Seo mar a deirtear na litreacha sa Ghaelige.
This is how the letters in Irish are pronounced.
Thiar agus — thuaidh, b’onn an bh*im ar an gc*ad siolla ge ghnýth.
In the west and north the accent usually falls on the first syllable.
dheas is minic a thiteann an bh*im ar an siolla deireanach.
In the south the accent often falls on the last syllable.
When you see an accent above a vowel it is known as a FADA (fah-dah); it means that the vowel is drawn out, or long. Examples are given in the table below.
| a | almost an "ah" sound, like the "o" in hot (but not quite) | |
| ý | like the "a" in call or law | |
| e | like the "e" in check | |
| * | like the "a" in race | |
| i | like the "i" in fit | |
| ’ | like the "ee" in bee | |
| o | like the "ou" in enough | |
| — | like the "o" in snow | |
| u | like the "u" in hug | |
| œ | like the "oo" in zoo |
With consonants, the letter "h" is often added to words for different reasons (often for what is known as aspiration), and this will change the sound of the letter proceeding it. Otherwise, many of the other consonants are pronounced much the same as in English, with a few exceptions. Note that there is no K, Q, W, X, Y, or Z in Irish Gaelic, but there are some equivalents to the sounds those consonants have in English. See examples in the following table.
| b | b as in boy | |
| bh | v (sometimes a w) | |
| bp | b as in boy | |
| c | always a hard k sound | |
| ch | like "ch" in J.S. Bach | |
| d | d as in dog, sometimes pronounced almost with a soft "j" or "th" | |
| dh | y (with exceptions) | |
| f | f as in fast | |
| g | g as in good | |
| gh | y (or a very soft "g") | |
| h | h as in have (except when following another consonant) | |
| j | j as in jug | |
| l | l as in luck | |
| m | m as in mat | |
| mh | w (sometimes a v) | |
| mb | m as in mat | |
| n | n as in now | |
| ng | ng as in thing | |
| p | p as in pat | |
| ph | f as in fat | |
| r | r as in rat | |
| s | s as in song(broad)or as in sugar(slender), never a z | |
| t | t as in toy | |
| th | h as in hill, often completely silent | |
| v | v as in victor |
The Irish language is a very melodic, sing-song language. There are few very strong voiced sounds to it, so remember that when speaking it.
This is only a very basic guide to pronunciate Irish Gaelic words. As in any lanuage, there are exeptions to these rules. The best guide is to find someone who speaks the language.