# Irish pronunciation **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 25, 2025, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irish-pronunciation/1020115 "2025-06-25T12:47:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2025, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irish-pronunciation/1020115/21 "2025-06-26T16:13:03Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I’ve always pronounced “seer” with one syllable. With justification. A seer is a “see-er”. One who sees. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2025, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irish-pronunciation/1020115/22 "2025-06-26T16:13:39Z")
I mean, yeah, I grokked the etymology. One syllable sounds better to me, like how “prayer” sounds more mellifluous as “prair” rather than “pray-er.” Well, at least to me. Could be a dialect thing. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2025, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irish-pronunciation/1020115/23 "2025-06-26T17:16:40Z")
I think this one [SEER](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasonal_energy_efficiency_ratio) is typically one syllable! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2025, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irish-pronunciation/1020115/24 "2025-09-04T02:54:06Z")
Reviving this because I just saw a t-shirt that said “The Spelling of Irish Names is My Pet Piamh.” ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2025, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irish-pronunciation/1020115/25 "2025-09-04T21:06:25Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Caoimhe is pronounced Kee-va Back in Ohio where I grew up there was an architect named Keeva Kekst. He spoke with a foreign accent, though I never found out what country he was from. It was definitely not an Irish accent, I can tell you that. I’d guess Israeli. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2025, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irish-pronunciation/1020115/26 "2025-09-04T21:13:40Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > The H is for aspiration, it modifies the proceeding consonant. That isn’t what aspiration means.\* The word you’re looking for is lenition. \*Though in certain other languages, h is used to show aspiration. The Irish language has none. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2025, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irish-pronunciation/1020115/27 "2025-09-04T22:13:57Z")
Broad and slender consonants are governed by a simple binary rule. “Broad” means the back of the tongue is higher and the front of the tongue is lowered, like the pose of a playful dog. “Slender” means the front top surface of the tongue rises all the way up to the hard palate, while the back of the tongue is lowered, like a cobra about to strike. a, o, u trigger the doggie. e and i trigger the cobra. The lenited f, written fh, is phonetic zero. That means it has no sound at all. It’s completely silent. The lenited t, spelled th, is pronounced [h]. That is aspiration, come to think of it. But not an aspirated consonant like in Thai. Just the pure sound of aspiration itself. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2025, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irish-pronunciation/1020115/28 "2025-09-04T22:38:13Z")
_P_ó_g mo thóin_ roughly like “Pogue Mahone.” Where the band the Pogues got its name from, I’m told. ETA: I’ve been reminded that there are no snakes in Ireland. Oh well, there goes my career as an Irish teacher. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irish-pronunciation/1020115.md?page=1)