Slender and broad...

[khiemtran]

Oh, so THAT's why "Sean" is spelt like it is! (Or, more precisely, Seán.)

Comments

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

I think Irish orthography makes sense to those who understand it, but it is a total mystery to me. There always seem to be lots of silent syllables in the middle of words. Give me Welsh phonetic spelling any day -- even if it means that the spelling of words is somewhat negotiable. :)

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Reminds me of a story our old neighbours (both Welsh immigrants) used to tell. Before they were married, the future husband was driving with his future father-in-law through the Welsh countryside and asked how to pronounce a particular sign. "Nobody can pronounce that," came the reply. "It doesn't have any vowels!"

Oh, and the "silent" syllables sort of make sense once you work out where your tongue needs to be as you say each consonant. Although there are still things that are mysteries to me. For example, how "ao" gets to be pronounced as "í".

[lethargic-man.livejournal.com]

...not to be confused with Séan. ;^)

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Interesting! I take it that would be pronounced as "Shane"?

What I still don't understand is why Siobhán is pronounced with a 'v' (at least in English); and not with an "ow" sound like in leabhar. Maybe it's irregular; or maybe there's a rule I don't know yet; or maybe I've still be saying it wrong all this time...

[lethargic-man.livejournal.com]

I get the impression "bh" (and "mh") is ordinarily pronounced "v"; but I'm very far from an expert when it comes to Irish. (And leabhar is a word I've not come across, so I can't comment further on it.)