The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Old Irish pronunciations in Wiktionary entries.
See w:Old Irish language § Phonology for detailed discussion of the phonology of Old Irish.
Some details of Old Irish phonetics are not known. /f/, /v/, and /ṽ/ (and their palatalized equivalents) may have been bilabial , , and rather than labiodental , , and . /sʲ/ may have been pronounced or , as in modern Irish. /hʲ/ may have been the same sound as /h/ and/or /xʲ/. The vowels /i/ and /e/ may have had backed allophones like and when they were preceded by a plain consonant (which happened only in unstressed syllables).
The precise articulation of the fortis sonorants /n͈/, /n͈ʲ/, /l͈/, /l͈ʲ/, /r͈/, /r͈ʲ/ is unknown, but they were probably longer, tenser, and generally more strongly articulated than their lenis counterparts /n/, /nʲ/, /l/, /lʲ/, /r/, /rʲ/, as in the Modern Irish dialects (e.g. Connacht Irish) that still possess a four-way distinction in the coronal nasals and laterals. /n͈ʲ/ and /l͈ʲ/ may have been pronounced and respectively. The difference between /r͈(ʲ)/ and /r(ʲ)/ may have been that the former were trills while the latter were flaps.
| Consonants | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plain | Palatalized | English approximations | |||
| IPA | Example | IPA | Example | ||
| b | bó | bʲ | bél | boot; beautiful | |
| d | daimid | dʲ | derg | do (but dental), dew | |
| ð | adarc, nád | ðʲ | buide | though; bathe you | |
| f | fuil phóc |
fʲ | fín phersan |
fool; fuel | |
| ɡ | gaibid | ɡʲ | gér | goose; argue | |
| ɣ | ag | ɣʲ | aig | (no equivalent) | |
| h | a ṡúil ‘his eye’ a athair ‘her father’ (not written) |
hʲ | a ṡéitig ‘his wife’ a iasc ‘her fish’ (not written) |
hand; hew | |
| k | caraid | kʲ | ceist | coot; cute | |
| l͈ | lár, ball | l͈ʲ | lebor, céille | filth; million | |
| l | ḟlaith, colainn | lʲ | ḟlesc, gaile | pool; leaf | |
| m | mór | mʲ | milis | moot; mute | |
| n͈ | nóeb, ennac | n͈ʲ | nél, fírinne | tenth; inch | |
| n | gonaid | nʲ | fíne | noon; new | |
| ŋ | ngaibid | ŋʲ | ngér | long; angular | |
| p | póc | pʲ | persan | poor; pure | |
| r͈ | rún, berraid | r͈ʲ | rí, airrecht | rule (but trilled); real (but trilled) | |
| r | beraid | rʲ | beirid | rule (but tapped); real (but tapped) | |
| s | sacart | sʲ | sen | soon; bless you or possibly sheet | |
| t | tarb | tʲ | tír | tool (but dental); tune | |
| θ | tharb | θʲ | thír | thorn; birth you | |
| v | aball | vʲ | gaibid | voodoo; view | |
| ṽ | demon | ṽʲ | cnáim | (no equivalent; like /v/ and /vʲ/ but nasalized) | |
| x | charaid | xʲ | cheist | loch (Scottish English); hue (pronounced strongly) | |
| Vowels | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| IPA | Examples | English approximation | |
| Monophthongs | |||
| a | banb | pot (General American) | |
| aː | bás | father | |
| e | bein | best | |
| eː | bél | pay | |
| i | bith | kit | |
| iː | mí | meet | |
| o | bocc | cloth | |
| oː | bó | boat | |
| u | cullach | good | |
| uː | cúl | too | |
| Short diphthongs | |||
| au̯ | daum | house | |
| eu̯ | neuch | (no equivalent; a bit like coat in very posh RP) | |
| iu̯ | do·biur | (no equivalent) | |
| Long diphthongs | |||
| aːi̯ | áes | prize | |
| aːu̯ | dáu | loud | |
| eːu̯ | béo | stay with | |
| iːa̯ | cíall | fear (nonrhotic accent) | |
| iːu̯ | díummus | be with | |
| oːi̯ | cóem | void | |
| oːu̯ | bóu | go with | |
| uːa̯ | cúan | tour (nonrhotic accent) | |
| uːi̯ | druí | do it (but compressed into a single syllable) | |
| Supersegmentals | ||
|---|---|---|
| IPA | Explanation | |
| ˈ | Primary stress (placed before the stressed syllable) | |
| ˌ | Secondary stress (usually found only in compounds) | |