Many of the old Celtic words and names are strange to modern eyes, but they are not as difficult to pronounce as they might seem at first glance. A little effort—and the following rough guide—will help you enjoy the sound of these ancient words.
Consonants – As in English, but with the following exceptions:
c: hard — as in cat (never soft, as in cent)
ch: hard — as in Bach (never soft, as in church)
dd: a hard th sound, as in then
f: a hard v sound, as in of
ff: a soft f sound, as in off
g: hard — as in girl (never soft, as in George)
ll: a Gaelic distinctive, sounded as tl or hl on the sides of the tongue
r: rolled or slightly trilled, especially at the beginning of a word
rh: breathed out as if h-r and heavy on the h sound
s: soft — as in sin (never hard, as in his); when followed by a vowel it takes on the sh sound
th: soft — as in thistle (never hard, as in then)
Vowels – As in English, but generally with the lightness of short vowel sounds
a: short, as in can
á: slightly softer than above, as in awe;
e: usually short, as in met
é: long a sound, as in hey
i: usually short, as in pin
í: long e sound, as in see
o: usually short, as in hot
ó: long o sound, as in woe
ô: long o sound, as in go
u: usually sounded as a short i, as in pin;
ú: long u sound as in sue
ù: short u sound as in muck
w: sounded as a long u, as in hue; before vowels often becomes a soft consonant as in the name Gwen
y: usually short, as in pin; sometimes u as in pun; when long, sounded e as in see; rarely, y as in why)
The careful reader will have noted that there is very little difference between i, u, and y—they are almost identical to non-Celts and modern readers.
Most Celtic words are stressed on the next to the last syllable. For example, the personal name Gofannon is stressed go-FAN-non, and the place name Penderwydd is stressed pen-DER-width, and so on.