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(b) Initial slender r is usually pronounced broad, except in aspirable positions, when it gets its slender sound.
(c) The slender sound of r is produced by spread in the tongue and forming a small hollow in the front portion of it. The point of the tongue is brought close to the gum just above the upper teeth (i.e., below the “hard rim”). The stream of voiced breath is directed into the hollow in the front of the tongue, and can be felt striking the lower lip.
(d) Initial broad r in aspirable positions is pronounced slender—e.g., do rug sé = do riug sé; Eiḃlín a rún = a riún.
(e) In N Connaught and Clare a “y sound” (§ 21(b)) ia heard after slender r between vowels—e.g., Máire is pronounced like mawirye.
(f) In Kilkenny slender r becomes “zh” or “sh”; hence we hear bóiṫrín pronounced like bōsheen, and Máire like mau-zhe, &c.
Analysis of the Sounds of r.
(g) The difference in sound between single r and double r is not at all so marked in Munster as in Connaught, hence the following sounds of r had best be learned by hearing a native of Connaught pronounce them.
- 1. Broad strong—
- (a) Initial broad r unaspirated—e.g., rós.
- (b) Medial double r broad—e.g., carraig.
- 2. Slender strong—
- (a) Initial slender r unaspirated—e.g., rí.
- (b) Medial double r slender—e.g., fairrge.
These sounds hardly differ from the broad strong sounds (1) and often pass into the broad sounds both in modern and ancient Irish; hence such spelling as raob = réab, raṁar = reaṁar.
