Irish/Déise Irish/Déise Phonology

Vowels

Short Unstressed Monophthongs

The following monophthongs occur in unstressed environments, though a number of exceptions are noted.

/ə/ unstressed central vowel

[ə] mid central vowel

(Breatnach 1947, ə¹)

Between two consonants of velar quality:

• /kuːnˠtˠəs/ cuntas (cúntas) an account
• /kuːrˠəmˠ/ cúram care
• /dˠorˠəxə/ dorcha dark
• /fˠolˠəṽˠ/ folamh empty
• /gˠɑrˠəvˠ/ garbh rough
• /mˠəˈkɑːnˠtˠə/ macánta honest, good-natured

Absolute final position following a consonant of velar quality:

• /dˠorˠəxə/ dorcha dark
• /mˠəˈkɑːnˠtˠə/ macánta honest, good-natured
• /mˠolˠə/ moladh verbal noun of mol praise
• /mˠurˠkə/ iomarca (murca) too much
• /rˠəurˠtˠə/ rabharta (robharta) a spring tide

[ɘ] high-mid central unrounded vowel

(Breatnach 1947, ə²)

Between two consonants of palatal quality:

• /-/ cleith (cileach) a fishing rod

Absolute final position following a consonant of palatal quality:

[ɵ] high-mid central rounded vowel

(Breatnach 1947, ə³)

Short Stressed Monophthongs

The following monophthongs occur in stressed environments, though a number of exceptions are noted.

In particular, non-absolute initial low vowels /a/ and /ɑ/ do not reduce to /ə/ in the unstressed initial syllable where the stressed second syllable contains a high long vowel /iː/ or /uː/:

• /lʲaˈnˠuːnʲtʲ/ leanúint verbal noun of lean follow
• /bʲaˈnˠuː/ beannú verbal noun of beannaigh bless
• /bˠɑˈlʲuː/ bailiú verbal noun of bailigh gather
• /kɑˈlʲiːnʲ/ cailín a young woman
• /kɑˈhˠiːrʲ/ cathaoir a chair

In exception to the above, the low vowel /ɑ/ does not reduce to /ə/ in the unstressed initial syllable where the stressed second syllable contains the mid long vowel /eː/ in at least one instance:

• /kɑpˠˈtˠeːnʲ/ captaen (captaein) captain

In another exception to vowel reduction, non-absolute initial low vowels /a/ and /ɑ/ do not reduce to /ə/ in the unstressed initial syllable of a verb where the stressed second syllable consists of a verbal ending with the long vowel /oː/:

• /ʃaˈsoː ʃeː/ seasfaidh sé (seasó sé) future masculine singular of seas (seasaigh) stand
• /hʲaˈsoːx ʃeː/ sheasfadh sé (seasóch sé) conditional masculine singular of seas (seasaigh) stand
• /mˠɑˈrˠoː ʃeː/ maróidh sé (maró sé) future masculine singular of maraigh kill
• /ṽˠɑˈrˠoːx ʃeː/ mharódh sé (mharóch sé) conditional masculine singular of maraigh kill

/a/ low front vowel

[a] low front unrounded vowel

(Breatnach 1947, a¹)

Absolute initial position preceding a consonant of palatal quality:

• /abʲəɟ/ aibigh ripen, mature

Following a consonant of palatal quality:

/ɑ/ low back vowel

[ɑ̈] low central unrounded vowel

(Breatnach 1947, a²)

[ɑ] low back unrounded vowel

(Breatnach 1947, a³)

/e/ mid vowel

[e̞] mid front unrounded vowel

(Breatnach 1947, e¹)

[ɜ] low-mid central unrounded vowel

(Breatnach 1947, e²)

[o̞] mid back rounded vowel

(Breatnach 1947, o)

/i/ high vowel

[ɪ] near-high near-front unrounded vowel

(Breatnach 1947, i¹)

Absolute word-initial position preceding a consonant of palatal quality:
/iʃɟə/ uisce, /ihʲəmʲ/ ithim.

Between two consonants of palatal quality:
/mʲinʲəc/ minic, /mʲiʃə/ mise, /mʲiʃdʲə/ miste, /eː ʃinʲ/ é sin, /ʃiɲə/ sinne, /tʲinʲə/ tine.

[ɪ̈] near-high central unrounded vowel

(Breatnach 1947, i²)

[ʊ] near-high near-back rounded vowel

(Breatnach 1947, u¹)

[ʊ̈] near-high central rounded vowel

(Breatnach 1947, u²)

Long Monophthongs

/ɑː/ long low back unrounded vowel

[ɑː] long low back unrounded vowel

(Breatnach 1947, a:)

/eː/ long mid front unrounded vowel

[eː] long high-mid front unrounded vowel

(Breatnach 1947, e:¹)

[ɘː] long high-mid central unrounded vowel

(Breatnach 1947, e:²)

[ɜː] long low-mid central unrounded vowel

(Breatnach 1947, e:³)

/oː/ long mid back rounded vowel

[oː] long high-mid back rounded vowel

(Breatnach 1947, o:¹)

[o̞ː] long mid back rounded vowel

(Breatnach 1947, o:²)

[ɵː] long high-mid central rounded vowel

(Breatnach 1947, o:³)

/iː/ long high front unrounded vowel

[iː] long high front unrounded vowel

(Breatnach 1947, i:¹)

[i̠ː] long high near-front unrounded vowel

(Breatnach 1947, i:²)

/uː/ long high front unrounded vowel

[uː] long high back rounded vowel

(Breatnach 1947, u:¹)

[u̟ː] long high near-back rounded vowel

(Breatnach 1947, u:²)

Diphthongs

/iə/

[iə]

(Breatnach 1947, iə¹)

[i̠ə]

(Breatnach 1947, iə²)

[iɘ]

(Breatnach 1947, iə³)

/ia/

[i̞æ̈]

(Breatnach 1947, ia)

/uə/

[uɘ]

(Breatnach 1947, uə¹)

[uə]

(Breatnach 1947, uə²)

Nasalisation

All vowels undergo varying degrees of allophonic nasalisation when neighbouring a consonant of nasal quality.

Where a historical consonant of nasal quality has since become lost in a word while the vowel has retained its nasalisation, that vowel has since phonemicised as a nasal vowel and should be marked as such in phonemic transcription.

Pretonic Syllable Reduction

In absolute initial pretonic position, /ə/ usually undergoes vowel deletion, reducing the number of syllables in a lexeme:

In the initial syllable preceding a coronal sonorant, where the second syllable holds the stress, /ə/ usually undergoes vowel deletion, reducing the number of syllables in a lexeme: