Page:Irish Made Easy - Shán Ó Cuív.pdf/35

 In the exercises on the vowels we were able to give English words, which reproduced almost exactly, if not completely so, the sounds which the words have in Irish. It is not so easy to find English words to illustrate the sounds of the consonants, and it must be clearly understood that the sounds are only approximately represented in the table. There are some sounds which it is impossible to represent even approximately, and which mart be heard from the lips of an Irish speaker. Ch slender, Gh broad, and R slender are not heard in English, even as spoken in Ireland. Ch broad is heard in Ireland in the English word Lough, and a person who can pronounce Lac and Lach, ought also be able to pronounce lic and lich after a little practice. By analogy also he should be able to get from Lag to Lagh. Slender r and l, however, and double l and double n, which are not represented in the table, must be heard from Irish speakers.

If learners have studied this table they will be able to write many Irish words correctly already. The sounds represented phonetically above are the sounds commonly heard in Ireland for the English words given, but as it happens these sounds are in many cases good Irish words. Our object was not to select English words which if spelt phonetically with the Irish alphabet would give us Irish words,