Buntús na Gaeilge - People Fas Harvard - Harvard University

CEACHT A TRÍ / LESSON THREE
§1.1 Séimhiú (Lenition)
The first and second singular and the third singular masculine possessive pronouns cause séimhiú:
mo theach my house
do theach your house
a theach his house
§1.2 Prefixing `h'
The third singular feminine possessive pronoun does not cause séimhiú, but will prefix h to a
noun beginning with a vowel (see Ceacht 2):
a teach her house
a hiníon her daughter
§1.3 Urú (Eclipsis)
The plural possessive pronouns all cause a mutation called urú `eclipsis'.
Some examples;
mother
mo mháthair
do mháthair
a mháthair
a máthair
ár máthair
bhur máthair
a máthair
father
m'athair
d'athair
a athair
a hathair
ár n-athair
bhur n-athair
a n-athair
Urú (`Eclispsis')
Eclipsis (urú) affects essentially the same set of letters as
lenition (séimhiú), except that the letters `m' and `s' are not
affected. The term eclipsis refers to the sound of a letter being
`eclipsed' by a prefixed letter. Phonologically, eclipsis covers
two mechanisms:
1) The voiced plosives `b' `d' `g', and all vowels, are nasalized
to the point of being eclipsed by nasals:
ár mbean [m] ár ngasúr [ng/n]
ár ndochtúir [n] ár n-athair [n]
2) The unvoiced plosives `p' `t' `c' and the fricative `f' are
voiced:
ár bpeann [b] ár gceann [g]
ár dteach [d] ár bhfuinneog [w/v]
26
problem
m'fhadhb
d'fhadhb
a fhabhb
a fadhb
ár bhfadhb
bhur bhfadhb
a bhfadhb