Page:Aids to the Pronunciation of Irish - Christian Brothers.djvu/30

 drawn tight, and consequently become broader than usual; they are resting against the teeth and are slightly inturned.

In pronouncing the English labials the lips are in their normal position—i.e., between the two positions of the lips for the broad and the slender labials in Irish.

(a) seldom occurs as the final letter of an Irish word and never occurs as the initial letter except (1) in loan words from other languages; (2) in slang words, and those of onomatopœic origin; (3) in metamorphosed words which formerly had some other initial.

(b) is sometimes silent after in the body of a word—e.g.,, &c. These are really cases of eclipsis (§ 139).

20. For the production of the sound of an Irish the inside (not the edge) of the lower lip is pressed against the edges of the upper teeth (thus necessitating a slight pursing out of the lips), and then air is forced between the lip and the teeth. If the is to be broad the lower lip is removed from the teeth with a slight forward motion; for a slender  the lip is drawn slightly backward (i.e., into its natural position).

, broad, has the same sound as broad, and  slender has that of  slender.

There is no separate character in Irish to denote the voiced sound of (i.e., the sound corresponding to the English “v”).

and when slender get the voiced sound of  slender (i.e., “v”), whenever they are initial or final. When broad they sometimes get the voiced sound of