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pronounced so indistinctly that from the mere pronunciation one could not tell what is the vowel in the syllable. The symbols ă and ĕ will be used to denote this obscure vowel-sound. The use of two symbols for the obscure vowel-sound will be found to have advantages. The student should, therefore, remember that the symbols ă and ĕ represent one obscure vowel-sound, and are not to be sounded as “a” and “e” in the table of vowels above. Thus, when the Irish for “a well,” tobar, is said to be pronounced “thŭbăr,” the last syllable is not to be pronounced “ar,” but the word is to be sounded as any of the words, “thubbar, thubber, thubbor, thubbur,” would be in English.
§ 15. III.—THE DIPHTHONGS.
| In the Key words, | Are to be | In the English |
| the letters | sounded like | words |
| ei | ei | height |
| ou | ou | mouth |
| oi | oi | boil |
| ew | ew | few |
§ 16. IV.—THE CONSONANTS.
The consonants used in representing the pronunciation of Irish words will be sounded thus:—
| b, f, m, p, v, w, y, as in English. | ||||
| h, as in English, except in dh, th, CH, sh. | ||||
| k, l, n, r, as in English. But additional signs are needed, as explained below. | ||||
| g, as in English, go, give; never soft as in gin. | ||||
| ng, as in English, song, sing; never soft as in singe. | ||||
| dh | like | th | in | thy |
| d | „ | d | „ | duty |
| th | „ | th | „ | thigh |
| t | „ | t | „ | tune |
| r | „ | r | „ | run |
