Dia duit. I came across this site while searching for relevant sites to link to from my Driscolls of Canada web site and I've been reading through the forum for three days straight now! While I have only just learned a few basic Irish phrases to date, so many of you - Aonghus, Alec, Fintan, James, Larry, Seosamh, and many others too numerous to mention, have, with your generosity of spirit and sheer wealth of knowledge, inspired me to put a much stronger effort into my Irish education before my next trip to Baltimore, Co. Cork in June. My Irish "cousins" in the area almost all speak Irish on a daily basis and I'm ashamed to say that on my last visit I knew no phrases at all. Is the "dialect" in the Baltimore area close enough to what I have been learning through this and other sites to keep me from inadvertenetly offending someone unintentionally with my meagre attempts to communicate with them this year?
Thanks again for such a wondefully inspiring forum!

Le meas
- Marilyn

I seem to recall there's a Gaeltacht in the west of Cork, but I'm not sure about the dialect spoken there. A long time contributor, O.G. would probably know that, but we seem to have lost him.

Cá bhfuil Oilibhéar?

Thank you Brannigan. I thought I had posted a response but it didn't show up so I'll try again. If it gets in here twice - please forgive a "newbie" such as myself - I am a work in progress!

I only know that, in the summer, they have Irish instruction on Oileán Chléire (Cape Clear island) and that a large proportion of the people in the Baltimore area speak both English and Irish (whatever the dialect). At our Clan Gathering each year our Clan Chieftain makes every effort to use both languages in his addresses to clann members and in our activities for the weekend. Not that I can yet understand the Irish portion but - not to be discouraged, I plod on!

I do have a question of pronunciation that someone will hopefully clear up for me. I often see, when the vowel sounds are explained, the following:
o = u as in thumb, ó = o as in row

Well, as a Canadian, English and Fench speaking individual, I would like to know if they mean "row" as in " I will row the boat" or as in "I had a row with my boyfriend last night." thanks for any clarification you can give me.

Le meas
- Marilyn

Excusez! If I could spell the word "French" in English I might look a little more intelligent! Must proofread more carefully!

- Marilyn (not as dumb as she sounds) Driscoll

a = 'a' as in "dad" "sad".
o = 'o' as in "tot" "pot". It's like a shortened version of 'á'.
u = 'oo' 'u' as in "good" "dud" "mud" "hood"
i = 'i' as in "in" "bin" "kin" "sin" "tin"
e = 'e' as in "tElevision" "test" "best"

á = 'aw' as in "paw" "saw "hawk" "talk" "walk"
ó = 'o' as in "go" "mow" "row" "show" "low"
ú = 'oo' as in "poo" "do" "you" "goo" "sue"
í = 'y' or 'ie' as in "goodie" "badly" "many" "daddy"
é = "ay" as in "day" "say" "gay"

-Phil

Thank you very much Phil. Now I've got them straight. I'm very new at this(obviously) and am grateful to have people such as yourself to turn to in these early days. Thank you again.

- Marilyn

odriscoll,

About (in Canada that might be aboot) that row row thing, there's nothing like being immersed to get past this pronunciation problem.

However, chances are that an á followed by an aspirated consonant "sábháilteacht" will be phonetically spelled sow awl chuckt. That 'ow' rhymes with 'cow.'

On the other hand, if you see something like "ceol" spelt 'kowl,' the 'ow' rhymes with hole.

You'll also discover different pronunciations in different regions of the country. Which brings us back to the need for some immersion.

Stay with it. It gets easier.

Daibhí

Thank you Daibhí for those words of encouragement. I'm sure I'll think back on them often over the next months and years! However, about the "aboot" thing - I did chuckle over it by the way. It is not an offensive comment but rather makes many of us curious as to how this misconception got started. We, on the East Coast, have never heard it pronounced this way in Canada and, Heaven knows, we have a great variety of pronunciations across this country. Eastern Canada is very much Celtic influenced (if you hear a Newfoundlander speak, you would swear you were back in Ireland. ) Nova Scotia is, obviously, more connected to their Scottish roots. New Brunswick was settled by the English, French, and a smattering of Irish and Prince Edward Island was settled by the English and Irish with a little French. Then you move across the country trhough Quebec (French) Ontario ( who can be sure - it is truly Canada's melting pot), and into the western provinces which were settled greatly by Ukranians, Polish, Germans etc. until you reach British Columbia where people talk with a decidedly British accent but where Asians coming over, mostly from China, are becoming a great proportion of the population. So -- back to my original question - any of the Americans out there know which part of my country is typically known for "aboot" instead of "about?" I am serious in my question as the differenet dialects across the country interest me a great deal but have yet to stumble across the one you mention. Thanks for any insight you can give!

Le meas

- Marilyn

Marilyn,

I think it's Peter Jennings who is an American newscaster of Canadian descent. Listen to him. I was exaggerating with the aboot bit, but I do pick up an "abote" where a Philadelphian says "abowt."

Thank you Daibhí. I'll continue to keep my ears open. I know that often we in Canada find the accent found in parts of Minnesota to be similar to ours.

- Marilyn

Marilyn,

I think I may have found an answer to the "aboot" issue. I've often been told by my american colleagues that I pronounce about as "aboot". As you know, to our fine tuned Canadian ears ;-) it sounds nothing as extreme as that.

Check this out:
http://www.yorku.ca/twainweb/troberts/raising.html

Le meas,
Canuck

Thanks Canuck but, I do seem to have a facility for the different sounds in different languages (especially those where a change in sound can mean a totally different word) and I can't say that it's a sound I hear frequently. I tried a little experiment with a good number of people around here and we seem to say "abowt". But I see by your address that you're at York University so, maybe it's a central Canada thing which would explain Peter Jennings and also the wide spread belief that it's the Canadian way of pronouncing it (instead of ONE of the ways some Canadians pronounce it) since the population of Central Canada far outnumbers the rest of us - especially here in the east. I guess it would be like Canadians believing that all Americans spoke like Texans of Southern Gerogians if that was what we were consistently exposed to.;)

Le meas

-Marilyn

I also say "Aboot", but then again I'm Scottish! ;-)

What about the up-market British who say "abite?" Incidentally, "abite" crops up in the speech of some eastern Virginians in the States. No wonder Aonghus eschews phonetic spelling. You need a color coded map and a Henry Higgins handbook to make sense of it.

Slán, a chairde.
D.