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Irish, like all modern Celtic languages, is characterized by its initial consonant mutations. These mutations affect the initial consonant of a word under specific morphological and syntactic conditions. The mutations are an important tool in understanding the relationship between two words and can differentiate various meanings.
Contents
- Effects of lenition
- After proclitics
- In modifier head constructions
- In head modifier constructions
- Effects of eclipsis
- After plural possessive pronouns
- After certain numbers
- After the preposition i in
- Genitive plural nouns after the definite article
- Dative singular nouns after the definite article
- After certain preverbal particles
- Changes to vowel initial words
- References
Irish uses two mutations on consonants: lenition (Irish: séimhiú) and eclipsis (urú). (The alternative names, aspiration for lenition and nasalisation for eclipsis, are also used, but those terms are a bit misleading.)
Originally these mutations were phonologically governed external sandhi effects: lenition was caused by a consonant between two vowels, and eclipsis by a sequence of nasal stop + obstruent, also at the beginning of a word.
There are also two mutations, t-prothesis and h-prothesis, found on vowel-initial words.
See Irish phonology for a discussion of the symbols used on this page.
Effects of lenition
- A stop becomes a fricative. Voicing is retained, as is place of articulation except with the coronals.
- /pˠ/ → /fˠ/
- /pʲ/ → /fʲ/
- /t̪ˠ/ → /h/
- /tʲ/ → /h/
- /k/ → /x/
- /c/ → /ç/
- /bˠ/ → /w/, /v/
- /bʲ/ → /vʲ/
- /d̪ˠ/ → /ɣ/
- /dʲ/ → /j/
- /ɡ/ → /ɣ/
- /ɟ/ → /j/
- /mˠ/ becomes /w/ or /v/; /mʲ/ becomes /vʲ/.
- /sˠ/ and /ʃ/ become /h/; but /sˠp(ʲ)/, /sˠm(ʲ)/, /sˠt̪ˠ/, /ʃtʲ/, /sˠk/, and /ʃc/ do not mutate.
- /fˠ/ and /fʲ/ are deleted.
Lenition is symbolized in the orthography by an h following the consonant in question.
The other consonants do not change under lenition.
After proclitics
The definite article triggers lenition of:
- a feminine noun in the nominative singular
- a masculine noun in the genitive singular
- a noun in the dative singular, when the article follows one of the prepositions de "from", do "to" or i "in" do + an = don: don fhear "to the man" de + an = den: den bhean "from the woman" i + an = sa(n): sa chrann "in the tree"; san fhómhar "in the autumn"
The possessive pronouns that trigger lenition are mo "my", do "your (sg.)", a "his"
These were originally preceded by the particle do and often still are in Munster.
In modifier + head constructions
Lenition is blocked in these constructions if two coronals are adjacent.
The singular form is used after numbers and is lenited in the following cases:
Constructions of adjective + noun are written as compounds.
In head + modifier constructions
In these constructions coronals are lenited even following other coronals.
Effects of eclipsis
1. A voiceless stop or /fˠ, fʲ/ is voiced:
2. A voiced stop becomes a nasal:
3. A vowel receives a preceding /n̪ˠ/ or /nʲ/ (broad preceding a/o/u, slender preceding e/i). However, a vowel-initial word is not affected after the definite article an.
Eclipsis is symbolized in the orthography by placing the letter of the new sound in front of the original letter.
The other consonants do not change under eclipsis.
After plural possessive pronouns
The possessive pronouns that trigger eclipsis are ár "our", bhur "your (pl.)", a "their"
After certain numbers
The numbers that trigger eclipsis (the noun being in the singular) are:
After the preposition i "in"
Before a vowel in is written instead of i n-.
Genitive plural nouns after the definite article
The genitive plural article na eclipses a following noun:
Dative singular nouns after the definite article
In western and southern dialects, nouns beginning with a noncoronal consonant are eclipsed after combinations of preposition + article in the singular (except den, don, and sa(n), which trigger lenition)
After certain preverbal particles
Changes to vowel-initial words
A vowel-initial word does not change if lenition is expected:
However, if neither eclipsis nor lenition is expected, an initial vowel may acquire a prothetic onset consonant. For example, a vowel-initial masculine singular nominative noun requires a t- after the definite article:
Otherwise, there is the prothetic onset h, which comes only when both the following conditions are met:
- a proclitic causes neither lenition nor eclipsis of consonants.
- a proclitic itself ends in a vowel.
Examples of h-prothesis