So, two questions about séimhíu and the vocative case.

Lenition is always used with persons being addressed, right? Like if someone were thanking me..

"Go raibh maith agat, á Rhiann" ("Thanks, Ryan")

Is this right?

Second, what to do if someone has a name like Liam or Nuala. Would it be "Go raibh maith agat, á Lhiam" or "á Nhuala"? I'm under the impression that names with /l/ /n/ or /r/ never under go séimhíu though. So I'm a bit confused.

Go raibh maith agat,
Riann

In writing you NEVER lenite L,N,R also you don't need the fada on the ''a'' it is ''A Riann, ''A Liam'' and ''A Nuala''

To clarify, even though lenition is never written on l, n, and r, it is still heard in some varieties (such as Cois Fhairrge). This chart gives you dialect-specific details.

What difference is there between Corca Dhuibhne Irish to Muskerry Irish?

I don't know Corca Dhuibhne Irish well enough to say. One grammatical difference is that Muskerry still distinguishes de and do and these cause aspiration with the article like i rather than eclipsis as with most other prepositions (e.g. Muskerry den fhear vs. Corca Dhuibhne don bhfear).

What variety of Irish does Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill write in? I'm reading her poetry now and so could keep my eyes peeled for divergences from Muskerry usage.

"To clarify, even though lenition is never written on l, n, and r, it is still heard in some varieties"

A simple historical example would be to think of the two Spanish r sounds whose appearance could be conditioned by being strong 'rrrrrrrrr' or lenis 'r'. Same with strong L and N vs lenis l and n

Riann, A Chara:

I remember the rule for lenition and eclipsis this way.

To lenite is to soften as noted by the Irish word séimhíu and vowels never get lenited. To eclipse is to "overshadow" as in an eclipse of the sun or moon. The Irish word for this is Úru meaning "eclipse". This is what you see when there's a letter in front of the root word. Vowels never get eclipsed. An example of this would be "i gConai" where the "g" eclipses the "C" in pronunciation.

So, I keep all of this straight in my aging and feeble mind this way:

HaLoRaN was a hard man who could never be softened.

MS HaLoRaN was his sister and her beauty could never be eclipsed.

The bold letters represent the letters to which the rule applies. It's kind of corny but it helps me remember the execptions to eclipsing and leniting.

Now, with respect to the vocative. As a general rule the Vocative requires lenition on those consonants that can be lenited. However, there are vocative forms of some names that begin with vowels and I believe you just have to encounter them in order to learn them.

An bhfuil mé ceart, A Aonghuis?

I've heard that ''den'' and ''don'' only eclipse in Dún Chaoin, dunno if that is true though.

quote:

An bhfuil mé ceart, A Aonghuis?

Tá. Agus tá an cheart agat freisin!

Here's Ó Siadhail again:

quote:

A noteworthy internal difference in Munster is the fact that in Muskerry following the two prepositions do /də/ "to" and de /do/ "off", which combine with the article as don/den /dən/, lenition is the rule (though it is blocked by a following d, t, l, n, r), whereas in Dunquin eclipses is the rule following don/den /dən/. [Examples] On the other hand where 'on /ən/, the abbreviated form of don/den, is employed in Dunquin, lenition is the rule (though it is blocked by a following d, t, l, n, r. [Examples].

So this may well be a feature confined to Dún Chaoin.

Also, a couple of pronunciation differences occurred to me. I've been told that the lenition of /t/ after /l/ that is common in Muskerry (e.g. Bealtaine /ˈb'aulhin'i/) isn't found in other Munster dialects. Neither, according to Ó Siadhail, is the loss of /n/ before /r/, e.g. anró /auˈro:/, banríon /bauˈri:n/.

Go raibh maith agat a Dhomhaillín, caithfidh mé an leabhar sin a cheannach!

Agus seo ceann eile shuimiúil a d'fhoghlaim mé cúpla mí ó shin:

In Ring, if the noun begins with p or c lenition or eclipsis depends on whether the preposition ends in a vowel or a consonant.
Example ~

ar an bpáirc
den pháirc

An bhfuil eolais ag an leabhar sin fá chanúintí ó bhaile go baile in achan Ghaeltacht?

Níl. Tá aird Uí Siadhail ar na príomhchanúintibh agus ní thugann sé ach corrbharúlacha ar na cinn eile. Mar deir seisean sa réamhfhocal:

quote:

Within the major dialects of Donegal, Connacht and Munster, certain areas are focussed on: Gweedore in the case of Donegal, Cois Fhairrge and Erris in the case of Connacht and Dunquin in the case of Munster. The availability of information both from native speakers of these dialects and from the literature dictated this choice....Beside the concentration on those points, the focus is often widened in Donegal to include information from Teelin, in Connacht from Tourmakeady, and in Munster from Muskerry and occasionally Ring.