Key to pronunciation: Irish English
View the pronunciation model for Irish English here.
The pronunciations given are those in use among educated urban speakers of standard English in Ireland. While avoiding strongly regionally or socially marked forms, they are intended to include the most common variants for each word. The general Irish English variety is therefore a supraregional Southern Irish English (although entries indicated as specifically ‘Ulster’ may reflect more Northern Irish features). The keywords given in this key are to be understood as pronounced in such speech.
Words associated with Ireland are given British and American pronunciations alongside the Irish pronunciation(s). Where a word is associated with an additional part of the English-speaking world, further pronunciations in the appropriate global variety of English are also given.
To hear the pronunciation spoken aloud, click the blue play icon to the left of each transcription.
Vowels
| Irish English | As in… |
| iː | fleece |
| i | happy |
| ɪ | kit |
| ɛ | dress |
| æ | trap |
| aː | bath, palm |
| ɑ | lot |
| ɒː | cloth, hawk |
| ʌ | cup |
| ʊ | foot |
| əːr | nurse |
| iːr | here |
| eːr | square |
| uːr | cure |
| ɑːr | start |
| ɒːr | north , force |
| uː | goose |
| ə | alpha |
| eː | face |
| ɑɪ | prize |
| aɪ | price |
| aʊ | mound |
| oʊ | goat |
| ɒɪ | choice |
| ər | letter |
Irish English makes a distinction between the vowels in prize and price. The vowel in price occurs before the voiceless sounds /p/, /t/, /k/, /f/, /θ/, /s/, /ʃ/, /x/, and /h/, with the vowel in prize occurring before ‘voiced’ consonants and word boundaries.
Consonants
| Irish English | As in… |
| b | big /bɪɡ/ |
| d | dig /dɪɡ/ |
| dʒ | jet /dʒɛt/ |
| f | fig /fɪɡ/ |
| ɡ | get /ɡet/ |
| h | hut /hʌt/ |
| j | yes /jɛs/ |
| k | kit /kɪt/ |
| l | lɛg /leɡ/ |
| m | mud /mʌd/ |
| n | net /nɛt/ |
| ŋ | thing /θɪŋ/ |
| p | pit /pɪt/ |
| r | red /rɛd/ |
| s | sit /sɪt/ |
| ʃ | ship /ʃɪp/ |
| t | tip /tɪp/ |
| tʃ | chip /tʃɪp/ |
| θ | thin /θɪn/ |
| v | vet /vɛt/ |
| w | win /wɪn/ |
| z | zip /zɪp/ |
| ʒ | vision /ˈvɪʒ(ə)n/ |
| ð | then /ðɛn/ |
| x | loch |
The Irish English sounds known as ‘dental plosives’, which sound like /t/ and /d/ but with the tongue touching the teeth, are treated here as variants of /θ/ and /ð/. The spoken pronunciations may demonstrate these where appropriate.
The consonants l, m, and n can take on the function of a vowel in some unstressed syllables. It should generally be clear when this interpretation is intended, but in cases of potential ambiguity, the consonant symbol may appear with a diacritic, as in the British and U.S. pronunciations. The use of brackets around /ə/ indicates that some speakers may not pronounce the /ə/; in some cases this means the following consonant would take on the function of the vowel (e.g. U.S. saddle /ˈsæd(ə)l/).
After a vowel, Irish English is similar to U.S. English in that it can have /r/ regardless of the sound which follows, whereas British English retains the /r/ only when it is followed by a vowel. Irish English therefore has /r/ sounds where British English does not, in words such as mar (Irish /mɑːr/, unlike British /mɑː/).
Stress
The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress. The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress. The symbol ˈˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable may be pronounced with either primary or secondary stress.