In Irish English an extra vowel is sometimes inserted into a word, e.g. film pronounced fillum. This was probably inherited from the Irish language where it’s a regular feature when the letters L, N and R (in a short stressed syllable) are followed by some other consonants (B, BH, F, M, CH, G).
This helper vowel is either broad or slender, matching the surrounding consonants, but it’s an indistinct vowel, a ‘schwa’.
In the table, the examples are shown as they would be spelled if the extra vowel was written and in the International Phonetic Alphabet. In the IPA, slender consonants are shown by writing ´ after them.
| b | bh | f | m | ch | g | |
| l | Albain *Alabain /aːʟəbən´/ |
seilbh *seilibh /s´el´əw´/ |
deilbhfidh *deilibhfidh /d´el´əf´ə/ |
seilmide *seilimide /s´el´əm´əd´ə/ |
— | bolg *bolag /boʟəg/ |
| n | Banba *Banaba /baːɴəbə/ |
bainbh *bainibh /baːn´əw´/ |
— | ainm *ainim /æːn´əm´/ |
seanchaí *seanachaí /s´æːɴəxiː/ |
— |
| r | Bairbre *Bairibre /baːr´əb´r´ə/ |
seirbhís *seiribhís /s´er´əw´iːs´/ |
dearfa *dearafa /d´æːrəfə/ |
gorm *goram /gorəm/ |
dorcha *doracha /dorəxə/ |
dearg *dearag /d´æːrəg/ |
After a syllable with a long vowel sound (except /aː/ or /æː/), no extra vowel is added, e.g. téarma /t´eːrmə/, tairne /tɑːrɴ´ə/. Not all long vowels are marked with the síneadh fada ˊ —some that are always (or almost always) long do not have an accent in modern spelling (e.g. ua, ia, eo = úa, ía, eó), and vowels before RD, RL and RN can also be long, although this varies by dialect.
Some speakers may also insert a weak schwa vowel /ə/ between D & R and between M & L:
| simléar | *similéar /sʹimʹəlʹeːr/ |
OR | /sʹimʹlʹeːr/ |
| madraí | *madaraí /mɑ:dəriː/ |
OR | /mɑːdriː/ |