Irish Language - Phonology

Phonology

In pronunciation, Irish most closely resembles its nearest relatives, Scottish Gaelic and Manx. One notable feature is that consonants (except /h/) come in pairs, one "broad" (velarised, pronounced with the back of the tongue pulled back towards the soft palate) and one "slender" (palatalised, pronounced with the middle of the tongue pushed up towards the hard palate). While broad–slender pairs are not unique to Irish (Russian has something similar), they can pose a problem for English speakers.

Consonant phonemes
Labial Coronal Dorsal Glottal
Bilabial Labio-
velar		 Labio-
dental		 Dental Alveolar Post-
alveolar		 Palatal Velar
Plosives pˠ pʲ t̪ˠ tʲ c k
bˠ bʲ d̪ˠ dʲ ɟ ɡ
Fricative/
Approximant		 fˠ fʲ sˠ ʃ ç x h
w vʲ j ɣ
Nasal mˠ mʲ n̪ˠ nʲ ɲ ŋ
Tap ɾˠ ɾʲ
Lateral l̪ˠ lʲ
Vowel phonemes
Front Central Back
Close iː uː
Near-close ɪ ʊ
Close-mid eː oː
Mid ə
Open-mid ɛ ɔ
Open a ɑː

Diphthongs: iə, uə, əi, əu.

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