If anyone notices something I’ve done incorrectly, please tell me! I just love Celtic names, and I thought it might be helpful to have a pronunciation guide based on sounds, not just whole names. The Irish sound is on the left and the pronunciation on the right. I’ve put an Irish name featuring that sound in brackets.
á ~ aw, like in bought ([name_f]Bláthnaid[/name_f])
adh ~ eye, like in bike ([name_m]Tadhg[/name_m])
ai ~ ah, like in father ([name_f]Gráinne[/name_f])
bh ~ v, like in victory ([name_f]Siobhán[/name_f])
dh ~ nope, don’t say it ([name_u]Fiadh[/name_u])
ea ~ ay, like in cake ([name_f]Éabha[/name_f])
éi ~ ay, like in cake ([name_f]Éibhleann[/name_f])
ei ~ eh, like in get ([name_f]Eithne[/name_f])
eo ~ ow, like in road ([name_m]Eoghan[/name_m])
gh ~ nope, don’t say it ([name_f]Clodagh[/name_f])
í ~ ee. like in green ([name_m]Aguistín[/name_m])
ia ~ ee, like in green ([name_f]Niamh[/name_f])
io ~ ee, like in green, or ih, like in big ([name_f]Siofra[/name_f] / [name_f]Fionnuala[/name_f])
mh ~ v, like in victory ([name_f]Caoimhe[/name_f])
ne ~ nyuh, like in kenya ([name_f]Áine[/name_f])
oí ~ o, like in no ([name_f]Róisín[/name_f])
oi ~ oh, like in otter ([name_m]Oisín[/name_m])
se ~ shuh, like in nutrition ([name_f]Saoirse[/name_f])
si ~ shi, like in ship ([name_f]Sinéad[/name_f])
th ~ nope, don’t say it ([name_f]Órlaith[/name_f])
ua ~ oo, like in food ([name_f]Nuala[/name_f])
If you think of any other tricky sounds, let me know!
I think the most interesting combo of letters vs. pronunciation for me is [name_f]Caoimhe[/name_f] which I think is kind of pronounced KWEE-va or KEE-va depending on dialect. I think its so pretty and I love the spelling!
Yes, [name_f]Caoimhe[/name_f]’s a weird one! It’s kwee-va in the north, and kee-va in the south, but the variation comes in the C, not the vowels (e.g. [name_f]Laoise[/name_f] doesn’t change). I wasn’t sure how to represent that, so I ended up just leaving it off…
A quick question on the letter s in Irish: is it pronounced “sh” even when not followed by i?
E.g. Súileabhán ([name_u]Sullivan[/name_u]) — is this “sh” too, properly speaking, or is the “sh” in [name_f]Siobhan[/name_f], [name_f]Roisin[/name_f] etc. because it’s followed by i?
Good question! It isn’t just before I (e.g. the second s in [name_f]Saoirse[/name_f]), but I think an S at the start of a name that isn’t followed by I is generally just a “normal” S (like in [name_f]Sadhbh[/name_f]). Requires more research…
However, as far as I’m aware, Súileabhán still starts with an English S sound.
Thanks! So interesting Maybe it’s “sh” when followed by a fronted vowel…
ETA: I’ve just found this page which says that Irish consonants come in two varieties: “broad” and “slender”. Slender consonants are always followed by the vowels e or i, whereas the other vowels follow broad consonants. Slender s sounds like “sh” — so we were kind of on the right track!
This is a good thought, but it’s not on there because it’s a combination of ao (ee) and i (also ee). The reasont there’s the double is due to, I believe, the difference between slender and broad vowels as perfectly described in the link katinka shared (here if you missed it: Irish Spelling and Pronunciation).
I think it varies more from person to person with [name_f]Caoimhe[/name_f] because I live in [name_m]Dublin[/name_m] and I hear kwee-va much more than I here kee-va
Also this kind of misses a big part of Irish names, and the Irish language, which is the fada, it’s why Oisín and Róisín sound so different. The fada on the o in Róisín make it a long O like in no while Oisín has a a short o like otter.
Also a small correction and this might just be me reading it wrong but [name_u]Fionn[/name_u] isn’t pronounced like [name_u]Finn[/name_u] (at least in [name_f]Ireland[/name_f]) it’s pronounced as fyun or fyon depending on the accent of the person saying it.
Okay, thank you! I’m definitely not an expert. I’ll edit the guide to include the fada. With regard to [name_u]Fionn[/name_u], I got the “finn” pronunciation from my Northern Irish grandad, but he’s been wrong about other things…
It’s anglicized to [name_u]Finn[/name_u] a lot, especially when it comes to stories about the legendary [name_u]Fionn[/name_u], and the name’s gotten much more popular recently so for an older person who heard it more from stories than from people that would make sense.
From your list the fadas go on
Gráinne
Siobhán
[name_f]Éabha[/name_f]
Róisín
[name_f]Áine[/name_f]
Oisín
Sinéad
Órlaith
Maybe it’s “sh” when followed by a fronted vowel…
thank you!