A chairde,

Recent discussion about the pronunciation of 'baile'. Is it fair to say that the only difference between the pronunciation of 'balla' (wall) and 'baile' (home/town) is the sound of each ending - 'ah' versus 'eh'? Is that too simplistic?

Grma roimh ré. Saoirse.

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The ending is the same: /ə/, "uh"
The only difference is the l-sound: balla with a broad tense /L/, baile with a slender lax /l/.

balla /baLə/
vs.
baile /bal´ə/

I think those particular words have dialectical differences.

In my region "balla" and "boladh" are pronounced the same. But "baile" has a different ending too.

https://app.box.com/s/rmhjz7n5qspmkmm5kgq0xjoe3xasbvel

In Donegal, both the L and the ending sound different.

in "balla", the l is "dark" and the vowel is -uh.
in "baile", the l is a little bit palatalised (but it's NOT a ly-sound) and the vowel is -eh.

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Is fearr Gaeilg na Gaeltaċta ná Gaeilg ar biṫ eile
Agus is í Gaeilg Ġaoṫ Doḃair is binne