Old Irish/Guide to Old Irish spelling

Silmeth — Sat, 10 Oct 2026 21:47:19 GMT

Old Irish spelling and pronunciation of vowels (and marking of slender consonants)

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	Note on the phonemic transcription below – if the stress is not explicitly marked, it falls on the first syllable. Also, two vowels standing next to each other mean a diphthong, if they make a hiatus (multiple syllables), then they’re explicitly separated with {{IPA\|⟨.⟩}}. The characters {{IPA\|/ɸ/}} and {{IPA\|/f/}} are used interchangeably and mean bilabial fricative, the same is true for {{IPA\|/β/}} and {{IPA\|/v/}}. The prime symbol {{IPA\|⟨´⟩}} is used to mark slenderization/palatalization (thus {{IPA\|/p´/}} means {{IPA\|/pʲ/}} and {{IPA\|/s´/}} denotes a consonant realized as something like {{IPA\|[sʲ ~ ʃ]}}).		Note on the phonemic transcription below – if the stress is not explicitly marked, it falls on the first syllable. Also, two vowels standing next to each other mean a diphthong, if they make a hiatus (multiple syllables), then they’re explicitly separated with {{IPA\|⟨.⟩}}. The characters {{IPA\|/ɸ/}} and {{IPA\|/f/}} are used interchangeably and mean bilabial fricative, the same is true for {{IPA\|/β/}} and {{IPA\|/v/}}. The prime symbol {{IPA\|⟨´⟩}} is used to mark slenderization/palatalization (thus {{IPA\|/p´/}} means {{IPA\|/pʲ/}} and {{IPA\|/s´/}} denotes a consonant realized as something like {{IPA\|[sʲ ~ ʃ]}}).

	=== Consonants and ~~marking lenition or lack of lenition~~ ===		=== Consonants, lenition, and eclipsis ===

	Old Irish orthography was based on Latin – as it was learnt by the Gaels from the Brythonic people – and British Latin pronunciation of that time had undergone basically the same processes as [[:Category:Welsh\|Welsh]]. The spelling is unintuitive to Modern Irish speakers, as it is based on Brythonic lenition patterns.		Old Irish orthography was based on Latin – as it was learnt by the Gaels from the Brythonic people – and British Latin pronunciation of that time had undergone basically the same processes as [[:Category:Welsh\|Welsh]]. The spelling is unintuitive to Modern Irish speakers, as it is based on Brythonic lenition patterns.
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	* first is the older '''Cothriche, Cothrige''' {{IPA\|/koθ´r´əɣ´e/}}, which continues something like {{IPA\|[kʷaθrixijah]}} (phonemically {{IPA\|/kʷatrikijas/}}, which would be written something like {{smallcaps\|*qat(t)ric(c)ias}} in ogham) – the Gaels borrowed Latin {{IPA\|/p/}} as {{IPA\|/kʷ/}} as there was no native {{IPA\|/p/}} phoneme in Primitive Irish, and the medial voiceless {{IPA\|/t, k/}} were lenited to {{IPA\|/θ, x/}}, the nominative ending {{IPA\|/-ah/}} fell out due to apocope before Old Irish,		* first is the older '''Cothriche, Cothrige''' {{IPA\|/koθ´r´əɣ´e/}}, which continues something like {{IPA\|[kʷaθrixijah]}} (phonemically {{IPA\|/kʷatrikijas/}}, which would be written something like {{smallcaps\|*qat(t)ric(c)ias}} in ogham) – the Gaels borrowed Latin {{IPA\|/p/}} as {{IPA\|/kʷ/}} as there was no native {{IPA\|/p/}} phoneme in Primitive Irish, and the medial voiceless {{IPA\|/t, k/}} were lenited to {{IPA\|/θ, x/}}, the nominative ending {{IPA\|/-ah/}} fell out due to apocope before Old Irish,
	* later '''Pátraic''' {{IPA\|/paːdrəɡ´/}} – notice ''t'' and ''c'' written like in Latin original but read voiced – that’s because it was borrowed in later times from British Latin with the Brythonic lenition, and this form is continued today in Irish ''Pádraig'' and Scottish Gaelic ''Pàdraig''.		* later '''Pátraic''' {{IPA\|/paːdrəɡ´/}} – notice ''t'' and ''c'' written like in Latin original but read voiced – that’s because it was borrowed in later times from British Latin with the Brythonic lenition, and this form is continued today in Irish ''Pádraig'' and Scottish Gaelic ''Pàdraig''.

			==== Eclipsis or nasalization ====

			Old Irish, like Modern Irish, had a voicing / nasalizing mutation (called ''eclipsis'' in the context of Modern Irish but more often ''nasalization'' in the context of Old Irish). This was:

			* not marked for voiceless stops ''c, p, t'' and the fricative ''f'' which were voiced (ie. pronounced {{IPA\|/ɡ, b, d/}} and {{IPA\|/β/}}), eg. ''a '''t'''eg '''f'''orcetail'' ‘the house of teaching’ is {{IPA\|/a ˈ'''d'''´eɣ ˈ'''β'''orɡ´ədəl´/}} or ''isin '''t'''empul'' ‘into the temple’ {{IPA\|/isin ˈ'''d´'''empul/}},
			* marked for voiced stops by prefixing them with a nasal consonant character: ''mb, nd, ng'' – these might have been pronounced as nasals with plosive release {{IPA\|/mb, nd, ŋɡ/}} originally but later during Old or Middle Irish period they reduced to pure nasals {{IPA\|/m(ː), N(ː), ŋ(ː)/}}, eg. ''i '''mb'''líadnai'' ‘this year’ (lit. ‘in a year’) {{IPA\|/i ˈ'''m´(b´)'''l´iːa̯ðni/}}.

			Sometimes a dot, the ''punctum delens'', was written above the eclipsing nasal (''dered ṁbetho'' ‘the end of the world’).

	=== Old Irish spelling and pronunciation of vowels (and marking of slender consonants) ===		=== Old Irish spelling and pronunciation of vowels (and marking of slender consonants) ===
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	There were 5 non-reduced phonemic vowel qualities in OIr.: {{IPA\|/a, o, u, e, i/}} and they could be long or short – they were generally written down using their respective Latin alphabet characters. Long vowels either weren’t marked at all or had the acute accent (‘fada’) over them (á, ó, ú, é, í). OIr. also had quite a few diphthongs, more about them in a minute.		There were 5 non-reduced phonemic vowel qualities in OIr.: {{IPA\|/a, o, u, e, i/}} and they could be long or short – they were generally written down using their respective Latin alphabet characters. Long vowels either weren’t marked at all or had the acute accent (‘fada’) over them (á, ó, ú, é, í). OIr. also had quite a few diphthongs, more about them in a minute.

	In stressed syllables<ref>most often the first syllable of the word, or in case of compound verbs commonly the second syllable – first after the first prefix (in modern normalized spelling often marked with a mid-high dot, eg. ''as·beir'' {{IPA\|/asˈb´er´/}})		Which vowel qualities were possible in the syllable depended on its position relative to the word stress:
	</ref> any vowel quality or a diphthong could occur~~. In~~ unstressed syllable in the absolute end of a word any short vowel (but not long or diphthong) could occur~~. But~~ in unstressed syllables between two consonants you may find either a long vowel, an {{IPA\|/u/}}, or a short vowel that is ''completely determined'' by the quality of the surrounding consonants~~. Because~~ of that Kim McCone and David Stifter postulate only two medial unstressed short vowel phonemes for Old Irish: {{IPA\|/u/}} and {{IPA\|/ə/}}<ref>because the medial unstressed vowel is so consistently written, phonemic transcription for OIr. on Wiktionary doesn’t use the {{IPA\|/ə/}} character and instead transcribes their full quality, eg. ''sacart'' is [ˈsaɡ'''a'''r͈t], ''beirid'' is [ˈbʲerʲ'''i'''ðʲ], ''légaid'' is {{IPA\|/ˈl͈ʲeɣ'''i'''ðʲ/}} – Wiktionary here often (but not consistently) uses square brackets [] to mark it’s a “surface-phonemic” transcription, ie. it shows the surface value of the vowels even if phonologically you can treat all those vowels as a single {{IPA\|/ə/}}; note that to get Stifter’s transcription it’s sufficient to change all non-''u'' short unstressed vowels followed by a consonant to {{IPA\|/ə/}}; and vice versa, to restore the ‘surface’ vowel, enough to change {{IPA\|/ə/}} to the corresponding written one</ref>.		* in stressed syllables<ref>most often the first syllable of the word, or in case of compound verbs commonly the second syllable – first after the first prefix (in modern normalized spelling often marked with a mid-high dot, eg. ''as·beir'' {{IPA\|/asˈb´er´/}})
			</ref> any vowel quality or a diphthong could occur,
			* in an unstressed syllable in the absolute end of a word any short vowel (but not long or diphthong) could occur,
			* in unstressed syllables after the main stress and between two consonants you may find either a long vowel, an {{IPA\|/u/}}, or a short vowel that is ''completely determined'' by the quality of the surrounding consonants; because of that Kim McCone and David Stifter postulate only two medial unstressed short vowel phonemes for Old Irish: {{IPA\|/u/}} and {{IPA\|/ə/}}<ref>because the medial unstressed vowel is so consistently written, phonemic transcription for OIr. on Wiktionary doesn’t use the {{IPA\|/ə/}} character and instead transcribes their full quality, eg. ''sacart'' is [ˈsaɡ'''a'''r͈t], ''beirid'' is [ˈbʲerʲ'''i'''ðʲ], ''légaid'' is {{IPA\|/ˈl͈ʲeɣ'''i'''ðʲ/}} – Wiktionary here often (but not consistently) uses square brackets [] to mark it’s a “surface-phonemic” transcription, ie. it shows the surface value of the vowels even if phonologically you can treat all those vowels as a single {{IPA\|/ə/}}; note that to get Stifter’s transcription it’s sufficient to change all non-''u'' short unstressed vowels followed by a consonant to {{IPA\|/ə/}}; and vice versa, to restore the ‘surface’ vowel, enough to change {{IPA\|/ə/}} to the corresponding written one</ref>,
			* in pretonic position, ie. in unstressed syllables '''before''' the main stress only long vowels, diphthongs, and three short vowel qualities were allowed: {{IPA\|/a, o, i/}}<ref>These may have had their “full” tense phonetic quality {{IPA\|[a, o, i]}} or possibly were relaxed vowels {{IPA\|[ə, ə̹, ɪ]}} or something like that.</ref>, they are commonly spelt ''a, o, i'' but sometimes ''u'' is used instead of ''o'' – that’s the reason why Proto-Celtic ''*(nīst?) exs-bereti'' ‘does (not) say’ results in Old Irish vowel distinction in ''ní·'''e'''pir'' {{IPA\|/n´iː ˈheb´ər´/}} versus '''''a'''s·beir'' {{IPA\|/asˈb´er´/}} – before the stress {{IPA\|/e/}} quality is not available and the vowel changes to {{IPA\|/a/}}.

	Slender consonants in stressed syllables are followed by front vowels ''e'' or ''i'' (or diphthongs beginning in them), eg. ''ben'' {{IPA\|/b´en/}} ‘woman, wife’.		Slender consonants in stressed syllables are followed by front vowels ''e'' or ''i'' (or diphthongs beginning in them), eg. ''ben'' {{IPA\|/b´en/}} ‘woman, wife’.

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Old Irish/Guide to Old Irish spelling