How to pronounce Irish

Seo daoibh ár dtreoireacha do fhoghraíocht a mbainimid áis astu inár Réamhrang.

Here are our guidelines for pronunciation which we use in the Pre-class, the 4 month class on pronunciation (plus an overview of the structure of the language) which we give to absolute beginners.]

Just like English, there are wide differences in pronunciation. (Imagine for a moment all the different ways to say a simple word like 'Boston' - Bahstin, Bawstin, Bohstin, etc., and that's just on the east coast between Mass and South Carolina.) We use the following guide, which handles about 90% of the language's pronunciation. It's a living language, so there are exceptions to everything below, but as said, it handles the great majority of the language's rules of pronunciation.


  1. Stress
    Stress is on the first syllable except when fada appears in a later syllable. A fada in a later syllable evens out the stress across the syllables. (The immediate exception is Munster with its tendency towards stress on the second syllable, allegedly influenced by millenia of trade with Europe.)
  2. Pronunciation of Vowels
    The broad vowels are a, o, u, á, ó, ú. The slender vowels are e, i, é, í.
    a ah
    o short oh
    u short uh
    e short eh
    i short ih
    á aw
    ó long oh
    ú long 'ooo'
    é like French é which rhymes with 'hay' and 'hey'
    í long 'eeee'
  3. Pronunciation of Diphthongs (Vowel Combinations With Surprising Sounds)
    Any of the following variations are legitimate and vary by speaker according to dialect and choice at the moment, i.e., mood. We teach our students to say it any way they want based on any of the acceptable choices. We often find that when somebody says 'Your pronunciation is wrong, it should be said this way...", it often means they just haven't heard another dialect's way of pronuncing it. (Just like telling somebody in Boston they can't say Bahstin, they have to say Bohstan.)
    ai 3 ways: ah, aye, a (as in 'fat' or 'mat')
    ao 3 ways: é-ah (w/stress at the front on é), ah-ú (w/ stress at front on ah), í
    aoi 2 ways: ah-í (stress at front as always), í
    ei 2 ways: short eh or é
    ea 2 ways: a (as in 'fat' or 'mat') and ah
    eo ó
    ae é
    ia used to be spelled ía, which is the way it is pronounced (eee-ah, w/ stress at the front as always) ua used to be spelled úa, which is its pronunciation (ooo-ah, w/stress at front as always) adh and agh in front of a consonant - often pronounced like 'aye'. For example, adhmad, slaghdán, Tadhg, etc.
  4. Other Vowel Combinations
    Other vowel combinations aren't surprising in sound, so just put the stress on the first one and move on. For example, ui would be 'uh-ih' with the stress on the front or just 'uh'. Another example: oi is just short 'oh-ih' with the stress on the front or just short 'oh'. Etc.
  5. Broad & Slender
    Consonants are either broad or slender, depending upon the closest vowel. The poets took over the structure of the language in the 12th century and regularized its spelling and grammar. Therefore, you won't see a broad vowel on one side of a consonant and a slender vowel on the other side of the same consonant (thereby confusing whether it's broad or slender) unless the word is a) written before the 12th century, 2) misspelled, 3) a foreign import, or 4) one of the few exceptions to this rule. The rule is called 'leathan le leathan, caol le caol' (broad to broad, slender to slender).
    Examples:
    Liam The l is slender. The m is broad.
    leabhar The l is slender. The bh is broad. The r is broad.
    Meadhbh The m is slender. The dh and bh are both broad.
    mainistreacha The m is broad. The n, s, t, and r are slender. The ch is broad.

    It just depends on which is closest.
  6. Pronuncation of Simple Consonants (i.e., consonants without aspiration)
    Any of the following variations are legitimate and vary by speaker according to dialect and choice at the moment, i.e., mood. We teach our students to say words any way they want based on any of the acceptable choices.
    Broad consonants are mostly pronounced the way they are in English. All slender consonants can be pronounced with or without a y-glide. The y-glide sounds like 'yih' and is very short and faint. For example, ceann ('head') can be pronounced 'can', or 'c-yan' (with stress on the front as always) or 'c-yahn' (with stress on the front as always).
    broad slender
    b B B or By (here the little y stands for the y- glide pronounced 'yih')
    c K K or Ky
    d (broad) D or like the English word 'THE' or the 'th' in THRONG. For example, the Irish word drong is pronounced 'drong' or 'throng' and is the origin of the English word 'throng'.
    d (slender) D or Dy, J or Jy
    f F F or Fy
    g G G or Gy
    l L L or Ly
    m M M or My
    n N N or Ny
    p P P or Py
    r R R or Ry
    s S SH or SHy (SHAWN or SH-YAWN)
    t (broad) T or THE (either T or THE as in English word 'throng')
    t (slender) T or TCH (like ch as in 'checkers') or Ty or TCHy
  7. Aspirated Consonants
    Any of the following variations are legitimate and vary by speaker according to dialect and choice at the moment, i.e., mood. We teach our students to say it any way they want based on any of the acceptable choices.
    All slenders aspirated consonants can be pronounced with or without a y-glide.
    broad slender
    bh W V, Vy
    ch KH KH or KHy This sound is made while trying to say a K and blowing air across the roof of your mouth at the same time. Same as the Yiddish and Arabic KH.
    dh (broad) GH This sound is made while trying to say a G and gargling at the same time. Same as the German GH.
    dh (slender) Yih (This is the y-glide.)
    fh (broad and slender) silent, go on and pronounce what follows
    gh (broad) exactly the same as dh broad.
    gh (slender) exactly the same as dh slender.
    l has not been aspirated since the 12th century.
    mh (broad) exactly the same as bh broad.
    mh (slender) exactly the same as bh slender.
    n has not been aspirated since the 12th century.
    ph F F or Fy
    r has not been aspirated since the 12th century
    sh H H or Hy (h with a y-glide)
    th H H or Hy (h with a y-glide)

    In all cases above, 'y' stands for the y-glide pronounced 'yih'
  8. Other Stuff

Gearóid Ó Ceallaigh