Irish, like all modern Celtic languages, is characterized by its initial consonant mutations. These mutations affect the initial consonant of a word under specific morphological and syntactic conditions. The mutations are an important tool in understanding the relatonship between two words and can differentiate various meanings.

Irish uses two mutations on consonants: lenition and eclipsis . (The alternative names, aspiration for lenition and nasalisation for eclipsis, are also used, but the terms are a bit misleading.)

Originally these mutations were phonologically governed external sandhi effects: lenition was caused by a consonant between two vowels, and eclipsis by a sequence of nasal consonant + obstruent, also at the beginning of a word.

There are also two mutations, t-prothesis and h-prothesis, found on vowel-initial words.

Effects of lenition

1. A stop becomes a fricative. Voicing is retained, as is place of articulation except with the coronals.

• [p] > [f]
• [t] > [h]
• [k] > [x]
• [b] > [v]
• [d] >
• [g] > [ɣ]

2. [m] becomes [w] or [v] (depending on dialect and secondary articulation)

3. [s] becomes [h]; but [s] + plosive and [sm] do not mutate

4. [f] is deleted

Lenition is symbolized in the orthography by an h following the consonant in question.

The other consonants do not change under lenition.

Effects of eclipsis

1. A voiceless stop or [f] is voiced:

• [p] > [b]
• [t] > [d]
• [k] > [g]
• [f] > [w] or [v] depending on dialect and secondary articulation

2. A voiced stop becomes a nasal:

• [b] > [m]
• [d] > [n]
• [g] > [ŋ]

3. A vowel receives a preceding [n] or [n´] (broad preceding a/o/u, slender preceding e/i)

Eclipsis is symbolized in the orthography by placing the letter of the new sound in front of the original letter.

The other consonants do not change under eclipsis.

Environments of lenition

After proclitics

After the definite article

The definite article triggers lenition of:

1. a feminine noun in the nominative singular

an bhean 'the woman'

2. a masculine noun in the genitive singular

an fhir 'of the man'

3. a noun in the dative singular, when the article follows one of the prepositions de 'from', do 'to' or i 'in'

do + an = don: don fhear 'to the man'

de + an = den: den bhean 'from the woman'

i + an = sa(n): sa chrann 'in the tree'; san fhómhar 'in the autumn'

• [d] and [t] are not lenited after the article:

an deoch 'the drink', although deoch is feminine nominative singular

an tí 'of the house', although tí is masculine genitive singular

• [s] becomes [t] (rather than [h]), written ts:

an tsúil [ən tu:l´] 'the eye' (fem. nom. sg.)

an tsaoil [ən ti:l´] 'of the world' (masc. gen. sg.)

After the vocative particle a

• a Bhríd 'Bríd!'
• a Sheáin 'Seán!'
• a chairde 'my friends!'

After possessive pronouns

The possessive pronouns that trigger lenition are mo 'my', do 'your (sg.)', a 'his'

• mo mhac 'my son'
• do theach 'your house'
• a pheann 'his pen'

After certain prepositions

• de chrann 'out of a tree'
• faoi chrann 'under a tree'
• mar dhuine 'as a person'
• ó Chorcaigh 'from Cork'
• roimh mhaidin 'before morning'
• trí shioc agus shneachta 'through frost and snow'
• um Cháisc 'at Easter'

After the preterite/conditional of the copula

• Ba dhuine mór é. 'He was a big person.'
• Ba dheas uait é. 'That was nice of you.'

After the preterite preverbal particles

• Níor mhúinteoir é. 'He was not a teacher.'
• níor thug mé 'I didn't give'
• Ar shagart é? 'Was he a priest?'
• Ar tháinig sé? 'did he come?'

After certain preverbal particles

• ní thuigim 'I don't understand'
• má thagann sé 'if he comes'
• an fear a thug dom é 'the man who gave it to me'

A verb in the preterite, imperfect or conditional

These were originally preceded by the particle do.

• bhris mé 'I broke'
• bhrisinn 'I used to break'
• bhrisfinn 'I would break'

In modifier + head constructions

Lenition is blocked in these constructions if two coronals are adjacent.

After certain numbers

The singular form is used after numbers and is lenited in the following cases:

• aon bhó amháin 'one cow'
• an chéad bhliain 'the first year'
• dhá theach 'two houses'
• beirt fhear 'two men'
• trí bhád 'three boats'
• ceithre bhó 'four cows'
• cúig phunt 'five pounds'
• sé mhí 'six months'

After preposed adjectives

Constructions of adjective + noun are written as compounds.

• seanbhean 'old woman'
• drochdhuine 'bad person'
• dea-sheirbhís 'good deed'
• nuatheanga 'modern language'
• tréanmhuir 'stormy sea'
• fíorchneas 'true skin'
• ardbhrú 'high pressure'
• ógfhear 'young man'

After most prefixes

• an-bheag 'very small'
• ró-bheag 'too small'
• aisghabháil 'retake'
• athbhliain 'new year'
• dobhréagnaithe 'undeniable'
• fochopán 'saucer'
• forbhríste 'overalls'
• idirchreidmheach 'interconfessional'
• ilphósadh 'polygamy'
• leasmháthair 'stepmother'
• míshásta 'unhappy'
• neamhchodladh 'insomnia'
• príomhchathair 'capital city'
• sobhriste 'fragile'

The second part of a compound

• ainmfhocal 'noun' (lit. "name word")
• dúghorm 'blue-black'
• státfhiach 'national debt'

In head + modifier constructions

In these constructions coronals are lenited even following other coronals.

Genitive nouns in certain circumstances

• aimsir bháistí 'rainy weather' (lenition after a feminine singular noun)
• buidéil shú 'bottles of juice' (lenition after a plural ending in a slender consonant)
• teach Sheáin 'Seán's house' (lenition of a definite noun in the genitive)

Postposed adjectives in certain circumstances

• bean mhaith 'a good woman' (lenition after a feminine singular noun)
• na fir mhóra 'the big men' (lenition after a plural noun ending in a slender consonant)
• ainm an fhir bhig 'the name of the small man' (lenition after a masculine singular noun in the genitive)

Environments of eclipsis

After plural possessive pronouns

The possessive pronouns that trigger eclipsis are ár 'our', bhur 'your (pl.)', a 'their'

• ár gcairde 'our friends'
• bhur bpáistí 'your (pl.) children'
• a mbád 'their boat'

After certain numbers

The numbers that trigger eclipsis (the noun being in the singular) are:

• seacht gcapall 'seven horses'
• ocht n-asal 'eight donkeys'
• naoi gcat 'nine cats'
• deich bpeann 'ten pens'

After the preposition i 'in'

Before a vowel in is written instead of i n-.

• i dteach 'in a house'
• in Éirinn 'in Ireland'

Dative singular nouns after the definite article

Nouns beginning with a noncoronal consonant are eclipsed after combinations of preposition + article in the singular (except den, don, and sa(n), which trigger lenition)

• ag an bhfear 'by the man'
• ar an gcrann 'on the tree'

After certain preverbal particles

• an poll a dtagann na coiníní as 'the hole that the rabbits come out of'
• An dtagann sé gach lá? 'Does he come every day?'
• Cá bhfuil mo spéaclaí? 'Where are my glasses?'
• Dúirt sé go dtiocfadh sé. 'He said that he would come.'
• dá mbeadh a fhios sin agam 'if I had known that'

Changes to vowel-initial words

A vowel-initial word does not change where lenition is expected:

• an oíche 'the night' (feminine singular nominative noun after definite article)
• an uisce 'of the water' (masculine singular genitive noun after definite article)

But where neither eclipsis nor lenition is expected, an initial vowel may acquire an prothetic onset consonant. For example, a vowel-initial masculine singular nominative noun requires a t- after the definite article:

• an t-uisce 'the water' (masculine singular nominative)

Otherwise, there is the prothetic onset h, which comes only when both the following conditions are met:

1. a proclitic causes neither lenition nor eclipsis of consonants
2. a proclitic itself ends in a vowel

Examples of h-prothesis

• a haois 'her age' (after possessive pronoun a 'her')
• go hÉirinn 'to Ireland (after preposition go 'to, towards')
• le hAntaine 'with Antaine' (after preposition le 'with')
• na hoíche 'of the night' (on feminine singular genitive noun after definite article)
• na héin 'the birds' (on plural nominative/dative noun after definite article)
• chomh hard le caisleán 'as high as a castle' (after chomh [xo] 'as')
• go hálainn 'beautifully' (after adverb-forming particle go)
• Ná himigh uaim 'Don't leave me!' (after negative imperative particle ná 'don't')
• an dara háit 'the second place' (after an ordinal numeral)

See also

• Irish dialects
• Irish language
• Irish orthography
• Irish phonology
• Irish morphology
• Irish syntax