Manx Gaelic (Manx Gaelic: Gaelg) Is the main language of the Isle of Man. It evolved from Primitive Irish, along with the other Celtic languages. Its closest relatives are Irish Gaelic and Scots Gaelic. All children on the Isle of Man learn it in primary and secondary school, and some grow up bilingual. There is also a small number of native speakers as well.

Pronunciation guide

Manx Gaelic is a very phonetic language, meaning that words are spoken the way they are spelt. Certain letters are sometimes interchangeable.

Vowels

a â 
(Short) Like "a" in "cat", (with circumflex) like "a" in "pale".
e ê 
Like "e" in "bed", (with circumflex) like "ea" in "fear".
i î 
Like "i" in "pin".
o ô 
Like "o" in "hot", (with circumflex) like "oa" in "moat".
u 
Like "a" in "cat" or "o" in "hot".
w 
Like "u" in "put".
y 
Like "u" in "hut" or "i" in "bird". The word y is pronounced like the "e" in "bed".

Consonants

b 
Like "b" in "bat".
c 
Like "c" in "cat".
ch 
Like "ch" in "bach".
d 
Like "d" in "door".
f 
Like "f" in "feet".
g 
Like "g" in "get".
h 
Like "h" in "hot".
l 
Like "l" in "late".
m 
Like "m" in "mud".
n 
Like "n" in "no".
p 
Like "p" in "park".
ph 
Like "ph" in "philosopher".
r 
Like "r" in "run" but slightly trilled.
s 
Like "s" in "sat".
t 
Like "t" in "trip".

Common digraphs

aa, ea, ai 
Like "ea" in "fear".
ae, oi 
Like "i" in "pin".
au, aw, ou, ow 
Like "oo" in "food".
ay, ei 
Like "e" in "bed".
ee, iy 
Like "ee" in "feet".
eo 
Like "ayo" in "mayonaise".
eu, iu, ew, iw 
Like "you".
ia 
Like "ia" in "victoria".
ie 
Like "igh" in "high".
io 
Like "yo" in "yoke".
oa, ua, wa 
Like "wha" in "whack".
oe 
Like "owe" in "mower".
oh 
Like "oo" in "door".
oo 
Like "oo" in "food".
ui, wi 
Like "wi" in "with".
çh 
Like "ch" in "cheese".
gh 
Like "ch" in "bach".
lh, ll 
Like "lj" in "ljubljana".
qu 
Like "c" in "cat".
rr 
Like "r" in "run" but slightly trilled.
sh 
Like "sh" in "she".
ss 
Like "ss" in "likeness".
th 
Like "t" in "trip".

Common trigraphs

aie, eie, eue, oie 
Like "ea" in "yeah".
aue, iwe, oue 
Like "we" in "wet".
eau, eoi 
Like "ai" in "air".
iau 
Like "oo" in "food".
ieu, iou 
Like "yew".
uiy 
Like "we".
woa 
Like "wha" in "whack".
çh 
Like "ch" in "cheese".
gh, ght 
Like "ch" in "bach".

Common tetragraphs

iooa 
Like "You what?" without the "t".

Phrase list

Basics

Hello. 
Hoi. (')
Hello. (informal) 
Hai. (')
How are you? 
Kanys t'ou? (?)
Fine, thank you. 
Braew, gura mie ayd. (')
What is your name? 
What is your name? (?)
My name is ______. 
My name is ______ . ( _____ .)
Nice to meet you. 
Nice to meet you. (')
Please. 
Cur taitnys da. (')
Thank you. 
Gura mie ayd. (')
You're welcome. 
You're welcome. (')
Yes. 
Ta. (')
No. 
Cha ta. (')
Excuse me. (getting attention) 
Excuse me. (')
Excuse me. (begging pardon) 
Gow my leshtal. (')
I'm sorry. 
S'olk lhiam. (')
Goodbye 
Slane. (')
Goodbye (informal) 
Bai. (')
I can't speak Manx [well]. 
Ta mee loayr yn Gaelg [çhibbyr]. ( [])
Do you speak English? 
Ta shiu loayr yn Baarle? (?)
Is there someone here who speaks English? 
Is there someone here who speaks English? (?)
Help! 
Help! (!)
Look out! 
Jeeagh! (!)
Good morning. 
Good morning. (')
Good evening. 
Good evening. (')
Good night. 
Good night. (')
Good night (to sleep) 
Good night. (')
I don't understand. 
I don't understand. (')
Where is the toilet? 
Where is the toilet? (?)

This page was last edited by Peter Fitzgerald. Based on work by Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel. - Content on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0 license

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