"Bean mhaith is ea í, nach ea?"

Translation: She is a good woman, isn't she?

[rsa21]

Why the speaker pronounce "is" like "ish" this time?

[Anaphasiy]

I believe it may be because of the following "ea". Since "is ea" is a common phrase, the "s" is palatalised to assimilate with the following slender vowel to ease pronunciation.

The Irish contraction "Sea" (Is + Ea) is pronounced with "sh" as well.

[John787925]

What's the function of the first ea in this sentence? Is it a dummy subject, something like "It's that she's a good woman, isn't it?"

[Shivaadh]

ea
"3 sg. neuter pron. (Used only in conjunction with the copula)"
Explanation and examples: https://www.teanglann.ie/en/fgb/ea

[Shivaadh]

(Sorry if that's no proper answer, just a link. I actually don't really understand the explanation myself.)

[AinePoilin]

Would it be correct Irish to say "Is bean mhaith í,.."? Or is there a nuance in meaning?

[SatharnPHL]

bean mhaith is ea í is more emphatic than is bean mhaith í (except in Munster Irish, where it is the default form).

[johnnygall2002]

What's the difference between 'Nach ea and Nach bhfuil?.. Is it based on the the copula and the verb Bí?..

[Anaphasiy]

Yes!

Nach ea - Isn't it? - (nach is the negative question particle and ea can only be used with the copula to mean 'it')

Nach bhfuil - Isn't (...) - contains the aforementioned "nach" particle with "bhfuil" as the eclipsed dependent present form of "bí".

[SatharnPHL]

"there's something wrong, isn't there?" - tá rud éigin cearr, nach bhfuil?
"he's in trouble, isn't he?" - tá sé i dtrioblóid, nach bhfuil?
"that's a loaded question isn't it?" - tá cealg sa cheist sin, nach bhfuil?
"you're new in this office, aren't you?" - tá tú úr san oifig seo, nach bhfuil?

[GeoffMcHarg]

I also want to know why the speaker pronounces the is like ish?

[RemusSpence]

The slur between is and ea ends up convulting the two into an "isha" sounding thing. This often happens when two words which can blend are next to each other. When irish can blend and meld to be spoken faster it shall is a good general rule to follow

[SatharnPHL]

She's pronounces it that way because that's how is ea is supposed to be pronounced.

[RozieToez]

What is the subject of this sentence?

[galaxyrocker]

í Here it's stressed. Except in certain parts of Munster, this sentence would be more akin to "She's a good woman, isn't she?"

[scilling]

Since this is a classificational statement, í is the subject and bean mhaith is the predicate.

[galaxyrocker]

Fixed, thanks.

[Shivaadh]

Is the audio correct in leaving out the 'i' in 'is'? Or am I just failing to hear the 'i'?

[SatharnPHL]

The audio on the Irish course is a live recording of a native speaker. Assume that it's correct unless someone more experienced than you has pointed out an issue - she sometimes uses forms that are specific to her dialect, or misreads the script, but those instances have all been pointed out many times already.

[Jon235428]

Why does "bean mhaith" come before the verb in this sentence?

[MicheleTreCaffe]

it's the structure, which is emphatic, with 'ea'. See galaxyrocker's comment farther up in the th.read