I am working on an essay on the Irish vowel system and was wondering if anyone could provide me with a description of the Irish vowel system.

Ankelien, a chara,

Very briefly, Irish vowels can be said to fall into two categories - Long and Short.

A long vowel is indicated in writing by a "fada", such as á, é, í, ó and ú. A short vowel is indicated without the fada.

Within each of those two categories there are "broad" and "slender" vowels. "i" and "e" are known as slender vowels and "a", "o" and "u" are broad. As a general rule, the vowels on either immediate side of a consonant are either broad or slender but as with so many grammatical rules there are many exceptions

The "shape" of the vowel dictates its pronunciation but there are other students and natural speakers here who can provide you with more information on pronunciation. I try to avoid giving pronunciation details as we can start getting into the realms of accents and dialects, not to mention the dreaded IPA system, so I'll leave that to others but I hope that what I've just written has given you a brief introduction.

Le meas,

Larry.

http://www.verbix.com/languages/irish.shtml

Feach ar sin!

I would like to know how to speak i irish.

please any one.

Christina, a chara,

I suggest that you get hold of a simple, basic "teach yourself" type course with structured lessons and gradually work your way through it. Any questions you have, or if you find yourself struggling with what you're learning, come back to this board and ask. That's what we're all here for.

Le meas,

Larry.