Ro-ràdh
Vowels
Consonants
Fricatives
Slenderisation
Lenition
Pre-aspiration
Diphthongs
Helping Vowel
Hiatus
L, N, R
RT& RD
 Vowels before
rr, ll, nn

Unstressed Vowels

 

An Fhuaimreag Chomhnaidh
The Helping (Epenthetic) Vowel

A vowel is inserted between two consonants in certain words (usually containing l, r or n). The vowel (called a helping or epenthetic vowel) is usually an exact copy of the preceding stressed vowel. Listen to the following examples:

Download comhnaidh

Alba aɫ̪aə Scotland
marbh maɾav dead
falbh faɫ̪av go, leave
arm aɾam army
dorcha d̪̊ɔɾɔxə dark
ainm ɛnɛm name
dearg d̊ʲɛɾa red
dearbh d̊ʲɛɾav real
balgam b̊aɫ̪aəm mouthful
doirbh d̪̊ɤɾʲiv difficult
urchar uɾuxəɾ shot

 For guidelines on the exact nature of the helping vowel, see the section on The Helping Vowel