Fòram na Gàidhlig

When pronouncing gaoth is it essentially the english gee with a hard g as in goat? Are there any good audio resources for pronunciation? That seems to be, by far the thing I'm going to have the biggest problem with.

ao is a vowel that doesn't exist in English. Pronounce an u, then straighten your lips/grin.

You can listen to the sound here

Concerning the g, look for "broad g" here

Agree with GunCleoc here, that is definitely how you pronounce ao, it is one of the sounds Gaelic learners have problems with.

In Irish however it is pronounced gee (with a hard g)

Actually in Irish its pronunciation depends on the dialect.
In Munster they pronounce it almost like "gay".
Connaught: like gee (with a hard g)
Ulster: like gee (with a hard g) by younger speakers, and g+ a central i (close the Scottish Gaelic ao) by older speakers.

I find saying "Ewww" with your lips in a "saying 'Oh'" shape make it fine I get understood anyway

Lughaidh wrote:Actually in Irish its pronunciation depends on the dialect.
In Munster they pronounce it almost like "gay".
Connaught: like gee (with a hard g)
Ulster: like gee (with a hard g) by younger speakers, and g+ a central i (close the Scottish Gaelic ao) by older speakers.

How is it pronounced in Leinster, just out of interest?

I knew some dialects pronounced it "gay"

When Leinster Irish was still alive, in SW Leinster they'd pronounce it [gˠɛːχ]. Now Leinster Irish is long dead, so in Leinster, Irish speakers are either learners, or native speakers from elsewhere, so they'd pronounce it as in Munster, Connaught or Ulster Irish, according to what they've learnt.

I really need to fiddle with this software so we can get a unicode font up for that IPA stuff

GunChleoc wrote:I really need to fiddle with this software so we can get a unicode font up for that IPA stuff

That's up to the users' browsers -- mine shows it fine anyway.

For those looking to find audio files of Gaelic pronunciation over the internet, I would go to www.akerbeltz.org and click on "fuaimneachadh". All the sounds are covered there with some advice on how to shape your mouth and tongue in order to pronounce them. Of course, it's a native speaker who pronounces them too.