Ozish

Pronunciation

Explanation of the phonetic alphabet

Letters between slashes are the phonetic alphabet.

In the dictionary - words in double slashes //xxx// are the pronunciation as if the Gaelic spelling were accurately phonetic. Sometimes it is. Just like English is occasionaly pronounced the way it's spelled. Words in single slashes /xxx/ are how the word is actually pronounced. Words in parens (xxx) are the English equivalent.

Vowels

/*/ the u in burr /b*r/

/a/ the u in cup /cap/
/a:/ the a in father /fa:88*r/

/e/ the e in bet /bet/
/e:/ the a in make /me:c/

/i/ the i in bit /bit/
/i:/ the i in machine /mas'i:n/

/o/ the aw in law /lo/
/o:/ the o in cold /co:ld/

/u/ the oo in book /buc/
/u:/ the oo in boot /bu:t/

/ae/ the a in bad /baed/

Consonents

/'/ following a letter is a slight "y" offglide

/2/ tenses the following vowels,
    /2a:/ is a voiced /a:/
    /2o:/ is a voiced /o:/
    /2u:/ is /wu:/
    /2'/ is a tense voiced /y/

/3/ voiced equivalent of /x/
/3'/ voiced equivalent of /x'/ on the end of a word like a z

/7/ the unvoiced tongue flap of little /li7*l/
/77/ the voiced tongue flap of doddle /da:77*l/

/8/ the th of think /8i9c/
/88/ the th of this /88is/

/9/ the ng of sing /si9/
/9'/ ng with a slight y after it
/99/ is a nasal /9/

/b/ the b in booty /bu:ti:/
/b'/ as in beauty /b'u:ti:/
/b:/ is b with a strong puff of air

/c/ the c in cat /caet/
/c'/ k with a slight y after it
/c:/ is a k with a strong puff of air

/d/ the d in debt /det/
/d'/ the d in duty /d'u:ti:/ 
/d''/ the j of judge /d''ad''/
/d:/ is d with a strong puff of air

/f/ the f in face /fe:s/
/f'/ as in few /f'u:/

/g/ the g in get /get/
/g'/ g with a slight y after it

/h/ the h in hear /hir/
/h'/ h with a slight y after it

/l/ the l in loon /lu:n/
/l'/ l with a slight y after it
/ll/ is a very throaty /l/
/lh/ is an unvoiced /l/ with a lot of air moving past the tongue, same as Welsh "ll"
/ll'/ like /ll/ with a slight y after it
/lh'/ like /lh/ with a slight y after it

/m/ the m in moon /mu:n/
/m'/ as in music /m'u:zic/
/mm/ like /m/ with a very closed mouth
/mm'/ like /mm/ with a slight y after it

/n/ the n in noon /nu:n/
/n'/ as in new /n'u:/
/n:/ is n with a strong puff of air
/nn/ is almost /9/
/nh/ is an unvoiced /n/ with air coming out the nose
/nn'/ like /nn/ with a slight y after it
/nh'/ like /nh/ with a slight y after it

/p/ is p without a puff of air
/p'/ as in pew /p'u:/

/q/ is a very short pause
/qq/ is a glottal stop as in Scots bottle /ba:qq*l/

/r/ the r in rune /ru:n/
/r'/ like a z way back in the mouth
/rr/ is a trilled /r/
/rr'/ like a trilled /z'/ or a trilled /s'/ depending on whether it is voiced or not
/rh/ is like /r/ with a moderate amount of air moving past it
/rh'/ like a breathy /z'/ or a breathy /s'/ with the tongue bent back and with a slight y after it

/s/ the s in soft /soft
/s'/ the sh in shoe /s'u:/
/s:/ is s with a strong puff of air

/t/ the t in toon /tu:n/ without a puff of air
/t'/ the t in tune /t'u:n/ 
/t''/ the ch of church /t''*rt''/ 
/t:/ is t with a strong puff of air

/v/ the v in van /vaen/
/v'/ as in view /v'u:/

/w/ the w in one /wan/
/ww/ is a nasal /w/
/ww'/ like /ww/ with a slight y after it

/x/ the ch in German buch /bu:x/ or Scots loch /lox/
/x'/ the ch in German ich /ix'/

/y/ the y in year /yir/
/yy/ the g in Greek gyros /yyi:ro:s/, a voiced /y/
/yy'/ like /yy/ only a lot tenser, on the end of a word sounds like g