# Irish Pronunciation of surnames



## langzot

Hello, all. Can anyone help me out with the pronunciation of few Irish surnames? Please use IPA if possible, to make sure I understand the pronunciation. I know absolutely no Gaelic, so figuring out the pronunciation is difficult.

O Ceirin (acute accent on the 'O', the 'e' and the second 'i')
Mac Bhranaigh
O Cearbhaill (acute accent on the 'O')
O Bearain (acute accent on the 'O')

Many thanks!


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## Banbha

langzot said:


> Hello, all. Can anyone help me out with the pronunciation of few Irish surnames? Please use IPA if possible, to make sure I understand the pronunciation. I know absolutely no Gaelic, so figuring out the pronunciation is difficult.
> 
> O Ceirin (acute accent on the 'O', the 'e' and the second 'i')
> Mac Bhranaigh
> O Cearbhaill (acute accent on the 'O')
> O Bearain (acute accent on the 'O')
> 
> Many thanks!


 
Heya
I dont know the IPA but i can give the closest english translation to help you until someone with the IPA comes along but it should be clear enough

Ó Céirín (o care-een) [-een like the een in 'seen']
Mac Bhranaigh (Mac Vra-nig)
Ó Cearbhaill (O Key-ar-vill) [try and say key without the  
                                  'e' so like a ky sound if you can]
Ó Bearain (O Bar-in) 

Hope that helps somewhat!!


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## Wynn Mathieson

I will get back to you, if I can, with the IPA, but meanwhile it can be helpful to know how these names have been anglicized:

Ó Céirín >
O'Kieran, O'Kerin

Mac Bhranaigh >
MacCranny, McCranie

Ó Cearbhaill >
O'Carroll -- in the original Irish-language pronunciation the /k/ has a palatal off-glide: /o'kjarəl/

Ó Bearain >
Barring(ton)


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## cailín gaelach

Banbha's pronunciations are quite a good guide for an English speaker. However...




Banbha said:


> Ó Cearbhaill (O Key-ar-vill) [try and say key without the
> 'e' so like a ky sound if you can]



While bh is often pronounced 'v' it is actually silent here, I've never heard it pronounced in the name.
Unfortunately I don't know the IPA either but the closest pronunciation for an English speaker would be...

"O Kyar-ool"  OR   O "Kyar-oo-il" [the second being more correct]
(the -ool I use here or -oo- is like the oo in the word tool.
-il as in ill
And the ky I use is a hard c or k sound with a slight y sound after it.
A close approximation would be to imagine the utterance 'nyeh' and slot in a k in place of the n )




Banbha said:


> Mac Bhranaigh (Mac Vra-nig)



I think this is more likely that this name is pronounced "Mak- Vra-nah" OR "Mak-Vra-ney"
Its name originally from the north and the cluster -(a)igh is only pronounced "ig" the very south of Ireland.


Hope I'm not after confusing you now


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## langzot

Thanks very much for the info. Another related question:
Is the 'r' pronounced as an alveolar flap (where the tongue briefly strikes the alveolar ridge)?


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## itka

I tried here (with Moira's voice).
Would you say that's the correct pronunciation ?


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## cailín gaelach

itka said:


> I tried here (with Moira's voice).
> Would you say that's the correct pronunciation ?



Just looked at that site and tried "Vrana" with Moria (Irish) and Fiona (Scottish) and both of these are close enough for an English speaker. If said by a native Irish speaker the r would probably be a bit stronger -a bit stronger that a pronounced English r (i.e. the r sound is heard unlike many UK dialects where you can't hear the r at all) but not as strong as the rolled rr in Spanish.

I would be inclined to say yes to langzot's question


> Is the 'r' pronounced as an alveolar flap (where the tongue briefly strikes the alveolar ridge)?


but I'm not a 100% sure, not being very familiar with linguistics.


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