Cuirpthean language

Cuirpthean language
Guilleag
Pronunciation	[ˈgɯ̯͡iːʎəg]
Native to	Cuirpthe Newrey
Region	Cuirpthe
Ethnicity	Cuirptheans
Native speakers	ca. 34,245,000 (2018)
Language family	Cataisuran Thiaric Peripheral Thiaric Old Maíreidh Cuirpthean Cuirpthean language
Writing system	Fiorentine alphabet
Official status
Official language in	Cuirpthe
Regulated by	Comann na Guilleig (Cuirpthean Language Society)
Language codes
ISO 639-1	cu
ISO 639-2	cui
ISO 639-3	cui

Cuirpthean (guilleag pronounced: [ˈgɯ̯͡iːʎəg]) is a Thiaric language spoken in the Republic of Cuirpthe by over thirty four million people, with first-language communities across the border in Newrey. It is a Maíreidh language, deriving from Old Maíreidh but splitting off before the Middle Maíreidh period, and thus forming a distinct sub-branch from languages such as Mawr Lhaeraidd which derive from Middle Maíreidh. A much greater degree of contact with speakers of Newreyan and the Fiorentine languages, particularly speakers of Lilledic, have led to Cuirpthean's significant divergence in comparison to the other Peripheral Thiaric languages of tir Lhaeraidd and the Mardin Isles.

Cuirpthe has been inhabited since prehistory, and Fiorentine records show that by the classical period the region of Cuirpthe was inhabited by a people similar to the Lhaeraidd, whom the Fiorentines called Mari, probably from the local root már meaning "great". Direct rule by the Fiorentines over Cuirpthe lasted until 453CE and had significant effect on the local language. Contact with Fiorentine peoples did not end, and there is strong evidence of contact with the people who would become the Lilledics. Around this time Cuirpthean began to diverge from Old Maíreidh, and by the end of the first millennium CE had a distinct identity as Middle Cuirpthean. Later Newreyan rule from the fifteenth century further affected the development of the language in various ways.

Cuirpthean is the first language of the Cuirpthean people who primarily inhabit the Republic of Cuirpthe, where Cuirpthean is the sole official language and one of the two national languages alongside Newreyan. In Newrey, there is a first-language Cuirpthean community speaking the Dauisce dialect in the region near to the Cuirpthean border, but the language has no recognition whatsoever and faces active marginalisation and persecution.

History

The area corresponding to modern Cuirpthe has been inhabited since prehistory. Since the beginning of written records, the people of Cuirpthe have been identified as a people closely related or identical to those of neighbouring tir Lhaeraidd, referred to as the Mari or Marri by Fiorentine writers. This reflects a common element Mar- seen in the names of local tribes, which in turn derives from Old Maíreidh már "great". For a significant length of time writings by these Cuirptheans were rare and short, written both in Óm and Fiorentine scripts and so it is difficult to make linguistic generalisations about these people. However, the dominant language amongst them was clearly Maíreidh, and it is from this that Cuirpthean descends.

Old Maíreidh is the ancestral language of Cuirpthean as well as Modern Maíreidh and Gaelaidh, spoken in the Mardin Isles and tir Lhaeraidd. However, whereas Maíreidh and Gaelaidh are descendants of Middle Maíreidh, Cuirpthean branched directly from Old Maíreidh. It did however have contact with Middle Maíreidh, evidenced by reborrowings and couplets such as inherited déide "boy" and borrowed giolla "conscript", both ultimately from Old Maíreidh gilla.

As a result of the early split, Cuirpthean has retained grammatical elements that Middle Maíreidh did not, although it has lost many other elements. For example, although the neuter gender was largely lost in Middle Maíreidh it has been well preserved in Cuirpthean and is just as important as the masculine and feminine genders. On the other hand, the verbal system has been greatly simplified, with the loss of all synthetic tenses but the preterite or perfect (now a simple past) and present. Besides this, the greater duration of separation has led to Cuirpthean being far more phonetically different than its nearest relatives. While there is some amount of mutual intelligibility between Maíreidh and Gaelaidh, particularly the written forms, this is often not the case in Cuirpthean. Compare the following translations of "I have no money":

• Cuirpthean: Ní bhirim mé di ghaold [ɲiː ˈviɾəm mjeː d͡ʒəˈɣɯ̯͡ɛld]
• Maíreidh: Níl airgead agam [nʲiːlʲ ˈaɾʲɪɟədˠ ˈagəmˠ] or chan fhuil airgead agam [xanˠ ɪlʲ ˈaɾʲɪɟədˠ ˈagəmˠ]
• Gaelaidh: Chan eil airgead agam [xanʲ elʲ ˈaɾʲakʲət ˈakəm]

Cuirpthean here has a distinction between generic possession and current possession; since the translation in question requires reference to current possession the verb bréach in its conjugated form birim is used instead of the more similar construction cho mbí... lim or in western dialects cho mbí... agam which is syntactically like chan fhuil/eil... agam used in Gaelaidh or dialectally in Maíreidh. In addition, the common word for "money" is gaold, a loan from an Alemannic language, rather than the slightly antiquated argad.

The date during which Cuirpthean split from Old Maíreidh is difficult to ascertain precisely, but is generally placed after the fall of the Fiorentine Empire in Cuirpthe but before the foundation of the Cuirpthean Confederation, thus between 453 and 906CE.

Middle Cuirpthean

Many of the developments which occurred in or after the Middle Cuirpthean period are similar to those observed in Lilledic, and it is generally agreed that this is no coincidence, but that speakers of each language had significant contact with one another and therefore shared these changes with one another. Two notable examples are traceable to Middle Cuirpthean and Old/Middle Lilledic.

First is a significant reduction in verbal complexity, with both languages moving towards the loss of all synthetic tenses bar present and past, constructing other tenses with more analytic means. However, whereas Cuirpthean took based its past tense on the Fiorentine imperfect, Cuirpthean based its on the Old Maíreidh preterite or perfect: Lilledic mandeve from Fiorentine mandēbat but Cuirpthean -dú- from ·dúaid, perfect stem of ithid "eat". Cuirpthean retained both perfect and preterite forms in the Middle period, with the latter used for imperfective aspect. A memorable example of both past tense forms is found in a translation of the Orations of Gaius of Laterna: nonn·glás é aċ níċonn ro·ġlaise "he was persuading us, but did not convince us". Compare modern Cuirpthean é raghlas sní, ach ní bhá seach galla sní, where raghlas is the sole synthetic past form of "persuade" and the perfect is expressed with the analytic construction bóch seach galla lit. "be after persuading". The syncretism of these verb forms is already apparent in Middle Cuirpthean due to the merging of most personal inflections throughout the past tense (only the third person singular remained distinct in each tense).

Besides this, other verbal changes include the total loss of deponent and passive verbs (shared with Lilledic): OM labraithir → MC laḃraċas "he speaks" with the -as ending deriving from the Old Maíreidh non-deponent relative, cf. modern Cuirpthean gríos "he works" from OM gnís "he who works". The merging of the second and third person plural forms of verbs also has a parallel in Lilledic; this change was complete already by Middle Cuirpthean: céa in na·ċreidead sisi "ye who believe such a thing", cf. fásad éad isean caille "they grow in the forest". The broad ending -ad is used already for both second and third persons. The conjugation of "kill" (modern verbal noun oran) follows to exemplify. This verb is useful for illustration since the perfect and preterite forms shared a stem, but the perfect added the prefix ro:

	Present		Past
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
First Person	*orġum	orgḃa, *orġḃa	(ro·)oirdeas, (ro·)oirdis	*(ro·)oirdeam, (ro·)oirdeaḃ
Second Person	*orġa	orġad	*(ro·)oirdis	(ro·)oirdead
Third Person	orġ, orġa		(ro·)oird

By the end of the Middle period, the first and second person singular past forms had merged while the first person plural past ending was generalised as -ḃ throughout the first conjugation.

Second is the reduction, but not complete loss, of nominal case. This differs between the two languages more than the changes to the verbal system. Lilledic distinguishes direct and genitive cases, but Cuirpthean distinguishes direct and oblique, with the latter used after any preposition. Both languages distinguish additional cases on some words, but again not identically; while some Lilledic nouns and adjectives distinguish nominative, accusative-oblique and genitive cases, Cuirpthean has direct, genitive and dative-oblique cases marked on all adjectives. Cuirpthean does not have case marked on its pronouns, but the definite article distinguishes all of nominative, accusative, genitive and dative, as it did in Old Maíreidh. In Middle Cuirpthean, the nominative and accusative had already merged into the direct case, but the genitive remained extant in many instances, leading to fossilised modern phrases such as aigen ucht réada "first thing's first" lit. "at the front (breast) of matters"; réada is from the genitive plural of réad which has otherwise been replaced with di réadabh.

Modern Cuirpthean

As a term, "Modern Cuirpthean" or rarely "Neo-Cuirpthean" refers to the language from the unification wars onwards, although the startpoint is sometimes placed slightly earlier. While Cuirpthe was under Newreyan rule, the native language faced suppression, being barred from the political sphere but also forbidden in many schools as well as other public contexts, with often violent punishments decreed for speaking Cuirpthean. The language persisted however, with a significant amount of influence from the Newreyan language. This Newreyan superstrate lasted throughout the commonwealth period until 1722 when it was ended.

With Cuirpthe independent once again the language was restored to official status in all spheres, and a renewal of nationalist fervour led to a golden age in Cuirpthean literature. Such foundational works as In Fígheach (The Debt) and In Seinn-bhfeolla (The Violinist) were written in the decades following Cuirpthean independence, and the Cuirpthean Language Society, then called the Fellowship of Cuirpthean Literati (Muinnter na Colltraighebh Cuirptheach), was founded to standardise, regulate and promote the language.

Phonology

Consonants

A phonemic inventory of the consonants of Cuirpthean is presented below. Bracketed entries are allophones of other sounds.

Cuirpthean consonant phonemes

	Labial	Dental	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m	n nˠ	ɲ	(ŋ)
Stop	p b (pʰ)	t d (tʰ)	t͡ʃ d͡ʒ (t͡ʃʰ)	k g (kʰ)
Fricative	f v (ɸ β)	s z	ʃ ʒ ç ʝ (ɟ)	x ɣ	h
Approximant	(w)	l ɫ r ɾ	ʎ j

• The consonants /n nˠ ɲ/ and /l ɫ ʎ/ form groups of consonants where there is a contrast between lenis /n l/, broad fortis /nˠ ɫ/ and slender fortis /ɲ ʎ/. An additional distinction amongst the rhotics has been reduced in most dialects to lenis /ɾ/ and fortis /r/, though see below for discussion of the rhotics. The pronunciation of the fortis sounds is quite variable amongst dialects, and the given pronunciations represent the standard values. For more information see the section "Slender and broad sounds".
• The velar nasal [ŋ] occurs as an allophone of /n/ before a velar consonant, including across word boundaries: teanga "tongue, language" [ˈt͡ʃʰɛ̃͡ɑ̯ŋgə]. This sound affects vowels similarly to the fortis consonants: ghionga "lad" is [ˈjʊ̃͡ɑ̯ŋgə] not *[ˈjɔ̃͡ɑ̯ŋgə].
• The bilabial fricatives [ɸ β] are used instead of /f v/ by some speakers. Similarly, [w] varies with /v/, although here they are not free variants but conditioned allophones. [v] always occurs word-initially, when slender before front vowels except after /u/ and before consonants or word boundaries while [w] occurs elsewhere in free variation: a Bhran! "O Bran!" [əˈvɾɑ̃n]; aibhín "brook" [əˈvĩːn]; cráibh "bone" [kʰɾɑ̃͡ːɒ̯v]; clubhain "meadow" [ˈkʰlũvən ~ ˈkʰlũwən]. However, when /v/ occurs as a mutation of /f/ it is always pronounced [v] except word-initially where [w] is used in western dialects and [v] in eastern: núibhfiosa "to remember" [nˠũ͡ːʉ̯ˈvisə] and never *[nˠũ͡ːʉ̯ˈwisə].
• The consonants /z ʒ/ occur only as the eclipsis mutations of /s ʃ/, and are not usually distinguished in writing: sollas "light" [ˈsoɫəs] but sollas suinnseach "bright light" [ˈsoɫə‿ˈzĩːʃəx]. In some southeastern dialects this distinction has been lost and the voiced sounds are always used word-initially. Word-internally the distinction is maintained in compounds when the first element causes eclipsis in the standard language, though most speakers do not maintain this and [s~z] are in free variation within words.
• /ʝ/ is the slender value of /ɣ/, but except in some conservative dialects it has merged with /j/. The two are not distinguished in writing: ríghe "kings" [ˈriːʝə] or [ˈriːjə] but ghionga "lad, boy" [ˈjʊ̃͡ɑ̯ŋgə] and never *[ˈʝʊ̃͡ɑ̯ŋgə]. Word-finally /ʝ/ has the allophone [ɟ] in western dialects: conáigh "forwards" [kʰəˈnæ̃ːɟ]. Otherwise, /j/ can occur at the start of a small number of words: Eallsabh "Elsouf (river)" [ˈjaʊ̯ɫsəv].
• /h/ only occurs word-initially, primarily as a result of H-prosthesis or lenition of /s/: a h-ach "her horse" [əˈhɑx], in shúill "the eye" [ə̃ˈhuːʎ]. It may also occur as an allophone of /x/ in eastern dialects and of /p/ in southwestern dialects: a chráibh "his bone" E. [əˈhnɑ̃͡ːɒ̯v]; corp "person" SW. [kɯ̯͡ɔɾh].
• Outside the word-initial position, /ɣ/ is marginal, occurring primarily in regularised forms of words where it would otherwise have been historically lost: ágh "side" [ɑː] but ágha "sides" [ˈɑːɣə]. Word-finally this sound is usually not pronounced, though western dialects sometimes pronounce it as [g]: ágh [ɑːg]. Word-initially on the other hand it is frequent as the lenition of /g/ and /d/: in ghuilleag "the Cuirpthean language" [əŋˈɣɯ̯͡iːʎəg]; cáid dhubh "black forest" [kʰɯ̯͡ɑ͜ːæ̯d͡ʒ ɣɯ̯͡uː].

The pronunciation of the lenis rhotic /ɾ/ varies significantly amongst dialects, though a coronal tap or flap is standard and common across the country. The most common dialectal variant is [ɹ], which is quite widespread in eastern dialects. Most dialects have lost the distinction between broad and slender for this sound, but a handful of western dialects retain the contrast. In these, there is a north/central/southern divide. In the most northern dialects, the slender value is [ð], while elsewhere it is [ɾʲ]. In the most southern dialects, the broad value is [ɹ] while elsewhere it is [ɾ]. In other words, north dialects have [ɾ ð], central dialects have [ɾ ɾʲ] and southern dialects have [ɹ ɾʲ]. Additionally, after a vowel, in all but a few southern and western dialects, /ɾ/ is reduced to a semivowel like [ə̯] or [ɐ̯] or deleted entirely. Thus, a word like fer "man" (note that the final consonant is historically broad) can be pronounced in any of the following ways: [fjɛə̯ ~ɛɐ̯ ~ɛɾ ~ɛɹ].

The fortis rhotic /r/ has similarly lost the broad-slender distinction, though the resulting pronunciation is more uniform. The most widespread value is a coronal, usually alveolar trill [r]. The most common alternative is [ɹ]. This is in fact never ambiguous, although it is also a possible pronunciation of the lenis sound: as an allophone of the lenis rhotic it occurs mainly in eastern dialects, while as an allophone of the fortis sound it is confined to northwestern dialects and therefore usage never overlaps. Another, rarer pronunciation for the fortis sound is [ʐ], found mainly in the southeast. Unlike the lenis rhotic, the fortis rhotic is always pronounced, including in the syllable coda.

Aspiration of the voiceless plosive consonants when they occur word-initially is widespread everywhere except in the most southern dialects and some transitional dialects in the northwest. Elsewhere in a word light aspiration may occur before any vowel except after a consonant, when they are pronounced with an earlier voice onset time: puirtín "small port" [ˈpʰɔə̯t͡ʃʰĩːn] but follteach "university" [ˈfuːɫt͡ʃˣəx]. Voiced plosives in contrast have a negative VOT and so are always contrastive: déad "tooth" [d͡ʒeːd]. At the end of a word, there is a strong east/west division between full release of plosives in the east (manifested with strong aspiration) and lack of audible release in the west (manifested with light glottalisation): corp "person" E. [kʰɯ̯͡ɔə̯pʰə̥] but W. [kʰɯ̯͡ɔə̯ˀp̚].

Vowels

A phonemic inventory of the vowels of Cuirpthean is presented below.

Cuirpthean vowel phonemes

	Front	Central	Back
Close	iː i		uː u
Mid	eː e	(ə)	oː o
Open			aː a

The schwa [ə] occurs as a reduction of vowels in unstressed syllables. Typically these vowels are orthographically neutralised as <a> or <e>, though there are exceptions to this, such as the verbal ending -im. The reduced vowel may contextually occur as [ɨ] in some western dialects.

The short vowel /a/ has front and back allophones [æ ɑ]. The front vowel occurs before a slender consonant, as well as after a slender consonant when not followed by a broad coronal consonant. Elsewhere the back allophone occurs. Note however that the long vowel /aː/ always has a back pronunciation [ɑː] or [ɔː], except when between two slender coronal consonants or between a slender coronal onset and a slender dorsal coda, in which case it is [æː]: leáigh "he/she/it melted" [ʎæːʝ]. Long [ɑː] is often rounded to [ɔː] in northwestern dialects: cráibh [kɾɔ̃ːv], but is unrounded in the standard language.

Short vowels have distinct allophones in closed syllables. When deletion of coda [ɾ] causes an underlying closed syllable to become phonetically open, the closed vowels are maintained. The allophones are lower and laxer than the cardinal vowels: mise "me" [ˈmĩʃə] but dios "right" [d͡ʒɪs]; focal "word" [ˈfo͡ɑ̯kəl] but poblach "public" [ˈpʰɔbləx]. Lax /a/ is often back [ɑ] but as often central [ä] and is often transcribed simply as [a] in laxing position as a result.

Before fortis consonants in closed syllables short vowels undergo tensing and lengthening. Additionally, the central vowels /e o/ merge with the high vowels [i u] as [iː uː] respectively: teinn "soldier" [t͡ʃʰĩːɲ]; foll "he/she learns" [fuːɫ]. In some instances vowels can dipthongise: oill "all" [uːʎ ~ ɔɪ̯ʎ]. This is particularly common with the vowel /a/ which becomes [aʊ̯] before a broad consonant and [aɪ̯] before a slender consonant: call "church" [kʰɯ̯͡aʊ̯ɫ]; baillte "towns" [ˈbɔ̯͡aɪ̯ʎt͡ʃə]. Diphthongisation is widespread but not universal.

Despite the simplicity of the vowel system when viewed from a purely phonemic perspective, Cuirpthean phonology is complicated by a system of assimilation which occurs in stressed syllables, open syllables and syllables containing a long vowel (in other words, all syllables except unstressed, short, closed syllables, or open syllables with a schwa). This assimilation manifests as the insertion of allophonic vowels with a smooth glide between sequences. These inserted vowels are noticeably shorter than the nucleic vowel. The changes which occur depend on the nature of the surrounding consonants.

Consonants can be divided into six groups based on the effect they have on vowels. The primary division is between labial, coronal and dorsal consonants, and the secondary division is between broad and slender consonants. A full discussion of the vowel system is beyond the scope of this article, but in the most simplistic terms labial consonants induce the insertion of a rounded vowel while dorsal consonants induce the insertion of an unrounded vowel, and broad consonants induce back vowels while slender consonants induce front vowels. Coronal consonants do not generally cause any vowel to be inserted.

The specific changes which occur in a given environment are dependent on the nucleic vowel. For illustrative purposes, the following table shows the changes which affect the vowel /a/ in some archetypical positions.

			Coda consonant
			Broad			Slender
			p	t	k	p	t	k
Onset consonant	Broad	p	pɔ̯͡ɑ͜ɒ̯p	pɔ̯͡ɑt	pɔ̯͡ɑ͜ɑ̯k	pɔ̯͡æ͜œ̯p	pɔ̯͡æt͡ʃ	pɔ̯͡æ͜æ̯k
		t	tɑ͡ɒ̯p	tɑt	tɑ͡ɑ̯k	tæ͡œ̯p	tæt͡ʃ	tæ͡æ̯k
		k	kɯ̯͡ɑ͜ɒ̯p	kɯ̯͡ɑt	kɯ̯͡ɑ͜ɑ̯k	kɯ̯͡æ͜œ̯p	kɯ̯͡æt͡ʃ	kɯ̯͡æ͜æ̯k
	Slender	p	pjæ͡ɒ̯p	pjɑt	pjæ͡ɑ̯k	pjæ͡œ̯p	pjæt͡ʃ	pjæ͡æ̯k
		t	t͡ʃæ͡ɒ̯p	t͡ʃæ̯͡ɑt	t͡ʃæ͡ɑ̯k	t͡ʃæ͡œ̯p	t͡ʃæt͡ʃ	t͡ʃæ͡æ̯k
		k	kæ͡ɒ̯p	kæ̯͡ɑt	kæ͡ɑ̯k	kæ͡œ̯p	kæt͡ʃ	kæ͡æ̯k

Vowel insertion occurs mainly in dialects in the northwest and southeast to break up many consonant clusters. Typically, an inserted vowel is phonemically identical to the preceding vowel, though always short and lax. With regards to the orthography, epenthetic vowels do not alter the usual pronunciation of vowels in closed syllables: pri oillebh céamnabh "every step of the way" [pʰɾi ˈoʎəv ˈkʰẽːmɛnəv].

Generally the first syllable of a word is stressed, which can cause syncope when a word is inflected: doras "door" → doirse "doors"; árach "beginning" → árcha "beginnings". Syncope is not always predictable, and there is sometimes variation between speakers with use of syncope, for example aireacha or archa are both possible as an inflection of aireach "careful". When prefixes are added to a root, the stress does not usually shift: fiosa "know" has stress on the initial syllable but prefixed núibhfiosa "remember" has stress on the second syllable. There are, moreover, words which have irregular stress. For example the word indé "today" has stress on the last syllable: [əɲˈd͡ʒeː]. These words are often phrases which have been reanalysed as single words; in this instance indé derives from the now-obsolete in dé "the day", but the normal word for "day" in modern Cuirpthean is lá. Other examples are dabhaille [dəˈvɔ̯͡æʎə] "homeward" and conáigh [kʰəˈnæːʝ] "forwards".

Nasalisation occurs as a non-predictable quality of vowels in some words, but has a minimal functional load. Vowels in proximity to nasal consonants are nasalised, but this also affects vowels in proximity to historical /w̃/ which has since been lost and this is unpredictable: talla "land" [ˈtʰɑ̃ːɫə] from talam; coille "council" [ˈkʰõːʎə] from comairle and so on. Nasalisation is contrastive in distinguishing the lenition of /m/ as [v] from other occurrences of [v], but rarely contrastive otherwise: céa bhóras "who bores" [ˈkʰeːə ˈvoːɾəs] but céa mhóras "who feeds" [ˈkʰeːə ˈvõːɾəs].

Slender and broad sounds

Old Maíreidh possessed a consistent distinction between so-called "broad" (velarised) and "slender" (palatalised) sounds. This system has been reduced to a significant extent in Cuirpthean, but it is still present and is important in understanding the language's orthography and vowel system. Furthermore, even for consonants which otherwise do not possess the distinction, mutation may cause distinctly broad or slender sounds to manifest; for example, /k/ does not have broad and slender variants, but it lenites to /x/ when broad and /ç/ when slender, even though the value of /k/ proper is unchanged. As for vowels, cf. the variant plurals of "river": aibhne [ˈɛ͡œ̯vnə] but abhna [ˈɑ͡ɒ̯vnə].

A broad consonant can only be preceded or followed by the written vowels <a o u> while a slender consonant can only be preceded or followed by <e i>. This rule is followed whenever possible, even in compounds: lí "beauty" + blách "flower" → líobhlách "darling (term of endearment)" not *líbhlách. Rarely, following this rule is impossible: follteach "university" has a broad and slender sound together as a result of compounding and the spelling rule cannot be followed. In these cases original spelling is maintained.

The pairs of sounds with distinct pronunciations in the modern language are as follows:

Basic sound	Slender		Broad
	Value	Example	Value	Example
/p/	[p]	pobal "people" [ˈpʰobəl]	[pj], [p] (before /i/)	piur "sister" [pʰjʊə̯]
/b/	[b]	baille "town" [ˈbɔ̯͡æʎə]	[bj], [b] (before /i/)	ben "woman" [bjɛ̃n]
/f/	[f]	foll "blood" [fuːɫ]	[fj], [f] (before /i/)	fer "man" [fjɛə̯]
/v/	[v]	bhá "he was" [vɔ̯͡ɑː]	[vj], [v] (before /i/)	búibhe "victories" [ˈbu͡ːʉ̯vjə]
/m/	[m]	magh "field" [mɔ̯͡ɑ̃ː]	[mj], [m] (before /i/)	meón "middle" [mjõːn]
/t/	[t]	talla "land" [ˈtʰɑ̃ːɫə]	[t͡ʃ]	teinn "soldier" [t͡ʃʰĩːɲ]
/d/	[d]	doras "door" [ˈdorəs]	[d͡ʒ]	déad "tooth" [d͡ʒeːd]
/s/	[s]	súill "eye" [suːʎ]	[ʃ]	sé "six" [ʃeː]
/N/	[nˠ]	tonn "wave" [tʰũːnˠ]	[ɲ]	neart "power" [ɲɛ̃ə̯t]
/L/	[ɫ]	lá "day" [ɫɑː]	[ʎ]	lí "stone; beauty" [ʎiː]
/x/	[x]	in chall "the church" [əŋˈxaʊ̯ɫ]	[ç]	in chlé "the left" [ə̃ˈçʎeː]
/ɣ/	[ɣ]	ghas "is" [ɣɯ̯͡ɑs]	[ʝ], [j]	gráigheach "citizen" [ˈgɾæːʝəx, -jəx]

As the table shows the distinction is maintained for most dental consonants, velar fricatives, and labial sounds, though palatalisation within the latter group has yielded to clusters with [j].

Although other sounds do not experience a phonetic shift when broad or slender, as this is still often important in understanding the effect on vowels, many scholars choose to consistently transcribe for example aice [ˈɛ͡æ̯kə] and aca [ˈɑ͡ɑ̯kə], the present and past stems of "see", as /ˈakʲə/ and /ˈakˠə/ respectively so as to avoid having to posit more vowel phonemes for the language.

Alternation between broad and slender consonants is involved in some inflectional processes, such as the formation of first declension feminine oblique nouns: ágh "side (direct case)" [ɑː] → áigh "side (oblique case)" [æːʝ]; call "church (dir.)" [kʰaʊ̯ɫ] → cill "church (obl.)" [kʰiːʎ]; foll "blood (dir.)" [fuːɫ] → foill "blood (obl.)" [fɔɪ̯ʎ]. Some nouns experience slenderisation in the plural: doras "door" [ˈdoɾəs] → doirse "doors" [ˈdɔə̯ʃə]; magh "field" → [mɔ̯͡ɑː] maighe "fields" [ˈmɔ̯͡æʝə]. Many verbs also alternate between broad and slender: aicí "he sees" [ˈɛ͡æ̯kiː] → aca "he saw" [ˈɑ͡ɑ̯kə]; rafhall "I saw" [ɾaːʊ̯ɫ] → rafhaill "he saw" [ɾaːɪ̯ʎ]. As one can see this frequently causes spelling changes.

Note that when a fortis consonant is subject to lenition, there is no phonetic distinction between slender and broad, but the underlying pronunciation is shown by the orthography: lí "stone" [ʎiː] → da lí "your stone" [dəˈliː]. Other consonants maintain a distinction where possible: da ghúch "your voice" [dəˈɣu͡ːɯ̯x] but da ghéall "your jaw" [dəˈʝeːɫ].

The pronunciations of the fortis consonants varies between dialects. Often they are written simply as /Nˠ Nʲ Lˠ Lʲ/ to avoid specifying any particular pronunciation over another. The traditional distinction, as with other slender/broad pairs is velarisation v. palatalisation but the manifestation of this today is variable. The standard values are velarised [nˠ ɫ] and palatal [ɲ ʎ]. However, some speakers in the west use palatalised coronal sounds [nʲ lʲ] rather than true palatals. For yet other speakers, the palatalised sounds have merged with the lenis sounds and the velarised sounds are distinguished by tenseness, giving /Nˠ Nʲ Lˠ Lʲ/ → [nː n lː l]. Some speakers merge the fortis sounds with one another, distinguishing them from lenis sounds by their place of articulation: fortis sounds are alveolar or postalveolar while lenis sounds are dental.

Mutations

Cuirpthean has retained the Old Maíreidh mutation system largely intact, with three mutations: lenition (transcribed L), eclipsis (also called nasalisation, transcribed N) and H-prosthesis (also called aspiration, transcribed H). Each mutation occurs in specific morphophonological environments. For example, nouns and adjectives may have cases which are pronounced identically except that they cause a different mutation on the following word. Compare the following:

• In corp^N gcórach [əŋˈkʰɯ̯͡ɔə̯p ˈgɯ̯͡õːɾəx] "The foreign person"
• In^L chorp^L chórach [əŋˈxɯ̯͡ɔə̯p ˈxɯ̯͡õːɾəx] "Of the foreign person"
• Na^H cáide^H h-arda [nəˈkɯ̯͡æːd͡ʒə hɑːdə] "The tall forests"
• Na^N gcáidebh ard [nəˈgɯ̯͡æːd͡ʒəv ɑːd] "Of the tall forests"

Superscript letters show the mutation a given form causes on the next word. This is the only means by which in corp gcórach in the nominative-direct case is distinguished from in chorp chórach in the genitive-oblique case. The full set of mutations is given below. Note that H-prosthesis only occurs before words starting with a vowel, and does nothing otherwise.

Basic sound	Broad mutations		Slender mutations		H-prosthesis
	Lenition	Eclipsis	Lenition	Eclipsis
/p/	[f]	[b]	[fj]	[bj]	No change
/t/	[x]	[d]	[ç]	[d͡ʒ]
/k/	[x]	[g]	[ç]	[g]
/b/	[v]	[m(b)]	[vj]	[m(b)j]
/d/	[ɣ]	[n(d)]	[ʝ]	[ɲ(d͡ʒ)]
/g/	[ɣ]	[ŋ(g)]	[ʝ]	[ɲ(d͡ʒ)]
/m/	[ṽ]	[m]	[ṽj]	[mj]
/N/	[n]	[Nˠ]	[n]	[Nʲ]
/L/	[l]	[Lˠ]	[l]	[Lʲ]
/f/	Silent	[v]	[j]	[vj]
/s/	[h]	[z]	[hj]	[ʒ]
/a/	[a]	[na]	N/A		[ha]

Two types of mutation are observed in Cuirpthean. Phrasal mutation occurs only on the next word within a given phrase (such as a noun phrase); after the final word in said phrase, mutation cannot occur on any following word as it belongs to a different phrase. For example, when a noun precedes a verb, the noun does not cause mutation to the verb: in^L rí^H íchí'n^N bhfléagh^L "the king eats the meal"; here rí causes a phrasal H-prosthesis but since íchí is not within the same phrase this mutation does not occur (*h-íchí). However the eclipsis mutation does occur to fléagh as in bhfléagh is a single phrase. The exception to this is that a noun can cause mutation to a following preposition: in fer^N n-ón scáighe^L "the man in the mirror".

A much rarer mutation is the jumping mutation. This is believed to have arisen as a result of syntactic changes occurring to the language without any changes to the mutations which occur. A jumping mutation causes mutations to apply out of the usual order: they may affect a word which does not immediately follow, or even a word which precedes. The primary situtation in which this mutation occurs is when an adjective precedes its head noun rather than follows. The mutation of the definite article applies to the noun while the mutation of the noun applies to the adjective. For example: in^N thapach dtúch^L "the educated society"; here the eclipsis of the article applies to the noun túch while the lenition of that applies to tapach. A small number of jumping mutations trace back to Old Maíreidh; for example, the possessive a "his, her, its, their" causes mutation to a following numeral, with the exception of dá "two" which is ignored: a^L dá chos "his two legs".

Orthography

Cuirpthean orthography is based on the traditional Maíreidh orthography and thus contains many quirks making a concise description difficult. Digraphs and trigraphs are common due to the rule of coél pra coél as léan pra léan "slender with slender and broad with broad": the letters <a o u> are broad vowels and the letters <e i> are slender vowels. The only exceptions to this rule are compounds where following the orthographic rule is otherwise impossible, such as follteach [ˈfuːɫt͡ʃəx] "university", where the cluster [ɫt͡ʃ] cannot be written in accordance to the rule. Additionally, digraphs of a consonant plus <h> are common as a means of showing lenition, though one may alternatively encounter the overdot used in more traditional spelling styles (eg. ġaḃa or ghabha "we are").

All mutations are indicated orthographically. Mutations before a vowel are separated with a dash: a fer "her husband" but a h-ach "her horse". Otherwise, the initial consonant of the mutated word is altered. Generally, lenition is shown by inserting a <h>: <b> becomes <bh>, <t> becomes <th> and so on. Lenition of the fortis consonants, however, is not indicated: a ghúch "his voice" but a lí "his stone". Therefore, in writing, only context can tell whether one of these sounds is unlenited or lenited. Eclipsis of plosives is shown by prefixing the new sound to the old sound: <p> becomes <bp>, <g> becomes <ng> and so on. Eclipsed <f> is written as <bhf> as in Maíreidh. Eclipsed <s> is rarely written as <zs> and this spelling is accepted in the standard but usually there is no orthographic distinction made.

The possible ways of writing given consonant sounds follow. Compared to vowels, consonants are quite simple and their writing predictable:

Consonants

Letter(s)		Pronunciation	Examples
b	broad	[b]	bó [boː] "cow", bran [bɾɑn] "raven", scúba [ˈskɯ̯͡uːbə] "brushes"
	slender	[b] before [i]	bí [biː] "there is", birim [ˈbiɾəm] "I carry"
		[b] word-finally	róib [ro͡ːø̯b] "dress (oblique)"
		[bj]	ben [bjɛ̃n] "woman", béall [bjeːɫ] "mouth"
bh	broad	[v ~ w]	bhó [voː ~ woː] "cow (lenited)", bhá [vɔ̯͡ɑː ~ wɑː] "was", clubhain [ˈkʰluwən ~ ˈkʰluvən] "meadow"
	slender	[v] before [i]	aibhín [æ͡œ̯ˈvĩːn] "stream", bhime [ˈvĩ͡ʉ̯mjə] "we were (subjunctive)"
		[v] word-finally	sibh [ʃɪ͡ʏ̯v] "you (plural)", loébh [ɫe͡ːø̯v] "days (obl.)"
		[vj]	bhearn [vjɛə̯n ~ vjɑ̃ːn] "gap (lenited)", Ílbhe [ˈiːlvjə] "Vaellenia", gaibhim [ˈgɯ̯͡æ͜œ̯vjəm] "I hold"
	See vowel chart for obh, ubh
bhf	broad	[v ~ w] word-initially	bhfár [vɔ̯ɑː ~ wɑː] "better (eclipsed)"
		[v]	chobhfainn [xəˈvɔ̯͡ãɪ̯ɲ] "unhappy"
	slender	[v] before [i]	núibhfiosa [nˠũ͡ːʉ̯ˈvisə] "remember"
		[vj]	bhfeolla [ˈvjoːɫə] "violin (ecl.)"
bp	broad	[b]	bpoblach [ˈbɔbləx] "public (ecl.)"
	slender	[b] before [i]	bpíos [biːs ] "piece (ecl.)"
		[bj]	bpiur [bjʊə̯] "sister (ecl.)"
c	[k]		cása [ˈkʰɯ̯͡ɑːsə] "reason", colltur [ˈkʰɯ̯͡uːɫtə] "culture", céam [kʰæ̯͡ẽ͜ːɒ̯m] "step", cí [kʰiː] "what", focal [ˈfo͡ɑ̯kəl] "word"
ch	broad	[x]	char [xɯ̯͡ɑː] "across", chos [xɯ̯͡ɔs] "foot (len.)", grách [gɾɑ͡ːɑ̯x] "normal"
	slender	[ç]	chéam [çẽ͡ːɒ̯m] "step (len.)", chist [ˈçɪʃt] "question (len.)", maich [mɔ̯͡æ̃ç] "good"
d	broad	[d]	dá [dɑː] "two", drom [dɾɔ̃m] "ridge"
	slender	[d͡ʒ]	déide [ˈd͡ʒeːd͡ʒə] "boy", indé [əɲˈd͡ʒeː] "today"
dh	broad	[ɣ]	dhubh [ɣɯ̯͡uː] "black (len.)", radhúa [ɾəˈɣɯ̯͡uːə] "he ate"
	slender	[ʝ]	dhios [ʝɪs] "right", dhéad [ʝeːd] "tooth (len.)"
dt	broad	[d]	chodtapach [xəˈdɑ͡ɒ̯pəx] "unintelligent"
	slender	[d͡ʒ]	dtíos [d͡ʒiːs] "north (ecl.)"
f	broad	[f]	fás "to grow" [fɔ̯͡ɑːs], fúam [ˈfuːəm] "sound"
	slender	[f] before [i]	fiche [ˈfiçə] "twenty"
		[f] word-finally	scairf [skɯ̯͡æə̯f] "scarf (obl.)"
		[fj]	feolla [ˈfjoːɫə] "violin", fer [fjɛə̯] "man"
fh	silent		mé fhén [mjẽː ẽːn] "myself", d'fhios [dɪs] "your message"
g	[g]		galla [ˈgɯ̯͡ɑːɫə] "to persuade", guilleag [ˈgɯ̯͡iːʎəg] "Cuirpthean language", géall [geːɫ] "jaw", grín [gɾĩːn] "to do", coga [ˈkʰɯ̯͡o͜ɑ̯gə] "war"
gc	[g]		gcoél [gɯ̯͡eːɫ] "thin (ecl.)"
gh	broad	silent before a consonant	raghlas [ˈɾɑːɫəs] "he persuaded", aghnabh [ˈɑːnəv] "next to the (plural)"
		[ɣ]	ágha [ˈɑ͡ːɑ̯ɣə] "sides", trághann [ˈtʰɾɑ͡ːɑ̯ɣɯ̯͡ɑ̃ːnˠ] "coasts"
	slender	[j] required in some loanwords	ghionga [ˈjʊ̃͡ɑ̯ŋgə] "lad"
		[ʝ]	lúigh [ɫuːʝ] "calf", lígheach [ˈʎiːʝəx] "beautiful"
	See vowel chart for agh, agha, aigh(e) and igh(e)
h	[h]		hacaín [ˈhɑ͡ɑ̯kɯ̯͡ĩːn] "to hack", a h-oichte [əˈhɔ͡æ̯çt͡ʃə] "her breasts"
l	broad	[ɫ] when word-initial and unlenited	lá [ɫɑː] "day", lubhra [ˈɫuːɾə] "to say"
		[ɫ] after [x] or [ɣ]	chlubhain [ˈxɫuwən] "meadow (len.)", ghlann [ɣɫãʊ̯nˠ] "valley (len.)"
		[l]	lá [lɑː] "day (len.)", la [lə] "with", pobal [ˈpʰobəl] "people"
	slender	[ʎ] when word-initial and unlenited	lí [ʎiː] "beauty", léan [ʎẽːn] "broad"
		[ʎ] after [ç] or [ʝ]	chlé [çʎeː] "left", ghleinnighe [ʝʎẽːɲĩː] "yokel"
		[l]	lí [liː] "beauty (len.)", lim [lɪm] "with me", speil [ʃpɛl] "sickle (obl.)"
ll	broad	[ɫ]	sollas [ˈsoːɫəs] "light", Eallsabh [ˈjaʊ̯ɫsəv] "River Elsouf"
	slender	[ʎ]	soillse [ˈsɔɪ̯ʎʃə] "lights", mille [ˈmĩːʎə] "thousand"
m	broad	[m]	magh [mɔ̯͡ɑ̃ː] "field", muinnter [ˈmu̯͡ĩːɲt͡ʃə] "nation", fúmann [ˈfũːmɔ̯͡ɑ̃ːnˠ] "sound"
	slender	[m] before [i]	miosa [ˈmĩsə] "to measure", fúimín [ˈfũ͡ːʉ̯mĩːn] "whisper"
		[m] word-finally	im [ɪ̃m] "butter", creidim [ˈkʰɾed͡ʒəm] "I see"
		[mj]	meón [mjõːn] "middle", coimeach [ˈkʰɯ̯͡õ͜ø̯mjəx] "when"
mb	broad	[m(b)]	mbaille [ˈm(b)ɔ̯͡æːʎə] "towns (ecl.)", mbratach [ˈm(b)ɾɑtəx] "flag (ecl.)"
	slender	[m(b)] before [i]	cho mbí [xəˈm(b)iː] "there is not", mbía [ˈm(b)iːə] "living things (ecl.)"
		[m(b)j]	cho mbéad [xəˈm(b)jeːd] "there are not", mbeolla [ˈm(b)joːɫə] "mouths (ecl.)"
mh	broad	[ṽ ~ w̃]	mhaich [vɔ̯͡æ̃ç ~ wɔ̯͡æ̃ç] "good (len.)", lámhór [ˈɫɑ͡ːɒ̯võːə̯ ~ ˈɫɑ͡ːɒ̯wõːə̯] "parliament"
	slender	[ṽ] before [i]	mhise [ˈvĩʃə] "me (emphatic)", mhille [ˈvĩːʎə] "thousand (len.)"
		[ṽj]	mheónach [ˈvjõːnəx] "central", mheán [vjɑ̃ːn] "desire (len.)"
	silent in forms of one preposition		umhnabh [ˈũːnəv] "around the (pl.)", imhe [ˈĩːə] "around him"
n	broad	[nˠ] when word-initial and unlenited	nú [nˠũː] "new", naíghe [ˈnˠĩːʝə] "child"
		[n]	nú [nũː] "new (len.)", nám [nɑ̃͡ːɒ̯m] "than me", meón [mjõːn] "middle"
	slender	[ɲ] when word-initial and unlenited	neart [ɲɛ̃ə̯t ~ ɲæ̯͡ɑ̃ːt] "power", ní [ɲĩː] "is not"
		[ɲ] before [t͡ʃ] or [d͡ʒ]	indé [əɲˈd͡ʒeː] "today", in teinn [əɲˈt͡ʃʰĩːɲ] "the soldier"
		[n]	neart [nɛ̃ə̯t ~ næ̯͡ɑ̃ːt] "power (len.)", nine [ˈnĩnə] "we (emph.)", daíne [ˈdĩːnə] "people"
nd	broad	[nˠ(d)]	ndoras [ˈnˠ(d)oɾəs] "door (ecl.)", ndubh [nˠ(d)uː] "black (ecl.)"
	slender	[ɲ(d͡ʒ)]	ndéad [ɲ(d͡ʒ)eːd] "tooth (ecl.)", ndios [ɲ(d͡ʒ)ɪs] "right (ecl.)"
ng	broad	[ŋ(g)] word-initially	ngúch [ŋ(g)ɯ̯͡u͜ːɑ̯x] "voice (ecl.)", ngrá [ŋ(g)ɾɑː] "peer (ecl.)"
		[nˠ] before a consonant when not a mutation of /g/	teangda [ˈt͡ʃʰãʊ̯nˠdə] "tongues"
		[ŋg]	teanga [ˈt͡ʃɛ̃͡ɑ̯ŋgə] "tongue", chongrách [xəŋˈgɾɑ͡ːɑ̯x] "abnormal"
	slender	[ɲ(d͡ʒ)] word-initially	ngéall [ɲ(d͡ʒ)e:ɫ] "jaw (ecl.)", ngleinne [ˈɲd͡ʒʎeːɲə] "valleys (ecl.)"
		[ɲ] before a consonant when not a mutation of /g/	teingde [ˈt͡ʃʰĩːɲd͡ʒə] "soldiers" (superseded spelling)
		[ŋg]	aingeast [ˈɛ̃͡æ̯ŋgəst] "cowardice"
nn	broad	[nˠ]	cann [kʰãʊ̯nˠ] "head", tonn [tʰũːnˠ] "wave"
	slender	silent before a sibilant	suinnseach [ˈsĩːʃəx] "bright"
		[ɲ]	fainn [fɔ̯͡ãɪ̯ɲ] "happy", seinne [ˈʃẽːɲə] "to sing"
p	broad	[p]	port [pʰɔə̯t] "port", pobal [ˈpʰobəl] "people", corp [kʰɯ̯͡ɔə̯p] "person"
	slender	[p] before [i]	píos [pʰiːs] "piece", pían [ˈpʰiːən] "wound"
		[p] word-finally	maip [mɔ̯͡æ̃͜œ̯p] "paper (obl.)"
		[pj]	péana [ˈpʰjẽːne] "to punish", peachra [ˈpʰjɛ͡ɑ̯xɾə] "sisters"
ph	broad	[f]	phort [fɔə̯t] "port (len.)", phobal [ˈfobəl] "people (len.)"
	slender	[f] before [i]	phíos [fiːs] "piece (len.)", phían [ˈfiːən] "wound (len.)"
		[fj]	phéan [fjẽːn] "pain (len.)", phiur [fjʊə̯] "sister (len.)"
r	[r] when word-initial and unlenited		rú [ruː] "dark red", rí [riː] "king"
	[ə̯] or silent in the syllable coda		derg [d͡ʒɛə̯g] "light red", lár [ɫɑː] "bottom"
	[ɾ]		rú [ɾuː] "dark red (len.)", priom [pʰɾɪ̃͡u̯m] "alongside us"
rr	[r]		tearra [ˈt͡ʃʰæ̯͡ɑ̃ːrə] "army", arra [ˈɑːrə] "for her", corr [kʰuːr] "point"
s	broad	[z] when eclipsed	sollas [ˈzoːɫəs] "light (ecl.)"
		[s]	saighead [ˈsæʝəd] "arrow", súill [suːʎ] "eye", scách [skɯ̯͡ɑ͜ːɑ̯x] "reflection, shadow"
	slender	[ʒ] when eclipsed	séall [ʒeːɫ] "story (ecl.)"
		[ʃ]	sé [ʃeː] "six", sibh [ʃɪ͡ʏ̯v] "you (pl.)", sní [ʃnĩː] "we"
sh	broad	[h]	shaighead [ˈhæʝəd] "arrow (len.)"
	slender	[hj]	sheon [hjɔ̃n] "here, now"
sp	broad	[sp]	spáit [spɔ̯͡æːt͡ʃ] "space", aspra [ˈɑspɾə] "difficulty"
	slender	[ʃp]	speal [ʃpɛl] "scythe", taispéne [ˈtʰæʃpẽːnə] "to show"
st	broad	[st]	stán [stɑ̃ːn] "tin", aingeast [ˈɛ̃͡æ̯ŋgəst] "cowardice"
	slender	[ʃt]	steát [ʃtæ̯͡ɑːt] "authority", cist [kæ̯͡ɪʃt] "question"
t	broad	[t]	tabhairt [ˈtʰɑ͡ɒ̯vət͡ʃ] "to give", tú [tʰuː] "you (singular)", trá [tʰɾɑː] "coast"
	slender	[t͡ʃ]	téar [t͡ʃʰeːə̯] "west", tíos [t͡ʃʰiːs] "north", trí [t͡ʃʰɾiː] "three"
th	broad	silent in one word	áthar [ɑː] "father"
		[x]	thrá [xɾɑː] "coast (len.)", síothalla [ˈʃi͡ːɑ̯xɯ̯͡ɑ̃ːɫə] "overseas territory"
	slender	silent after a consonant	cuirptheach [ˈkʰɯ̯͡ɔə̯pjəx] "Cuirpthean"
		[ç]	thíos [çiːs] "north (len.)", áither [ˈæːçə] "fathers"
ts	broad	[t]	in tsádra [ənˈtʰɑːdɾə] "the downpour"
	slender	[t͡ʃ]	in tsíosacht [əɲˈt͡ʃʰiːsəxt] "the otherworld"
zs	broad	[z]	zsollas [ˈzoːɫəs] "light (ecl.)"
	slender	[ʒ]	zséall [ʒeːɫ] "story (ecl.)"

Certain spellings in the above table require additional explanation. The following set of graphemes represent lenitions, though they may occur in non-initial position: bh ch dh fh gh mh ph sh th. Word initial fortis sounds and their lenitions as lenis sounds are not distinguished from one another and the correct pronunciation must be deduced from context. The following graphemes represent eclipses: bhf bp dt gc mb nd ng zs. When mb nd ng represent the eclipsis of b d g respectively many speakers pronounce them as simple nasal consonants with no plosive sounds, but otherwise they always represent consonant clusters. The use of zs is tolerated but not generally used except where context is not sufficient; otherwise, s is used and thus the eclipsis is not distinguished. Finally, ts is a special mutation of s which occurs after some forms of the definite article.

The letter h occurs alone in native Cuirpthean words only as a result of H-prosthesis before vowel-initial words, and is always written with a dash. However, it also occurs in loanwords. Loanwords are generally adapted to Cuirpthean spelling, but some proper nouns resist this and may retain their original spelling, therein using letters which do not otherwise occur: Vescovi [vɔ̯͡ɛsˈkɯ̯͡o͜ːø̯viː].

Vowels are far more complicated due to the broad/slender spelling rule, although in some words this rule is not strictly followed as the relevant contrast has been lost (although Cuirpthean is arguably stricter in adhering to this rule than Maíreidh). This means that many digraphs and trigraphs are in use, as well as graphemes which incorporate consonant letters. Certain rules always apply:

• Vowels with an acute accent (gúchfhúmann agútacha) are always pronounced: á é í ó ú
• Vowels next to agútacha are used to adhere to the broad/slender rule and do not generally specify a particular phoneme, with the main exception of vowels indicating a schwa as in the spelling ía: snía "to drip" [ˈʃnĩːə]
• The letter i after another vowel is usually for spelling reasons and not pronounced with the exception of ui before a fortis consonant: coideas "support" [ˈkʰɯ̯͡o͜ø̯d͡ʒəs] but guilleag "Cuirpthean language" [ˈgɯ̯͡iːʎəg]
• Except for i as described above, before a fortis consonant the last written vowel usually determines the phoneme: dionn "out of us" [d͡ʒũːnˠ]
• Various graphemes have multiple pronunciations depending on the surrounding consonants, particularly before fortis consonants

Simple vowels

Letter		Pronunciation	Examples
a	stressed	[ɑː] before fortis consonants in an open syllable	canna [ˈkʰɯ̯͡ɑ̃ːnˠə] "heads", talla [ˈtʰɑ̃ːɫə] "country"
		[aʊ̯] before fortis consonants in a closed syllable	cann [kʰɯ̯͡ãʊ̯nˠ] "head", tall [tʰaʊ̯ɫ] "that"
		[ɑː] before /ɾ/ in a closed syllable	sar [sɑː] "forwards", char [xɯ̯͡ɑː] "across"
		[ɑ] in open syllables	agam [ˈɑ͡ɑ̯gəm] "beside me", bratach [ˈbɾɑtəx] "flag"
		[ɑ ~ a] in closed syllables	map [mɔ̯͡ɑ̃͜ɒ̯p ~ mɔ̯͡ã͜ʊ̯p] "paper", lasc [ɫɑsk ~ ɫask] "whip"
	unstressed	[ɑː] before fortis consonants	comann [ˈkʰɯ̯͡õmɔ̯͡ɑ̃ːnˠ] "council", síothalla [ˈʃi͡ːɑ̯xɯ̯͡ɑ̃ːɫə] "overseas territory"
		[ə]	poblach [ˈpʰɔbləx] "public", óchtar [ˈo͡ːɑ̯xtə] "top", fiosa [ˈfisə] "to know"
e	stressed	[e] in open syllables	rene [ˈrẽnə] "straits"
		[ɛ] in closed syllables	fer [fjɛə̯] "man"
	unstressed	[ə]	coirpe [ˈkʰɯ̯͡ɔə̯pjə] "people", aice [ˈɛ͡æ̯kə] "to see, beside her"
i	stressed	[iː] before fortis consonants	mille [ˈmĩːʎə] "thousand", innde [ˈĩːɲd͡ʒə] "in them"
		[i] in open syllables	mise [ˈmĩʃə] "me (emph.)", di [d͡ʒi] "of"
		[ɪ] in closed syllables	rin [rɪ̃n] "strait", im [ɪ̃m] "butter"
		[iː ~ eː] in forms of one preposition	imhe [ˈĩːə ~ ˈẽːə] "around him", imhibh [ĩːv ~ ẽːv] "around you (pl.)"
	unstressed	[iː] before fortis consonants	naíghinn [ˈnˠĩːʝĩːɲ] "children", iminn [ˈĩmĩːɲ] "butters"
		[ə]	creidim [ˈkʰɾed͡ʒəm] "I think", íchim [ˈiːçəm] "I eat"
o	stressed	[oː] before fortis consonants in an open syllable	tonna [ˈtʰõːnˠə] "waves", follan [ˈfoːɫən] "to learn"
		[uː] before fortis consonants in a closed syllable	nonn [nũːnˠ] "to there", foll [fuːɫ] "he learns"
		[o] in an open syllable	coga [ˈkʰɯ̯͡o͜ɑ̯gə] "war", tonach [ˈtʰonəx] "to wonder"
		[ɔ] in a closed syllable	bog [bɔ͡ɑ̯g] "bog", ocht [ɔ͡ɑ̯xt] "eight"
	unstressed	[u] in one word	áo [ˈɑːu] "grandson"
		[uː] before fortis consonants	áonn [ˈɑːũːnˠ] "grandsons", choronn [ˈxɯ̯͡oɾũːnˠ] "across us"
		[ə]	chobhfainn [xəˈvɔ̯͡ãɪ̯ɲ] "unhappy"
u	stressed	[uː] before a fortis consonant	ullar [ˈuːɫə] "floor"
		[u] in an open syllable	tusa [ˈtʰusə] "you (sing. emph.)", druma [ˈdɾũmə] "ridges"
		[ʊ] in a closed syllable	sun [sʊ̃n] "to here", ucht [ʊ͡ɑ̯xt] "chest"

Vowels with the acute accent are always pronounced as long vowels, and are always pronounced when part of di- and trigraphs.

Acute vowels

Letter(s)	Pronunciation	Examples
á	[ɑː]	lá [ɫɑː] "day", grá [gɾɑː] "peer"
ái	[æː]	cáid [kʰɯ̯͡æːd͡ʒ] "forest", áir [æːə̯] "air, sky"
aí	[iː]	daíne [ˈdĩːnə] "people", naíghe [ˈnˠĩːʝə] "child"
aío		caíoga [ˈkʰɯ̯͡i͜ːɑ̯gə] "fifty", maíobh [mɔ̯͡ĩ͜ːu̯v] "to boast, to threaten"
é	[eː]	indé [əɲˈd͡ʒeː] "today", fér [fjeːə̯] "grass"
éi		déide [ˈd͡ʒeːd͡ʒə] "boy", éis [eːʃ] "fishes"
éa	[eːə] word-finally	céa [ˈkʰæ̯͡eːə] "who", déa [ˈd͡ʒeːə] "god"
	[eː]	béall [bjeːɫ] "mouth", éas [eːs] "fish"
eá	[ɑː]	leán [ʎɑ̃ːn] "rock", caisleán [ˈkʰɯ̯͡æʃlɑ̃ːn] "castle"
eái	[æː]	leáigh [ʎæːʝ] "it melted"
eó	[oː]	meón [mjõːn] "middle"
í	[iː]	lí [ʎiː] "beauty", tígheabha [ˈt͡ʃʰi͡ːu̯və] "we go"
ío		píos [pʰiːs] "piece", síosacht [ˈʃiːsəxt] "spirit world"
ía	[iːə]	bía [ˈbiːə] "living things", remhía [ɾəˈvĩːə] "he measured"
iú	[uː]	siúlas [ˈʃuːləs] "he walks"

Grammar

Compared with Old Maíreidh, Cuirpthean grammar has been greatly simplified overall. The extremely complex verbal system has been collapsed into a largely regular system, although some irregularities such as breach being the verbal noun of beir "carry" persist. Moreover, nouns have been reduced to only four forms, showing combinations of singular or plural number with direct or oblique case. However, there are some complications which have been introduced, such as jumping mutations or the partial switch to SVO syntax.

Nouns and adjectives

Nouns are one of masculine, feminine or neuter, and a knowledge of a noun's gender is important both for declining a noun of any given paradigm as well as for correct adjective agreement. Adjectives decline to agree with their head in case and number, as well as have comparative, superlative and equative grades which can only be used as predicates and therefore do not decline.

Nouns have four main paradigms with a number of subclasses. The first declension is a merger of many Old Maíreidh noun types, although the historical paradigm has led to irregularities for a few nouns: feminine i-stem nouns and neuter o-stem, io-stem, s-stem i-stem and u-stem nouns are all slightly different from the usual first declension paradigm. The second declension continues Old Maíreidh velar-stem nouns, the third declension continues dental-stem nouns though each gender has some differences in declension, and the fourth declension continues n-stem nouns once again with a difference between each gender.

The declension of the regular first declension noun túach "people" is as follows:

	Singular	Plural
Direct	túachN	túachaH
Oblique	túaichL	túachabh

Note that slenderisation of the final consonant occurs only for feminine nouns of this declension: guch "voice" which is masculine has the oblique singular guch. With such nouns eclipsis or lenition of the following word is the only indicator of case.

Some nouns may have an irregularity in the plural, such as fer "man":

	Singular	Plural
Direct	ferN	fireH
Oblique	ferL	fereabh

When the irregularity is a change in the stem vowel, as above, only the direct plural is affected. However, if the irregularity is the addition of a consonant, then both the direct and oblique plural forms are affected, as with baille "town":

	Singular	Plural
Direct	bailleN	baillteH
Oblique	bailleL	baillteabh

The first declension contains five slightly deviant subsets. Feminine i-stem nouns traditionally cause lenition rather than eclipsis in the direct singular form. However, it is perhaps more common today to use eclipsis instead; the Comann na Cuirptheich Theanga accepts both variants. The declension of súid "eye" follows:

	Singular	Plural
Direct	súidL or N	súideH
Oblique	súidL	súideabh

The remaining three variants are all neuter nouns. Neuter o-stem, io-stem and s-stem nouns have merged into one subgroup which is exceptional in causing lenition rather than h-prosthesis in the direct plural. In fact, this rule holds for all first declension neuter nouns except for u-stem nouns; this subgroup simply lacks any other idiosyncrasies. The declension of sél "story" follows:

	Singular	Plural
Direct	sélN	séleL
Oblique	sélL	séleabh

Neuter i-stem nouns have a different oblique singular form, identical to the direct plural but causing h-prosthesis instead of lenition. Some speakers are merging this declension with the above. The declension of mor "sea" follows:

	Singular	Plural
Direct	morN	moraL
Oblique	moraH morL	morabh

Finally, neuter u-stem nouns do not cause mutation in the direct plural, and have slenderisation in both plural forms. These are the only first declension neuter nouns which do not cause lenition in the direct plural. The declension of doras "door" follows; note that the syncope in the plural here is regular:

	Singular	Plural
Direct	dorasN	doirse
Oblique	dorasL	doirseabh

The declension of the regular second declension noun rí "king" is as follows:

	Singular	Plural
Direct	ríH	rígheH
Oblique	ríL	rígheabh

The variant spelling rígh in the singular is sometimes seen, but is regarded as archaic and dispreferred today.

The declension of the regular masculine third declension noun ténn "soldier" is as follows. Note that throughout the third declension, if syncope occurs in the plural following a broad consonant it will be slenderised (see teanga below):

	Singular	Plural
Direct	ténn	ténndeH
Oblique	ténneL	ténndeabh

Third declension feminine nouns cause aspiration in the direct singular. The declension of teanga "tongue, language" follows:

	Singular	Plural
Direct	teangaH	tengdeH
Oblique	teangaL	tengdeabh

Although neuter dental-stem nouns are grouped into the third declension, their declension is particularly different. There are two accepted variants for the oblique plural, one with slenderisation and one without. The declension of déad "tooth" follows:

	Singular	Plural
Direct	déadN	déadL
Oblique	déidL	déideabh déadabh

Lastly, the declension of the regular masculine fourth declension noun tallabh "land" is as follows. The occurrence of h-prosthesis in the direct plural is optional and both its presence and absence are accepted:

	Singular	Plural
Direct	tallabh	tallbhan(H)
Oblique	tallbhanL	tallbhanabh

Feminine nouns are identical but have h-prosthesis in the direct singular. The declension of tóide "idea" follows:

	Singular	Plural
Direct	tóideH	tóiden(H)
Oblique	tóidenL	tóideneabh

Neuter nouns decline like first declension nouns in the singular, and cause lenition in the direct plural. The declension of cém "step" follows:

	Singular	Plural
Direct	cémN	cémenL
Oblique	cémL	cémeneabh

Adjectives decline like nouns, but distinguish between masculine, feminine and neuter forms in the basic grade. The majority of adjectives decline like first declension nouns, following the relevant pattern for each gender, though some may have a complication in certain forms; the adjective-forming suffix -(e)ach for example has irregular forms ending in -(a)igh. The basic forms of grách "normal" are give below:

	Masculine		Feminine		Neuter
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Direct	gráchN	gráchaH	gráchN	gráchaH	gráchN	gráchaL
Oblique	gráighL	gráchabh	gráigheL	gráchabh	gráighL	gráchabh

Adjectives also possess three additional grades which are only used predicatively. The comparative is formed with slenderisation or lenition and a suffix -e: gráiche "more usual". The superlative is formed by slenderisation or lenition and a suffix -eabh: gráicheabh "most usual". Finally the equative is formed with a suffix -(a)ír with no changes to the stem: gráchaír "as usual". Irregular adjectives only regularly form the equative: maich "good" → fér "better", deach "best", maichír "as good".

These forms can be used predicatively in the following constructions:

• Ghas in rí maich. [ɣas ɪn riː maç] "The king is good."
• Ghas in ríghean fér ná h-in rí. [ɣas ɪn ˈriːʝən fjeːɐ̯ naː hɪn riː] "The queen is better than the king."
• Ghas éasa dheach deneabh rígheabh. [ɣas ˈeːsə ʝɛx d͡ʒenəv riːʝəv] "He is the best of the kings."
• Ghas in rí có-maichír us in ríghean. [ɣas ɪn riː koːˈmaçiːr ʊs ɪn ˈriːʝən] "The king is as good as the queen."

To use these forms attributively, qualifying particles must be used. In this case, the morphological grades are not used; instead the particle is used with the appropriate plain form of the adjective:

• In maich rí [ɪn maç riː] "The good king"
• In lín^N maich rí [ɪn ʎiːn maç riː] "The better king"
• In och maich rí [ɪn ɔx maç riː] "The best king"
• In rí gcobh^H maich (na) [ɪn riː goː maç (nə)] "The as good (as...) king"

There are some adjectives which do not decline to agree with their head. These adjectives typically occur at the start of an adjective phrase (but after articles) and include numerals and demonstratives: ún mhaich mben [uːn vaç mjɛn] "one good woman"; in thall maich mben [ɪn xau̯ɫ maç mjɛn] "that good woman".

Definite article

Cuirpthean has no indefinite, but has a definite article ("the"). Whereas all other declining words only mark direct and oblique case, the definite article continues to distinguish four cases: nominative, accusative, genitive and dative, though the dative article only occurs suffixed to prepositions. The article also shows number and gender in most forms. There are only three distinct independent forms of the article: in, a and na; however, various cases cause distinct mutations to occur.

	Singular			Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	in	inL	aN	inL	naN
Accusative	inN			naH
Genitive	inL	naH	inL	naN
Dative	-n			-nabh, -neabh

After a preposition, the definite article takes on the given bound clitic forms, with no distinction of gender and lenition matching that caused by the preposition. For example, with the preposition ca^NJ "to, until": gham mé a' téach can siúla [ɣam mjeː əˈt͡ʃeːx kən ˈʒuːlə] "I am going to the school".

Verbs

The simplifications which have occurred since Old Maíreidh are perhaps no more apparent then in the Cuirpthean verbal system. The extremely complex and irregular verbs have been collapsed to two regular conjugations, with two subgroups in the first conjugational paradigm. In the spoken languages, the changes are even more sweeping, with many synthetic verb forms being abandoned in favour of analytic constructions. However, in the literary language, as well as in more formal spoken registers, the full array of synthetic forms are in use.

The first conjugation derives from type-A verbs in Old Maíreidh, with the two subgroups reflecting AI and AII. The second conjugation derives from type-B verbs. Deponents have been eliminated entirely, and stem changes have been largely eliminated outside perhaps one or two forms, such as the irregular verbal noun breach from the root ber- "carry".

Verbs inflect to show two tenses (present and past), three moods (indicative, subjunctive and imperative), three persons and two numbers. Analytic constructions involve using the irregular verb buich "be" with a verbal noun. In the written language, this makes a specifically imperfective aspect verb, but is usual in speech.

The indicative forms of the type AI verb móra "feed" follow. Note that for every verb the first person plural form may be replaced by the second/third person plural form:

	Present		Past
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
1st person	móram	mórbha	móras	mórsabh
2nd person	móra	mórda		mórsad
3rd person	móras		mór

AII verbs differ from these forms only in the past tense, where the /s/-affix is slender. The conjugation of lége "accept" follows:

	Present		Past
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
1st person	légem	léagbha	léges	légseabh
2nd person	lége	léaghda		légsead
3rd person	légeas		lég

Subjunctive forms always occur in conjunction with a subordinating particle such as ca. When no other particle occurs, the verb takes the prefix ga- or ge-. Since this is predictable only the plain forms are given below for móra:

	Present		Past
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
1st person	mórasa	mórdaine	mórdasa	mórbhaine
2nd person		mórdaise		mórbhaise
3rd person

There is no difference in the conjugation of AII verbs, but the subjunctive of lége is given below regardless:

	Present		Past
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
1st person	légeasa	léaghdaine	léaghdasa	léagbhaine
2nd person		léaghdaise		léagbhaise
3rd person

The two imperative forms are as follows:

	móra	lége
Singular	mór!	lég!
Plural	móra!	lége!

The verbal nouns of regular first conjugation verbs are formed with a suffix -a or -e and are thus identical to the plural imperative form. The present analytic conjugation of móra is given below; other forms are obtained by substituting for another form of buich:

	Singular	Plural
1st person	gham a' móra	ghabha (t-)a' móra
2nd person	ghá (t-)a' móra	ghada (t-)a' móra
3rd person	ghas a' móra

The second conjugation has a number of differences to the first, particularly in the past tense where the prefix ra- or re- is mandatory. This conjugation also has numerous alternations between broad and slender stem-final consonants. The present conjugation of breach "carry" follows; this verb is regular except for the verbal noun. Verbal nouns in the second declension are highly unpredictable:

	Indicative		Subjunctive
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
1st person	berem	bearbha	bereasa	beardaine
2nd person	bere	bered		beardaise
3rd person	beir

Forms with a zero ending (ie. the third person singular present indicative and singular imperative) may experience spelling and pronunciation differences. With breach the pronunciation is regular, with the only change being the use of <ei> instead of <e>. However, a more irregular form is that of fóllan "learn"; the appropriate form of this verb is foll [fuːɫ].

In the past tense, a prefix occurs on the verb. Formerly this was written with a dash as ra- but the prescribed spelling now is ra- or re- in accordance with the usual spelling rules. This prefix causes lenition of the verb. In very informal contexts, the prefix may be dropped, but lenition still occurs on the verb. The past forms of breach follow:

	Indicative		Subjunctive
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
1st person	rebheard	rebheardam	rebheardasa	rebhearbhaine
2nd person	rebheird	rebheardad		rebhearbhaise
3rd person

When the past prefix coöccurs with the subjunctive prefix it merges with the verb root, causing eclipsis: gembeard "I might have carried" etc. Before a vowel, the prefix is simply r-: ích "he/she eats" → richd "he/she ate".

The imperatives of breach are identical to the first declension: beir!, bere!

Second conjugation verbal nouns possess multiple endings, and the appropriate ending is rarely predictable. Some common endings are -ch (as in breach or téach "go"), -a or -e (as in the first conjugation; as in gabha "hold" or iche "eat"), -n (as in fóllan "learn" or bubhaín "win") and zero ending (as in seinn "play (a stringed instrument)" or glá "persuade"). The third person singular present indicative forms of each of these verbs follow to exemplify:

Verbal noun	3s.pres.ind
breach [brɛx]	beir [bjɛɐ̯]
téach [t͡ʃeːx]	tí [t͡ʃiː]
gabha [ˈgavə]	gaibh [gav]
iche [ˈiçə]	ích [iːç]
fóllan [ˈfoːɫən]	foll [fuːɫ]
bubhaín [ˈbuiːn]	bubhaí [ˈbuiː]
seinn [ʃɛɲ]
glá [gɫaː]

The verb buich "be" is highly irregular. The present tense appears to have formed out of a hybridisation of the Old Maíreidh absolute and conjunct forms, as they are attested with initial dh- in historic sources. Compare the relativiser da from ata. Both the present and past forms have lenition throughout. The indicative conjugation follows:

	Present		Past
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
1st person	gham	ghabha	bhasa	bhubha
2nd person	ghá	ghada		bhada
3rd person	ghas		bhá

The present tense of buich is exceptional also in having an irregular set of negative forms. These are given below:

	Singular	Plural
1st person	nída	nídan
2nd person		nídad
3rd person	ní

The past tense however is regular: ní bhasa etc.

The highly irregular subjunctive forms now follow; note the exceptional forms with /x/ in the past tense:

	Present		Past
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
1st person	bhá	bhann	bhinn	bhime
2nd person		bhaigh	chá	chís
3rd person			bhí

The imperative forms of buich are singular ba! and plural bé!

The Old Maíreidh distinction between copular "be" and substantive "be" has been lost outside the present indicative tense, where the forms bía and bigheát exist as defective forms: Bía lam tóide "I have an idea" ← "there is an idea to me".

Pronouns

Cuirpthean retains two sets of personal pronouns, traditionally called absolute and emphatic forms. The absolute forms are unmarked and largely occur as enclitics whereas emphatic forms are syntactically free. Often, emphatic pronouns are also used to emphasise a contrast : tusa "you (in contrast to me)".

The two sets are as follows:

		Absolute		Emphatic
		Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
1st person		mé	sní	mese	snine
2nd person		tú	sibh	tusa	sise
3rd person	Masculine	é	éad	éasa	éise
	Feminine	í		íse
	Neuter	ad		ása

Absolute pronouns can only occur in proximity to a verb; as a result, mé aiceam é "I see him" is correct but *co aiceasa mé é is not a correct way to say "that I see him". In this instance, either the emphatic pronoun must be used (co aiceasa mé éasa) or an object clitic must be used (ca n-aiceasa mé). The former is more common in speech, while object clitics are largely confined to writing today.

Object clitics are always bound to a preverbal particle; when none otherwise occurs the particle no is used. Clitics can cause mutations on a following verb. The set of object clitics before the verb breach "carry" and aice "see" follow. The third person singular present indicative is used to demonstrate:

		Singular	Plural
1st person		nubh bheir nubh h-aiceas	nann beir nann aiceas
2nd person		nad bheir nad h-aiceas	nobh beir nobh aiceas
3rd person	Masculine	no mbeir no n-aiceas	nas mbeir nas n-aiceas
	Feminine	nas mbeir nas n-aiceas
	Neuter	no bheir no h-aiceas

Prepositions

Cuirpthean prepositions are somewhat more complicated than those of Old Maíreidh. Most dialects of Cuirpthean have inherited two forms of many prepositions, depending on the phonological environment in which the preposition occurs. For example, the preposition ca "to, until" has the form co which is used before most vowels and certain consonants. Cuirpthean has also inherited the so-called conjugating preposition system of that language, meaning that prepositions take sometimes unpredictable suffixes to indicate pronominal arguments. Although some irregularities in the Old Maíreidh system have been levelled out in modern Cuirpthean, some exceptional forms still occur. Presented below are the personal forms of the prepositions pra/pri "towards" (OM fri) and í "in":

		pra/pri		í
		Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
1st person		priam [ˈpriəm]	prinn [priːɲ]	ineam [ˈinəm]	inionn [ˈinuːnˠ]
2nd person		prid [prɪd͡ʒ]	priabh [priəv]	iniod [ˈinəd]	ineabh [ˈinəv]
3rd person	Masculine/Neuter	pris [prɪʃ]	pría [ˈpriːə]	in [ɪn]	inde [ˈɪnd͡ʒə]
	Feminine	pría [ˈpriːə]		ine [ˈinə]

Of particular note here is the third person masculine/neuter (no distinction is made between the two genders) and plural forms which are largely unpredictable. Other forms are mostly predictable, though some vowel alternations are not.

Distinct emphatic forms have been lost, with the preposition plus free pronoun used instead with optional mutation: pra mese/mhese "to me".

Many prepositions also have distinct combining forms before the definite article, although the form of the definite article itself never changes in this position. Pra has no distinct form: pran. However, í takes the form ise-, giving the forms isen and isneabh.

Although Old Maíreidh distinguished dative arguments from accusative arguments in the third person and when combined with the definite article, this distinction has been lost in Cuirpthean where the dative forms are generalised. These are used even where an accusative meaning is intended, and where the noun takes the direct case: gham mé isen mora "I am in the sea" (dative/oblique) but mé tíghem isen mor "I go into the sea" (accusative/direct).

Prepositions cause a variety of mutations, including the "jumping mutation" which is unique to Cuirpthean. Pra causes lenition, for example, while í causes eclipsis. These mutations occur on the head noun, ie. the last word in a prepositional phrase, rather than to the word immediately following. If a word preceding the head would cause mutation, the jumping mutation takes priority: sní tíobha pran^L túigheach^{N L}thráigh "we will go to the northern coast." In this case, we have lenited thráigh rather than nasalised *dtráigh for "coast".

Syntax

The unmarked word order of Cuirpthean is SVO, that is, subject-verb-object. However, there are exceptions. The Old Maíreidh order of VSO returns in two main instances: with the verb buich "be" which is always placed first in the clause, as well as in subordinate clauses such as content clauses:

• In tallabh móras in dtúach. [ɪnˈtaɫəv ˈmoːɾəs ɪnˈduːəx] "The land feeds the people."
• Ghas in tallabh mór. [ɣas ɪnˈtaɫəv moːɐ̯] "The country is large" lit. "is - the - country - large"
• Mé fiosam, ca n-iched na mbaí a fér. [mjeː fisəm kəˈniçəd͡ʒ nəˈmiː əˈfjeːɐ̯] "I know that cows eat grass" lit. "I - know - that - eats - the - cows - the - grass"

Peripheral arguments can be placed before or after the direct object, with no change in meaning. Placing such an argument elsewhere however is marked: mé móras in bhflé bpran bhó or mé móras pran bhó 'n bhflé "I fed the meal to the cow." Adverbs of time, however, almost always go at the end of a clause: mé ra h-iochd in bhflé indí "I ate the meal today."

Subordinate clauses are always marked by some subordinating particle. Declarative content clauses generally begin with ca, while interrogative and relative clauses begin with the appropriate pronoun. The clause following has a default VSO word order, though any subordinating pronoun is placed before the verb:

• Mé creidem, ca ghas a dtall failt. [mjeː ˈkɾed͡ʒəm kə ɣas aˈdau̯ɫ falt͡ʃ] "I don't think that's right."
• Mé fiosam, cí rabhaird tú coga. [mjeː ˈfisəm kiː ˈɾavəɐ̯d͡ʒ tuː ˈkogə] "I know what you said to her." (OVS)
• Mé fiosam, céa ghas in tall. [mjeː ˈfisəm ˈkeːə ɣas ɪnˈtau̯ɫ] "I know who that guy is." (SVO)
• Mé aiceas éad, co a tardas tú in liobhar. [mjeː ˈakəs ˈeːəd ˈkoə ˈtaɐ̯dəs tuː ɪɲˈʎivəɐ̯] "I saw him/her to whom you gave the book." (VSO with an indirect object initial)

Questions can be formed in various ways. Perhaps the most common is to simply use the structure of a declarative sentence with a rising intonation. However, two alternative methods exist in the spoken language. To form formal questions, it is most common to simply use a subjunctive verb; in the absence of any other particles, this verb takes the prefix ga- or ge-. The other possibility, and the only form permissible in the written language, is to use a sentence-initial particle an which forces the clause to take a VSO syntax. Before the ra- or re- prefix occurring on second conjugation past tense, the prefix is lost, merging with an to give ar. However, the verb is still lenited: ar bheird "did you bring?". The following examples all mean "did you see the church?":

• Tú aiceas in gceill? [tuː ˈakəs ɪŋˈgɛʎ]
• Tú gachdasa 'n gceill? [tuː ˈgaxdəsəŋ gɛʎ] (spoken language only, formal)
• An aiceas tú 'n gceill? [əˈnakəs tuːŋ gɛʎ]

Interrogative words can be placed in the unmarked position or fronted for emphasis; if a question word is fronted causing the object to precede the subject, the verb is required to be placed at the end of the clause, though it can precede adverbs: tú bere cí tall? or cí tall tú bere? or cí tú bere tall? "what are you carrying there?"

Vocabulary

Numerals

Cuirpthean	Old Maíreidh	Translation
ún	óen	one
dá	dau	two
trí	trí	three
céir	cethair	four
cóig	cóic	five
sé	sé	six
siacht	seacht	seven
acht	ocht	eight
nú	nói	nine
deich	deich	ten
ún deag	óen deac	eleven
dá dheag	dau deac	twelve
trí deag	trí deac	thirteen etc
fiche	fiche	twenty
tríacha	trícho	thirty
ceórcha	cethorcho	forty
caíoga	coíca	fifty
seasca	sesca	sixty
siachmó	sechtmoga	seventy
achmó	ochtmoga	eighty
nócha	nócha	ninety
céad	cét	hundred
dá chéad	dau cét	two hundred
trí céad	trí cét	three hundred etc
mille	míle	thousand