Page:Simple Lessons in Irish, Part 1 - O'Growney.pdf/41

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41

2. eo pronounced yо̄; iu pronounced ew. In a few words eo and iu are short, like yŭ, or you in young.

3. Digraphs with one vowel marked long: ái, éi, ói, úi; éa, eá, ío. Give the whole digraph the sound of the vowel marked long; the other vowel is scarcely heard.

4. ae and ao are both pronounced like ae in Gaelic.

5. Most of the digraphs were formerly pronounced, like ia and ua, with the two vowel sounds distinctly audible: traces of this are yet heard; see §§ 125, 128.

EXERCISE XIX.

§ 132. DIGRAPHS REPRESENTING THE SHORT VOWEL-SOUNDS.

ai are pronounced like a in bat,
ea
ei e in let,
oi
io i in hit,
ui

N.B.—This must be learned by heart, as it is of the greatest importance.

§ 133. Words.

bean (ban) a woman seamróg (sham′-rōg), a shamrock
Doire (dher′-ĕ), Derry
fear (far), a man seamróg (sham-ă-rōg′), in Munster
geal (gal), bright sean (shan), old
lean (lan). follow seas (shas), verb, stand
leat (lath), with-thee
leis (lesh), with-him
Peadar (padh′-ăr), Peter

§ 134. Words like leat, with-thee, leis, with-him, are called prepositional pronouns.

§ 135. Ná lean an capall ar an ród.