Irish initial mutations

A sign in the Irish language which displays the word "Caisleán" with initial mutation.

Irish, like all modern Celtic languages, is characterized by its initial consonant mutations. These mutations affect the initial consonant of a word under specific morphological and syntactic conditions. The mutations are an important tool in understanding the relationship between two words and can differentiate various meanings.

Irish uses two mutations on consonants: lenition (Irish: séimhiú) and eclipsis (urú). (The alternative names, aspiration for lenition and nasalisation for eclipsis, are also used, but those terms are a bit misleading.)

Originally these mutations were phonologically governed external sandhi effects: lenition was caused by a consonant between two vowels, and eclipsis by a sequence of nasal stop + obstruent, also at the beginning of a word.

There are also two mutations, t-prothesis and h-prothesis, found on vowel-initial words.

See Irish phonology for a discussion of the symbols used on this page.

Lenition

Effects of lenition

  1. A stop becomes a fricative. Voicing is retained, as is place of articulation except with the coronals.
    • /pˠ/ → /fˠ/
    • /pʲ/ → /fʲ/
    • /t̪ˠ/ → /h/
    • /tʲ/ → /h/
    • /k/ → /x/
    • /c/ → /ç/
    • /bˠ/ → /w/
    • /bʲ/ → /vʲ/
    • /d̪ˠ/ → /c/
    • /dʲ/ → /j/
    • /ɡ/ → /c/
    • /ɟ/ → /j/
  2. /mˠ/ becomes /w/; /mʲ/ becomes /vʲ/.
  3. /sˠ/ and /ʃ/ become /h/; but /sˠp(ʲ)/, /sˠm(ʲ)/, /sˠt̪ˠ/, /ʃtʲ/, /sˠk/, and /ʃc/ do not mutate.
  4. /fˠ/ and /fʲ/ are deleted.

Lenition is symbolized in the orthography by an h following the consonant in question.

Lenition in Irish
Normal Lenited Gloss
peann /pʲaːn̪ˠ/ pheann /fʲaːn̪ˠ/ "pen"
teach /tʲax/ theach /hax/ "house"
ceann /caːn̪ˠ/ cheann /çaːn̪ˠ/ "head"
bean /bʲan̪ˠ/ bhean /vʲan̪ˠ/ "woman"
droim /d̪ˠɾˠiːmʲ/ dhroim /ɣɾˠiːmʲ/ "back"
glúin /ɡɫ̪uːnʲ/ ghlúin /ɣɫ̪uːnʲ/ "knee"
máthair /mˠaːhəɾʲ/ mháthair /waːhəɾʲ/ "mother"
súil /sˠuːlʲ/ shúil /huːlʲ/ "eye"
freagra /fʲɾʲaɡɾˠə/ fhreagra /ɾʲaɡɾˠə/ "answer"

The other consonants do not change under lenition.

Environments of lenition

After proclitics

After the definite article

The definite article triggers lenition of:

  1. a feminine noun in the nominative singular
    an bhean "the woman"
  2. a masculine noun in the genitive singular
    an fhir "of the man"
  3. a noun in the dative singular, when the article follows one of the prepositions de "from", do "to" or i "in"
    do + an = don: don fhear "to the man"
    de + an = den: den bhean "from the woman"
    i + an = sa(n): sa chrann "in the tree"; san fhómhar "in the autumn"
an deoch "the drink", although deoch is feminine nominative singular
an tí "of the house", although tí is masculine genitive singular
an tsúil /ən̪ˠ t̪ˠuːlʲ/ "the eye" (fem. nom. sg.)
an tsaoil /ən̪ˠ t̪ˠiːlʲ/ "of the world" (masc. gen. sg.)
After the vocative particle a
After possessive pronouns

The possessive pronouns that trigger lenition are mo "my", do "your (sg.)", a "his"

After certain prepositions
After the preterite/conditional of the copula
After the preterite preverbal particles
After certain preverbal particles
A verb in the preterite, imperfect or conditional

These were originally preceded by the particle do and often still are in Munster.

In modifier + head constructions

Lenition is blocked in these constructions if two coronals are adjacent.

After certain numbers

The singular form is used after numbers and is lenited in the following cases:

After preposed adjectives

Constructions of adjective + noun are written as compounds.

After most prefixes
The second part of a compound

In head + modifier constructions

In these constructions coronals are lenited even following other coronals.

Genitive nouns in certain circumstances
Postposed adjectives in certain circumstances

Eclipsis

Effects of eclipsis

1. A voiceless stop or /fˠ, fʲ/ is voiced:

2. A voiced stop becomes a nasal:

3. A vowel receives a preceding /n̪ˠ/ or /nʲ/ (broad preceding a/o/u, slender preceding e/i). However, a vowel-initial word is not affected after the definite article an.

Eclipsis is symbolized in the orthography by placing the letter of the new sound in front of the original letter.

Normal Eclipsed Gloss
peann /pʲaːn̪ˠ/ bpeann /bʲaːn̪ˠ/ "pen"
teanga /tʲaŋɡə/ dteanga /dʲaŋɡə/ "tongue"
ceann /caːn̪ˠ/ gceann /ɟaːn̪ˠ/ "head"
bean /bʲan̪ˠ/ mbean /mʲan̪ˠ/ "woman"
droim /d̪ˠɾˠiːmʲ/ ndroim /n̪ˠɾˠiːmʲ/ "back"
glúin /ɡɫ̪uːnʲ/ nglúin /ŋɫ̪uːnʲ/ "knee"
freagra /fʲɾʲaɡɾˠə/ bhfreagra /vʲɾʲaɡɾˠə/ "answer"
éan /eːn̪ˠ/ n-éan /nʲeːn̪ˠ/ "bird"
oíche /iːhə/ n-oíche /n̪ˠiːhə/ "night"

The other consonants do not change under eclipsis.

Environments of eclipsis

After plural possessive pronouns

The possessive pronouns that trigger eclipsis are ár "our", bhur "your (pl.)", a "their"

After certain numbers

The numbers that trigger eclipsis (the noun being in the singular) are:

After the preposition i "in"

Before a vowel in is written instead of i n-.

Genitive plural nouns after the definite article

The genitive plural article na eclipses a following noun:

Dative singular nouns after the definite article

In western and southern dialects, nouns beginning with a noncoronal consonant are eclipsed after combinations of preposition + article in the singular (except den, don, and sa(n), which trigger lenition)

After certain preverbal particles

Changes to vowel-initial words

A vowel-initial word does not change if lenition is expected:

However, if neither eclipsis nor lenition is expected, an initial vowel may acquire a prothetic onset consonant. For example, a vowel-initial masculine singular nominative noun requires a t- after the definite article:

Otherwise, there is the prothetic onset h, which comes only when both the following conditions are met:

  1. a proclitic causes neither lenition nor eclipsis of consonants.
  2. a proclitic itself ends in a vowel.

Examples of h-prothesis

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