Eclipsis

Irish uses two mutations on consonants: Lenition and eclipsis. (The alternative names, ''aspiration'' for lenition and ''nasalisation'' for eclipsis, are also used, but the terms are a bit misleading.)

Originally these mutations were phonologically governed external + 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.

LENITION

Effects of lenition

1. A stop becomes a fricative. Voicing is retained, as is Place Of Articulation except with the Coronals .

2. becomes or (depending on dialect); becomes .

3. and become ; but , , , , , and do not mutate.

4. and are deleted.

Lenition is symbolized in the Orthography by an h following the consonant in question.

The other consonants do not change under lenition.

Environments of lenition

After proclitics

=After the definite article

The definite article triggers lenition of:
:1. a feminine noun in the nominative singular
::an ''bh''ean 'the woman'
:2. a masculine noun in the genitive singular
::an ''fh''ir 'of the man'
:3. 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 ''fh''ear''' 'to the man'
::de + '''an''' = '''den''': '''den ''bh''ean''' 'from the woman'
::i + '''an''' = '''sa(n)''': '''sa ''ch''rann''' 'in the tree'; '''san ''fh''ómhar''' 'in the autumn'

and are not lenited after the article:

an ''d''eoch

::an ''t''í 'of the house', although '''tí''' is masculine genitive singular

becomes (rather than ), written ts:

an tsúil

::an tsaoil 'of the world' (masc. gen. sg.)

=After the vocative particle ''a''

a ''Bh''ríd 'Bríd!'

a ''Sh''eáin 'Seán!'

a ''ch''airde 'my friends!'

=After possessive pronouns

The possessive pronouns that trigger lenition are ''mo'' 'my', ''do'' 'your (sg.)', ''a'' 'his'

mo ''mh''ac 'my son'

do ''th''each 'your house'

a ''ph''eann 'his pen'

=After certain prepositions

de ''ch''rann 'out of a tree'

faoi ''ch''rann 'under a tree'

mar ''dh''uine 'as a person'

ó ''Ch''orcaigh 'from Cork'

roimh ''mh''aidin 'before morning'

trí ''sh''ioc agus ''sh''neachta 'through frost and snow'

um ''Ch''áisc 'at Easter'

=After the preterite/conditional of the Copula

Ba ''dh''uine mór é. 'He was a big person.'

Ba ''dh''eas uait é. 'That was nice of you.'

=After the preterite preverbal particles

Níor ''mhúinteoir'' é. 'He was not a teacher.'

níor ''th''ug mé 'I didn't give'

Ar ''sh''agart é? 'Was he a priest?'

Ar ''th''áinig sé? 'did he come?'

=After certain preverbal particles

ní ''th''uigim 'I don't understand'

má ''th''agann sé 'if he comes'

an fear a ''th''ug dom é 'the man who gave it to me'

=A verb in the preterite, imperfect or conditional

These were originally preceded by the particle do.

''bh''ris mé 'I broke'

''bh''risinn 'I used to break'

''bh''risfinn 'I would break'

In modifier + head constructions

Lenition is blocked in these constructions if two coronals are adjacent.

=After certain numbers

The singular form is used after numbers and is lenited in the following cases:

aon ''bh''ó amháin 'one cow'

an chéad ''bh''liain 'the first year'

dhá ''th''each 'two houses'

beirt ''fh''ear 'two men'

trí ''bh''ád 'three boats'

ceithre ''bh''ó 'four cows'

cúig ''ph''unt 'five pounds'

sé ''mh''í 'six months'

=After preposed adjectives

Constructions of adjective + noun are written as compounds.

sean''bh''ean 'old woman'

droch''dh''uine 'bad person'

dea-''sh''eirbhís 'good deed'

nua''th''eanga 'modern language'

tréan''mh''uir 'stormy sea'

fíor''ch''neas 'true skin'

ard''bh''rú 'high pressure'

óg''fh''ear 'young man'

=After most prefixes

an-''bh''eag 'very small'

ró-''bh''eag 'too small'

ais''gh''abháil 'retake'

ath''bh''liain 'new year'

do''bh''réagnaithe 'undeniable'

fo''ch''upán 'saucer'

for''bh''ríste 'overalls'

idir''ch''reidmheach 'interconfessional'

il''ph''ósadh 'polygamy'

leas''mh''áthair 'stepmother'

mí''sh''ásta 'unhappy'

neamh''ch''odladh 'insomnia'

príomh''ch''athair 'capital city'

so''bh''riste 'fragile'

=The second part of a compound

ainm''fh''ocal 'noun' (lit. "name word")

dú''gh''orm 'blue-black'

stát''fh''iach 'national debt'

In head + modifier constructions

In these constructions coronals are lenited even following other coronals.

=Genitive nouns in certain circumstances

aimsir ''bh''áistí 'rainy weather' (lenition after a feminine singular noun)

buidéil ''sh''ú 'bottles of juice' (lenition after a plural ending in a slender consonant)

teach ''Sh''eáin 'Seán's house' (lenition of a definite noun in the genitive)

=Postposed adjectives in certain circumstances

bean ''mh''aith 'a good woman' (lenition after a feminine singular noun)

na fir ''mh''óra 'the big men' (lenition after a plural noun ending in a slender consonant)

ainm an fhir ''bh''ig 'the name of the small man' (lenition after a masculine singular noun in the genitive)

ECLIPSIS

Effects of eclipsis

1. A voiceless stop or is voiced:

→ or (depending on dialect)

2. A voiced stop becomes a nasal:

3. A vowel receives a preceding or (broad preceding ''a''/''o''/''u'', slender preceding ''e''/''i'')

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.

Environments of eclipsis

After plural possessive pronouns

The possessive pronouns that trigger eclipsis are ár 'our', '''bhur''' 'your (pl.)', '''a''' 'their'

ár ''gc''airde 'our friends'

bhur ''bp''áistí 'your (pl.) children'

a ''mb''ád 'their boat'

After certain numbers

The numbers that trigger eclipsis (the noun being in the singular) are:

seacht ''gc''apall 'seven horses'

ocht ''n-''asal 'eight donkeys'

naoi ''gc''at 'nine cats'

deich ''bp''eann 'ten pens'

After the preposition ''i'' 'in'

Before a vowel in is written instead of '''i n-'''.

i ''dt''each 'in a house'

in Éirinn 'in Ireland'

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)

ag an ''bhf''ear 'by the man'

ar an ''gc''rann 'on the tree'

After certain preverbal particles

an poll a ''dt''agann na coiníní as 'the hole that the rabbits come out of'

An ''dt''agann sé gach lá? 'Does he come every day?'

Cá ''bhf''uil mo spéaclaí? 'Where are my glasses?'

Dúirt sé go ''dt''iocfadh sé. 'He said that he would come.'

dá ''mb''eadh a fhios sin agam 'if I had known that'

Changes to vowel-initial words

A vowel-initial word does not change where lenition is expected:

an oíche 'the night' (feminine singular nominative noun after definite article)

an uisce 'of the water' (masculine singular genitive noun after definite article)

But where neither eclipsis nor lenition is expected, an initial vowel may acquire an prothetic onset consonant. For example, a vowel-initial masculine singular nominative noun requires a t- after the definite article:

an ''t-''uisce 'the water' (masculine singular nominative)

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

a ''h''aois 'her age' (after possessive pronoun '''a''' 'her')

go ''h''Éirinn 'to Ireland (after preposition '''go''' 'to, towards')

le ''h''Antaine 'with Antaine' (after preposition '''le''' 'with')

na ''h''oíche 'of the night' (on feminine singular genitive noun after definite article)

na ''h''éin 'the birds' (on plural nominative/dative noun after definite article)

chomh ''h''ard le caisleán 'as high as a castle' (after '''chomh''' {Link without Title} 'as')

go ''h''álainn 'beautifully' (after adverb-forming particle '''go''')

Ná ''h''imigh uaim 'Don't leave me!' (after negative imperative particle '''ná''' 'don't')

an dara ''h''áit 'the second place' (after an ordinal numeral)

Information About

Eclipsis