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Just variations in accent - you also get "th" for a final "r". All are "correct". I'm not sure that I could tie down the variations to particular localities. Skye folk say the Lewis accent is awful and Mull folk say the Skye accent is awful and ...
Alan
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 Originally Posted by neloon
Just variations in accent - you also get "th" for a final "r". All are "correct". I'm not sure that I could tie down the variations to particular localities. Skye folk say the Lewis accent is awful and Mull folk say the Skye accent is awful and ...
Alan
Thank you...I figured it would be something like that. Any idea how would a Highland accent handle the final "r"?
DWFII--Traditionalist and Auld Crabbit
In the Highlands of Central Oregon
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Originally Posted by DWFII
Thank you...I figured it would be something like that. Any idea how would a Highland accent handle the final "r"?
Frankly there are so few native speakers on the mainland that an opinion would be difficult.
Alan
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23rd July 16, 06:48 PM
#4
For all it's worth DWFII, my Gaelic teacher does the same thing. She was from Barra and the final 'r' is closer to the 'th' sound of 'the' than an English sounding 'r'. The farther up the island chain you go, the more the final 'r' sounds like the English 'r' so be ready for any AND all the above. And to really throw a spanner into the works, sometimes you'll even hear something like 'sh' in the final position too. The only advise is to voice each word with all the different sounds you know of. That way you'll be ready for it the next time you hear it.
Slàinte,
Jon
Only 9 notes. How hard could it be?
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24th July 16, 05:08 PM
#5
Yes my old teacher would pronounce muir as 'mooth' more or less.
When you say "approaches English 'r'" that opens a can of worms.
I'm assuming you mean the flapped 'r' of some dialects rather than the retroflex 'r' of American English. I'm told that a retroflex 'r' is quite rare in the languages of the world.
When you say that fear becomes "fet" I'm guessing what you're hearing is a final flapped 'r'.
The final 'r' becoming "th" is a slender 'r' thing, no? Or would it affect broad and slender?
Last edited by OC Richard; 24th July 16 at 05:13 PM.
Proud Mountaineer from the Highlands of West Virginia; son of the Revolution and Civil War; first Europeans on the Guyandotte
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24th July 16, 05:36 PM
#6
Originally Posted by OC Richard
Yes my old teacher would pronounce muir as 'mooth' more or less.
When you say "approaches English 'r'" that opens a can of worms.
I'm assuming you mean the flapped 'r' of some dialects rather than the retroflex 'r' of American English. I'm told that a retroflex 'r' is quite rare in the languages of the world.
When you say that fear becomes "fet" I'm guessing what you're hearing is a final flapped 'r'.
The final 'r' becoming "th" is a slender 'r' thing, no? Or would it affect broad and slender?
Well, I'm not a Gaelic speaker nor have I taken any formal lessons. But here is the one source on the 'Net that I rely on. This link brings you to the dictionary (there's also online lessons, even a thesaurus) with audio.
I've linked to a "look-up" for seanair (grandfather...I have a new grand-daughter--Fionaghal) and the native Gaelic speaker pronounces it with a distinct "d" sound--"sheh-ned". Fear...as in "fear an taighe"...is pronounced "fedt, and even the "r" in feileadh-mor is pronounced with a "d" sound. " Similarly athair, brathair and many others.
On the dictionary site, I actually haven't run across any word ending in "r" that wasn't pronounced with a "d" or "dt" sound.
It's confusing and maybe unique. I don't think I've run across any Irish Gaelic that transforms the "r" so completely, either.
Last edited by DWFII; 24th July 16 at 05:38 PM.
DWFII--Traditionalist and Auld Crabbit
In the Highlands of Central Oregon
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