Editing Old Irish (section)

===Consonants===
The [[consonant]] inventory of Old Irish is shown in the chart below. The complexity of Old Irish phonology is from a four-way split of phonemes inherited from Primitive Irish, with both a [[fortis and lenis|fortis–lenis]] and a "broad–slender" ([[velarization|velarised]] vs. [[Palatalization (phonetics)|palatalised]]) distinction arising from historical changes. The sounds {{IPA|/f v θ ð x ɣ h ṽ n l r/}} are the broad lenis equivalents of broad fortis {{IPA|/p b t d k ɡ s m N L R/}}; likewise for the slender (palatalised) equivalents. (However, most {{IPA|/f fʲ/}} sounds actually derive historically from {{IPA|/w/}}, since {{IPA|/p/}} was relatively rare in Old Irish, being a recent import from other languages such as Latin.)

:{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
! colspan="2" |
! [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! [[dental consonant|Dental]]
! [[alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! [[velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[nasal stop|Nasal]]
! {{small|broad}}
| {{IPA|m}}
| colspan="2" | {{IPA|N&nbsp;&nbsp;n}}
| {{IPA|ŋ}}
|
|-
! {{small|slender}}
| {{IPA|mʲ}}
| colspan="2" | {{IPA|Nʲ&nbsp;&nbsp;nʲ}}
| {{IPA|ŋʲ}}
|
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[plosive consonant|Plosive]]
! {{small|broad}}
| {{IPA|p&nbsp;&nbsp;b}}
| colspan="2" | {{IPA|t&nbsp;&nbsp;d}}
| {{IPA|k&nbsp;&nbsp;ɡ}}
|
|-
! {{small|slender}}
| {{IPA|pʲ&nbsp;&nbsp;bʲ}}
| colspan="2" | {{IPA|tʲ&nbsp;&nbsp;dʲ}}
| {{IPA|kʲ&nbsp;&nbsp;ɡʲ}}
|
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[fricative consonant|Fricative]]
! {{small|broad}}
| {{IPA|f&nbsp;&nbsp;v}}
| {{IPA|θ&nbsp;&nbsp;ð}}
| {{IPA|s}}
| {{IPA|x&nbsp;&nbsp;ɣ}}
| {{IPA|h}}
|-
! {{small|slender}}
| {{IPA|fʲ&nbsp;&nbsp;vʲ}}
| {{IPA|θʲ&nbsp;&nbsp;ðʲ}}
| {{IPA|sʲ}}
| {{IPA|xʲ&nbsp;&nbsp;ɣʲ}}
| {{IPA|hʲ}}
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Nasalization|Nasalized]] <br/>fricative
! {{small|broad}}
| {{IPA|ṽ}}
|
|
|
|
|-
! {{small|slender}}
| {{IPA|ṽʲ}}
|
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Approximant]]
! {{small|broad}}
|
| colspan="2" | {{IPA|R&nbsp;&nbsp;r}}
|
|
|-
! {{small|slender}}
|
| colspan="2" | {{IPA|Rʲ&nbsp;&nbsp;rʲ}}
|
|
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[lateral consonant|Lateral]]
! {{small|broad}}
|
| colspan="2"| {{IPA|L&nbsp;&nbsp;l}}
|
|
|-
! {{small|slender}}
|
| colspan="2" | {{IPA|Lʲ&nbsp;&nbsp;lʲ}}
|
|
|}

Some details of Old Irish [[phonetics]] are not known. {{IPA|/sʲ/}} may have been pronounced {{IPA|[ɕ]}} or {{IPA|[ʃ]}}, as in Modern Irish. {{IPA|/hʲ/}} may have been the same sound as {{IPA|/h/}} or {{IPA|/xʲ/}}. The precise articulation of the fortis [[sonorant]]s {{IPA|/N/, /Nʲ/, /L/, /Lʲ/, /R/, /Rʲ/}} is unknown, but they were probably longer, [[tenseness|tenser]] and generally more strongly articulated than their lenis counterparts {{IPA|/n/, /nʲ/, /l/, /lʲ/, /r/, /rʲ/}}, as in the Modern Irish and Scottish dialects that still possess a four-way distinction in the [[coronal consonant|coronal]] [[nasal consonant|nasals]] and [[lateral consonant|laterals]]. {{IPA|/Nʲ/}} and {{IPA|/Lʲ/}} may have been pronounced {{IPA|[ɲ]}} and {{IPA|[ʎ]}} respectively. The difference between {{IPA|/R(ʲ)/}} and {{IPA|/r(ʲ)/}} may have been that the former were [[trill consonant|trills]] while the latter were [[flap consonant|flaps]]. {{IPA|/m(ʲ)/}} and {{IPA|/ṽ(ʲ)/}} were derived from an original fortis–lenis pair.