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lenition.htm
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lenition.htm
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<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<link href="stíl.css" rel="stylesheet">
<link rel="icon" href="favicon.ico">
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<meta name="Author" content="Lars Bräsicke">
<meta name="GENERATOR" content="me fein">
<title>Lenition</title>
</head>
<body text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFCC99" link="#0000EE" vlink="#551A8B" alink="#FF0000" background="bg524f.jpg">
<table width="100%" bgcolor="#FFCC99">
<tr>
<td>
<h1>
<span class="red">Caibidil a Ceathair Déag: </span></h1>
<h1 class="red">Initial Mutations (na hAthruithe Tosaigh)</h1>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<hr>
<table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#FFFFCC">
<tr>
<td>
<h2 id="oben"><i class="red">Lenition (an Séimhiú)</i></h2>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p><b><i class="red">Lenition</i></b> (lat. lenere = weaken)
means that a consonant is spoken without a stop of the flow of air i.e. with
breath or aspirated. It is because of this that lenition is sometimes referred
to as <b><i class="red">aspiration</i></b>.
<p>Aspiration in its own right is actually a much more subtle alteration of a
phoneme (a p is still a p, even when aspirated). A classical Greek ph was aspirated,
but remained a p was no f (it was first much later that in Greek and Latin that
ph was spoken as an f). In Irish lenition a ph would always be spoken as an
f. So, aspiration is really not the best term to use.
<p>Basically, the <b>plosive</b> (stop- or explosive) is replaced by its corresponding
<b>fricative</b>.
<p>Here is a bit about the <a href="sindos.htm">causes</a> of lenition.
<h3 id="schreib"><span class="lightgreen">Transcription and Pronunciation:</span></h3>
<p>The lenited consonant is denoted by a following h. <br>
(In the <a href="ortho.htm#seimhiu">old script</a> with a dot above the consonant)
<p>
<table border width="750" bgcolor="#FFFFCC">
<tr>
<td rowspan="2"><b> </b></td>
<td rowspan="2"><b>lenited</b></td>
<td colspan="2"><b>pronunciation</b></td>
<td rowspan="2"><b> </b></td>
<td rowspan="2"><b>lenited</b></td>
<td colspan="2"><b>pronunciation</b></td>
<td rowspan="2"><b> </b></td>
<td rowspan="2"><b>lenited</b></td>
<td colspan="2"><b>pronunciation</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>broad</b></td>
<td><b>slender</b></td>
<td><b>broad</b></td>
<td><b>slender</b></td>
<td><b>broad</b></td>
<td><b>slender</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>b</b> </td>
<td class="red bold">bh</td>
<td nowrap>[w] engl. w </td>
<td>[v'] ger. w</td>
<td><b>f</b> </td>
<td class="red bold">fh</td>
<td>voiceless !</td>
<td>voiceless !</td>
<td><b>p</b> </td>
<td class="red bold">ph</td>
<td nowrap>{f] ger. f</td>
<td nowrap>[f'] ger. f</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>c</b></td>
<td class="red bold">ch</td>
<td nowrap>[x] like in <i>ach</i></td>
<td nowrap>[x'] like in <i>ich</i></td>
<td><b>g</b></td>
<td class="red bold">gh</td>
<td>[γ] see below</td>
<td nowrap>[γ'] ger. j</td>
<td><b>s</b></td>
<td class="red bold">sh</td>
<td nowrap>[h] ger. h</td>
<td nowrap>[h] ger. h</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>d</b></td>
<td class="red bold">dh</td>
<td>[γ] see below</td>
<td nowrap>[γ'] ger. j</td>
<td><b>m</b></td>
<td class="red bold">mh</td>
<td nowrap>[w] engl. w </td>
<td nowrap>[v'] ger. w</td>
<td><b>t</b></td>
<td class="red bold">th</td>
<td>[h] ger. h</td>
<td>[h] ger. h</td>
</tr>
</table>
<table border width="37%" bgcolor="#FFFFCC">
<tr>
<td><b>l, n, r</b>, as well as h, j, v, w, z never <b>lenited*</b></td>
</tr>
</table>
<p>pronunciation of lenited consonants at the start of a word:
<ul>
<li>A broad <b>gh/dh</b> is a [γ], a "stimmhaftes ch", almost like a (throaty, unrolled) <i>r</i> (e.g. in "Bratpfanne"), slender
<b>gh/dh</b> like a German <i>j</i>. <br>
In my home dialect, Berlin-Brandenburg, a g is
often also "lenited", e.g. in "ick sa<u>r</u>e dir" for "ich sage dir"
("broad gh"), or "<u>J</u>urke" for "Gurke" ("slender gh"), also similar
to the Rhine dialect.</li>
<li><b>dh</b> was originally the same as the engl. voiced th [ð] (like in <i>that</i>). Now dh is pronounced more like <i>gh</i>.</li>
<li><b>th</b> was originally like the engl. unvoiced th [θ] (as in <i>thing</i>), now spoken more like <i>h</i>. (i.e. there are no "lisp sounds " in Irish anymore )</li>
<li><b>sh</b> and <b>th</b> are spoken like <i>h</i>, but, preceding a long a,o,u, a slender <b>sh, th</b> becomes [x'] (like <i>ch</i> in ger. <i>ich</i>): <i>a Sheáin</i> [@ x'a:n'], <i>a thiocfaidh tú</i> [@ x'u:k@ tu:]</li>
<li><b>mh</b> partially leads to a nasalisation of the neighbouring vowels, as opposed to <b>bh</b>, other than that, they are the same.</li>
<li>f and s are indeed fricatives, so <b>fh</b>
is ignored completely in speech, <b>sh</b> is spoken as <i>h</i>.</li>
</ul>
<h3 id="besond"><span class="lightgreen">special cases :</span></h3>
<p><b class="darkgreen">d, t, s:</b>
<ul>
<li><b>d, t, s (meist) nicht lenited after d, n, t, l, s! </b>(<b class="red">"dentals"-rule!</b> [ <a href="#fn1" id="fnverweis1">1</a> ])
<br>
But attributive adjectives are lenited despite d, t, s</li>
<li><b>sc, sp, st, sm, sf </b> are always unlenited (because then they would be impossible to say)!</li>
<li><b>s:</b> in some cases (after an article with words ending in
n) instead of lenition: <b>s becomes ts</b> (wenn followed by a vowel or l, n, r)(see <a href="thnd.htm#t">t-prefix</a>)</li>
</ul>
<b class="darkgreen">f:</b>
<ul>
<li><b>fh</b> is always mute, this is why a word beginning in fh + vowel (or l, n, r) is <b>treated like a word that starts with a vowel:</b>
<br>
e.g.: <i>m'fhear céile = my husband</i> (not: <i>*mo fhear céile</i>), <i>d'fhoghlaim mé Gaeilge = I learned Irish</i> (not: <i>*fhoghlaim mé Gaeilge</i>), <i>d'fhliuch sé an t-úrlar = he wet the floor </i></li>
<li>should a word with f change to drasticly change through lenition, sometimes the lenition is rejected.</li>
</ul>
<b class="darkgreen">b, p:</b>
<ul>
<li><b>b</b>, <b>m</b> and <b>p</b> are, in part, not lenited after <b>m</b>: e.g. <i>um bosca = around a box </i>
<br>
or in Munster im' instead of i mo: <i>im' poca = in my pocket (instead of: i mo phoca)</i></li>
</ul>
<b class="darkgreen">l, n, r:</b>
<ul>
<li>in written Irish, these are <i>not</i> recognizably lenited, but in spoken Irish is there is an audible difference in some dialects: a change from a tensed l, n ([L], [N]) to a relaxed l, n ([l], [n]) e.g.: unlenited: <i>an leabhar</i> [L'aur] > lenited: <i>don leabhar</i> [l'aur]
<br>
By r, this difference ([r]/[R]) is today uncommon.</li>
</ul>
<h3 id="verwend"><span class="lightgreen">use:</span></h3>
Lenition is the grammatical rule of the beginning of a word that:
<h4>
<span class="lightgreen">nouns:</span></h4>
<ol>
<li>after the vocative particle <b class="red">a</b>: a Cháit!</li>
<li>feminine nouns in the nominative after the article <b class="red">an</b> (except d, t) in the case of s: <b>s becomes ts</b> (if s precedes a vowel or l,n,r)</li>
<li>masculine nouns in the genitive after the article <b class="red">an</b> (except d, t) in the case of s: <b>s becomes ts </b>(if s precedes a vowel or l,n,r)</li>
<li>in indefinite <b>genitive attributes </b> after <i>a feminine</i> noun and after the weak plural (but there are many exceptions, more under the section about the <a href="subst2.htm#Lenition/Eklipse">genitive</a>)</li>
<li>those <b>definite nouns</b> and <b>proper names as a genitive attribute </b> without an article (no matter if the antecedent is masc. or fem.): <i>muintir Cháit = Kate's parents, stáisiún bhus a trí = the Bus #3 stop </i></li>
<li>because it is never possible that <b>2 genitives come after one another</b>, the first is only lenited and remains in the nominative (<a href="subst2.htm#fnverweis1">"functional genitive"</a>)(gender irrespective):
e.g. <i>obair bhean an tí = housewife's work, Lá Fheile Pádraig = St.Patrick's Day (lit. "Day of the Feast of Patrick")</i></li>
<li>a noun attribute in compound words (if the 2nd part is not in the genitive): <i>scian phóca = pocket knife</i></li>
<li>a noun in the after numbers <b class="red">1-6</b> (but not after 3-6, if the noun that follows is in the plural) after <span class="red">aon</span> also <b>s becomes ts</b></li>
<li>after <b class="red">beirt, dís</b> (2 people), but not after triúr etc.!</li>
<li>after <b class="red">an chéad</b> (the first), but not after an dara, an tríú, etc.!</li>
<li>after possessive pronouns <b class="red">mo, do, a</b> (a only if it is the 3rd person sg. masc)</li>
<li>after a preposition if it lacks an article <b class="red">ar, ó, do, de, faoi, idir, mar, roimh, thrí, thar, gan</b>
<br>
(after ar, idir, gan, see there)</li>
<li>after <b class="red">don, den</b> in the case of s : <b>s becomes ts</b> (in the standard and in Connacht only the fem. nouns)</li>
<li>after <b class="red">sa(n)</b> in the standard, Ulster and Munster (always in Connacht, in Munster in the case of f , eclipsis instead)</li>
<li>in Ulster always after <b>preposition + article</b></li>
<li>after <b class="red">uile</b> (= everyone)</li>
<li>in surnames after <b class="red">Ní, Uí, Mhic, Nic</b> but not after <b>Ó, Mac</b></li>
</ol>
<h4>
<span class="lightgreen">verbs:</span></h4>
<ol>
<li>after <b class="red">ní</b> and the preterite verb particle and conjunctions ending in -r: <b class="red">ar, gur, nár, níor, murar, sular, ach ar</b></li>
<li>a verb after a direct relative particle <b class="red">a</b> (except tá, deir): <i>an teach a thógfaidh sé = the house that he wants to build </i></li>
<li>a verb after <b class="red">má</b> (except tá, déir)</li>
<li>verbs in the <b>preterite</b>.(except auton. form), <b>imperfect, conditional </b> (actually after the particle <b class="red">do</b>, the particle itself can only still be seen today preceding the vowel and fh): <i>(do) bhí sé = he was, d'fhoghlaim sé = he learned </i></li>
<li>verbal nouns after the preposition <b class="red">a</b> ("to") <i>tú a phósadh = to marry you </i></li>
</ol>
<h4>
<span class="lightgreen">adjectives:</span></h4>
<ol>
<li>after a feminine noun in the nominative: <i>an bhean mhór = the big woman </i></li>
<li>after a masculine noun in the genitive <i>an fhir mhóir = of the big man </i></li>
<li>after a noun in the weak plural that ends in a slender consonant: <i>na fir mhóra = the big men </i></li>
<li>after the prepositions<b class="red"> den/don/sa</b> + noun (not after a masculine noun if the noun remains unlenited)</li>
<li>directly after <b class="red">2-6</b>: <i>e.g. is trí mheasa é = it is three times as bad</i></li>
<li>after <b class="red">2-19</b>, if with a noun in the singular:
e.g.: <i>seacht mbád mhóra = 7 large boats </i></li>
<li>after <b class="red">beirt</b>, if with a noun:
e.g.: <i>beirt mhac bheaga = 2 little sons </i></li>
</ol>
<h4>
<span class="lightgreen">general:</span></h4>
<ol>
<li>after <b>prefixes: </b><i>an-<u>mh</u>aith, fíor<u>mh</u>ór, sean<u>ch</u>arr </i>etc.</li>
<li>the second part of a <b>compund word</b></li>
<li>words after forms of the copula in the preterite/conditional (base form <b class="red">ba</b>)
e.g.: <i>ba mhaith liom = I would like </i></li>
<li>déag after words in the singular ending in a vowel e.g.: <i>seacht hata dhéag = 17 hats </i></li>
<li>déag after weak plural ending in a slender consonant (except <i>cinn</i>): e.g.: <i>trí fir dhéag</i></li>
<li>déag is lenited after dó (but not after trí, sé, naoi) <i>a dó dhéag = twelve </i></li>
<li>within a word and at the end of a word, due to historical phonetic evolution (pronunciation is then often quite different)</li>
<li>some words are mostly lenited (e.g.: <i>dhá = two, cheana = already, chomh = like, chun = to </i>, <br>
similarly, also dialectical with <i>dhuit = to you, dhá = to his, if, cheithre = four </i>)</li>
</ol>
<hr><center><a href="#oben" title="nach oben">suas</a>
<br>
<br>
<a href="anlaut1.htm">initial mutations </a>
<br>
<a href="eklipse.htm">eclipsis</a>, <a href="thnd.htm">d', n-, t-, h-prefixes</a>
<br>
<a href=".">Gramadach na Gaeilge</a>
<br>
</center>
<hr>
<center><font size="-2">© <a href="https://braesicke.de/index.htm">Lars Bräsicke</a> 1999 / 2000</font></center>
<p><br><br>
<p>[ <a href="#fnverweis1" id="fn1">1</a> ]<font size="-1">
<br>
<b>The deeper meaning of the "dentals"-rule:</b>
<br>
The name of the rule derives from the sounds in question (d,n,t,l,s).
<br>
They are not all dentals in the linguistic sense, but they are all coronals, that are produced in the same (homologous) location in the mouth: the tip of the tongue touches the "corona" of the upper front teeth when one speaks d,n,t,l,s.
<br>
Because these consonants are produced at the same location, they are easily spoken one after another. On the other hand, the sounds th, sh, dh are produced at different locations. This means that to speak a lenited d,t,s after d,n,t,l,s, would mean extra work for the speaker.
<br>
The reason for lenition was originally to simplify speech instead of making it more difficult. This is why after d,n,t,l,s one abstains from lenition of d,t,s.
<br>
The same goes for other homologously formed consonants. Also there one could build up "rules" about the groupings (e.g. a "b,m,p rule"), but these hardly play the role that the coronals do.
<br>
To generalise, one could formulate the rule so, that it states that homologous consonants cancel out lenition if they occur right after one another.
</font>
<a href="https://github.com/cuplamilefocal/gnag">view on github</a>
<a href="https://braesicke.de/lenition.htm">view original German</a></body>
</html>