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Lenition

1. How to lenite sounds
A note to begin with - some people refer to lenition as "aspiration" - try not to do so yourself, as "aspiration" is something entirely different and should not be confused with leniton.  In a nutshell, aspiration refers to a puff of air following a consonant, for example in English <pat> where the <p> is followed by a puff of air.  Lenition on the other hand means that a sound is changed into something else, such as pòg (with a [p] sound) becoming mo phòg (with an f sound).

1.1 "Normal" Lenition
Not all Gaelic consonats can be lenited, but a lot of them can and some of these lenitions are not as "straightforward" as you might think.  That is because there are two different kinds of lenition - "normal" and with the article.  Let's look at the normal lenition first (for guidelines on how to produce these sounds, see the pages under Phonetics):

Original Sound Lenited IPA Example Example in IPA
b (broad) bh v bàta > mo bhàta mə vaːʰtə
b (slender) bh v vj beul > mo bheul mə viaɫ̪
c (broad) ch x cù > mo chù mə xuː
c (slender) ch ç cìs > mo chìs mə çiːʃ
d (broad) dh ɣ doras > mo dhoras mə ɣɔɾəs
d (slender) dh ʝ dìth > mo dhìth mə ʝiː
f (br. & sl.) fh - fuil > m' fhuil mul
g (broad) gh ɣ gob > mo ghob mə ɣop
g (slender) gh ʝ gille > mo ghille mə ʝiʎe
m (broad) mh v mac > mo mhac mə vaʰk
m (slender) mh v vj meas > mo mheas mə vɛs
p (broad) ph f pòg > mo phòg mə fɔːg̊
p (slender) ph f fj piuthar > mo phiuthar mə fju.əɾ
s (broad) sh h solas > mo sholas mə hɔɫ̻əs
s (slender) sh h seanag > mo sheanag mə hɛnak
t (broad) th h tobar > mo thobar mə hɔb̊əɾ
t (slender) th h teanga > mo theanga mə hɛŋə

Consonant Clusters:

One helpful thing to watch out for is that since there is only one broad L left, it is always [ɫ̪]. (Those of you who want to know how on of this and the system below make sense, click here but be warned!)
 

Original IPA Lenited IPA Example Example in IPA
bl (broad) b̊ɫ̻ bhl vɫ̻ mo bhlàr mə vɫ̻aːɾ
bl (slender) b̊l bhl vl bho bhliadhna vɔ vliənə
           
br (broad) b̊ɾ bhr vɾ bho bhràigh vɔ vɾaːj
br (slender) b̊ɾʲ bhr vɾʲ bhris vɾʲiʃ
           
cn (broad) kɾ  ̃ chn xɾ  ̃ a chnoc ə xɾɔ̃ʰk
cn (slender) kɾʲ  ̃ chn çɾʲ  ̃ chniadaich çɾʲĩə̃d̻̊ɪç
           
cr (broad) kɾ chr xɾ ro chruaidh

rɔ xɾuaj
cr (slender) kɾʲ chr çɾʲ mo chridhe mə çɾʲiː.ɪ
           
dl (broad)

d̪̊ɫ̪

 dhl

ɣɫ̪

 ro dhlùth

rɔ ɣɫ̪uː
dl (slender)

d̪̊l

 dhl ʝl ro dhlitheach

rɔ ʝliː.əx
           
dr (broad) d̪̊ɾ dhr ɣɾ mo dhroma mə ɣɾɔmə
dr (slender) d̪̊ɾʲ dhr ʝɾʲ bho dhris vɔ ʝɾʲiʃ
           
fl (broad) fɫ̪ fhl ɫ̪ mo fhlathanas mə ɫ̪ahənəs
fl (slender) fl fhl l ro fhliuch rɔ lux
           
fr (broad) fɾ fhr ɾ mo fhraoch mə ɾɯːx
fr (slender) fɾʲ fhr ɾʲ mo fhreiceadan mə ɾʲeʰkʲəd̻̊an
           
gl (broad) g̊ɫ̪ ghl ɣɫ̪ ro ghlan rɔ ɣɫ̪an
gl (slender) g̊l ghl ʝl ro ghlic rɔ ʝliʰkʲ
           
gn (broad) g̊ɾ  ̃ ghn ɣɾ  ̃ mo ghnùis mə ɣɾũːʃ
gn (slender) g̊ɾʲ  ̃ ghn ʝɾʲ  ̃ mo ghnìomh mə ʝɾʲĩəv
           
gr (broad) g̊ɾ ghr ɣɾ mo ghràdh mə ɣɾaː
gr (slender) g̊ɾʲ ghr ʝɾʲ ro ghreannach mə ʝɾʲɛn̴̻əx
           
mn (broad) mɾ  ̃ mhn vɾ  ̃ mo mhnathan mə vɾã.ən
mn (slender) - - - - -
           
pl (broad) pɫ̪ phl fɫ̪ mo phlaosg mə fɫ̪ɯːsg̊
pl (slender) pl phl fl ro phliutach mə fliuʰt̻əx
           
pr (broad) pɾ phr fɾ mo phrais mə fɾaʃ
pr (slender) pɾʲ phr fɾʲ mo phreas mə fɾʲes
           
sl (broad) sɫ̪ shl ɫ̪ mo sluagh mə ɫ̪uəɣ
sl (slender) ʃl shl l mo shlighe mə li.ɪ
           
sn (broad) sn shn n mo shnaim mə naim
sn (slender) ʃn shn n shnìomh niəv
           
sr (broad) sɾ shr ɾ mo shràid mə ɾaːd̊ʲ
sr (slender) sɾʲ shr ɾʲ mo shreath mə ɾʲɛ
           
tl (broad) t̻ɫ̪ thl ɫ̪ ro thlachdmhor rɔ ɫ̪axkvəɾ
tl (slender) - - - - -
           
tn (broad) t̪ɾ  ̃ thn ɾ  ̃ mo thnùth mə ɾũ
tn (slender) - - - - -
           
tr (broad) t̪ɾ thr ɾ mo thrachdas mə ɾaxkəs
tr (slender) t̪ɾʲ thr ɾʲ bho thrì vɔ ɾʲiː

Against popular misbelief, L, N and R can be lenited in Gaelic, even though the orthography does not reflect that.  For the lenition of these sounds, check the section on Liquids.