Scottish Gaelic phonology and orthography

The number of diphthongs in Scottish Gaelic depends to some extent on the dialect in question but most commonly, 9 or 10 are described: /ei, ɤi, ai, ui, iə, uə, ɛu, ɔu, au, ia/.[4]

Vowels are written as follows:

A table of vowels with pronunciations in the IPA

Spelling	Pronunciation	Scottish English [SSE] equivalents	As in
a, á	[a], [a]	cat	bata, ás
à, a	[aː]	father/calm	bàta, barr
e	[ɛ], [e]	get	le, teth
è, é	[ɛː], [eː]	wary, late/lady	gnè, dé
i	[i], [iː]	tin, sweet	sin, ith
ì, i	[iː]	evil, machine	mìn, binn
o	[ɔ], [o]	top	poca, bog
ò, o, ó	[ɔː], [oː]	jaw, boat/go	pòcaid, corr, mór
u	[u]	brute	Tur
ù, u	[uː]	brewed	tùr, cum

The English equivalents given are approximate, and refer most closely to the Scottish pronunciation of Standard English. The vowel [aː] in English father is back [ɑː] in Southern English. The ⟨a⟩ in English late in Scottish English is the pure vowel [eː] rather than the more general diphthong [eɪ]. The same is true for the ⟨o⟩ in English boat, [oː] in Scottish English, instead of the diphthong [əʊ].

The language uses many vowel combinations, which can be categorised into two types, depending on the status of one or more of the written vowels in the combinations.

Category 1: vowel plus glide vowels. In this category, vowels in digraphs/trigraphs that are next to a neighbouring consonant are for all intents and purposes part of the consonant, showing the broad or slender status of the consonant.

Spelling	Pronunciation	Preceding consonant	Following consonant	As in
ai	[a]~[ɛ]; (unstressed syllables) [ɛ]~[ə]~[i]	preceded by a broad consonant or Ø	followed by a slender consonant	(stressed syllable) caileag, ainm [ɛnɛm]; (unstressed syllables) iuchair, geamair, dùthaich
ài	[aː]	preceded by a broad consonant or Ø	followed by a slender consonant	àite, bara-làimhe
ea	[ʲa]~[e]~[ɛ] [in part dialect variation]	preceded by a slender consonant or Ø	followed by a broad consonant	geal; deas; bean
eà	[ʲaː]	preceded by a slender consonant or Ø	followed by a broad consonant	ceàrr
èa	[ɛː]	preceded by a slender consonant or Ø	followed by a broad m, mh or p	nèamh
èa	[ia]	preceded by a slender consonant or Ø	followed by a broad consonant other than m, mh or p	dèan
ei	[e]~[ɛ]	preceded by a slender consonant or Ø	followed by a slender consonant	eile; ainmeil
èi	[ɛː]	preceded by a slender consonant or Ø	followed by a slender consonant	sèimh
éi	[eː]	preceded by a slender consonant or Ø	followed by a slender consonant	fhéin
eo	[ʲɔ]	preceded by a slender consonant or Ø	followed by a broad consonant	deoch
eò	[ʲɔː]	preceded by a slender consonant or Ø	followed by a broad consonant	ceòl
eòi	[ʲɔː]	preceded by a slender consonant or Ø	followed by a slender consonant	feòil
eu	[eː]~[ia] [dialect variation, broadly speaking south versus north]	preceded by a slender consonant or Ø	followed by a broad consonant	ceum; feur
io	[i], [(j)ũ(ː)]	preceded by a slender consonant or Ø	followed by a broad consonant	fios, fionn
ìo	[iː], [iə]	preceded by a slender consonant or Ø	followed by a broad consonant	sgrìobh, mìos
iu	[(j)u]	preceded by a slender consonant or Ø	followed by a broad consonant	piuthar, fliuch
iù	[(j)uː]	preceded by a slender consonant or Ø	followed by a broad consonant	diùlt
iùi	[(j)uː]	preceded by a slender consonant or Ø	followed by a slender consonant	diùid
oi	[ɔ], [ɤ]	preceded by a broad consonant or Ø	followed by a slender consonant	boireannach, goirid
òi	[ɔː]	preceded by a broad consonant or Ø	followed by a slender consonant	òinseach
ói	[oː]	preceded by a broad consonant or Ø	followed by a slender consonant	cóig
ui	[u], [ɯi], [uːi]; (unstressed syllables) [ə/ɨ]	preceded by a broad consonant or Ø	followed by a slender consonant	muir, uighean, tuinn
ùi	[uː]	preceded by a broad consonant or Ø	followed by a slender consonant	dùin

Category 2: 'diphthongs' and 'triphthongs'. In this category, vowels are written together to represent either a diphthong, or what was in Middle Irish a diphthong.

Spelling	Pronunciation	Preceding consonant	Following consonant	As in
ao	[ɯː]	preceded by a broad consonant or Ø	followed by a broad consonant	caol
ia	[iə], [ia]	preceded by a slender consonant or Ø	followed by a broad consonant	biadh, dian
ua	[uə]	preceded by a broad consonant or Ø	followed by a broad consonant	ruadh, uabhasach

Category 2 digraphs can by followed by Category 1 glides, and thereby form trigraphs:

Spelling	Pronunciation	Preceding consonant	Following consonant	As in
aoi	[ɯː]~[ɤ]	preceded by a broad consonant or Ø	followed by a slender consonant	caoil; gaoithe
iai	[iə], [ia]	preceded by a slender consonant or Ø	followed by a slender consonant	Iain
uai	[uə]	preceded by a broad consonant or Ø	followed by a slender consonant	ruaidh, duais

Affrication of initial slender d

Gaelic phonemes may have various allophones as well as dialectal or variations in pronunciation not shown in the chart above. The more common ones are:

• /tʲʰ/ as [tʃʰ] or [tɕʰ][7]
• /tʲ/ may also be affricated:[8]
  • Area 1 without affrication [tʲ]
  • Area 2 with strong affrication [tʒ]
  • Area 3 with weak affrication [tᶾ]
• /ɾʲ/ as [ð] in Hebridean dialects[7]
• /ɲ/ as [nʲ][7]

Allophone regions of Dark l

Velarised /l̪ˠ/ has 6 main realisations as shown on the map:[7]

• Area 1, by far the most populous, has [l̪ˠ]. The area includes most of the Outer Hebrides, the Highlands and areas south of central western areas such as Kintyre, Arran, Argyll and East Perthshire.
• Area 2, Ardnamurchan, Moidart, Lochaber, South Lorn, Eigg and Upper Badenoch has [l̪ˠw] or [wl̪ˠ]. This feature is strongly associated with Eigg to the point it is referred to as "glug Eigeach", the Eigg gulp.
• Area 3, between Mull and Lismore has vocalised it: [w]
• Area 4, in the south of Mull and Easdale, has [ð] or [ðˠ]
• Area 5, Islay, has [t̪ˠ] or [t̪ˠl̪ˠ]
• Area 6, St Kilda, had [w] or [ʊ̯]

The Survey of Scottish Gaelic Dialects occasionally reports labialised forms such as [l̪ˠw] or [l̪ˠv] outside the area they predominantly appear in, for example in Harris and Wester Ross.

The fortis stops /pʰ, t̪ʰ, tʲʰ, kʲʰ, kʰ/ are voiceless and aspirated; this aspiration occurs as postaspiration in initial position and, in most dialects, as preaspiration in medial position after stressed vowels.[9] Similar to the manifestation of aspiration, the slender consonants have a palatal offglide when initial and a palatal onglide when medial or final.[10]

The approximate distribution of preaspiration in Gaelic dialects

Preaspiration varies in strength and can manifest as glottal ([ʰ] or [h]) or can vary depending on the place of articulation of the preaspirated consonant; being [ç] before "slender" segments and [x] before "broad" ones.[11] The occurrence of preaspiration follows a hierarchy of c > t > p; i.e. if a dialect has preaspiration with /pʰ/, it will also have it in the other places of articulation. Preaspiration manifests itself as follows:[7]

• Area 1 as [xk xt xp] and [çkʲ çtʲ çp]
• Area 2 as [xk xt hp] and [çkʲ çtʲ hp]
• Area 3 as [xk ht hp] and [çkʲ htʲ hp]
• Area 4 as [ʰk ʰt ʰp]
• Area 5 as [xk] and [çkʲ] (no preaspiration of t and p)
• Area 6 no preaspiration

Lack of preaspiration coincides with full voicing of the unaspirated stops. Area 6 dialects in effect largely retain the Middle Irish stops, as has Manx and Irish.

In some Gaelic dialects (particularly the north-west), stops at the beginning of a stressed syllable become voiced when they follow nasal consonants of the definite article, for example: taigh ('a house') is [t̪ʰɤj] but an taigh ('the house') is [ən̪ˠ d̪⁽ʱ⁾ɤj]; cf. also tombaca ('tobacco') [t̪ʰomˈbaʰkə]. In such dialects, the lenis stops /p, t, tʲ, kʲ, k/ tend to be completely nasalised, thus doras ('a door') is [t̪ɔrəs], but an doras ('the door') is [ə n̪ˠɔrəs].[12] This is similar to eclipsis in Classical Gaelic and Irish, but not identical as it only occurs when a nasal is phonetically present whereas eclipsis in Classical Gaelic and Irish may occur in positions following a historic (but no longer present) nasal.[13]

The voicing of voiceless aspirated stops and the nasalisation of the unaspirated (voiced) stops occurs after the preposition an/am ('in'), an/am ('their'), the interrogative particle an and a few other such particles and occasionally, after any word ending in a nasal e.g. a bheil thu a' faighinn cus? as [ɡʱus] rather than [kʰus].

In southern Hebridean dialects, the nasal optionally drops out entirely before a consonant, including plosives.[14]

The lenited consonants have special pronunciations.

Lenition changes[15]

Radical			Lenited
Broad	Slender	Orthography		Broad	Slender
[p]	[pj][16]	b	bh	[v]	[vj][16]
[kʰ]	[kʲʰ]	c	ch	[x]	[ç]
[t̪]	[tʲ]	d	dh	[ɣ]	[ʝ]
[f]	[fj][16]	f	fh	silent
[k]	[kʲ]	g	gh	[ɣ]	[ʝ]
[l̪ˠ]	[ʎ]	l†		[l̪ˠ]	[l̪]
[m]	[mj][16]	m	mh	[v]	[vj]
[n̪ˠ]	[ɲ]	n†		[n]
[pʰ]	[pʰj][16]	p	ph	[f]	[fj][16]
[rˠ]		r†		[ɾ]
[s̪]	[ʃ]	s	sh	[h]	[hj][16]
[t̪ʰ]	[tʲʰ]	t	th	[h]	[hj][16]

^† Lenition of initial l n r is not shown in writing. Word initially, these are always assumed to have the strong values (/(l̪ˠ) ʎ n̪ˠ ɲ rˠ/) unless they are in a leniting environment or unless they belong to a small and clearly defined group of particle (mostly the forms of the prepositions ri and le). Elsewhere, any of the realisations of l n r may occur; [l̪ˠ] is lenitable only in Harris Gaelic which retains the fourth l-sound [l̪].

The /s̪/ is not lenited when it appears before /m p t̪ k/. Lenition may be blocked when homorganic consonants (i.e. those made at the same place of articulation) clash with grammatical lenition rules. Some of these rules are active (particularly with dentals), others have become fossilised (i.e. velars and labials). For example, blocked lenition in the surname Caimbeul ('Campbell') (vs Camshron 'Cameron') is an incident of fossilised blocked lenition; blocked lenition in air an taigh salach "on the dirty house" (vs air a' bhalach mhath 'on the good boy') is an example of the productive lenition blocking rule.

The regular verbal noun suffix, written <(e)adh>, has several pronunciations.

• Area 1: [əɣ] (as expected from the spelling)
• Area 2: [ək]
• Area 3: [əv]
• Area 4: no suffix
• Area 5: [ʊ]
• Area 6 is characterized by a high level of variation both between words and adjacent informants

The verbal noun suffix in sgrìobadh

For some words it is possible to resolve the indeterminate area, for example with the verb sgrìobadh ("scraping"):

• Area 1: [əɣ] (as expected from the spelling)
• Area 2: [ək]
• Area 3: [əv]
• Area 4: no suffix
• Area 5: [ʊ]
• Area 6: [ə]