In Irish, consonants undergo a transformation called séimhiú, translated as "aspiration". In the Old Irish script this was shown by putting a little dot above the letter. Nowadays Irish is printed using the standard Western alphabet, and the little dot has been replaced by the letter "h" following the consonant. Also, in Irish, the vowels are divided into two groups: broad (a, o, u) and slender (e, i).

Letter Mutation Pronunciation

  • b --> bh --> w slender: v
  • c --> ch --> kh (Loch) slender: h
  • d --> dh --> th (leather) or g slender: y
  • f --> fh --> silent silent
  • g --> gh --> gh (hard to explain--like kh but with a g) slender: y
  • m --> mh --> w slender: v
  • p --> ph --> f slender: f
  • s --> sh --> h slender: h
  • t --> th --> h slender: h

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