PRONUNCIATION
GUIDE

THE GUIDE that follows is designed to be helpful to the general reader. It in no sense represents a definitive, correct version of how to pronounce every word, and indeed, in many cases, no such correct rendering exists. For in modern Irish, there are often two different, regional pronunciations for a single word, and the spelling and pronunciation in Old Irish may be different yet again. Thus the May festival known to modern Irish as Bealtaine, and described during the ancient period in the novel, is in fact Beltaine in Old Irish, and would be pronounced Bell-ti-ne. But since the modern form is widely familiar, it is that form which is given here. The following list, therefore, represents, it is hoped, a sensible compromise.

A -ch indicates a soft sound, like that at the end of the Scottish word loch. A final -h indicates a similar sound, but much softer, hardly sounded at all.

Each syllable is usually pronounced separately in Irish words, and this is clearly shown. The stressed syllable is in capital letters.