Learn to be a Gaelic Speaker
 (or just sound like one)
© Stephanie Raymond

The most important thing to remember about Gaelic is:

Geilig is rilidh nod thart dubh lurdhan; dhiubh diust thabh dubh giod dhusd dubh sam niubh uaias obh spaeling.

In written English, letters (usually) are symbols indicating what sounds you make at which point in a word. Relatively few English letters are silent.

In Gaelic, letters may be indicating the sounds you make OR they may be symbols indicating how you pronounce the letters next to them. If the latter is true, that symbolic letter is usually silent.

Some tips and tricks:

-Broad to broard and slender to slender:

            Slender vowels are i and e; broad are a, o, and u.

Examples: Beannaich, canain, ruigeam

-No spitting in public: proper pronunciation of t and d

-Chd and other weird asperations

            Chd, ch, gh, dh, th

-When three vowles go walking, don’t panic!

            Changes are two out of three vowels are telling you how to pronounce accompanying consonants.

            Examples: aoidh, tiuir

-Swallow the L, unless it’s beside a slender vowel

            Examples: Lughnasadh, cluan, dail

-Sounds in unexpected places

            Examples: neart, ard leum, maraiche

-Always put emphasis on the first syllable

-Intrusive vowels—I hate it when they do that!

            Examples: orm, murn, tearmaid

-Remember to keep breathing, the air never stops in Gaelic

-Stress the strachs—give these vowels more value

Gaelic verbs and world view

To be or not to be, yes and no.

            Tha mi sgith

            A bheil thu sgith?

            Chan eil me sgith!

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