Page:Aids to the Pronunciation of Irish - Christian Brothers.djvu/57

 precede or follow. For instance, the spelling is quite pronounceable, and fully represents the Munster sound of the word that is usually written  or ; but in Connaught the slender  in this, and other like words, is not a mere  sound, but the real sound of initial slender  (§ 37).

50. The position of the stress of the voice in the pronunciation of words is one of the main factors in producing differences of dialect. The position of the stress is greatly influenced by the pitch of the voice. In Ulster the “falling inflection” is prevalent, whilst in the south of Ireland the “rising inflection” is general—i.e., in Munster the pitch of the voice in the second syllable is higher than in the first; in Ulster it is lower than in the first. Between the two extremes of the country every shade of variety exists.

51. In Ulster both pitch and stress are highest on the first syllable, and to this there is no exception. In Munster, the general rule of stress on the first syllable is often counteracted by the universal one of pitch on the second. Hence the word is pronounced  in Ulster, in Munster,.

52. (1) In simple words the tonic accent or stress of the voice falls on the first syllable—