Sorry, another total beginner's question.

I have two sound files before me. One calls for the pronunciaton of "ag" to be "uh" before a word beginning with a consonant, and as "egg" before a word beginning with a vowel.

The other pronounces "ag" as "egg" all the time no matter what.

It seems that if "ag" preceeds a present progressive verb, it's pronounced as "uh" before a verb beginning with a consonant, but I don't want to assume.

Is this the case? Or is this a regional thing? Or is the one program simply speaking "bookish" Irish?

Many thanks!

In irish one has what you may call 'pausa' and 'allegro' forms for words, that is, a pronouciation like one would have in the dictionary (isolate/pausa), and then different forms in speech that depend in how rapid speech is or other factors (allegro).

As far as I can see, no full outline of allego factors has ever been fully and holistically developed.


Here: http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/~oduibhin/sf/ you will see variances in the preposition pronounced before a verbal noun (what you call a present progressive verb, I think). In the dialect books there is a varience too.

As a rule of thumb, I personally find it more pleasing to the ear to use the removal of g as it makes the learner sound more serious (at learning) as they must switch between braod and slender in context, and a learner is less likely to do that. using 'uh' bypasses that issue before consonants.

Examples of verbal nouns:
ag ithe (eating) ag obair (working) ag éisteacht (listening) -- in each of these the "g" is clearly heard.

ag rith (running) ag briseadh (breaking) ag cur allais (perspiring) -- in these the "g" is written but not heard in speech.

"Ag" is pronounced "uh" or "ah" before consonants -- uh rith, a briseadh, a cur allais -- and "ug" or "egg" before vowels when used with the verbal noun although in this case it is mostly the "g" that is heard -- 'g ithe, 'g obair, 'g éisteacht. (Never write like that however unless you are trying to depict peculiar speech.)

But -- when "ag" is used as an ordinary simple preposition "ag an doras" - "at the door" it is always pronounced "egg" (or a sound close to it). "Ag doras an tí" -- "at the door of the house" etc.

These are examples to show you the pronounciation rule of "ag":

Tá mé ’g ól --> /taː mˈeː gɔːl/
Tá sibh ag ól ---> /taː sˈivˈ ə gɔːl/

Tá mé ’déanamh ---> /taː mˈeː dˈeːnəv/
Tá sibh a’ déanamh ---> /taː sˈivˈ ə dˈeːnəv/ (of course, tá and déanamh have other pronounciations according to the dialect)

So, the way you pronounce (or not) the "ag" depends on the preceding and on the following sound: vowel or consonant.

VOWEL 'g VOWEL
CONS. ag VOWEL
VOWEL ' CONS.
CONS. a' CONS.

The preposition that means "at" is pronounced /eg´/. But the "ag" that comes before verbal nouns isn't pronounced the same way:

in "tá sibh ag ól" and in "tá sibh ag déanamh", the "a" of "ag" is pronounced like a schwa: the [ə]-sound, as the "a" in the English word "alone".

A Lughaidh, a chara dhil,

Glacaim leis go bhfuil an International Phonetic Alphabet in úsáid agat sa teachtaireacht sin thuas ach ní fheicimse ach cearnóga beaga i ngach cás. An bhfuil leigheas agat dom? An féidir a rá le mo ríomhaire cad iad?

Taidhgín

Tá mé ’g ól --> /ta: m'e: go:l/
Tá sibh ag ól ---> /ta: s'iv' ə go:l/

Tá mé ’déanamh ---> /ta: m'e: d'e: nəv/
Tá sibh a’ déanamh ---> /ta: s'iv' ə d'e: nəv/

Tá mé ’g ól --> /ta: m'eː gɔːl/
Tá sibh ag ól ---> /taː sˈivˈ ə gɔːl/

Tá mé ’déanamh ---> /taː mˈeː dˈeːnəv/
Tá sibh a’ déanamh ---> /taː sˈivˈ ə dˈeːnəv/

the /o:/ here is another sound in Donegal

http://scripts.sil.org/cms/scripts/page.php?site_id=nrsi&item_id=Gentium_downloa d

Go down to the download bit on the page and one can get the font that makes the boxes menaingful

A Thaidhgín! Úsaid Firefox (má tá Windows agat)

Go raibh 1,000 maith agat, a Aonghuis