ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on interpretation of the Irish spelling system for learners, who generally find its relationship to pronunciation to be frustratingly opaque. Vowel pronunciations are fairly straightforward, except that they can vary considerably from region to region, so that the same words may sound quite different when pronounced by speakers from different counties. Many language learners tend to start from the written forms and equate spellings directly with sounds, often relying on what they know of English spellings and the sounds they represent. The chapter deals with a brief overview of the most significant features of the Irish sound system, emphasizing the ways it differs from that of English. Diphthongs are sequences of vowels that operate like single sounds within the phonological system of a language. Common diphthongs of English are those written as ow and oy.