Comments on: Lenition

By: Terrence Daugherty

Terrence Daugherty — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 04:02:03 +0000

My name from is originally spelt O’Dochartaigh. How did that become Daugherty, Doherty, Dougherty..etc ?

By: Stephen Gallivan

Stephen Gallivan — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 17:11:22 +0000

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?

By: Karen

Karen — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 15:18:50 +0000

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

By: Eoin

Eoin — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 07:41:11 +0000

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.

By: David Cain

David Cain — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 18:53:11 +0000

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