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[aːɹd̪̊]
vs
[aːɹʃd̪̊]
or Where the
[ʃ] comes from We
won't go into the discussion of whether this feature is Norse or Martian
because unless you are hoping to become a historical linguist, it
doesn't matter.
So what *can* we tell you about this strange [ʃ] that pops up in Gaelic?
-
It
affects rt
and rd
groups in Gaelic.
-
Traditionally,
not all dialects are affected, as you can see on the below map and
Perthshire Gaelic even diphthongised the [a]. Due to the
pervasiveness of Lewis Gaelic in the media, teaching etc, this
feature has spread into other dialects, so the presence or lack of
the [ʃ]
is no clear cue to geographical origin anymore.
-
If
it occurs, it tends to occur only in stressed syllables so ainneart
for example tends not to have this intrusive [ʃ].
-
Some speakers tend to insert [ʃ]
only in rt
groups, but not rd
groups, but never the other way round. Thus you will hear
speakers who pronounce ceart
and àrd
as
[kʲaɹʃt̪]
and
[aːɹʃt̪] but *never*
[kʲaɹt̪] and [aːɹʃt̪].
Beyond
that, there doesn't appear to be a clear rule, but we'll research this
further in the future and see whether there actually is a rule.
It seems to be a good guideline to insert [ʃ]
both in rt
and rd
groups in stressed syllables (i.e. the first) as a learners - it won't
sound wrong to a Gaels ears even should he not pronounce it
himself. Unless you are desperate to learn a particular dialect
(which we don't recommend anyway), in which case you will have to
memorise your dialects rt
and rd
words, as it does not appear to be rule based as far as we can see.
To listen to some examples, check our Fuaimean
na Gàidhlig section.
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