í: the long "ee" sound
The fada (síneadh fada) on í makes the sound long, like the "ee" in see. Without the fada, i is short, like the "i" in sit.
1. Hear the words
Tap ▶ Listen to hear a native speaker say each word. There are three recordings, one for each dialect: Ulster, Connacht and Munster.
- rí (king): r · í — ▶ Listen
- rís (rice): r · í · s — ▶ Listen
- císte (cake): c · í · s · t · e — ▶ Listen
- sicín (chicken): s · i · c · í · n — ▶ Listen
2. Play (about 5 minutes)
- Roll the die and name the picture in Irish.
- Say the word slowly, one sound at a time.
- Find a tile for each sound and click it into the tray, left to right.
- Touch each tile and say its sound, then run a finger along the tray and say the whole word.
- Find the í. Is it long or short?
If the die lands on the cat or the pig, build cat or muc. Those are review words from the starter set.
3. Listen out for
- sicín has both. A short i, then a long í. Ask your child to point to each one and say it.
- s can sound like "sh". Beside i, í or e, it usually does: rís, císte, sicín.
4. Challenge
Build rí, then add one tile to make rís. What changed? Now try císte: five sounds, five tiles.
Part of the í pack from Epic Kids, Ballincollig. Recordings are from the Foras na Gaeilge pronunciation database on teanglann.ie.