I just want to kind of throw this out there as a general discussion point.

1 - The English R (upper teeth on lower lip) is a sound that, to the best of my knowledge, is not a feature of other European languages. Yet Irish has it.

2 - Likewise, the short U sound as pronounced in English "nut" and Irish "cúpan" is not, I believe, pronounced with the "uh" sound in most other Euro languages - but there it is in English and Irish both.

Since English and Irish are not even members of the same language families, are these similarities due to English influence on Irish, or is it simply a strange coincidence? (Or am I drawing a false conclusion? - I don't speak every European language, obviously, so my observation may simply be incorrect.)

1. What What sort of R involves the lips? I think you are mistaken here. English r is either a lightly or strongly curled back tongue. Gaelic only has it since the latter half of the 20th century due to been swamped by English, mostly young natives, and learners. Remember, most people on RnaG are not natives now; even there, natives are in the minority. In its natural state, it could not accomodate the retroflex r, as it would not fit into the mutation system, of lenition or weak plurals. You can find people in Ulster and borders who dont use the English r much in their English speech, even as 'young' as 60 Y old, maybe a bit younger, perferring proper European rs (tap and trill)

"upper teeth on lower lip" that's labio-dental and relates to lip sounds. English sounds have pretty much replaced most f and vs and I'd say, made slender b and p less 'slender'. Lughaidh might know more about the distribution. I can still hear it in some old people, but not all, or fully

2. That two short u (which might not be the same exactly) are shared by the two languages, is hardly a great proof. I think I saw something that hardly any language lacks a u...Northern European lanaguges tend to prefer initial stress (apart for English with variable stress), so that the first u is clear is not surprising.


I don't know if I've answered your questions