[Wikipedia] February 13: Irish phonology

[Faraaz Damji]

  Irish phonology varies from dialect to dialect; there is no standard
  pronunciation of the language.  Irish phonology has been studied as a
  discipline since the late 19th century, with numerous researchers
  publishing descriptive accounts of dialects from all regions where the
  language is spoken.  More recently, theoretical linguists have also
  turned their attention to Irish phonology, producing a number of
  books, articles, and doctoral theses on the topic.  One of the most
  important aspects of Irish phonology is the fact that almost all
  consonants appear in pairs, with one member of each pair being "broad"
  and the other "slender".  Broad consonants are velarized, that is, the
  back of the tongue is pulled back and slightly up in the direction of
  the soft palate while the consonant is being articulated.  Slender
  consonants are palatalized, which means the tongue is pushed up toward
  the hard palate during the articulation.  The contrast between broad
  and slender consonants is crucial in Irish, because the meaning of a
  word can change if a broad consonant is substituted for a slender
  consonant or vice versa.  Irish shares a number of phonological
  characteristics with its nearest linguistic relatives, Scottish Gaelic
  and Manx, as well as with Hiberno-English, the language with which it
  is most closely in contact.

Read the rest of this article:
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_phonology


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Today's selected anniversaries:

1689:
  Glorious Revolution: Instead of James Francis Edward Stuart, the
  Prince of Wales, acceding to the throne, his half-sister Mary and her
  husband William were proclaimed co-rulers of England.
  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_II_of_England)

1815:
  The Cambridge Union Society, one of the oldest debating societies in
  the world, was founded at the University of Cambridge in Cambridge,
  England.
  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_Union_Society)

1867:
  Work began on the covering of the Senne, burying Brussels' polluted
  main waterway to allow urban renewal in the centre of the city.
  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/covering_of_the_Senne)

1880:
  American inventor Thomas Edison observed the Edison Effect, which
  later formed the basis of vacuum tube diodes designed by English
  electrical engineer John Ambrose Fleming.
  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermionic_emission)

1945:
  World War II: The Allies began the strategic bombing of Dresden in
  Dresden, Saxony, Germany, resulting in a lethal firestorm which killed
  tens of thousands of civilians.
  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Dresden_in_World_War_II)


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Wiktionary's Word of the day:

  concupiscent: Amorous, lustful; feeling sexy.
  (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/concupiscent)


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Wikiquote of the day:

  Love has no uttermost, as the stars have no number and the sea no
  rest.  -- Eleanor Farjeon
  (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eleanor_Farjeon)