How to Pronounce Irish Names 🗣️👂🇮🇪☘️ (and other Irish words): A quick guide

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Seán, Niamh, Ciara, Oisín, Cathal... can you say these right? Maybe this video will help!
It can seem daunting to meet someone whose name you've seen written down, but have no idea how its pronounced & this is especially true with Irish people. This is because a lot of our names are based on Irish orthography (spelling & pronunciation rules).
Having a full understanding of this can take some getting used to, so instead of giving a thorough lesson, I decided to simplify things and give the most practical tips that work the majority of the time. I realize that I had to generalize and there are a few exceptions, but what I covered in this video will genuinely help you the vast majority of the time :)
(I also referred to lenition, implying that it only happens with the letter 'h', but this ignores when it happens with a 't' at the start of words. I didn't bring that up in this video because making notes of all the little things like that would have made this much longer and the remaining rules don't apply as much to names)
I hope I show in this video that it's really not that bad - Irish spelling is very consistent actually, especially when compared to English. If you keep the rules of thumb from the video in mind, you should find it much easier, whether you have Irish friends, or are learning the Irish language :)
To prove the point, here is the video I mentioned near the end, where I read a ridiculous poem in English:
• "The Chaos" (English i...
Otherwise, I referenced some other links, so be sure to check out my page on Irish resources here: www.fluentin3m...
And here is a playlist of videos about learning Irish and videos that I've made IN Irish (with subtitles):
• Irish: Videos in and a...
Since a few people were asking, here's a link to the background music: audiojungle.ne...
I expect nitpicking in the comments because of things that aren't perfect (not possible to be thorough in a short video), but I hope some of you get genuine use out of this!!
Enjoyed this video? Subscribe to my RU-vid channel: www.youtube.com...
Watch me speak at TEDx: • Hacking language learn...
Follow Benny on Twitter: / irishpolyglot
Join thousands of language learners around the world at the Fluent in 3 Months Facebook community: / fluentin3months

Опубликовано:

24 авг 2024

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Комментарии : 4,4 тыс.

@irishpolyglot 7 лет назад

I'm so happy this video is so well received. Thank you everyone!! For further tips on any Irish pronunciations I couldn't get to in the video, see my comments below on that. If you liked it, please subscribe to my channel for more fun tips on language learning and much more, and feel free share this video with whoever you think would benefit from watching it! For a next recommended video along the same general theme to watch on my channel, check this one out for a laugh: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-QJFayFOASMg.html

@fiannamorgan1165 7 лет назад

Benny Lewis what about fianna?

@paoloelialombardo8676 6 лет назад

Hi Benny, could you please tell me the pronunciation of the term "Mo Cuishle"?

@goudagirl6095 6 лет назад

As one of Irish descent here in the states, I love the Irish language and just general "Irishness." :-) Thanks for the language info. I knew some of the language rules but not all (eg, I have a cousin names Sean, and I just recently figured out that Siobhan was pronounced shih-von). As well your accent is adorable, IMO! :)

@petermartin6705 6 лет назад

Benny Lewis: Do you know the name of the artist and song played in the background? I love the tune. Thank you!

@kathleenvh 6 лет назад

You are easy on the eyes (and ears) dude haha

@oof-madone 5 лет назад

People who can't pronounce niamh properly is my biggest pet piamh.

@raesosa1108 5 лет назад

Lol

@peachwood8884 5 лет назад

W O W.

@peachwood8884 5 лет назад

Same tho

@basakaybasakay5000 5 лет назад

That was brilliant

@angeloflovesteph 5 лет назад

😂😂😂😂

@DrelvanianGuardOffic 4 года назад

Irish: "Once you learn a letter or letter combination, you can pronounce any new word." English: "Through tough thorough thought"

@tatianaG 4 года назад

Throughout

@theMosen 4 года назад

True, though.

@11dallis 4 года назад

Bough, enough

@11dallis 4 года назад

Bought, caught

@tatianaG 4 года назад

I thought it through thoroughly. It was tough. I had enough.

@PattyBandAidz 2 года назад

My grandmother, who has been in the US for about 90 years now (she's 98) still pronounce my name as padrig (Patrick) ... more specifically she says, "yer moi padrig"

@Flowering_Glume 2 года назад

Your Gran is moi storin!

@billmoran3812 2 года назад

I’m an old man, but I still dream of spending quality time in Ireland while I learn the Irish language.

@97AshleyRose 2 года назад

@My Dixie Wrecked so it is English I’d love to go to Ireland or some other country one day

@monicamurray5090 2 года назад

@My Dixie Wrecked yes we speak English now but it wasn't always so. When you have lived under Imperial rule, be it France, Spain, The Netherlands, Portugal and in our case, England for a few hundred decades, in Ireland's case, 800, and you are forbidden to speak your native language, well then you have no choice but to learn to speak English. But we do have areas in Ireland where they still speak Gaelic (Irish) on a day to day basis but they also know how to speak English too. But in Ireland nowadays, we are a melting pot of different nationalities, languages, creeds and colour but Gaelic is still part of our school curriculum so everyone gets a chance to learn another language apart from English and their own language. Some of these folk immerse themselves in not only the traditions of the areas they reside in, like learning to play Gaelic football and Hurling but the language too. There is a guy from Japan who travels to Ireland every year to one of our Gaelic speaking areas on order to learn to speak Gaelic. Maybe not in the last couple of years cos of the pandemic but maybe next year he'll come back.

@monicamurray5090 2 года назад

@My Dixie Wrecked eh and your point is?

@banjobradley3644 2 года назад

Im middle aged man. I speak Australian

@monicamurray5090 2 года назад

@Jon Valler Hey John. Are you a Gaelic scholar by any chance?

@finnicfox8186 4 года назад

My irish teacher always said there’s no thugs in irish only hugs.

@sharpeslass5452 4 года назад

The irony...

@fightinandirish 4 года назад

There are Feics too :)

@crystalheart9 4 года назад

That's cute, a good way to remember.

@jordantampubolon8694 4 года назад

Thugs but the ‘T’ is not silent

@gizmogoose.2486 4 года назад

T'ugs

@shemyaza8934 4 года назад

"Irish is phonetic" Me: yay I can learn it easily *immediately descends into vortex of anti-phoneticness*

@ellajean3576 4 года назад

lol irish is not phonetic 😂

@mrrockmonkey1 4 года назад

Irish is phonetic though. The rules of pronunciation are practically 100% consistent. If you know the rules, you should have no problem pronouncing virtually any word in Irish.

@phonaesthem 4 года назад

@@mrrockmonkey1 having a set of rules that apply consistently is not the same thing as being phonetic though

@mrrockmonkey1 4 года назад

@@phonaesthem It is. If the letters or groups of letters in a language always make the same sound (which is the case in Irish), the language is phonetic. A reader with knowledge of the Irish language's phonology can very easily pronounce any word even those which they haven't seen before. The only problem that arises is with dialectal variation but, again, the pronunciation in every dialect of Irish is also phonetic, with slightly different rules for each one.

@phonaesthem 4 года назад

@@mrrockmonkey1Maybe we have different definitions there. I understand "phonetic spelling" to mean that there is a one-to-one correspondence between graphemes and phonemes. So a contrast of broad and slender realizations of the same graphemes in different vowel contexts violates that concept. But I do see your point! I guess it all comes down to how you define the units of the orthography...

@30noir 2 года назад

Always admired my Irish friend 'Evan' for spelling her name in 8 letters when 4 would have been enough.

@fabplays6559 2 года назад

Huh? What’s her name?

@CharmedKez 2 года назад

@@fabplays6559 Eimhin which is pronounced Evan

@Cloudy564 2 года назад

@@CharmedKez She said 8 letters though? ÉimhÍn (don't foget the fadas ^-^) only has 6 and is a boys name. I think she means Aiobhinn (It's more pronounced like Aveen, though, not Evan).

@CharmedKez 2 года назад

@@Cloudy564 I merely gave a suggestion for the name, (although I did misread where it said 8 letters) I do not know this person so obviously I couldn’t know their actual name. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Also many names are gender neutral. My own name used to be predominantly a boys name before it became used more for females.

@shirleyjenkins11 2 года назад

@@CharmedKez indeed a lot of names have been tradionally one gender are being used for both same as surnames like Shirley. Traditional a surname but has been given to both males and females same as Marian being used as both male and female.

@thekidfromiowa Год назад

Learning broad vs slender will definitely help one understand why Irish is written the way it is.

@MadisonWestfield 7 лет назад

My husband speaks the language and he's from Ireland. I swoon every time he speaks it. It's so pretty.

@irishpolyglot 7 лет назад

My (American) wife still finds me cute. Hopefully the feeling lasts through the decades :D

@Blaisem 6 лет назад

My girlfriend also swoons over the Irish accent. Unfortunately I'm not one of the lucky to have an Irish accent.

@chloe-vl2bv 6 лет назад

Madison Mukbang aww thanks

@Elemiriel 6 лет назад

Blaisem now you can!

@johnnieshreve5018 6 лет назад

Omg lucky you!

@soundsleep5470 7 лет назад

What I find sad, is that most people dont even know that Irish is a language :(

@Silent. 7 лет назад

I have friends that thought Irish was English :/

@soundsleep5470 7 лет назад

Sad... Since I think that Irish is a very beautiful language.

@clara2335 7 лет назад

Hannibal Barca its dying out not many people use it only in ghaeltacht areas

@soundsleep5470 7 лет назад

Claire Landers Well, I think the Irish are at fault, for not preserving their real culture...

@clara2335 7 лет назад

Hannibal Barca spoken like a true foreigner. Read about the plantations for me and them get back to me about not preserving our culture!

@shootingthepastuk3712 3 года назад

NO-ONE has EVER explained that to me as simply and straightforwardly as you have done. I gave up learning years ago, I might just start again. THANK YOU BENNY!!

@irishpolyglot 3 года назад

So happy to hear that!! Best of luck then!!

@pennylane1268 2 года назад

Beautiful language, beautiful people, beautiful country. Love from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

@richardoshaughnessy1669 3 года назад

I don’t know why I’m watching this I’m already Irish

@moonlight_ooo9235 3 года назад

lol same and I already know the language XD XD XD XD

@sharondiviney4383 3 года назад

Same

@BenHeffernan337 3 года назад

Tá mé cosúil leis

@whyamihereeeeeeeeeee1400 3 года назад

Yeah

@felixcoleosullivan1294 3 года назад

Ya me too

@twistedcoffee1187 4 года назад

Love the Irish sounds. It gives me the image of good old times where the globe were more diverse in terms of culture and language. Mystic and enchanting Irish pronunciations.

@cestmoi5702 3 года назад

Agreed.

@fiedelmina 3 года назад

why not do some travelling. The world is full of languages and cultures. Try the mediterranean.

@kevinkarnes4067 3 года назад

More diversity = more interesting. For example, check out the Bright Side channel's video about all 7 billion people speaking a 'Universal Common Language'. ✌❤

@spiritmatter1553 2 года назад

@@kevinkarnes4067 Spoken like a globalist. "Mono" cultures, such as the American Amish, are quite interesting and textured just as they are. They don’t need an "injection" of a totally different culture to make them "interesting."

@whatsonhermind1768 2 года назад

The world is super diverse in terms of language…ummm in America it’s probably the most diverse, save for the uk, but we use English despite background which can be seen as a good or bad thing

@susanhenderson5001 2 года назад

My friend...In less than 10 minutes, you have just explained something to me that has boggled my mind for years....How in the world do you get Shivon from Siobhán?? Now I know! Thank you, thank you....I am more interested than ever in learning Irish/Gaelic. My next question is - how much of a difference in the spoken language is there between various parts of Ireland? I know that there is such a thing as Ulster Irish and I believe there is a form of Gaelic spoken in Scotland also? Are people who speak these forms able to understand each other? thanks!

@Cloudy564 2 года назад

There's as many different dialects as there are regions. Now the most differences will be noticeable in the 4 counties (Ulster, Munster, Leinster, Connacht) but don't dismiss that there might not be more than that. Scottish has more letters, "Gàidhealtachd" (Scottish) vs "Gaeltacht" (Irish)... and is pronounced slightly differently as well. There used to be a saying I remember that said there's as many different dialects as there is (Scottish) clans and they always fought because they misunderstood each other, lol... so I leave the rest to your imagination ^-^ Can Irish and Scottish understand each other? I guess just as well as if they speak English (which means not really, because their English is completely differently pronounced, lol, for everyone who doesn't get that joke). In Ireland there's "An Caighdeán Oifigiúil" (The official standard) that is taught in schools, so I would go for that if you choose Irish over Scottish as most Irish speakers will now speak or understand this "Official version" apart from a few old folks maybe. (Also keep in mind that around 60% of Irish people can speak or understand Irish to some degree, but only an estimated of 2% of Scottish people speak Scottish Gaelic, thought last I heard the numbers are rising!).

@redsharkills_7137 2 года назад

In ireland its called gaeilge and in scotland it is gaelic and the scottish language comes from ulster irish from about 1500 years ago

@Ruadh13 2 года назад

It's not pronounced shivon, it's shivawn because of the long á at the end.

@florenceobrien2822 2 года назад

Of course theh can

@catarina2809 3 года назад

How cool that Tomás is written in the exact same way for both Irish and Portuguese!

@nestorbermudez8590 Год назад

Spanish too!

@carolj2013 5 лет назад

This makes reading books set in Ireland, or with Irish characters so much easier to read! Thank you!

@ReneeandJimmyG 5 лет назад

James Joyce!

@Rin-th6hk 5 лет назад

Shout out to my parents for giving me the easiest Irish name to pronounce

@tomryan914 4 года назад

Gerald Fitzpatrick and Patrick Fitzgerald !

@liamoore3827 4 года назад

Erin Young they gave me liadan

@kennemedia01 4 года назад

I had a friend named Erin lol

@Karlandra 4 года назад

@@tomryan914 so Gereald son of Patrick and Patrick son of Gereald?

@WreckinPoints11 4 года назад

don't forget about Liam, that one's pretty easy

@PeanutButterfly92 2 года назад

My sister's name is Ciara. We pronounce it as "Sierra". Excuse me, while I go tell my sister that her whole life has been a lie.

@sheshe6166 2 года назад

My daughter’s name too!

@pauljordan4452 2 года назад

Pronounced as Keera.

@karenbrooks2116 2 года назад

My daughter’s name is Catriona and we learned later on it should be pronounced like Katrina. 😞

@greatgownsbeautifulgowns 2 года назад

@@karenbrooks2116 So the whole time I was pronouncing the actress from 'Outlander's name as Cat-tree-ohna🤦🏾‍♀️😂

@karenbrooks2116 2 года назад

@@greatgownsbeautifulgowns and that is how we pronounce my daughter name. 😊 most people in the US here can’t even pronounce it at all. 😂

@RickyMacHatton 3 года назад

I’m learning Irish, but I won’t lie at a beginners level I find it the hardest I’ve ever attempted. Tá brón orm. However, I’m determined to master it. The language of my ancestors

@marypatelhattab6253 2 года назад

I know what you mean. How about the word shillelagh? That one had me stumped for quite some time!

@SwtGrnEyed86 2 года назад

It definitely takes determination to learn the languages of our ancesters... I've been struggling with German for months lol good luck in your adventure!

@RickyMacHatton 2 года назад

@@marypatelhattab6253 there’s no Irish word that I guess correctly!

@RickyMacHatton 2 года назад

@@SwtGrnEyed86 danke! Und du!

@keysofperception4377 2 года назад

I'm not even Irish and I don't have Irish relatives but a few weeks ago I decided to give it a try. Oh my god, its so hard but I'm not giving up. Hope I'll master it one day

@cecizeni 5 лет назад

I'm going to have to look at this video two maybe three times for it to sink in

@QueenBee-gx4rp 5 лет назад

Cindy Duran I don’t think I’ll even get it then!

@scriqu 4 года назад

Just a tip it's easyer if u don't think about it to much I'm speaking from years of experience

@annagitana1 4 года назад

Me too. I need one thing to be repeated a few times. It went too quick.

@patriciakeats1621 3 года назад

annagitana1 thought it was just me...too fast for my old brain.

@catmom1322 3 года назад

I actually took notes.

@Terri_MacKay 3 года назад

As a Canadian with 3 Irish grandparents, I found this incredibly interesting. Not only do I think that the names look beautiful when they're written, but, when they are pronounced properly, they sound beautiful as well.

@joylox 2 года назад

Just curious, have you seen any road signs in Canada use these types of spellings? Or is that just in places I've been. It seems to be pretty rare, but I thought it was cool to learn some of it by road signs. My Irish ancestry goes way too far back, but it's neat to learn about.

@Terri_MacKay 2 года назад

@@joylox I live in Southern Ontario, and I've never seen road signs that use these spellings. I've never travelled Down East, but I wonder if there are any places in the Maritime provinces that use these spellings. I would love to see signs like that, it would be very interesting. You're very lucky to have seen signs outside of Ireland using Irish spelling. Where have you seen them?

@tomtoyota6479 2 года назад

nah they sound shite

@tomtoyota6479 2 года назад

@@joylox you are not irish and do not have irish ancestors stop lying

@Terri_MacKay 2 года назад

@@tomtoyota6479 Just stop!!

@jordanhasch2544 2 года назад

As delighted as I am to hear some of this broken down for me, I can't stop looking at the man speaking. He's gorgeous! And his warm voice sounds skin to a warm breeze.

@stephj9378 2 года назад

Yes, very good looking . And I like the music!

@NiaJustNia 2 года назад

Being a first language Welsh speaker, starting English at 7 and coming across silent letters for the first time was definitely the most boggling thing for all of us. Going from a fully phonetic language where silent letters just don't exist, to English and all its nonsense, fair credit to our teachers because I'm not sure I'd have got my head around it if they'd left English reading and writing until we were older 😂 Imagine trying to explain to a bunch of 7 year olds "Wednesday". We had an entire lesson on the days of the week in English because the others being phonetic made us even more baffled by Wednesday

@doylejodi7502 Год назад

Yes, I’m even Canadian, English speaking and I never understood why silent letters were ever placed in words anyways. Useless. 🤷🏼‍♀️

@Atlantis93 Год назад

@@doylejodi7502 We can't understand your pronunciation and spelling and weird grammar and putting words in where they're not necessary.

@Atlantis93 Год назад

Ha ha! Welsh is crazy!

@lgmcquiston241 Год назад

Even in my class back in elementary our teachers had to explain how "Wednesday" is spelled, and everyone in there was a native English speaker

@marmac83 11 месяцев назад

Some speakers of English pronounce the D in Wednesday...@@lgmcquiston241

@laurenotoole1910 5 лет назад

Watching this video as an Irish person makes me realise I completely take for granted that I was reared around people with these names and don’t have to think of the ‘rules’ to try pronounce them 😂😅

@hildaelson4203 5 лет назад

I wish Irish was still the principal language in Ireland, like actually every Irish’s first language.

@gutworm686 5 лет назад

Yes because all the international companies would be there if you all spoke gibberish.

@Kat-yv1yq 5 лет назад

Jacklyn Demon It’s more like the education system fails spectacularly at making Irish any way enticing to learn, its as if they purposely make it drab and purely academic. The few attempts to make the language relatable have been overwhelmingly cringy and of course, all media (which would make the most difference to people’s drive to learn) “as Gaeilge” is piss poor. TG4 is pathetic

@gutworm686 5 лет назад

Kat nobody wants to learn it because there’s no point. It won’t get you work in anything other than teaching Irish.

@fiedelmina 5 лет назад

@@gutworm686the Gaelic languages in Ireland and Scotland were deliberately destroyed 200 years ago when the "British" (rather: English) empire was just one big nationalist international company itself destroying everything it laid hands on. If that hadn't happened, maybe we'd actually live in a world with no international companies that keep destroying people and people's basis for living all over the globe.

@Kat-yv1yq 5 лет назад

GuTWorm68 Not true. There’s point to learning any language. I’m not going to try and convince you otherwise, because people who whine about Irish never really change. Except a handful of Irish people who realise its value too late. My friend’s grandad is an example, he spent the last few years of his life wishing he’d taken the time to learn. Irish is a part of us, so much so that it bleeds in to the way we speak English. And besides, if there were decent Irish media forms about, it would seem a lot less “pointless.”

@nk_saucy2394 2 года назад

This just randomly showed up on my feed an honestly I don't regret watching. This has been the most educational 5 min 22 sec of my life

@timward3116 Год назад

Geez, Benny, you make pronounciation seem easy. Learning the vocabulary and sentence structure, though, is probably the true challenge.

@rulersreachfan243 5 лет назад

I spent way too long pronouncing Siobhan as "see-ob-han" and now I'm cringing at myself

@FirstnameLastname-es1ko 5 лет назад

Andrea Kinney lmao

@bOBazOZA 5 лет назад

phew, though i was alone!

@alzorama2876 5 лет назад

I was spared only because I went to school with a Siobhan!

@Floral_Green 5 лет назад

A natural reaction, but logically, it makes no sense to blame yourself, since you had no idea how to read Gaelic phonetics. I’d like to see the average Irish person attempt to pronounce almost any Danish word, for instance

@Ashley-iv8lc 5 лет назад

I did the exact same thing

@zoibaeza3475 2 года назад

I'm learning Irish because I'm trying to write a novel set in Ireland. It's a beautiful language indeed.

@zoibaeza3475 2 года назад

@Jon Valler It will be set in present time and I know about the British domination. I am trying to learn as much as I can about irish history, culture and language to understand Irish people better. I respect them a lot 💚

@zoibaeza3475 2 года назад

@Jon Valler Thank you so much for the insights 😃

@dallaslane6927 2 года назад

@Jon Valler If by "based" you mean headquartered...then none of the companies you mentioned are based in Ireland...

@tsmeman63 2 года назад

Dankjewel! (Thank you!) from a Dutch 🇳🇱 girl, living in Ireland for 6,5 years now, but here to stay forever ! 💚🤍🧡☘️

@RadCelt 2 года назад

Is Meiriceánach mé agus táim ag foghlaim Gaeilge - míle buíochas as do chuid iarrachtaí - glacadh go maith leat!

@shivadizayin Год назад

It’s Greek to me

@Zombie_Burger 7 лет назад

5.22 minutes and you made more sense than all my Irish teachers though out the years. of course, we didn't have the internet back then.

@a.genesisd.g.7931 6 лет назад

Ireland really amazes me. I seriously don't know how I fell for Ireland. I love your language, your arts, your land, your waters, your music. I just don't know why. I've never been there. Thanks for this anyways. Lots of love from Philippines 😄💙

@irishpolyglot 6 лет назад

Look around my channel to see my videoke clip, where I sing in Tagalog. All Philippines visitors will appreciate what their language sounds like with an Irish accent!

@ram00_ 3 года назад

world's most attractive irish teacher

@SandyRivers-dr3uy 8 месяцев назад

You are a great teacher. This was outstanding!

@ericmgarrison 3 года назад

Go hiontach! Rinne tú é sin chomh furasta do dhaoine eile a thuiscint. Go raibh maith agat, Benny!

@scoobyloo3157 3 года назад

WOW! That is SO hard! I'd like to say that your idea of easy is probably overestimating a tad! I speak fluent Greek, but find Irish much harder to pronounce. I've tried a few times, but my tongue won't co-operate! 😅 What a lovely, smiley guy you are and I've always thought that Irish names are the most beautiful in the world! I'd LOVE to have been named something like Siobhan or Sinead!

@MetaSiren 2 года назад

I’m a very small percentage of Irish and I’ve always loved Irish accent, language and culture. Thank you for the lesson.

@fabplays6559 2 года назад

There are many Irish accents. :)

@Juliukas101 3 года назад

By far THE best vid I've seen so far on the Irish language. Fantastic guy, great presentation, pleasant, clear, helpful and informative. Most of my life my origins were a mystery as my family would never really tell me anything. Now I discover that my granddad was from Nenagh, my great granny was from Limerick and her parents were from Cork - one of them had an affair with a Spanish sailor bringing oranges into Ireland! It means that ancestrally I am 39% Irish so I have got to add Irish to the languages that I speak. I can't wait to learn more! Thanks again! Am suoer excited to be going to Dublin and Nenagh at the end of the month!

@madderHare 5 лет назад

"A quick guide" *leaves more confused*

@miriamhappe1066 3 года назад

thankfully im not the only one :D

@taraelizabethdensley9475 3 года назад

I'm more confused

@JojajoDam 2 года назад

From dutch to Irish, help, I will need to take the beginners for real beginners lessons . How?!

@lindac6919 2 года назад

"It's easy if you learn a few rules." Sure, if I bring this encyclopedia of rules and refer to it for every word and name that I encounter. I'll never get my tea, at that rate.

@shannonquinn9757 7 лет назад

I think Irish names are some of the most beautiful names! My favorites are Caoimhe, Aoibheann, and Saoirse.

@caoimhemcguinness9605 7 лет назад

Shannon Quinn my name is caoimhe😁😁

@IDKHowButIDied 7 лет назад

Caoimhe McGuinness same

@acoolcat2325 6 лет назад

i love niamh

@ily.saoirse918 6 лет назад

My names Saoirse 😊

@Chloeeee12333 6 лет назад

My name is Shannon too & I named my daughter Saoirse. I heard it from the lovely actress Saoirse Ronan & loved it. I love Irish culture & language. I so wanted to use the Irish spelling, but I knew in America everyone would mispronounce it. I used the spelling of the pronunciation Seersha. I later saw a Scottish version "Saorsa" & wish I'd used it, as it seems a little easier for Americans. Sláinte!

@tkralva.6668 2 года назад

Like most languages, once you know how to pronounce letters and letter combinations it becomes easier to learn. The problem is that the pronunciation doesn't match your native tongue so people argue it is not phonetic. So I teach Spanish to English speakers and English to foreigner, and in the past mainly to Spanish speakers. Therefore, having taught English to Spanish speakers I know roughly where my English students are going to struggle. And like I say, English is one of the easiest languages grammatically to learn, but one of the hardest to learn pronunciation and spelling. So not knowing Irish as such, if thus basic introduction is true, once you learn pronunciation rules or phonetic rules you should find Irish relatively easy. But with English, although there are rules for about 70% of the language, there are difficulties. So yes, Irish is like Spanish there are rules for pronunciation which English speakers find difficult as they don't match English rules. But then again English is difficult as it does not match Irish rules, and even for English speakers does not match English rules for about 30% of the language!

@dawnstudley6296 3 года назад

I’ve learned more in the last 5 minutes and 22 seconds than in 3 months from a book my friend had on her shelf! Amazing!

@noemiedillon7069 3 года назад

i live in france and love introducing my friends to my middle name : Caoimhe

@sarahh1007 2 года назад

Is it pronounced as 'Keeve'?

@everlasting9292 6 лет назад

My mother thinks I'm crazy because if I ever have a daughter, I want to name her Saoirse. She says, "No one will ever be able to pronounce that!!" Well. No one can pronounce Rhianna properly, either. I doubt my girl will meet another girl with her name, unlike the 7 Ashleys and 12 Katies I know. Besides, it's beautiful. I adore old Irish and Welsh names.

@sarahwalker4017 6 лет назад

Brittberrycrush I’m not sure about her but the celebrity Rihanna pronounces it like “Ree- Ann - Nuh” but most people say “Ree - Awe - Nuh”.

@RE-qj9hh 5 лет назад

Brittberrycrush it has a few pronunciations. I'm from Dublin so we pronounce it like 'sur-sha'.

@MinxyXoX 5 лет назад

Saoirse is on my girls name list too. I haven't had the guts to use it yet ☹️ I love Irish names though

@chanteldyson7954 5 лет назад

Rhianna Williams one of my friends has just had a baby and named her that

@Rhi16 5 лет назад

I get a lot of people who see my name badge, or my name written down and say 'Rhianna (Ree-an-na), like the singer?' And I go 'no, Rhiannon (Ree-an-non), like the song'. It is so frustrating the amount of people who dont see the 'on' at the end of my name and assume it is 'a'. In Aus, everyone I've met says 'Ree-an-na' for the singer, I only hear Americans call her Ree-ah-na on TV haha

@ynotchristian1366 2 года назад

Oh Thank You! I will definitely watch this video five more times to get this in my head! And I am now subscribed!

@writemydreams7 3 года назад

Thank you so much for making this video. I've always found Irish to be insanely intimidating, but this video makes it SO much easier/more manageable to learn.

@Dr.Scorpio 4 года назад

Ireland is an awesome country ❤️ the heavenly magically beautiful country and the west coast with it’s beautiful scenery. Nothing comes close to that. Thanks for the video 👌🏼 Best wishes to all.

@mikontisott 2 года назад

the landscape is lovely, it's the people and culture that is magical imho

@KatalinaKristina 6 лет назад

I’ve learned way more in this video in such a short amount of time than I have ever in my entire life of trying to study it on my own. THANKS MAN ✨❤️

@tracitries9514 2 года назад

My friend’s daughter’s name is Mairi. I wouldn’t have known how to pronounce it had she not told me. It’s pronounced like Maury.

@LRose-lo3ux 3 года назад

As someone who is learning Irish already, I enjoyed this.

@taritorrez3506 6 лет назад

This is actually really helpful!! It's the unusual letter combos that throw me off, so to have them explained simply is incredibly helpful. Thank you!

@Elemiriel 6 лет назад

I've always loved Irish but no one ever explained it so straightforward before! Thank you!

@irishpolyglot 6 лет назад

Thanks for watching - I'm glad to have helped!

@kaylabloodmoon5481 2 года назад

I have wanted to learn Irish since I was 10 and I'm now 20. I'm Irish myself but live in the U.S. Learning just the smallest bit feels that I'm closer to my culture. Thank you friend.

@moniquecampher1979 2 года назад

This is the video I’ve needed after 7 years living in Ireland, thanks 😁

@cbliss4046 5 лет назад

Don't know how this came to be in my recommendations but I'm glad it was. I'm a linguist and have long wanted to understand how some Irish Gaelic words are pronounced. Will be watching this video through a few times and making notes as I go. Thank you, Benny

@katiewest7908 5 лет назад

I've tried teaching myself Irish for years...but hearing it and watching your mouth move to the different sounds makes a huge difference. Thank you. Subscribing.

@FirstnameLastname-es1ko 5 лет назад

Katie West wow! Are you from Ireland or just learning the language? If you’re not from here, honestly that’s amazing. I would never have expected anyone to even know about our little island’s native language, let alone learn it! I’m actually from Ireland, but like most people here (with the exception of certain areas where Irish is not the main language) I’m not exactly fluent.

@katiewest7908 5 лет назад

3/4 of my heritage is Irish but I didn't know this until last year when I found my birth families. My adopted father was Anglo -Irish so I've always been drawn to the Island. The language? Just seemed like a way to connect to the culture.

@FirstnameLastname-es1ko 5 лет назад

Katie West well, welcome into the culture then! (Is that a thing, culture welcoming-in? I don’t know, but welcome in anyway😂) Good luck in the learning of the language anyway, haha😂

@katiewest7908 5 лет назад

Thank you so much. We're probably related in some way.😅

@aeternalslime9670 2 года назад

i grew up in a considerably irish part of the US, full of maeves and siobhans and seans and even the occasional americanized "podrick." i have fond memories of meeting an emer during school and asking how to write her name so i could write it on the worksheet we were working on, and she looked at me like i was an idiot. "e-m-e-r," she said. that was like 15 years ago and i still think about how obvious she thought the spelling of her irish name was

@drops2cents260 11 месяцев назад

> _i grew up in a considerably irish part of the US_ So you're a Bostonian? 🙂

@aeternalslime9670 10 месяцев назад

not quite! south side of chicago. only a thousand miles or so apart haha@@drops2cents260

@odettepross2435 2 года назад

Beautiful language ❤️

@DelfinaM 7 лет назад

I'm deeply in love with Ireland. Greetings and love from Argentina 😍❤️

@Steve.909 7 лет назад

Delfina - Sláinte, from Dublin, Ireland.

@DelfinaM 7 лет назад

Steve Caf Sláinte! When I'm in Dublin we should go for some beers haha

@mandycolville8527 6 лет назад

glad to hear save up then and book a holiday

@cianw2942 6 лет назад

Delfina 🇮🇪❤️🇦🇷

@DelfinaM 6 лет назад

Callum love back 😊❤️❤️❤️

@kikidi4461 3 года назад

being half german, half british, living in germany, with a sister named kayleigh is kind of fun sometimes. the looks on german faces when they try to pronounce her name 😂 hilarious

@RealPumpkinJay 3 года назад

Isn’t that like a phonetic German käilie?

@matthijsbouma3393 3 года назад

Have they never heard of Marillion there?

@RealPumpkinJay 3 года назад

@@matthijsbouma3393 No.

@franniepan 3 года назад

That's so funny, my daughter is half German, half Irish and we live in Northern Ireland. Her nickname is Kiki 😊

@sheonamiller9329 2 года назад

My daughter is Ceilidh

@chynawall8500 2 года назад

I was taking Irish and it was literally canceled for 18 months because of the pantomime. Grma for this video, it’s great!

@alexg5513 2 года назад

Excellent starting point for non speakers to get their heads around. Lovely tutorial

@comatronic 4 года назад

Hahaha I love how excited you got for "The Letter H!"

@irishpolyglot 4 года назад

The whole video was building up to it; a letter combination that throws so many people off, and yet can be explained so simply :)

@rahangn8137 3 года назад

We have the name Cian in Iran too ! That’s interesting because recently I’ve been researching on whether or not Iran and Ireland have had any shared history and some believe that we do . A historian said in some northern parts in Iran the local languages have some Celtic words in it and those people are called “Gilak” . It first caught my attention when I learned the word “Gaelic” and I thought they were similar Edit : excuse me if my English is confusing or bad

@adhamhmacconchobhair4407 3 года назад

That's very interesting!

@rahangn8137 3 года назад

@Cpt Duck no offense taken ! I just checked it out it’s very beautiful but I don’t think hijab and mantillas have the same origin (?) obviously I’m not a historian but I have this feeling that if our countries have been related in any way it must’ve been way before Islam was a thing in Iran , like more than 1400 years ago . However as far as I know we have had headwear similar to that before islam so .. that still might be a shared culture ?

@rahangn8137 3 года назад

@Rimi A I don’t have a lot of information on this matter so excuse me if what you’re going to read sounds stupid . But I did a little research here www.quora.com/Is-Farsi-a-Semitic-language-like-Arabic And if I’m not mistaken Farsi is not actually considered a Semitic language unlike Arabic (umm I don’t really know tho) And there’s one thing that comes to my mind . In Arabic there’s no “g” sound ( as in Gaelic ) in their alphabet . So .. I can say I’m a little bit confused ?

@rahangn8137 3 года назад

@@the36lessons11 damn I didn’t know any of that ! Only if they would stop teaching us trash in our history books at school !

@dougspidermanhappy 2 года назад

Your English is almost perfect! I’m an editor. The only thing I would change is a small quibble: “the northern parts OF Iran”, not “in.” It’s a tiny thing. “The northern parts in Iran” gets the meaning across, but isn’t the vernacular. Well done! I only speak one language well.

@SanDra-zr9he 3 года назад

Super helpful, and cleared up a lot of stuff that were a deterrent for me in just a few minutes. It made me put Irish back on my polyglot goal languages list.

@robinhanning4345 2 года назад

Irish have the most lyrical sounding speech. So easy on the ear. Thank you for explaining. I am thoroughly confused. You did great and if I listen a few more times, I should get it.

@quasiotter 4 года назад

i watched the whole thing because you're so easy to listen to and look at

@fermentedsourdough5462 5 лет назад

My favourite is Siobhan, pronounced nothing like it's written in English.

@irishcoffeetruecrime 5 лет назад

It's Siobhán 😂

@whistlingbanshee5038 5 лет назад

Meadhbh and Caoilfhoinn were always my favourites 😋

@nnnnnnnnnnn7292 5 лет назад

Whistling Banshee Can you transcript those two names, please? No clue how to pronounce them. 😃

@whistlingbanshee5038 5 лет назад

@@nnnnnnnnnnn7292 Meadhbh = Mayve Caoilfhoinn= Cweel-lin Meadhbh is for the Pirate Queen Meadhbh, Caoilfhoinn in english means slender blonde 😊

@nnnnnnnnnnn7292 5 лет назад

Whistling Banshee Wow!!!!!!! That is way beyond my imagination! But nevertheless fascinating! Thank you. 🌼 P.S. is it May-v or May-vee?

@MoonlightSonata214 8 месяцев назад

Wonderful information packed into a few minutes - extremely helpful! Thank you!!

@kathleenem9207 2 года назад

Thank you . I will replay so I can really digest this. You’ve really simplified this.

@Lizsi1812 6 лет назад

Ireland! Ireland! Ireland!!!! I Love Ireland! And this is perfect for me! I want to know more about irish language!!! Thank you!

@MasterMichelleFL 5 лет назад

I'm learning Irish on duolingo. 💚 Slánte!!

@cryptidcane 4 года назад

forwarding this to every single person that calls me "eeyoin" from now on

@alexxx7427 4 года назад

😂

@NunYaO 3 года назад

My grandsons are named Emmith [Im-Eth] and Eaiden [Uh-Den]...my granddaughter got lucky with Emma [Im-muh]. Lol

@minjabisnis3931 3 года назад

Hahah yeah and I bet they can say “John” without trying to pronounce the H, the feckers

@rachelanderson5608 3 года назад

May I know how you pronounce your name? Thank you 😊

@cryptidcane 3 года назад

@@rachelanderson5608 my name is pronounced like oh-en. it’s similar to owen but with a less pronounced w sound!

@PeteSavage-lg9fh 3 года назад

I am a Murphy along the line. Related to Audie Murphy. And this mostly was super easy. I will have to practice and get a book written in Gaelic to really get it. But I learned decent Spanish and bits of Korean. But this video was super helpful and gave me a new task to ease boredom so thank you.

@Ryan-ze9fz 2 года назад

I’ve always wanted to travel to Ireland and live among my people for a while. The Irish are so cool

@Layla-vj1yc 2 года назад

I'm irish

@SofiaCaetanoVentura 6 лет назад

I’m from Brazil and I lived in Ireland for 8 months and I miss so much Dublin!

@mer7971 5 лет назад

I live in Ireland now for 5 months but I will go back to germany next week and I will defently miss Ireland. 😕

@cherpylatina 6 лет назад

Mom named me Kiara and my niece is Ciara. Same pronunciation. Irish Puerto Ricans are more common than you would think. Catholic Clan lol

@Daisy-ct3nh 5 лет назад

There's no K in Irish, that's why it's spelt with a C.

@insertname1857 5 лет назад

kiara is just anglicised, like my cousin keira. otherwise outside of ireland everyone would go around saying "see-air-uh" or "see-ahr-uh"

@veemartini5374 2 года назад

I don't know why RU-vid is recommending this over 4 year old video to me now, but I'm not complaining. RU-vid must just know I adore Irish people, I've never met an Irish person I didn't like, they are just fun, chill humans all around!

@practicalpen1990 3 года назад

I'm a Canadian/Mexican who is starting to go back to my Irish roots. I was hoping that being a native bilingual (English/Spanish), a Linguist, and an Esperanto enthusiast, would make it easier for me. Then I met the Duolingo Owl and it scared the living heck out of me. But RU-vidrs like yourself are showing me that Irish isn't scary. Maybe I should not follow Duolingo for this language and try RU-vid and other media instead.

@30noir 2 года назад

Kudos on the Esperanto. I bet most young folks have never heard of that particular language.

@practicalpen1990 2 года назад

@@30noir Honestly, I got lucky. Linguists tend to be language nerds. As such, a recent graduate from my degree had picked up Esperanto on his own some years before and decided to teach a free course at my university, so I took it when I was a first-year. Interestingly enough, it was a group comprised of Linguists and Engineers only; the Engineers were drawn to the "mathematical structure" of the language, as I was told.

@SwtGrnEyed86 2 года назад

Duolingo is great for German. Can't say for other languages. 🤷🏻‍♀️ good luck!!

@Ryan-tq7oi 2 года назад

Stay away from Duolingo for Irish. It's useless. I'm Irish and it confuses me 😂

@CJ-sg3vs 5 лет назад

Number 1 on my bucket list. I shall go to Ireland one day.

@pooperscooper9176 5 лет назад

Carol Yarbrough you must it’s magical

@RoroOcto 5 лет назад

My mum decided to call me Roisin. No one is my family is Irish, we’re welsh. I’m the only one without an English name and she doomed me to forever having my name spelled wrong in Starbucks. 🙃

@ameliastratton8051 5 лет назад

Is it pronounced "ro-sheen" ? It's beautiful.

@paulthomas8262 5 лет назад

It is odd being Welsh they didn't name you Rhosyn

@susanmurphy958 5 лет назад

Starbucks blows chunks. Cheers. 💚

@timtam. 5 лет назад

Raisin

@stridenasty 4 года назад

I'm a Róisín too! Have you ever gotten called Roslyn? I get that a lot 😂 That or like "Ra-zeen"

@nebulonicc 2 года назад

Ok this gave me the motivation to start learning Irish. For my ancestors!!!

@andrewringrose9246 3 года назад

I have just started to learn Irish about 3 days ago and I am already on learning phrases. Your right once you get know the rules it is a lot easier to pronounce and learn then English. I can barely speak English the only laguage I know and yet I am finding Irish to be easier to learn. I am having a lot of fun learning Irish !

@gioPHL 7 лет назад

Thanks for this. I've been desperately trying to learn my Gran's language. This helps a lot.

@irishpolyglot 7 лет назад

Always happy to demystify things for people - thanks for watching!

@dr.shuvayughosh3330 5 лет назад

Loved it.. and thanks Ireland for beautiful music ..Love from India

@FirstnameLastname-es1ko 5 лет назад

Dr. Shuvayu Ghosh you really like it? Wow, thank you for appreciating our culture! I never realized people even knew much about our little country!

@kfetter9046 9 месяцев назад

This is the best explanation of how to pronounce Irish words I have seen. Thank you!

@a.j.marcantonio153 2 года назад

Benny, I love your accent! I could listen to you talk all day.

@cheryldolan2812 5 лет назад

I could listen to accents all day! Irish is my favorite. It's just adorable!

@ilovemydog6847 6 лет назад

Brilliant video. And really helpful ☺️. I was really good at Irish at Primary School but at age 10 I went to live in England. When I came back to Ireland 2 years later I was told I didn’t have to take Irish anymore and I didn’t. I really regret that decision now.

@dequidaqwadoa1553 3 года назад

I just found your video and I love it !! Go raibh míle maith agat !!! ❤️

@conexaopolimata 3 года назад

Thanks very much I am Brazilian and you are good teacher

@karindixon6405 7 лет назад

thankyou so much for this irish language lesson....I'm happy to report that I learnt a lot!

@asymmetric.4817 5 лет назад

2:31 I have a friend at my gymnastics called Aoife, and because I’ve never seen her name written down, I thought it was spelt “Efa” or something. Then one day I saw her name written down in a coat, and I said “ay-oh-ife? Who’s that?” And Aoife just looked at me and said “um, me aha”. That was pretty embarrassing but oh well 😂

@stephaniehunter3251 2 года назад

I love the way they talk

@TroyBoyleAtheistAdvocate 3 года назад

This just hit my recommendations. Fun. Nice job. I've noticed, also, that regional variations exist with regard to these rules. For instance, the guttural is often pronounced /f/ (loch becomes luff) and the sibilant s in slán is often aspirated and sounds more like /sh/.

@asmilespeaks1132 7 лет назад

Wow, I just started the Gaeilge Duolingo course last night, and here you go posting a video that gives me exactly the kind of guide I was looking for. Irish spelling is so intimidating at first (et j'ai appris le français). Go raibh míle maith agaibh, merci mil fois, dankegon, thanks so much Benny!

@irishpolyglot 7 лет назад

Ha - that's great timing! Glad to have given you that boost as you start on Duolingo's Irish course!

@rosagildea3117 7 лет назад

Hey I'm Irish and I thought I might try Irish Dualingo to help with a test, it worked grand with French, but they way they pronounce the words are a bit off on the Irish one

@lilyt7131 6 лет назад

asmilespeaks I'm not sure if how you wrote it is a different spelling, but I think it should be "mille fois" (fois c'est féminin) - i could be mistaken! And I applaud everyone who tried to learn a new language. It's tough but so worth it to expand your repertoire

@lecobra418 6 лет назад

It's "mille" fois, in French "mille" is unvariable no matter if the noun who follow is masculine or feminine.

@Zay1185 6 лет назад

How do you say Irish in Spanish

@JasonX00 4 года назад

As someone with Irish lineage who has no idea how to speak the mother language, thank you!😃👍🤗

@karenmpbrandon 2 года назад

I'll watch this again and take notes because it went by pretty fast but I really enjoyed it. When there's time, I'd like to see more of this gentleman's videos, too.