Jake Lambert @LittleLostLad

The spelling of Irish names is my pet piamh

  • Thomrade@lemmy.worldEnglish
    7·
    9 months ago

    I wonder if its an accent thing but I’ve allways heard Niamh as “Nee-uv” and not “Neev” and I know quite a few Niamhs.

    • theRealBassist@lemmy.worldEnglish
      10·
      9 months ago

      Nee-uv is correct. The ‘i’ carries the stress, as indicated by the accent, so the ‘a’ turns into an unstressed vowel /ə/.

      To anyone else who has studied Irish, this is purposely a simplification.

      • Thomrade@lemmy.worldEnglish
        4·
        9 months ago

        Ah Ok. I get ya. I wouldnt say I “studied” Irish despite doing it for 16+ years lol. I can read and write it, and speak it, but the actual intricacies of the phonetics is beyond me.

        • theRealBassist@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          9 months ago

          I did an MA in Welsh and Celtic Studies at Aberystwyth.

          I did a few courses involving Old Irish and Scottish Gaelic, and while I enjoyed them I definitely can not speak any lol

          Ond, mae fy Nghymraeg ddim yn ofnadwy.