Irish 101

An Séimhiú/Lenition

An important and frequent feature in Irish language grammar is the concept of the
séimhiú, or lenition. Basically, when an Irish word (consonant) is lenited (or softened)
it changes the way the word is sounded.
You lenite, or soften, a word in Irish by normally placing a ‘h’ after the first
consonant. You may notice the use of lention in this course and in future courses.
There are many rules (and exceptions to those rules!!) associated with lenition.
The most important thing, however, to note is that the séimhiú changes the spelling
and the pronunciation of some Irish words in particular linguistic contexts. This may
sound complicated but the following are some typical everyday examples of using
the séimhiú.

For example, to say “my coat” in Irish we must lenite the word coat after using ‘my’ or
“mo”, which changes the word from “cóta” to “chóta i.e.
Mo + cóta = mo chóta

Another common example of lenition is when we use the article i.e. ‘the’ or “an” in
Irish before a feminine noun. For example, if we wanted to say “the woman” in Irish
we would have to lenite the word “bean” (woman) to “bhean” after the article an (the)
which leaves us with:
An + bean = an bhean

Lenition is also used when we address someone directly by their name and in the
vocative case e.g.
A Bhríd – Bríd
A Chaitríona – Caitríona

Quick Facts About Lenition:

1. The following consonants beginning with B/C/D/F/G/M/P/S/T can be lenited.
2. Feminine nouns following the article the in Irish, are lenited.
3. Lenition acts as a means to decipher between male and female possession when
possessive pronouns are used i.e. ‘he owns it’ or ‘she owns it’!