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Date: Thu, 4 Jun 92 22:14:04 -0400 From: dmilne@KEAN.UCS.MUN.CA Subject: ELEM-IG Beginners' Lesson #3-A Sender: GAELIC Language Bulletin Board <GAELIC-L@irlearn.ucd.ie> +++++ WARNING: LONG MESSAGE -- 17 pages ++++ A chairde, Here is Lesson #3, and it's a long one. Lest you be too discouraged by its length, I hasten to assure you that it is the longest of any in the series, and that the next lesson, #4, is very short. So these two should balance out over the week. In this lesson, we start putting the article and the noun together, and this means we have to introduce two complex patterns at once: (1) how the article affects the noun, and (2) the pattern of sound changes known as "lenition". Hence the length of this lesson. The purpose of this lesson is to introduce these two patterns, and to provide some practice in writing them down and pronouncing them. It is too much to expect you to memorize these complex patterns at once (though some naturally gifted linguists may be able to do this - certainly, I could not). Rather, you should expect to recognize these patterns, to become familiar with them, and to learn them gradually as you hear, read, or write them. Keep them handy somewhere, because you will need to refer to them often, until they become second nature. As usual, those of you who would like to send your answers to the exercise questions to me can do so at: "dmilne@kean.ucs.mun.ca" Please feel free to send me any questions you may have, and any errors you spot. --------------------------------------------------------------------- LESSON #3 THE GENDER OF NOUNS Three topics are raised in this lesson: A) the gender of nouns B) how the article is used with masculine and feminine nouns C) how lenition changes sounds at the beginning of words .................................................................... I. GRAMMAR A. GENDER Irish nouns are either masculine or feminine. The same article "an" is used with both genders, but masculine and feminine nouns are affected differently by it. ............................................................ B. RULES FOR USING THE ARTICLE WITH NOUNS The rules in this lesson apply when the noun is in the NominativéAccusative Case, sometimes called the Common Case, in other words, when the noun is the subject or object of the verb. (The rules which apply for the Genitive Case will appear in Lesson #7.) Also, these rules only apply to nouns in the singular. What happens when the noun is plural will be explained in Lesson #4. (1) Masculine nouns 1.1 The article "an" causes no change to a masculine noun if the initial letter is a consonant. e.g. table bord >> the table an bord 1.2 If the noun starts with a vowel, the article "an" causes a "t" to be prefixed to the noun. e.g. lamb uan >> the lamb an t-uan ^ (Note the hyphen) (2) Feminine nouns 2.1 The article "an" lenites the initial consonant of a feminine noun. When a consonant is lenited, the letter "h" is written after it, and its sound value changes. A further explanation of lenition is given at the end of this lesson, in Section C. e.g. woman bean >> the woman an bhean ^ There are, however, two exceptions to this rule for leniting a feminine noun after "an": (i) don't aspirate the letter "d" or the letter "t" e.g. deoch (f) >> an deoch (the drink) tír (f) >> an tír (the country) (The "reason" for this is that "d", "t", and "n" are all made by the tongue at the same spot in the mouth -- so when the "n" is pronounced, it blocks the change in pronunciation of a following d or t.) (ii) instead of leniting "s", prefix a "t". The "t" is pronounced and the "s" is now silent. e.g. sráid >> an tsráid (the street) ^ (Note: no hyphen) (The normal lenition of "s" is to [h], but the article "an" inserts a "t", and this masks the lenition which would otherwise occur.) (3) The overall pattern: _______________Masculine______________ Feminine_________ an + C an bord an bhean an + V an t-uan an olann an + s an síoda an tsráid an + d,t an deasc an deoch Suggestion: when learning nouns, it is a good idea to practice saying the noun with the article -- it really helps to fix its gender in your memory. ------------------------------------------------------------------ II. VOCABULARY In this lesson, the nouns in the vocabulary list are written first in their root, dictionary form, and then with the article to provide examples of the rules above. I have also added a guide to the pronuciation. In particular, note how the pronunciation changes when the article precedes the noun. If no phonetic guide appears after the noun, there is no change, in pronunciation with the article. From now on in this series of lessons, feminine nouns will be listed in the vocabulary with an (f). Otherwise, a noun is masculine. ........................................................ bird éan [e:n] the bird an t-éan [ @ t'e:n] bishop easpag [asp@g] the bishop an t-easpag [ @ t'asp@g] bread arán [ara:n] the bread an t-arán [ @ tara:n] butter im [im'] the butter an t-im [ @ t'im'] chocolate seacláid (f) [s'akla:d'] the chocolate an tseachláid [@ t'akla:d'] city cathair (f) [kah@r'] the city an chathair [xah@r'] cloth éadach [e:d@x] the clot an t-éadach [ @ t'e:d@x] drink deoch (f) [d'ox] the drink an deoch farm feirm (f) [f'er'@m'] the farm an fheirm [ @n er'@m']* field (tilled) gort [gort] the field " an gort field (grassy) páirc (f) [pa:r'k'] the field " an pháirc [ @ fa:r'k'] fish iasc [i@sk] the fish an t-iasc [ @ t'i@sk] floor urlár [u:rla:r] the floor an t-urlár [ @ t u:rla:r] grass féar [f'e:r] the grass an féar island oileán [ol'a:n] the island an t-oileán [ @ t ol'a:n] lamb uan [u@n] the lamb an t-uan [ @ t u@n] place áit (f) [a:t'] the place an áit [ @n a:t'] question ceist (f) [k'es't'] the question an cheist [ @ x'es't'] silk síoda [s'i:d@] the silk an síoda sugar siúcra [s'u:kr@] the sugar an siúcra television teilifís (f) [t'el'@f'i:s'] the television an teilifís window fuinneog (f) [fin'o:g] the window an fhuinneog [ @n in'o:g] wool olann (f) [ol@n] the wool an olann [ @n ol@n] Mary Máire careful cúramach [ku:r@m@x] nice deas [d'as] ( but use "go deas" with Tá) ripe aibi [ab'i:] Also: from Lessons #1 and #2 the following nouns are feminine: woman bean (f) an bhean [@ van] lemon liomóid (f) an liomóid letter litir (f) an litir night oiche (f) an oiche [ @n i:(h)@] All the other nouns in Lessons #1 and #2 are masculine. .................................................................. III. EXERCISES 1. The cloth is strong. 2. The floor is hard. 3. The lamb is weak. 4. Mary is careful. 5. The place is empty. 6. The wool is red. 7. The woman is young. 8. The farm is cheap. 9. The (grassy) field is green. 10. The letter is short. 11. The butter is soft. 12. The chocolate is sweet. 13. The man is dead. 14. The grass is tall. 15. Silk is smooth. 16. Wool is rough. 17. The question is difficult 18. The apple is ripe. 19. The window is dirty. 20. The bread is fresh. 21. The table is wet. 22. The cat is fat. 23. Fish is nice. 24. The stream is narrow. 25. The night is dark. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- C. LENITION 1. Introduction Called séimhiú in Irish, this pattern of sound changes is called "lenition" in English. For many years teachers of Irish have called it "aspiration" (because of the "h" used in spelling), but this term is falling into disfavor. Lenition is the term we will be using in this series of lessons. (If I slip up and forget, please remind me!) Jim contributed this linguist's definition of this type of change in pronunciation: "Lenition refers to processes of weakening, where stops become fricatives, long segments shorten, fricatives become approximants, and segments delete". If you know some linguistics, this may help you to learn the pattern. One of the most notable features of the Celtic languages is their use of sound changes (mutations) at the beginnings of words to signal grammatical meaning. There are two patterns of mutation in Irish: lenition and eclipsis. Eclipsis will be introduced in Lesson #6. 2. Pronunciation changes caused by lenition a) Nine letters can be lenited: p, f, b, m, t, s, d, c, g. (Note: In fact, native speakers also lenite some of the other sounds, like r and l, but no "h" is added to them in spelling. The difference in pronunciation is too subtle for all but the most determined of Sasanachs to imitate.) b) The table below shows how lenition changes the spelling and pronunciation of these letters. I have grouped the sounds according to where they are made in the mouth. c) One sound cannot be represented properly on e-mail -- it is the symbol for the pronunciation of "gh" . IPA uses gamma for this sound. I will use the % sign, which looks a bit like a gamma, and has the benefit of not being confused easily with the other letters of the alphabet. Gamma (%) is a "voiced velar fricative." It is just about impossible for me to explain to you how to say this if you haven't already learned it from someone else's pronunciation. If you have the tapes to "Learning Irish" or to the "Foclóir Póca", you can hear it there. If you don't have suitable tapes, you can try saying the "ch" [x] in Bach, and then add "voice" to it. In other words, "gh" is to "ch" what "g" is to "c". Dillon states that this sound is also the "g" in German "magen". If none of this helps, my advice is to invite a native speaker or linguist to lunch! ------------------------------------------------------------------------- SPELLING AND PRONUNCIATION OF LENITED CONSONANTS -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Sounds made with the lips: ______________Spelliing__________ Pronounciation_________ p >> ph [f] if before a,o,u p' >> ph [f'] if before i,e f >> fh [ - ] (silent) b , m >> bh, mh [w] if before a,o,u b', m >> bh, mh [v] if before i,e 2. Sounds made on the ridge behind the teeth: t >> th [h] s >> sh [h] d >> dh [%] if before a, o, u d' >> dh [y] if before i, e 3. Sounds made on the palate near the back of the mouth: c >> ch [x] if before a, o, u (as in Bach) c' >> ch [x'] if before i, e ( as in Ich) g >> gh [%] if before a, o, u g >> gh [y] if before i, e ----------------------------------------------------------------- Dorothy "dmilne@kean.ucs.mun.ca"