Page:Aids to the Pronunciation of Irish - Christian Brothers.djvu/56

 both slender or both broad. This also happens with consonants that easily blend. In the word the  before the  shows that the  is slender, therefore the tongue makes contact for the consonant just above the hard gums; but this is exactly the position of a slender  (for they are both alveolar), therefore the  is also slender, and the e is written after it to show that it is so; although in this case it is not really necessary. If we tried to pronounce (i.e., broad ), it would be necessary to slide the tongue down from the position for  (slender) to that for  (broad) without producing any sound; the result would be the formation of two distinct words—viz.,. In such a word as, the is again slender, whilst the  after the  shows that the  is broad; but since the  is formed with the tongue, and  with the lips, this word can easily be pronounced, because the lips move into position for a broad  even before the tongue is removed from the “hard rim.” As a matter of fact the  is pronounced broad in Munster, although the  is slender. The word is a good example of what we are explaining. The is broad, and the  is written before it to indicate that the  is slender; it is a defect in Irish orthography that it has no other way of indicating a slender  after a broad.

49. We mentioned above that is an exception, and the reason for this is very plain. The hard sound of is always formed by the vocal chords themselves, and therefore can be quite independent of the vowels which