THE ALPHABET.
| Phonetic Spelling. | Ordinary Spelling. | English. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | maq | mac | son |
| aa | laa | lá | day |
| ai | maih | maith | good |
| aai | faainnje | fáinne | a ring |
| æ | bæn | bean | a woman |
| ææ | fæær | feárr | better |
| e | lesj | leis | with |
| ee | sjee | sé | he |
| eei | eeisjg | éisg | of a fish |
| i | min | min | meal |
| ï or ii | sjï | sí | she |
| o | qos | cos | foot |
| oo | boo | bó | cow |
| ou | qoul | ca bh-fhuil | where is? |
| oi | oiărq | adharc | a horn |
| u | muq | muc | a pig |
| uu | tuu | tú | thou |
| ă, ĕ, ĭ, ŏ, ŭ, are obscure sounds of the ordinary short vowels, ă occurs frequently, the others rarely. i final has the value of y in English “city.” | |||
| b | baan | bán | white |
| d | madu | madadh | a dog |
| dj | djæs | deas | pretty |
| dd | meeădd-sjin | meud-sin | all that[18] |
| f | fis | fios | knowledge |
| fj | fjuu | fiú | worth |
| g (slender g) | gæær | geárr | short |
| c (broad g) | cas | gas | stalk |
| ç (broad asp.) | mŏ çort | mŏ ghort | my field |
| h | huc | thug | took |
| hj | mŏ hjool | mŏ sheól | my sail |
| j | mŏ jæærher[19] | mŏ dhearbhráthair | my brother |
| k (slender c) | kool | ceól | music[20] |
| q (broad c) | qos | cos | foot |
| x (q asp.) | xirj | chuir | put[21] |
| l | lee | lé | with |
| lj | balje | baile | town |
| ll | llonc | long | ship |
| llj | lljæbwi | leaba | bed |
| m | maq | mac | son |
| n | noos | nós | custom |
| nj | njïr | nior | neither |
| nn | bonn | bonn | bottom |
| nnj | qrinnju | cruinniughadh | assembly |
| p | paaisjdje | páisde | child |
| r | rud | rud | thing |
| rj | erjĕ | aire | attention |
| rr | } | see remarks | |
| rrj | } | ||
| s | saal | sál | heel |
| sj | sjæn | sean | old |
| t | taa | tá | is |
| tj | tjïrj | tír | country |
| tt[22] | hitt-sjee | thuit-sjee | he fell |
| v | mŏ væn | mŏ bhean | my wife |
| w | waru | mharbh | killed |
| ) = a glide. (iota subscript) is the sign of nasality, mrææ̧. | |||
[18] Sound hard, as English d.
[19] Donegal pronunciation.
[20] k asp. = hj.
[21] q asp. often = h.
[22] Sound hard.
The most important features in the foregoing are,—(1) the use of j, which when initial has the German value, to mark slenderness, when attached to another consonant; (2) the use of c for broad g, dictated partly by the necessity of economising the resources of the Roman alphabet, and by the consideration that c, in most alphabets of uncertain value, and therefore sometimes entirely discarded by phoneticians, is thereby fixed and utilised; (3) the doubling of the vowels, a practice known in old Irish, to indicate length. The accents thus disappear, and, no dots to indicate aspiration being required, the diacritics, whose number is such a frequent source of error, are almost entirely got rid of, the only exception being ˘ the mark of obscurity, which may be usually omitted without harm, as it never appears except on an unstressed syllable. In the Connaught and Donegal dialects the stress is thrown forward. There are a few exceptions, which are the following: ănsjin, ănsjo, ănoxt, ămæsg, ălig (all), ămax, amwijh, estjæx, estih, ăraan, anisj. All these have the stress on the last syllable, and the final vowel is in every case not obscure. rr, written in a few cases, is doubtful. rrj corresponding to llj and nnj does not, I think, occur on the coast of Connaught, and but rarely in Donegal. The j is, however, really pronounced as a separate consonant along with the following vowel. Thus, “Tïcerr-je.”
The Connaught values of the letters, specially those of Renvyle, are the basis of the alphabet.
