Pronunciation of written characters

A rough summary of the pronunciation of vowels and consonants in Rathlin Irish, according to Holmer's pronunciation transcription

Vowel	Pronunciation
a, á, ái, eá, eái	[a] Short, stressed [ɔ] in certain words [o] often before ‘bh’ [E] often before ‘dh’, ‘gh’ [a:] Long, stressed [ə] unaccented
ae	[Ei] [ai] in cunntae [kʎntai], [kʎndai]
ai	[a] [ɛ (E)] [i] or [ɛ] when unstressed
ao, aoi	[E:] usually [ö, ʎ] Lower End [I:] sometimes, usually beside a nasal [ʎ, I] when shortened
e, ei	[e] [ɛ] for ‘ei’ after ‘r’ [ɛ, ʎ, I] before r, [E] after a broad consonant
é, éi	[e:] usually [ɛ:] sometimes [ɛ] ‘éi’ in front of ‘dh’
ea, eai	[a] [ɛ] often [e] Lower End, in front of ‘g’ [ɛ, a] Upper End, in front of ‘g’ [E, e] sometimes, in front of ‘g’ [o] ‘ea’ in front of ‘bh’ [ɛ, e] ‘ea’ before ‘dh’, ‘gh’, ‘th’ [e:] always before ‘d’ and ‘s’ [ɛ:] ‘ea’, before final ‘rr’ [ɛ] ‘ea’ before r + consonant [a:] ‘ea’ before ‘nn’ or ‘ll’ [ɛ, a, ə] ‘ea’ unstressed
éa	[ɛ:, ɛə] [e:] sometimes before d or g [ɛ] before a double consonant
eo, eói	[o] [a] in ‘-eog’ [ag] [ɛ, a, ə] in ‘-eoir’ [ɛr, ar, ər]
eó, eoi	[ɔ:]
i	[i] [i, I, ɛ, ʎ]  in ‘sin’ [ʃin, ʃIn, ʃɛn, ʃʎn] [ɛ] after ‘r’ [ə] slurred in unstressed position
í, ío	[i:] mostly [e:] contracted
io	[ɛ] normally, initially [jɛ] from [E] [ö] Lower End [ʎ, I] ‘io’ before ‘c’, ‘d’, ‘t’, ‘s’, ‘m’
ia	[ia, iə, iɛ, je:] [ɛ] shortened
o	[ɔ, o] [ʎ] in front of ‘r’ [ɔ:, o:] in front of final ‘ll’, ‘nn’, ‘rr’ and ‘m’ [ɔ] unstressed
ó, ói	[ɔ:] [o:] only in ‘mór’ [mo:r]  and ‘móran’ [mo:ran]
oi	[ɔ] in coineog [kɔn’ag], coinfheascar [kɔn’əskər], scoil [skɔl], toil [tɔl] etc. [o] in coisigh [koʃi], cois [koʃ], coire [kor’ə], loiscte [loʃt’ə] etc. [I] in anois [ə nIʃ] [E, ɛ] in most other cases [Ei] before ‘ll’ and ‘nn’ [ɛ, ə] in ‘-oir’ [ɛr, ər]
u, iu	[ʎ] mostly [I] alternatively [u] often before ‘ch’ [ʎ:] in front of ‘nn’
ú, úi, iú, iúi	[ʎ: (u:)] [jʎ:] ‘iú’ initially [I] shortened in unstressed position
ui	[ʎ] usually [I] sometimes [E, a] especially upper end [ʎ:] in front of ‘nn’
ua, uai	[ʎa, ʎə] [ʎɛ] often ‘uai’ [ɔ] ‘ua’ unstressed

 

Consonant	Pronunciation
b, bp	[b] before most vowels & most consonants [b’] before ea, eo, io, iu; except [e, E, i, I] [b’, bj] in front of io [ɛ]
bh, bhf	[v] before most vowels & most consonants [v’] before ea, eo, io, iu; except [e, E, i, I] [v’, vj] in front of io [ɛ] [ṽ, m] ‘bhf’ after n
c	[k’] beside ‘e’, ‘i’, slender consonant [k] other cases
ch	[ç] beside ‘e’, ‘i', slender consonant [x] other cases [h] frequently
d, dt	[ʤ] e, i, slender consonant [d] other cases [d’] older, sometimes present [t] unstressed
dh, gh	[ɣ] before a, o u, consonant [j] before or after e, i [g] or quiescent after a, o u
f	[f] efore most vowels & most consonants [f’] before ea, eo, io, iu; except [e, E, i, I] [f, fj] in front of io [ɛ]
fh	[h] in fhéin [he:n], fhé [he:] Otherwise silent
g, gc	[g’] beside ‘e’, ‘i’, slender consonant [g] other cases [c] unvoiced in unstressed position, especially between vowels
h	[h] usually [ç, j] before ‘ea’, ‘eo’, ‘io’
l	[l, ł, ɳ] beside a, o, u [l’] beside e, i [l’] before ‘ea’, ‘eo’, ‘io’, ‘iu’; between slender vowels; after ‘ái’, éi’, í, ói, úi [l] mostly all cases
m	[m] before most vowels & most consonants [m’] before ‘ea’, ‘eo’, ‘io’, ‘iu’; except [e, E, i, I] [m’, mj] in front of ‘io’ [ɛ]
mh	[v] before most vowels & most consonants [v’] before ‘ea’, ‘eo’, ‘io’, ‘iu’; except [e, E, i, I] [v’, vj] in front of ‘io’ [ɛ] [m] sometimes [ṽ] after a broad vowel [w, u] sometimes
n	[n] slender [n’] broad [r] sometimes in front of m [ɳ] in front of c
ng	[ɣ] before a, o u, consonant [j] before or after e, i [g] or quiescent after a, o u
p	[p] before most vowels & most consonants [p’] before ea, eo, io, iu; except [e, E, i, I] [p’, pj] in front of io [ɛ]
ph	[f] before most vowels & most consonants [f’] before ea, eo, io, iu; except [e, E, i, I] [f’, fj] in front of io [ɛ]
r	[r] mostly [r’] uncommon – slender, before ‘ea’, ‘io’, ‘eo’, ‘iu’ [r̥] sometimes before a voiceless consonant, also ‘rth’, ‘thr’
s	[s] before and after ‘a’, ‘o’, ‘u’, broad consonant, before an initial consonant [ʃ] other cases [tʃ] after n, in some cases
sh	[h] [n̥] in ‘shn’ [l] in ‘shl’
t, t-sh	[tʃ] e, i, slender consonant [t] other cases [t’] only after [s] and [ʃ] [tr] in ‘t-shn’ [d:] sometimes in tu [dʎ]
th	[h, ç] Silent after a broad vowel [ç] after a slender vowel [r̥,r’] in ‘rth’, ‘thr’ [n̥, n̥’] in ‘thn’