Page:Graimear na Gaedhilge.djvu/22

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10. In some combinations, one of the consonants is silent.

dl is pronounced like ll
dn " nn
nd " nn
ln " ll
Thus, codlaḋ (sleep) is pronounced kullŭ.
ceudna (same) " kaenŭ.
gránda (ugly) " graun-ŭ.
áilne (beauty) " aul-yĕ.

Notice the difference between ng and gn.

long (a ship) is pronounced lŭng.
gnó (work) " gŭn-ō.

11. Only three of the Irish consonants, viz. the liquids l, n, r may be doubled. This doubling can take place only at the end or the middle of words, but never at the beginning. The double liquids have quite distinct sounds from the single, except in Munster, where, in some positions, double liquids influence vowels. This doubling at the end of a word does not denote shortness of the preceding vowel, as in English: in fact, it is quite the opposite; e.g. ea in fearr (better) is longer than ea in fear (a man).

In Irish there is no double consonant like the English x, which = ks.

Accent.

12. The only accent sign used in writing Irish is the acute accent placed over the long vowels, and over