Unstressed vowels
Am mùthadh mar a bha e 17:30, 16 dhen Fhaoilleach 2016 le Akerbeltz (deasbaireachd | mùthaidhean)
In Gaelic, the stress (emphasis) usually falls on the first syllable of a word. It follows that all vowels in second and subsequent syllables are unstressed. In Scottish Gaelic, long vowels never occur unstressed.. Generally speaking, there are only three vowels which occur unstressed in Gaelic. These are:
- an obscure vowel [ə] like e in the
- an [ɪ] vowel similar to i in bit
- a clear [a] vowel like a in cat in Scottish English
The first two are by far the most common.
- [ə] occurs before (phonetically) broad consonants and in final position after broad consonants
- [ɪ] occurs before (phonetically) slender consonants and in final position after slender consonants
- [a] occurs frequently but Scottish Gaelic spelling does not indicate it. Such instances must be noted and learnt as you go along.
When it is somewhere else, the spelling normally indicates that, somehow.
Hyphens
When it occurs on the second syllable, this is often indicated by means of a hyphen:
[əNʲˈʃin] | an-sin | there |
[əNʲ'ʃɔ] | an-seo | here |
[əNʲ'ʃud] | an-siud | yonder |
[ə'sdɯj] | a-staigh | inside (location) |
[əʃ'dʲax] | a-steach | inside, into (movement) |
[ə'muj] | a-muigh | outside (location) |
[ə'max] | a-mach | out, outside (movement) |
[ə'Ri.iʃdʲ] | a-rithist | again |
[əNʲ'dʲeː] | an-dé | yesterday |
[əNʲ'dʲu] | an-diugh | today |
[ə'maːrʲəx] | a-màireach | tomorrow |
[ə]
[ə] from (e)a like e in the | |||
a | [tobər] | tobar | well (n.) |
[kɔːhdə] | còta | coat (n.) | |
[bahdə] | bata | stick (n.) | |
[baːhdə] | bàta | boat | |
[gLanəɣ] | glanadh | cleaning | |
[d ɔ̃ .əL] | Dòmhnall | Donald | |
[ʃeːməs] | Seumas | James/Hamish | |
ea | [aʃəg] | aiseag | ferry (n.) |
[Nʲi.ən] | nighean | daughter | |
[iːʃəL] | ìseal | low (adj.) | |
[gɛː.əL] | Gàidheal | Gael | |
[tʲiLʲəɣ] | tilleadh | returning | |
[furʲəx] | fuireach | staying |
[ɪ] & [ə]
[ɪ] from (a)i like i in bit | |||
i | [Lʲihdʲɪrʲ] | litir | letter (n.) |
[sgʲiLʲɪNʲ] | sgillinn | penny | |
[furʲɪç] | fuirich | wait! | |
[fiːrʲɪNʲ] | fìrinn | truth | |
[gaːlɪgʲ] | Gàidhlig | Gàidhlig | |
[kurʲɪ] | cuiridh | will put | |
[pegʲɪ] | Peigi | Peggy | |
ai | [egLɪʃ] | eaglais | church |
[brʲigɪʃ] | briogais | trousers | |
[aːLɪNʲ] | àlainn | wonderful | |
[sɔxgɪrʲ] | socair | gentle | |
[piːbɪrʲə] | pìobaire | piper | |
[paːRLəmɪdʲ] | pàrlamaid | parliament |
Note that unstressed e is [ə]:
e | [gʲiLʲə] | gille | boy, lad |
[kʲeːlə] | céile | partner (n.) | |
[balə] | baile | town | |
[kɔrʲə] | coire | 1 kettle 2 corrie | |
[ɯʃgʲə] | uisge | water | |
[ĩːʃə] | innse | telling |
[a]
[a] from (a)i, (e)a like a in cat (Scottish English only) | |||
a | [kLaxan] | clachan | settlement |
[ɔːran] | òran | song | |
[sbɔran] | sporan | 1 sporran 2 wallet | |
[moːrag] | Mórag | Morag | |
ai | [faLaNʲ] | fallain | healthy |
ea | [ɯNʲag] | uinneag | window |
[elan] | eilean | island | |
[alan] | Ailean | Allen | |
[kalag] | caileag | girl, lass | |
[fɯːlag] | faoileag | seagull |
Fuaimean na Gàidhlig | ||||||||||||
᚛ Vowels - Consonants - Fricatives - Slenderisation - Pre-aspiration - Lenition - Helping vowel - Diphthongs ᚜ ᚛ Hiatus - l n r - rt & rd - Vowels before rr ll nn - Unstressed vowels ᚜ |