Pronouncing Index

The correct pronunciation of Gaelic proper names can only be learned from the living voice. It cannot be accurately represented by any combination of letters from the English alphabet. I have spared the reader as much trouble as possible on this score by simplifying, as far as I could, the forms of the names occurring in the text, and if the reader will note the following general rules, he will get quite as near to the pronunciation intended as there is any necessity for him to do. A few names which might present some unusual difficulty are given with their approximate English pronunciations in the Index.

The chief rule to observe is that vowels are pronounced as in the Continental languages, not according to the custom peculiar to England. Thus a is like a in father, never like a in fate, i (when long) is like ee, u like oo, or like u in put (never like u in tune). An accent implies length, thus Dún, a fortress or mansion, is pronounced Doon. The letters ch are never to be pronounced with a t sound, as in the word chip, but like a rough h or a softened k, rather as in German. Gh is silent as in English, and g is always hard, as in give. C is always as k, never as s. In the following Index an accent placed after a syllable indicates that the stress is to be laid on that syllable. Only those words are given, the pronunciation of which is not easily ascertainable by attention to the foregoing rules.

Index