Sounds

Each example has a respelling written in English letters, with the stressed syllable in capitals. Respellings can only get you close — several Gaelic sounds have no English equivalent — so use the listen button to hear the real thing.

Pronunciation here leans towards mainstream Hebridean Gaelic. Dialects differ, sometimes a lot, so do not be surprised to hear some of these words said differently.

Each vowel has a short form and a long form, and the long one is marked with a grave accent. Stress almost always falls on the first syllable, and vowels in unstressed syllables tend to weaken to a quick uh.

Two unstressed endings are worth knowing on sight. -adh is a short uh, its dh fading to a faint gargle or to nothing: samhradh, tapadh leat. -aidh and -aigh are simply ee: dhachaigh, an-còmhnaidh. In a stressed syllable they sound different — taigh rhymes with English guy.

Other common endings follow the same pattern: -ar is ur (leabhar), -as and -us are us (doras, agus), -ag is ak (caileag), -te is chuh (fàilte), -inn is in (madainn), and -ich is eekh (balaich).

• catKAHTcat

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• bàtaBAA-tuhboat

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• fèisFAYSHfestival

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• mìleMEE-luhthousand

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• mòrMOHRbig

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• òlAWLdrink

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• cùKOOdog

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ò has two long sounds: a closed oh as in mòr, and an open aw as in òl. The accent tells you the vowel is long, not which of the two it is.

Some pairs of vowels make a single sound or a glide between two. In others, one vowel is silent and only there to mark a neighbouring consonant as broad or slender — the i in caileag is not pronounced as an i at all.

ei is usually ay, as in ceist and deich, though small words like leis have a short e. In iu the i only marks the consonant before it as slender, and the vowel you hear is oo: an-diugh, mo phiuthar. io is usually a short i, as in fios.

After the stressed syllable, pairs weaken too: ea becomes a quick uh (airgead, fichead) and ai a short i (madainn, caraid). oidh is uh-ee, its dh silent (oidhche).

Most longer groups are a pair you already know with a marker vowel added. aoi is said like ao (diardaoin), though naoi is noo-ee; uai like ua (nuair); ui is oo (uisge); ài and òi are just the long vowel (fàilte, còig); and eò is aw after a y-glide (ceòl, an seo). ea varies: an a in geal, an e in fear.

• caoraKOO-ruhsheepao is an oo said with spread lips, as if smiling. English has nothing quite like it.

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• biadhBEE-ughfoodia glides from ee to uh.

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• fuarFOO-urcoldua glides from oo to uh.

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• feumFAYMneedeu is usually ay; in Lewis you will often hear it as ee-uh.

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• fearFERman

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• caileagKAL-yakgirlThe i only marks the l as slender.

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• ceòlKYAWLmusicThe e marks the c as slender; the vowel you hear is ò.

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• ceistKAYSHTquestion

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• fiosFISSknowledge

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Most consonants have two pronunciations: a broad one next to a, o and u, and a slender one next to e and i. This is the reason for the caol ri caol rule — the vowels either side of a consonant tell you which sound to use.

Slender consonants are made with the middle of the tongue raised towards the roof of the mouth, which is why so many of them come out with a y or sh quality to English ears.

• gealGYALwhite

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• dubhDOOblack

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• dìreachJEE-rukhstraight, just

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• tethCHEHhot

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• sinSHINthat

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• làmhLAAVhand

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• leabharLYAW-urbook

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• nigheanNYEE-ungirl

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Gaelic has a strong r and a light r, and the spelling tells you which. At the start of a word r is always the strong, rolled one — even before e or i, so rìgh starts with the same r as rathad. A doubled rr is the strong r too.

Inside a word, an r beside a, o or u is a quick tap, as in mòr. Beside e or i it is lighter still — in màthair and ceithir the tongue barely touches. In Lewis this slender r often sounds like the th in English the, which to a learner can sound almost like a soft d.

Two letter groups hide an r sound: rt and rd merge into rsht, as in ceart and àrd, and in cnoc and gnothach the n is said as an r — see [consonant clusters](#clusters).

• rathadRA-hutroad

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• rìghREEkingStrong r, even before ì: the start of the word decides.

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• ruithROO-eerun

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• gàrradhGAA-rughgardenrr is the strong r.

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• màthairMAA-hurmotherA light, slender r at the end.

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• ceithirKAY-hirfour

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Gaelic b, d and g are not voiced as they are in English. They sound more like a gentle p, t and k, and in the middle or at the end of a word they become exactly that: Gàidhlig ends in a k.

p, t and c at the start of a word come with a strong puff of breath. After a stressed vowel, in the middle or at the end of a word, that breath comes before the consonant instead, as a short h — so mac sounds close to mahk.

• GàidhligGAA-likScottish Gaelic

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• dorasDOR-usdoor

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• macMAHKson

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• slatSLAHTrod, stick

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Adding h to a consonant — lenition — gives it a new sound. These spellings are everywhere, because grammar adds the h so often.

At the end of a word several of them go quiet. th is usually silent (math, teth), and so are dh and gh after a stressed vowel (taigh, rìgh). bh after u or o is usually silent too (dubh, cha robh), though elsewhere a final bh or mh keeps its v (làmh, gheibh). And the pronoun thu (you) usually drops its h altogether: cò thusa? is KOH OO-suh.

• bhaVAwas

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• samhradhSOW-rughsummer

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• lochLOKHloch, lake

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• oidhcheUH-ee-khyuhnight

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• dhachaighGHAKH-eehome (going home)

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• gheibhYEVwill get

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• glè fhadaGLAY AT-uhvery long

  glè

  very

  fhada

  long

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• phògFAWKkissed

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• shuasHOO-usup, above

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• thàinigHAA-nikcame

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• lathaLA-uhdayth between vowels, and dh or gh at the end of a word, often fade to almost nothing.

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Three very common words break the silent-fh rule and say it as h: fhèin (self), fhathast (yet, still) and fhuair (got).

Doubled ll and nn are the thick, broad versions of l and n. After a short vowel, ll, nn and m at the end of a stressed syllable often lengthen the vowel before them into a glide — ceann sounds like kyown.

• ballaBAL-uhwall

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• ceannKYOWNhead

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• callKOWLloss

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• tromTROWMheavy

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A few groups of consonants are not pronounced the way their letters suggest.

Inside a word, three more are worth knowing. amh and abh usually melt into an ow or aw glide: samhradh is SOW-rugh, leabhar LYAW-ur. dh and gh in the middle of a word are usually silent, only stretching the vowel: Gàidhlig, nighean, am foghar. And ng is the ng of English sing, with nc as ngk: mòran taing, banca.

• seachdSHAKHKseven

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• ceartKYARSHTright, correct

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• àrdAARSHThigh

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• cnocKRAWHKhill

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• gnothachGRAW-ukhbusiness, matter

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• sràidSTRAAJstreet

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• sgoilSKOLschool

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When l, n or r is followed by certain consonants, Gaelic slips in a short vowel that is not written. It is one of the most noticeable features of the language: ainm has two syllables, and Alba has three.

Not every group takes one. After r it is the groups like rg and rm that do (dearg, gorm); rn and rs run straight on — an dàrna is un DAAR-nuh, carson kar-SON.

• ainmAN-umname

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• AlbaAL-a-puhScotland

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• deargJER-ekred

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• gormGOR-omblue

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• ormOR-omon me

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