Hello,

I was wondering how a broad consonant at the end of a word is pronounced if the following word begins with a slender vowel?

I.e. how is cloch in "is cloch í" pronounced? Does the <ch> remain broad /x/, or does it become slender /ç/?

Also, I realize <is> is usually pronounced with a broad /s/ at the end (rhymes with hiss), but is it ever pronounced slender? I.e. is é/í...

Go raibh maith agaibh!

Generally consonants keep their broadness or slenderness and you will hear a glide off them.

Exceptions are :

n in an

s in copula is (but not is = agus) So is é/í/ea ... become sé/sí/sea

l in níl

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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).

I agree.
Also sometimes a final broad s becomes slender when followed by a slender s, t or d.

Certain final slender consonants become broad before a broad consonant:
"cuid don am" is pronounced "cud don am" (at least in Donegal, I dunno for the other places).
But the d is slender in "cuid mhór"...

There's more to read about these phenomena in the books about the phonology of one specific dialect, like "The Irish of Cois Fhairrge", "The Irish of Ring, Co. Waterford", etc. In the books of that collection, there's a chapter called "sandhi" that deals with these changes.

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