Irish orthography: Vowels

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The System

There are ten total simple vowels, a, á, e, é, i, í, o, ó, u, ú. However, there are written groupings that also correspond to simple vowels (monophthongs). The groupings are used to indicate the broadness or slenderness of a neighboring consonant (which is why written Irish looks as daunting as English is sometimes.)

The Table

Unlike the consonant table, this table identifies whether a graph:

• takes a broad consonant on both sides, or is initial/final and takes a broad consonant on one side (B)
• takes a broad consonant before and a slender consonant after (BS)
• takes a slender consonant before and a broad consonant after (SB)
• takes a slender consonant on both sides, or is initial/final and takes a slender consonant on one side (S)

In general, vowels a, á, o, ó, u, ú are broad, while vowels e, é, i, í are slender; however, there are notable exceptions.

Also included in this table are diphthongs, which are marked with (D). Diphthongs made up of written vowels only are included here; diphthongs of vowels and consonants together (!) are included here.

A
Graph	Type	Sound	Notes
a	B	a/@	like a in father (when stressed), or like a in ago (when unstressed).
ae	B	e:	like a in haze.
aei	BS	e	like a in haze.
ai	BS	a/@	like a in father (when stressed), or like a in ago (when unstressed).
aí	BS	i:	like i in machine.
aío (D)	B	i:@	almost like ea in fear (but held longer).
ao	B	e/i:	like a in haze, or i in machine (depending on dialect).
aoi	BS	e:/i:	like a in haze, or i in machine (depending on dialect).
á	B	α:	like a in call.
ái	BS	α:	like a in call.
E
Graph	Type	Sound	Notes
e	S	ε/@	like e in get (when stressed), or like a in ago (when unstressed).
ea	SB	æ	like a in cat.
eai	S	æ	like a in cat.
eá	SB	α:	like a in call.
eái	S	α:	like a in call.
ei	S	ε:	like e in get (but held longer).
eo	SB	o:	like o in home. Note, in initial position, sometimes like yo in yoke.
eoi	S	o:	like o in home.
é	S	e	like a in hate.
éa	SB	e	like a in hate.
éi	S	e:	like a in hate (but held longer).
I
Graph	Type	Sound	Notes
i	S	ι	like i in give.
ia (D)	SB	ι@	like ea in fear.
io	SB	@	like u in bud.
iu	SB	U	like u in put.
í	S	i:	like i in machine (but held longer).
ío (D)	SB	i:@	like ea in fear (but held longer).
O
Graph	Type	Sound	Notes
o	B	O	like o in Br. Eng. hot.
oi	BS	ι	like i in give.
oí	BS	i:	like i in machine.
ó	B	o:	like o in home.
ói	BS	o:	like o in home.
U
Graph	Type	Sound	Notes
u	B	U	like u in put.
ua (D)	B	U@	like oor in poor.
ui	BS	ι	like i in give.
uí	BS	i:	like i in machine.
uío	B	i:@	like ea in fear (but held longer).
ú	B	u:	like u in truth.
úi	BS	u:	like u in truth.