Lenition
Lenition is one of the two mutations that Irish words undergo, and it can be a very tricky topic for many people.
Anciently, lenition marks where a word was preceded by another word that ended in a vowel. Over time, being stuck between two vowels caused a weakening or “lightening” of the sound of the consonant. In linguistic terms, the consonant became a “spirant.” Rather than being a stop, where the teeth, tongue and lips stop air from leaving your mouth as you make the sound, the form of the sound changed to allow air through.
Nowadays, lenition happens in a variety of places where once the word being lenited was (and sometimes still is) preceded by another word that ends in a vowel.
Take the word “grá,” for example. If you want to say “my love,” you have to add the possessive adjective “mo” before “grá.” “Mo,” quite obviously, ends in a vowel, so that lenites the first consonant of “grá” to “mo ghrá.”
Modern Irish marks lenition by putting an “h” after the lenited consonant. Each combination of consonants with “h” represents a new sound–related to the original, but significantly different. Lenited consonants appear in the middle and the end of Irish words, too, and for the same reason: in earlier forms of the language, they all followed vowels.
These are the sound changes that occur with lenition at the beginning of a word:
b -> bh pronounced like W before A, O, or U; like V before E or I
c -> ch prounced like German “ch” (a light, guttural sound) before A, O, U; like German “Ich” (a lighter, breathy, hissy H) before E or I
d -> dh this is a deep, guttural, throat clearing sound that doesn’t exist in English or many other languages. If you can make the “ch” sound, try to vibrate your vocal cords. The result will be how “ch” is pronounced before A, O, U.
Before E or I, it is pronounced like “y”
f -> fh silent
g -> gh exactly like “dh”
m -> mh exactly like “bh”
p -> ph -> just like in English
s -> sh this is prounced just like English “h”
t -> th just like “sh,” this is pronounced like English “h”
Article written by Oisín.
Lenition is a core topic of online grammar lessons at Bitesize Irish Gaelic.
David Cain said,
July 31, 2008 @ 7:53 pm
Having discovered my Irish roots, I’ve een perplexed by some of the apparently odd spellings I’ve found. I’m now looking for a website or book that’ll show me how to pronounce Gaelic words, and maybe teach me a little of the grammar and spoken language. Best Wishes, David
Eoin said,
August 1, 2008 @ 8:41 am
Hi David, it sounds like you’d benefit from getting a self-taught language program (if you can’t find Irish classes in your area). Our language product comparison is here: http://www.learnirishgaelic.com/productcomparison/
In the mean time, I suggest to also search google for “Irish language pronunciation”, there are some resources to explain the pronunciation system of the Irish language. Remember, letters and combinations of letter don’t have to sound as they would sound as if they were in English. That’s just the English langauge’s use of those alphabet characters.
Karen said,
November 13, 2008 @ 4:18 pm
Hi there,
I’ve been reading up on Lenition and Eclipsis, and I’m glad to say it’s coming back to me from my school days. What I’m having trouble with however is remembering which pronouns and articles lead to which mutation.
I know ‘i’ (in) takes the eclipsis, and ‘mo’ takes lenition, but I’m struggling with other examples, and have yet to find a page that gives a list.
I would be eternally grateful if anyone had any information on this.
Go raibh mile maith agaibh.
Karen
Stephen Gallivan said,
June 4, 2009 @ 6:11 pm
My name is spelled in Irish: Gealbhain.
‘bh’ before the letter ‘a’ should be pronounced like ‘w’. But I have never heard it pronounced ‘Galwan’ only ‘GalVin’, both in America and in Ireland. How come?
Terrence Daugherty said,
September 18, 2009 @ 5:02 am
My name from is originally spelt O’Dochartaigh. How did that become Daugherty, Doherty, Dougherty..etc ?
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