Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Some Co. Down 'dos and donts'

Here are some 'Do's and Don'ts of Co. Down Irish', useful for those with a little Irish, apply these simple rulesand you could certainly make standard or Donegal Irish sound quite authentically like Co. Down Irish, because and the end of the day, they are not really that dfferent.

Focail - Words

Ní > Chan fheil
An bhfuil > An bhfeil
Gaeilge > Gaelc
Cailín > Cailean
Teach > Toigh / Taigh

Pronouncation

* ‘ch’ is often extremely weak if pronounced at all
* Final –amh and -adh is often just likein Donegal - /u/ but in the intial position at the start of a word broad mh & bh are pronounced like a /v/ type sound rather like Munster Irish and Scottish Gaelic
* Words like deas are pronounced like ‘djes’ rather thán like ‘djas’

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