Learning Irish

PJ, Charlotte and David present Learning Irish

Break a leg actors! We are putting on a play by Irish Playwright Connor McPherson. It's called The Sea Farer and a significant Irish accent will be necessary in order to pull off the lines successfully.

The following is a teaser clip of the newest play by Connor McPherson called The SeaFarer
found on YouTube.

Here is a sound bite for you to listen to of a man speaking with an Irish Accent.

Pronunciation of Irish-English is inherently different from the American English that we are used to. The major differences comes in the vowel sounds, as well as phonetic pronunciations.
Vowels:
I becomes oi, such as I"ll becomes Oi'll
Long A's become even longer, such as aaable.
Short U's are lengthened, bunt becoming boont, with the exception of u preceding a c, which becomes a short E
Short E's become long A's, everything becomes ayv'rything
Short A's become ah, such as can't becoming cahn't
Th becomes just t
Oi becomes just I
R's are over-annunciated

The dialect itself is also very slow-paced, as the Irish love to hear the sound of their own voice. Therefore, unlike the Scottish clip which is very quick and similar to a Chicago or New York dialect in speed, Irish dialect is very similar in speed to a Southern drawl. The dialect also has a musical tone to it, so when speaking adopt a sing-songy voice.

Irish vocabulary is not all that different from vocabulary already found in the English language, due to the fact that the Irish speak English. However, there are some holdovers from the original language of Ireland, Gaelic, as well as some interesting terms that hold different meanings than their American English counterparts.

Megusshlah: "My darling"

Chiseler: a con-artist, or an unsavory man

Tosser: a fool

It's far easier to sing an Irish dialect, due to its already musical nature, so as practice, we'll use a sample of the Flogging Molly song "Drunken Lullabies" in order to hone our skills.

"Drunken Lullabies" by Flogging Molly
I watch and stare as Rosin`s eyes
Turn a darker shade of red
And the bullet with this sniper lie
In their bloody gutless cell
Must we starve on crumbs from long ago
Through these bars of men made steel
Is it a great or little thing we fought
Knelt the conscience blessed to kill

Must it take a life for hateful eyes
To glisten once again
Cause we find ourselves in the same old mess
Singin' drunken lullabies