Spoken Irish

Subject: Spoken Irish
From: Dragonmom
Date: 04 Jul 02 - 02:00 PM

Can anyone tell me how to say Sidhe, phonetically? Thanks, Martha

Subject: RE: Spoken Irish
From: Big Mick
Date: 04 Jul 02 - 02:05 PM

Sheve would be a fair pronounciation.

Subject: RE: Spoken Irish
From: Emma B
Date: 04 Jul 02 - 03:10 PM

The Bean Sidhe (lit the woman fairy) is usually written as the banshee (the d when followed by h is usually not prononced as in ceilidh, bodhran etc. . .)

Subject: RE: Spoken Irish
From: MartinRyan
Date: 04 Jul 02 - 03:13 PM

What was the context for the word? Looks like an old speling of a word for "fairy" - which would be pronounced "she", basically.

Regards

Subject: RE: Spoken Irish
From: weepiper
Date: 04 Jul 02 - 03:40 PM

Sidhe is how you spell it in Scottish Gaelic, and yeah, 'shee' is close enough.

Subject: RE: Spoken Irish
From: mack/misophist
Date: 04 Jul 02 - 05:12 PM

Like written Thibetan, written Gaelic is almost a sacred language. The philology boffins claim it was once pronounced as it's spelled.

Subject: RE: Spoken Irish
From: GUEST,JTT
Date: 04 Jul 02 - 05:20 PM

Shee is close. The Irish sound for "sh" is made differently from the English one; in Irish the sound is made with the tongue pointed forward near the front teeth, while the English "sh" is made with the tongue flattened and the teeth close together - the Irish one is nearer "sss", and yet is identifiably a "sh" sound.

Similarly, the English "ee" sound is also made with the tongue relaxed and fairly flat in the mouth, while the Irish sound is more forward in the mouth.

But hell, everyone will understand you if you say "shee". That's all that matters in the first place.

One of the things that's killing Irish is that everyone expects to be perfect straight away, so there's no "shaping" of one's skills from a basic skill towards a greater one.

My advice to you is say "shee" and let anyone who objects do the other thing.

Subject: RE: Spoken Irish
From: GUEST,Dragonmom
Date: 04 Jul 02 - 08:16 PM

Thank all of you so much! I love to hear it spoken and sometimes I really would like to learn it. But, I still have problems with English. Thanks again, Martha

Subject: RE: Spoken Irish
From: Mr Happy
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 05:15 AM

sheesh!

Subject: RE: Spoken Irish
From: GUEST,Dragonmom
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 05:54 AM

HAAA! Thanks Mr. Happy