Gaeilge Uladh...

Btw Meallán and Dubhghall are not spellings of the 11th century.
Should be Mellán and Dubgall, pronounced
[ˈmɛl ̪ˠaːnˠ] and [ˈduβɣal ̪ˠ]

I can record them although I'm not 1000 years old but we can know more or less how Irish was pronounced then...

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

Oops. Well, we messed up the spelling, but then, it's too late as 20,000 copies are in print. As for pronouncing them, yes, please, please, if you can record something and send me a wav file or maybe even post something on YouTube, that would be wonderful.

And, if you don't mind, say the names a couple of times, slowly at first, then fast the way it should be said if you are calling a person's name.

As for being 1,000 years old, how do you really know you aren't? Ha. Maybe we all are a little older than we think?

Check out my website to see what the books are all about.

www.LookForMeIWillFindYou.com

And thank you!

Doug

dougkirk@gvtc.com

Or so you claim.

Does Donegal still have the full set of four N's? I know you said once that it had three R's. Slender RR being lost.

Am I correct in saying that in, let's say, Irish of the 1300s, you had four R's, slender and broad R and RR. The difference
between double and single was that single was tapped, the doubled was rolled. However would I be right in saying that slender r (both versions)
was just a palatalised tap, rather than the fricative sound you hear today.

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

I'm beginning to see why my ancestors left Ireland to seek their good fortunes in America. (LOL) They were simple farmers. I'm supposedly an educated guy, and I have no idea what a "palatalised tap" or a "fricative sound" is. But then it is true that my high school English teacher told me I should give up my plans to be a writer. Wow. So, I really am that ignorant when it comes to Gaeilge.

Then again, I had enough sense to ask for help. I knew I was in way over my head a long time ago.

But be that as it may. Thank you for working on this. I can't wait to hear the result.

All the best,

Doug

http://www.LookForMeIWillFindYou.com

They're just technical labels for things people do everyday. A fricative is basically any consonant produced by friction, like f, s, sh, z.
This is unlike a stop/plosive (both words are used) consonant where the sound is made by halting the air, like b, p, t, d, m, n.

Then you basically have additional words from describing what parts of your mouth the sound is made with. Labial for example
is any sound made using your lips. So b, p are labial stops/plosives, i.e. you halt the air with your lips.

The difference between b and p is that in one case (b) your voice is "on", that is you are vibrating your vocal cords, and with p
you are not, stop in the middle of making both and you'll notice the difference. One is voiced, the other unvoiced.

So, in total, b is a voiced labial stop/plosive. You might not know the technical words, but it's still something you do everyday.

The advantage of this terminology is that, if you learn it, it really helps with the pronunciation of another language, since you know what you should
be doing with your mouth to produce a sound.

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

Douglas, I've just sent you an e-mail with the recording of Dubgall and Mellán and their vocative form (the form these names take when you call these people).

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