Pronunciation Guide
Searles
searles@summerlands.com
Wed Dec  1 11:57:02 1999
Here's a guide to pronunciation that I wrote for The Henge of Keltria _Book of Ritual_ as well as my own book _Ogham Divination_.*p*A Pronunciation Guide for Irish and Welsh Deity Names*p*I was asked to provide pronunciations for the deity names used in the Keltria Book of Ritual. Realizing that there are many ways to pronounce these names, I asked a variety of persons interested in Celtic matters (and fluent in the Celtic languages) to give me their own ideas and Suggestions as to the proper pronunciations. I also used their examples to correct and augment my own approach to these pronunciations. Alexei Kondratiev, Clinton Moreland- Stringham (Kinrowan), Ffred Clegg, and Kathryn F. Hinds graciously provided me with Suggestions, pointers, and alternative Spellings, as well as their own pronunciations to use in this effort. Their contributions are respectively indicated in the text that follows by: (AK), (CM- S), (FC) and (KF S) . The first Set of names and pronunciations (presented in boldface type) are my own contributions to the list. In a few instances, the pronunciation has changed over the years. The Middle Irish, as well as the Modern Irish variations are given for each deity name if there is a difference. I have also included Some very general guidelines to Modern Irish and Welsh pronunciations.*p*The Dagda (an DAGH-dha)*br*In mediaeval pronunciation, an DAGH-dha, with the “gh” a voiced guttural aspirant, and ‘dh’ representing the voiced “th” of “then.”(AK)*p*un DAHG-duh (CM- S)*br*Bridget (BREEJ-it)(Brighid, Bríd) (BREEJ-id, BREEJ)*br*Mediaeval form “Brigit’ pronounced “BREE-ghij” (or later “BREE-yij”); modern form ‘Bríd’ pronounced “BREEJ.” (AK)*p*Brighid/Bride: BREEJ or BREED (CM- S)*p*In Welsh - Ffraid (horrible to relate, it’s probably pronounced*br*“fried” in English!) (FC)*p*Angus mac n’Og (AHNG-us mak-NOG)(Oenghus, Mac ind Oic) (ENN-is, MAK en-NOG)*br*The first vowel of ‘Oengus’ is a Sound that doesn’t exist in English (the ‘barred i’ of phonetics: basically like “EE” but with the throat open instead of constricted). The Anglicized form “Ennis” gives an approximation of the pronunciation. (AK)*p*AHNG-gus MAK ind OK (CM- S)*p*Bóann (BO-an)(Bóand, Bóannan) (BO-an, BO-awnan) *p*(The pronunciations for Bóann were all very close.)*p*Bíle (BEE luh)(Bel, Beli, Belenos) (BELL, BEL-eh, BELL-eh-noz)*br*‘Bile’ is “BEE-luh.” Most people Say “BELL-eh-noz,” but the real pronunciation was almost certainly “Bell-EH-nos.” (AK)*p*Danu (DAHN-oo)*br*In Welsh Do^n (pronounced as written) (FC)*br*Don (DOHN) (KFH)*br*Lugh (LOO)*p*In Welsh: Lleu (pronounced “hley” where hl represents the Welsh “ll”) (FC)*p*Lleu Llaw Gyffes (TLAY-ee TLAH-oo GUH-fehs) [some people Say that the “ll”*br*is better pronounced by forming the H Sound instead of the T Sound beforethe L Sound] (KFH)*p*The Morrigan (an MOHR-ree-ghan)*br*Mediaeval: “an MOR-REE-ghan.” Modern: “an MOR-reen.” (AK)*p*un MOHR-ee-gahn (CM- S)*p*Gobniu (GOHV-noo)*br*GOV-nyu. (AK)*br*In Welsh: Gofannon (goVanon) (FC)*br*Gofannon (goh-VAHN-nohn) (KFH)*p*Manannan Mac Lir (MAWN-an-nan mak-LEAR)*br*InWelsh: Manawydan (as Spelt with an “i” for the “y”) (FC)*br*Manawydan (mah-nah-OOIH-dahn) (KFH)*br*Diancecht (dee-an-KEKHT, je-an-KEKHT)*br*Modern: Jee-an KYEKHT. (AK)*p*DYAN-kext (x being the ‘ch’ in loch), JAN-kext (CM- S)*p*Nuada (NOO-ahda)*p*Mediaeval: NOO-a-dha (soft th). Modern: NOO-a or NOO-agh. (AK)*p*Ogma (OG-ma)*br*Oghma (OWE-ma)*p*(Everyone generally agreed on these pronunciations for Ogma)*br* *br*Some Tips on Pronouncing Names in Irish *br*(by Searles O’Dubhain)*p*The letter C is always pronounced as a hard “K” Sound (especially before “broad” vowels like a, o, u). When it precedes a “slender” vowel like i and e, it Sometimes takes on a KY Sound. The letter T Sounds like English Soft “ch” when it precedes a Slender vowel (the word for fire is tine, pronounced “chini”). When T precedes a broad vowel, it Sounds exactly like English “t.” If T is aspirated (has an h following it), it Sounds like an English “h” (Tomás is pronounced Thomas but “a Thomáis” is pronounced “a Homish”). The letter D is Similar to T in its variations. D before broad vowels is just like English “d” but D before a Slender vowel takes on a “j” Sound (see Diancecht above). If D is aspirated, it can also take on a “y” Sound. In older times, these variations of T and D were not present but are definitely the modern (and common) usage. *p*Combinations of consonants (such as BH and MH) Sometimes Sound like English “w” or “v” depending on the dialect. My own name of O’Dubhain can be pronounced O DUH-van or O DOO -wan depending on the regional dialect. Another good example of this is the name Samhain, which can be pronounced as SOW-in or SAHV-in. GH can take on a very “breathy” Sound when aspirated and PH Sounds more like English “f.”*p*L can Sound like English “l” when preceding a broad vowel like “o” or it can Sound like a “y” if preceding a Slender vowel (especially at the beginning of a word). LL Sounds very much like the “ll” in million. R is fairly well behaved, though it can rumble a bit, especially when doubled. N is also pretty much like English “n” except when doubled. It then can Sound like it has a “ya” Sound appended to it. (Brúgh na Bóinne is pronounced “BREW na BO-in-yeh). This is especially true for cases where “n” precedes a Slender vowel.*p*The vowels in Irish follow the Standard European practice and can be both Short and long (even while “broad” or “slender”). A is like the English Short “a” when Short in Irish, but more like English “aw” when it is long. O generally Sounds like an English “o” in most cases. U is like English “u” when Short but more like “oo” (as in moon) when long. E is pronounced like English “ay” when long. The letter I is Similar to “ee” (as in See). The lengthening of vowels is accomplished with an accent mark called a “fada.” This usually means that their Sounds are Stretched out in pronouncing a word. If in doubt about an ending in Irish involving the letter e and a consonant, I always use an “eh” or “uh” Sound. Remember, there are many ways to pronounce Irish and Somewhere, Sometime, your way may just have been the correct way! *p*I have also included Kathyrn F. Hinds’s list of additional Welsh deity names, as well as her brief guideline to Welsh pronunciation in the following paragraphs for those of you that wish to use Cymreig in your rituals.*p*Additional Welsh Deity Names*br*(furnished by Kathryn F. Hinds)*p*Amaethon (ah-MY-thohn)*br*Arawn (AH-rown)*br*Arianrhod (ah-ree-AHN-rhohd)*br*Blodeuwedd (blo-DOY-wedh) [dh=th as in “them”]*br*Bran (BRAHN)*br*Branwen (BRAHN-ooen)*br*Ceridwen (keh-RID-ooen)*br*Cigfa (KIG-vah)*br*Dylan (DIH-lahn) [the y Sound is actually between “ih” and “uh”—think one and Say the other, and you’ll usually get the Sound right]*br*Goewin (goh-AY-win)*br*Gwawl (GOOAWL)*br*Gwydion (gooih-DEE-uhn)*br*Gwyn ap Nudd (GOOIN ap NEEDH)*br*Hafgan (HAHV-gahn)*br*Lludd Llaw Ereint (TLEEDH TLAH-oo EH-raint) [the diphthong in that last Syllable is Sort of a cross between long A and long I]*br*Llyr (TLIR)*br*Math ap Mathonwy (MAHTH ap mah-THOHN-ooee)*br*Pryderi (prih-DEH-ree)*br*Pwyll (POOITH)*br*Rhiannon (rhee-AHN-nohn)*br*Taliesin (tal-ee-AY-sin)*p*Tips on Welsh Pronunciations(from Kathryn F. Hinds)*p*I’m afraid that Some of the above pronunciations are very approximate—difficult to write them accurately without using a phonetic alphabet—but they Should give a pretty good idea. Remember that R (unless followed by H) is always rolled or trilled and that all vowel Sounds are pure (as in Latin or, I believe, Italian)--that is, pronounced without diphthongs; diphthongs are always written out. W is a vowel, pronounced “oo,” but when it precedes another vowel as part of a diphthong it usually ends up Sounding pretty much like a conventional English W. DD is always pronounced like TH in “them”; TH is always pronounced as in “thin”; F is always pronounced V (but FF is pronounced F); C is always pronounced K; CH is always pronounced as in Bach (the composer); and S is never pronounced Z.*p*Hope you’ll find this of use; on matters Cymreig, I’m always glad to be of whatever Service I can.*p*Bendithion helaeth,*p*Kathryn F. Hinds*br*