R.
Table of Contents 1. Plain. Nearly like r in roar; as, ruadh reddish, righ a king, ruith run, torr a heap, ceartas justice.
2. Aspirated. Broad: nearly like r in rear; as, car a turn, ruith ran, mòr great.
3. Small: has no sound like it in English; a righ O king, seirbhe satiety, mòir gen. of mòr great.
The plain, aspirated, broad, and small sounds of these Linguals are not distinguished in writing; but they may, for the most part, be known from the relative position of the letters.
RULE.-L, N, R, have their PLAIN sound when, in the same syllable, they are immediately preceded by a plain Liquid, or immediately followed by a plain Lingual; also in the beginning of certain cases and tenses; in all other situations, they have their ASPIRATED sound. They have their SMALL sound when, in the same syllable, they are preceded or followed by a small vowel, with or without an intervening Liquid; in other situations, they have their BROAD sound.
H.
Table of Contents H is never used as an independent radical letter. When prefixed to a word beginning with a vowel, it is pronounced like h in how; as, na h-òighean the virgins, na h-oidhche of the night.
The following scheme exhibits a succinct view of the letters, both singly and in their several combinations. The first column contains the letters whose sound is to be exhibited; the prefixed figures marking the number of different sounds denoted by the same letter. The second column explains the sounds by examples or by references. The third column contains Gaelic words, with their translation, in which the several sounds are exemplified.
Vowels.
1 a long far star àr
slaughter, àth
a ford. short that ar
to plow, abuich
ripe. 2 a long adhradh
worship, adhbhar
reason. short adharc
a horn, adhart
a bolster. 3 a short similar ma
if, an
the, a
his, her. 1 e long there è sè
he, gnè
sort, kind. short met le
with, leth
half. 2 e long an dé
yesterday, cé
the earth. 3 e short mother duine
a man, briste
broken. 1 i see mìn
smooth, righ
a king. min
meal, crith
a shaking. 2 i short this is
am, art, is. 1 o long more mòr
great, lòn
food. short hot mo
my, do
thy, lon
the ouzle. 2 o long old lom
bare, toll
a hole. short lomadh
making bare. 3 o long (2) a roghnuich
to choose. short roghuinn
choice. 1 u long fool ùr
fresh, sùgh
juice. short ubh
an egg, tur
quite.
Diphthongs.
1 ae (1) a (2) e laeth
days. 1 ai (1) a (1) i fàidh
a prophet, claidheamh
a sword. 2 ai (2) a (1) i saidhbhir,
rich. 3 ai (1) a fàisg
squeeze, tais
soft. 4 ai (2) a airm
arms, gairm
to call. 1 ao (2) a faobhar
edge of an instrument. 1 ea (2) e (1) a beann
a pinnacle, meal
enjoy. 2 ea (1) e dean
to do, make, bean
a woman. 3 ea (2) e easlan
sick, fead
whistle. 4 ea (1) a ceard
an artificer, geal
white. 5 ea (3) a coireach
faulty. 1 ei (1) e (1) i sgèimh
beauty, meidh
a balance. 2 ei (2) e (1) i feidh
deer, greigh
a herd. 3 ei (1) e mèise
of a plate. 4 ei (2) e éigin
necessity, eich
horses. 1 eo (2) e (1) o beo
alive, beothail
lively. 2 eo (1) o leomhann
a lion, deoch
a drink. 1 eu (2) e teum
to bite, gleus
trim. 1 ia (1) i (1) a fial
liberal, fiar
oblique. 2 ia (1) i (2) a fiadh
a deer, biadh
food. 1 io (1) i (3) o diol
to pay, iolach
a spout. 2 io (1) i iodhol
an idol, crios
a girdle. 3 io fun cionta
guilt. 1 iu (1) i u fiù
worth, iuchair
a key. 2 iu u diù
refuse, tiugh
thick. 1 oi (1) o (1) i òigh
a virgin, troidh
a foot. 2 oi (3) o (1) i oidhche
night. 3 oi (1) o mòid
more, toic
wealth. 4 oi (2) o fòid
a turf, fois
rest. 5 oi (3) o coileach
a cock, goirid
short. 1 ua u (1) a cuan
the sea, fuath
hatred. 2 ua u (2) a tuadh
a hatchet, sluagh
people. 1 ui u (1) i sùigheah
a raspberry, buidheann
a company. 2 ui u dùil
expectation, fuil
blood.
Triphthongs.
1 aoi (1) ao (1) i caoidh
lamentation. 2 aoi (1) ao caoin
mild, saoil
to think. 1 eoi (2) eo (1) i geoigh
geese. 2 eoi (1) eo meoir
fingers. 3 eoi (2) eo deoir
tears. 1 iai (1) ia fiaire
more oblique. 1 iui (2) iu ciùil
of music. 1 uai (1) ua (1) i luaithe
quicker. 2 uai (2) ua (1) i cruaidh
hard, fuaim
sound. 3 uai (1) ua gluais
to move, uair
time.
Consonants
Labials. 1 p part poll
a pool, streap
to climb. 2 ph Philip phill
returned. 1...
