Initial Mutations: Lenition (Séimhiú) and Eclipsis (Urú)

Irish has two initial mutations: lenition (séimhiú) and eclipsis (urú). Initial mutations refer to either a change in the initial consonant or the prefixing of a consonant onto an initial vowel.

The alternative names, aspiration for lenition and nasalisation for eclipsis, are also commonly used though are thought to be a bit misleading.

“Aspiration” is misleading because it is generally used to refer to a phonetic process unrelated to lenition. “Nasalisation” is less misleading, but again refers to a phonetic process unrelated to eclipsis, at least outside of the context of Irish (but also within the phonetic context of Irish too, i.e. nasalised vowels).

For this article instead of aspiration, we will be using the word ‘lenition’.

Below is an edited version of pages from Teach Yourself Irish (1961) and Graiméar na Gaedhilge (1906) by the Christian Brothers, that talk about aspiration (which I’ve changed to “lenition”) and eclipsis. I have rewritten them in a way for me to understand them better. Hopefully, they will help you too.

Lenition / Séimhiú

This means softening the pronunciation of consonants. This is often done by adding the letter ‘h’ to the first letter of a noun.

The initial consonants of nouns are lenited:

• After the definite article ‘an’
  • In the nominative feminine nouns e.g. an bhean
  • In the genitive singular of masculine nouns using possession e.g. cos an mhadra, ceann an fhir
• After the evocative particular ‘a’ in singular and plural e.g. a chara, a chairde, a dhuine uasail
• In the genitive following a feminine noun (not possession of like above) e.g lámh chúnta, tine mhóna
• In the genitive of proper nouns* e.g. Leabhar Shémais, athair Mháire, muintir Chiarraí
• After the possessive adjectives mo, do and a (his)
• After the prepositions ar (on), do, de, fé (under), gan, idir, mar, ó, roimh, that, trí, um
  • lán de bhainne, ar chloich, fé chathaoir, gan mhaith, idir dhaoine, mar chúnamh, ó Sheán, that Dhiarmaid, trí dhearmhad, um Cháisc, roimh theacht
• After ‘don’ (to the), ‘den’ (from/off the) and ‘sa’ (in the) e.g. don gharsún, den bhóthar, sa bhaile BUT sa tigh (in the house)
  • NOTE: Kerry Irish no distinction between don and den and don alone is used usually followed by an eclipsis e.g. do gcapall, don mbád (to the boat / off the boat)
• When the noun forms the second part of the compound word e.g. leasmháthair, deathuairsc, droch-chaint
• When it begins a noun-phrase which is the equivalent of a definite noun in the genitive: A definite noun is anything that refers to a specific rather than a general – so mac fhear an gheata would be definite because it’s referring to a specific doorman as opposed to a generic one. The noun phrase is the “fear an gheata” and that’s being put in the genitive because it’s the son of the fear an gheata. So you lenite the beginning of it. fear (n) –> fear an gheata (def. noun phrase) –> mac [fhear an gheata]
• After the numerals ‘aon’ and ‘dá’, and after ‘céad’ e.g. aon fhear amháin, an chéad cheist, dhá chuid
• After trí, ceithre, cúig, sé
• After the dative verbal nouns in the more frequently used verbal noun phrases: ag baint fhéir, ag cur phrátaí, ag fáil bháis, ag gabháil fhoinn. However, it’s mostly just a case of a few phrases, without a specific rule exactly.

When ‘sa’ is followed by a noun beginning with ‘f’ the ‘f’ is eclipsed e.g. sa bhfarraige

The initial consonants of adjectives are lenited:

• when qualifying a feminine noun in the nominative-accusative singular’ i.e. after a singular feminine noun where possible but notably not for the genitive. Basically, after a singular feminine noun that is the subject/object.

• Note: When an adjective precedes a feminine noun to form a compound, the initial consonant is lenited following the singular article e.g. an phríomhcheist. In similar vein, if the adjective precedes a masculine noun you’d just get an príomhcharr. The gender of the compound is the gender of the last part. Príomhcheist behaves as a feminine noun but príomhcharr behaves as a masculine noun.

• After the genitive singular of a masculine noun e.g. mála an duine bhoicht, lucht an tí mhóir but not in the feminine genitive.
• After a nominative plural of a noun where it ends in a slender consonant e.g. fir mhóra.
• After a noun in the dative singular feminine and the dative singular masculine when the noun itself is lenited. e.g. ó dhuine chríonna
• After a noun in the vocative** singular. The vocative is used in direct address and is always preceded by the particle a, which triggers lenition (the vocative particle is not pronounced before a vowel sound in traditional Irish e.g. a Eoin / a Áine). In quicker, more fluent speech, it would disappear into the sound of the initial vowel (elided***).
• After a noun in the dual number ‘dhá’ (two of the noun) e.g. dhá lachain bhána, dhá mhuic mhéithe.
• After the past tense and conditional of the verb is: ba, níor, ar, nár, gur
  • ba mhór an trua
  • níor mhaith liom é (I would not like it)
  • ar cheart é a dhéanamh? (would it be right to do it)
  • dúirt sé gur bhocht an scéal é
  • nár bhreá an rud é

The d’ of the prepositional pronouns dom, duit etc., díom, díot are usually lenited after vowels and silent consonants:

• Go mbeannaí Dia dhuit
• Thug sé dhom é
• Chuir sé dhe (He made off)
• Níor fhiafraigh sé dhínn (He didn’t inquire of us)
• Tabharfaidh sé tuilleadh dhuit

The initial consonant of a verb is lenited:

• In the past, imperfect and conditional, whether the particle do is used or not.
  • Do tháinig Seán / Do chuireadh sé (he used to put) / Do dhéanfaimís (we would do)
• After ní, má and particles containing perfective do/ro (they are the same – do ousted ro)
  • Má bhuaileann tú
  • Ní chreidim é
  • Nár thugais dó é
  • Ar chuais ann?
• Following the nominative-accusative or the relative particle ‘a’.
  • an duine a chloiseann
  • an capall a dhíolas

D, T, S

Initial d, t, are not regularly lenited after the homorganic d,n,t,l,s:

• Ceann an duine
• Gan toradh
• Slat tirim
• Dhá capall déag

S is never lenited in the groups sc, sm, sp, st

S before a vowel or l,n,r, is changed to ‘t’ after the article ‘an’

an tsráid
den tsaol
don tsagart
sa tsnáithaid
sa tsruth

Special rules for lenition after prepositions

• S is not lenited after the preposition gan. e.g. gan sagart
• ar (on) is not lenited on the initial of the following noun:
  • When the sense is general: vowel e.g. ar bord (in contrast to ‘ar bhord’ on the table. ar muir, ar buile, ar meisce
  • In phrases with a verbal noun expressing a state or condition ar siúl (going on), ar bogadh (steeping), ar crochadh (hanging)
• gan (without) does not aspirate a following noun when the noun is part of the verbal noun phrase.
  • gan capall a cheannach (without buying a horse) (not to buy a horse)
• Non-aspiration also occurs in
  • gan pósadh
  • gan peaca
  • gan moill

* A proper noun is a noun that serves as the name for a specific place, person, or thing
** A vocative is a word or phrase used to address a person directly, usually in the form of a personal name, title, or term of endearment.
*** (of a sound or syllable) omitted when speaking.

Eclipsis / Urú

This happens when the sound of a consonant is replaced by a different sound. These “eclipsing” letters are always written in lowercase.

The initial consonants of nouns are eclipsed:

a) In the genitive plural following the article:

• tithe na ndaoine (masc)
• lán na mbuidéal (masc)

b) in the dative singular following a preposition (other than do and de) with the article

• ag an dtigh, leis an mbata, insan bpáirc
• NOTE: Kerry Irish no distinction between don and den and don alone is used usually followed by an eclipsis e.g. do gcapall, don mbád (to the boat / off the boat)

c) after the preposition ‘i’ without the article e.g. i bpáipéar

Note: The preposition with ‘an’ changes it to ‘sa’ e.g. sa pháirc / sa bhaile. But it eclipsis with ‘f’ sa bhféar.
Sa mbliain is frequently heard beside sa bhliain

d) after the possessive ár, bhur and a (pl.)

e) after the numerals 7 – 10

f) after the numerals trí, cheithre, cúig, sé when in the genitive case:

• ainmhí cheithre gcos (a four-footed animal)
• féár sé mbó (the grass of six cows)
• fé cheann cúig mblian (after five years)

The eclipsis of adjectives

Ceased to be a regular feature of the language and is confined to the genitive plural and occasional use with the dative singular.

• a bhean na stocaí mbána (O woman of the white stockings)
• ar an gcuma gcéanna (in the same way)

Verbs and eclipsis

The initial consonant of a verb is eclipsed:

a) after ‘an’ (interrogative sentence). ‘cá’ where and go ‘that’
An bhfuil sé anseo / Cá dtéann tú / is dócha go dtiocfaidh

b) after dá (if), mara (unless) sara (before / lest)
Dá mbeinn ann / mara gcreideann tú mé (if you don’t believe me), sara ndéanfainn dearúid (lest I should make a mistake)

c) after the dependent relative particle ‘go’
An té go bhfuil ana-chroí san airgead (the person whose heart is in the money)
Note: His heart relates to ‘an té’

An fear go bhfuil an t-airgead aige (the man who has the money)
Note: Him ‘aige’ relates to the man

d) after the relative ‘a’ (all that)
Sin a bhfuil agam (that’s all that I have)
Note; Nothing relates back to the ‘sin’
Ná feic a bhfeicfir (do not see what you will see)

In positions where an initial consonant is eclipsed n- is prefixed to the initial vowel. Tír na n-Óg, i n-áit (in a place), ma deich n-aitheanta (the Ten Commandants)

The prefixed h

It was said that there were, not two, but three mutations: lenition, eclipsis and the prefixed h. But this depends on how you analyse it. It is there, but h-prefixing is not a consonant mutation, as it doesn’t change any consonant. It’s just adding a h between two vowels and in contexts when no consonant mutation can happen.

The gen. sg. fem. and the nom. pl. of the article prefix h to the following initial vowel: na habhann “of the river”; na huain “the lambs”.

h is also prefixed as follows:

(a) to nouns after the fem. possessive a “her”; after the numerals trí, cheithre, sé and after tarna (dara) “second” and ordinals ending in ú; after the prepositions go and le: a hiníon “her daughter”, trí huaire “three times”, an tarna huair “the second time”, go hÉirinn “to Ireland”, le hór “with gold

(b) to adjectives after chomh “as, so” and go (forming adverbs): chomh hálainn “as beautiful”, go holc “badly”; after the negative copula ní: ní hamhlaidh “it is not so”

(c) to verbs in the passive-impersonal after all, particles ending in vowels, and to all forms of the verb after the negative ná: ní hitear “is not eaten”, do hóladh “was drunk; ná hól! “do not drink!”; ná hitheann sé? “does he not eat?”, ná hólann sé tóbac i n-aon chor? “does he not smoke at all?”, deir sé ná hólann “he says that he does not (smoke)”

(d) to pronouns after the interrogative cé and after the negative copula ní: cé hé (hí)? “who is he (she)?” cé hiad? “who are they?”, ní hé (hí), ní hiad; ní hea “it is not”.

The Insertion of n. (a) When a word begins with a vowel, the letter n is usually prefixed in all those cases in which a consonant would be eclipsed: e.g., ár n‑arán laeṫeaṁail, our daily bread; chuaigh Oisín go tír na n‑óg The n is sometimes omitted when the previous word ends in n: as ar an aonach, or ar an n‑aonach, at the fair. (b) Prepositions (except do and de) ending in a vowel prefix n to the possessive adjectives a, his, her, or their; and ár, our; le n‑a mháṫhair, with his mother; ónár dtír, from our country.

The prefixed n-

Words that start with a vowel get the letter n- added to them wherever other words would be eclipsed.

(a) When a word begins with a vowel, the letter n is usually prefixed in all those cases in which a consonant would be eclipsed: e.g., ár n‑arán laeṫeaṁail, our daily bread; chuaigh Oisín go tír na n‑óg. The n is sometimes omitted when the previous word ends in n: as ar an aonach, or ar an n‑aonach, at the fair. (b) Prepositions (except do and de) ending in a vowel prefix n to the possessive adjectives a, his, her, or their; and ár, our; le n‑a mháṫhair, with his mother; ónár dtír, from our country.

Resources

Graiméar na Gaedhilge (1906) by the Christian Brothers

Teach Yourself Irish (1961) by Myles Dillon and Donnacha Ó Cróinín is a solid foundation for learners of Irish but is also available for free. The PDFs are available with the consent of the publisher.

• Teach Yourself Irish 1961 – Scanned (dialectal Munster Irish)
• Teach Yourself Irish 1961 – Audio (dialectal Munster Irish)
• Teach Yourself Irish 1961 – Retypeset (dialectal Munster Irish)

Note: This is not to be confused with Teach Yourself Irish by Diarmuid Ó Sé and Joseph Sheils. That is a different book published in 2003.

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