We come now to consider the twelve Irish consonants. Of these
consonants—_l_, _n_, _r_—never alter their primitive or radical sounds.
The remaining nine do change their radical sounds to those of cognate
nature.
This change, arising from a rough breathing after the vowel sound,
is properly called _aspiration_, as it merely modifies, rather than
destroys, as is sometimes erroneously supposed, the sound of the
consonant. The notation for the aspirate is indicated by an accent (´) or
_h_.
_Ṕ_ (asp.) is equivalent to _ph_ or _f_. _B́_, before or after _e_ or
_i_, to _v_; but before or after _a_, _o_, _u_, to _w_.
_Ḿ_, before or after _e_ or _i_, to _v_; before or after _a_, _o_, _u_,
to _w_, with a slightly nasal sound.
_F́_ is usually silent; in some words, however, it has the sound of _h_.
_Ć_, like _ch_ in _och_, or the Greek letter _chee_. Before _a_, _o_, or
_u_ it has the former sound, which is that of the German _ch_; but before
_e_ or _i_, it invariably takes the latter sound.
_Ǵ_, in the beginning of a word, if before the vowels _a_, _o_, _u_, has
the guttural sound _gh_; but before _e_ or _i_, it is sounded like _y_.
At the end, or in the middle of words, it has no other power than that of
prolonging the sound of the preceding vowel.
_D́_ has a thick, guttural sound, very analogous to _g_. In the beginning
of a word, before _e_ or _i_, it has exactly the sound of _y_; but in
the middle, or at the end, it has the force of _g_, that is, it merely
lengthens the sound of the preceding vowel or diphthong.
_T́_ loses its power as a consonant, and has the force of _h_.
_Ś_ has the sound of _k_; _s_, final, is never aspirated.