# How do you pronounce "Taoiseach"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 17, 2011, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-taoiseach/575018 "2011-03-17T14:09:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-taoiseach/575018/1 "2011-03-17T14:09:17Z")
It looks like “Tao is each” but I think it’s supposed to be something like “'Tis each” or “'Tis echh”! Happy St. Patrick’s Day, everybody! ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-taoiseach/575018/2 "2011-03-17T14:17:30Z")
Tea-Shock. ( Rhymes with Peacock if you make the C explosive. ) ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-taoiseach/575018/3 "2011-03-17T14:18:00Z")
Tea Shuck isn’t too far away ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-taoiseach/575018/4 "2011-03-17T15:53:07Z")
In Irish the final -ch should be guttural (IPA /x/, as in German _Bach_). I think I’ve heard both final /x/ and final /k/ when the word is used in English. ---
**Author:** ![bryanmaguire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@bryanmaguire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bryanmaguire)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-taoiseach/575018/5 "2011-03-17T16:04:29Z")
a range from tea-shock to tea-shuck is how most irish people pronounce it ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-taoiseach/575018/6 "2011-03-17T16:24:59Z")
And the emphasis is on the first syllable, right? TEA-sh’k ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-taoiseach/575018/7 "2011-03-17T16:34:58Z")
I look at that and see “ta-oy-see-atch”. I’m sure that’s a bit off. What does Irish _do_ with all those vowels? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-taoiseach/575018/8 "2011-03-17T17:25:46Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > I look at that and see “ta-oy-see-atch”. I’m sure that’s a bit off. What does Irish _do_ with all those vowels? (Maybe not a serious question, but I’ll answer it anyway.) They use them to help out with the consonants. Most Irish consonants exist in pairs: so-called “broad” (like English) and “palatal” (with a y-sound). Compare Spanish N & Ñ or Russian Н & Нь. Imagine if every consonant were like that, but you hadn’t invented the tilde or the soft sign. The Irish are brilliant as a people but their orthographic system is… well, not as good as the Spanish or Russian options. It is an improvement on ogham, though. T + i would normally be a palatal T, so they stick a broad vowel in between them to let you know it’s a broad T. (For historical-linguistic reasons, they chose AO here. AO is its own vowel, which doesn’t exist in Englsih, a bit like Russian Ы.) S + a would normally be a broad S, as in English. So they stick a palatal (“slender”) vowel in between, E, to let you know it’s a nice palatal SH sound. So the letters break down to five sounds: tao = /t/ i = /i/ se = /ʃ/ a = /a/ ch = /x/ ---
**Author:** ![snowmaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@snowmaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowmaster)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-taoiseach/575018/9 "2011-03-17T17:28:22Z")
And all this time I’ve been saying Twice Each. I’m sure if I said that in Ireland and they could figure out what I meant, there would be some sort of euphemistic aspersions cast my way. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-taoiseach/575018/10 "2011-03-17T17:57:26Z")
Shar-day ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-taoiseach/575018/11 "2011-03-17T17:59:48Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > (Maybe not a serious question, but I’ll answer it anyway.) They use them to help out with the consonants… Actually, it was a serious question, and you’ve given me the first answer I’ve really understood. Edit: and nown I understand the name Sean, which, when I first saw it, I thought was pronounced “Seen”. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-taoiseach/575018/12 "2011-03-17T18:00:59Z")
> [@bryanmaguire](#): > > a range from tea-shock to tea-shuck is how most irish people pronounce it That’s an Irish “tea,” right? ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-taoiseach/575018/13 "2011-03-17T18:19:26Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > That’s an Irish “tea,” right? Yes. Not quite “t”, not quite “th”. The first vowel isn’t a pure vowel either, it’s a glide. But “tea-shock” is good enough to be understood, and that’s exactly how it’s pronounced by many (non-RTÉ) newsreaders when speaking English. ---
**Author:** ![A.Gwilliam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@A.Gwilliam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.Gwilliam)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-taoiseach/575018/14 "2011-03-18T00:46:14Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > So the letters break down to five sounds: > > tao = /t/ > i = /i/ > se = /ʃ/ > a = /a/ > ch = /x/ Isn’t the second \ actually a schwa? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-taoiseach/575018/15 "2011-03-18T10:09:55Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > But “tea-shock” is good enough to be understood, and that’s exactly how it’s pronounced by many (non-RTÉ) newsreaders when speaking English. When reporting from the “doyle” about “feena foil”. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![donnie\_darko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@donnie\_darko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donnie_darko)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-taoiseach/575018/16 "2011-03-18T10:31:51Z")
Lol Celtic phonology makes no sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-taoiseach/575018/17 "2011-03-18T10:50:01Z")
I remember “Tea-shock” by remembering the name of Dermot MacMorrough’s daughter who married Strongbow DeClare. Her name was Aoife. Pronounced “Eve.” ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-taoiseach/575018/18 "2011-03-18T10:55:16Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > Her name was Aoife. Pronounced “Eve.” It’s pronounced “Eefah”. ---
**Author:** ![A.Gwilliam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@A.Gwilliam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.Gwilliam)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-taoiseach/575018/19 "2011-03-18T11:03:57Z")
> [@donnie\_darko](#): > > Lol Celtic phonology makes no sense to me. It’s not the phonology that’s the problem so much as the wacky spelling! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-taoiseach/575018/20 "2011-03-18T11:25:44Z")
Throatwarbler mangrove. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-taoiseach/575018.md?page=2)