Nancy Stenson: Irish Lenition & Orthographic Depth

[Elizabeth J. Pyatt]

From: Nancy Stenson <stenson at tc.umn.edu>

Hi Brian,
>>
>>I too have some brief comments. Actually I'm surprised that the <h> should
>>be such a stumbling block, given the fact that English uses diagraphs all
>>the time, especially <ph> and <th>. I personally had more problem, when I
>>was learning, to know which vowels were pronounced, which vowels
>>were there to
>>indicate broad/slender, and which vowels were both. This was compounded
>>by the fact that the broad/slender pronunciation differences are changed by
>>which vowel is *actually* pronounced. (eg. a /b/ before a back vowel is [b],
>>but before a high front vowel is [bw], similarly a /b'/ before a back vowel
>>is a [bj] but before a front vowel is [b]. This means that depending upon
>>context the sequence <be> can be pronounced either with a [b] or a [bj]
>>quality. That took me forever to learn.

I agree with Andrew; it was the vowels, and their interaction with
the broad/slender consonants that was the real killer for me too. But
I do think that the <h> can be a problem for learners who tend to
think of English spelling as  the only possible values for particular
sounds (and vice versa).  So, of course, they try to pronounce <th>
as an interdental fricative, <sh> as a palatal, and they are simply
flummoxed by things like <dh> or <mh>.  It's not that hard to
overcome in the cases where there isn't an English digraph to
interfere, but where there is, I've seen the mispronunciations
persist for what seems a shocking length of time in some cases.

On the whole, though, it doesn't seem to be a horrible problem for
learners once they get a grip on the concepts.  On the other hand, I
know native Irish speakers who claim to be unable to read the
language because of the spelling changes.  In those cases, it's a
matter of having trouble giving up the familiar more than anything
inherent in the spelling conventions, I suspect, along, no doubt with
all sorts of sociolinguistic baggage about relative value of the
languages and what's actually worth reading and such.  But that
doesn't make the stumbling blocks created by such attitudes any less
real.  Whether they'd be there for English speaking learners in North
America, though, I don't know.  Wouldn't mind finding out though.  My
guess would be, with Dorothy, that the buailte could be just as hard,
since it's easy to miss and likely to be ignored (I've seen it happen
with students reading older texts, over and over; I slip up myself
sometimes).

It might be interesting to see if there are any differences between
different populations.  Not only native speakers vs. learners, but
learners in Ireland, who have years of school exposure, even if it
doesn't take, or at least see the language around and  may know that
initial forms change without fully grasping how or why, and learners
here, to whom the whole initial mutation thing is utterly alien at
first. For them, having the very visible sign of mutation, in the
form of the <h> might conceivably be a help once the initial hurdle
of coping with the mutation concept is passed.  But I'm just
guessing.  A study that actually looks at these matters would be
worth seeing.   Do it, Brian.

nancy
--
Nancy Stenson
Institute of Linguistics, ESL, and Slavic Languages and Literatures
215 Nolte Center
315 Pillsbury Drive, SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455

Phone: (612) 624-2529
email:  stenson at tc.umn.edu

--
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