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Chapter 4 of 17 · Explore the Irish path

The script · Chapter 4 of 17

Séimhiú and urú: two changes at the front of a word

Irish changes the front of a word without changing its meaning, which is why a word can vanish from the dictionary. Learn to delete the h, or the letter bolted on in front, and find the word underneath.

≈ 4 min of reading · Practise at your own pace

What’s in this chapter
  • Two changes hit the front of an Irish word; neither touches its meaning. They are the single biggest reason a beginner cannot find a word in a dictionary.
  • séimhiúSHAY-voo“softening” slips an h in behind the first letter — to undo it, delete the h.
  • urúOO-roo“eclipsing” bolts a new letter on in front and silences the old one — to undo it, delete what is in front: one letter, or two in the case of bhf.
  • The last letter of an eclipsing pair is the dictionary word.
  • You need to recognise a changed word, not produce one.

Séimhiú: an h slips in and softens the sound

Each row shows a word, then the same word after a séimhiú. To get back to the first one, delete the h.

catkat“cat”
mo chatmuh khat“my cat”
k becomes the rasp of “loch”.
beanban“woman”
an bheanun van“the woman”
b becomes v, because the vowel after it is slender.
gaothgee“wind”
an ghaothun GHEE“the wind”
g becomes the voiced rasp — the softening can be drastic.
teachtchakh“house”
mo theachmuh hakh“my house”
t becomes plain h.
feicimFEK-im“I see”
ní fheicimnee EK-im“I do not see”
f disappears entirely. The word underneath is still feicim.

Urú: the seven eclipsing pairs

These seven pairs are the whole of urú. Learn to spot them at the front of a word.

WrittenSaid
mbm
gcg
ndn
bhfw or v
ngng as in sing
bpb
dtd

A new letter is bolted on in front and the old one goes silent — eclipsed. The last letter of the pair is the original word: cover what comes before it — one letter, or two for bhf — and you have the dictionary word back.

Where you will meet urú

Small words bring an eclipse with them. Undo it and the word underneath is the one to look up.

crannkran“tree”
i gcrannih GRAN“in a tree”
The little word iih“in” eclipses whatever follows it.
bótharBOH-hur“road”
ar an mbótharerr un MOH-hur“on the road”
A small word plus an“the” eclipses too. mb is said “m”.
fuilfwil“is — a verb form”
an bhfuilun wil“is …? — asking”
bhf is a single w. This one you will meet on every page.

The t- hat: a third, much smaller change

After an, a word starting with a vowel takes a t- in front.

éanAYN“bird”
an t-éanun TCHAYN“the bird”
Nothing is hiding here: after an, a word starting with a vowel is simply wearing a hat, and the hyphen tells you so.

Find the dictionary word underneath

Delete the h, or delete what is bolted on in front, and say what is left.

  1. mo chat

    One h to delete.

    Show answer +
    catkat“cat” — “my cat”, said “muh khat”.
  2. an bhean

    Same trick, and the b underneath is now easy to hear.

    Show answer +
    beanban“woman” — “the woman”, said “un van”.
  3. i gcrann

    Delete the letter in front, not an h.

    Show answer +
    crannkran“tree” — “in a tree”, said “ih GRAN”.
  4. an bhfuil

    bhf is a single w, and two letters come off the front.

    Show answer +
    fuilfwil is underneath. an bhfuilun wil is the asking shape of “is”, and you will meet it constantly.
Come back to these chapters whenever you need them.All Irish chapters ↗