I will be getting a new tattoo in 2 days and need help with the pronunciation of "deirfiúr" please. This is the first word I'm learning (and possibly last). A friend referred me to Forvo which helped some but there was only one for sister and one for older sister and the two sounded a lot different to me. Please help!!

The "standardized" pronunciation would be:

deirfiúr
JEH-rhih-foor
/d´er´əf´u:r/

or

deirfiúr
DRHEH-foor
/d´r´ef´u:r/


Connemara:

deirfiúr (driothúr)
DRHEH-hoor
/d´r´ehu:r/

Then, in Cois Fhairrge (Galway Seaboard) the th gets dropped altogether:

deirfiúr (drio-úr)
ji-RHOWR
/d´r´aur/

Slender r in the middle or at the end of a word in Irish has a buzz somewhat like the French j in je, which I have written as "rh" in the phonics.

Broad r is flapped like the Scottish English r (strangely enough, NOT at all like the Irish English r).


As you can see there is a range of pronunciations, but the second one down is probably the safest bet. That's the one for deirfiúr "sister" at Forvo.

The one for deirfiúr mhór "older sister" at Forvo is the Cois Fhairrge pronunciation.

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Múinteoir Gaeilge - Irish Teacher
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect, but I can also speak Ulster and Munster Irish with native-level pronunciation.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), Gaeilic Uladh (GU), Gaelainn na Mumhan (GM), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).