Scottish Gaelic orthography has evolved over many centuries and is heavily etymologizing in its modern form. This means the orthography tends to preserve historical components rather than operating on the principles of a phonemic orthography where the graphemes correspond directly to phonemes. This allows the same written form in Scottish Gaelic to result in a multitude of pronunciations, depending on the spoken variant of Scottish Gaelic. For example, the word coimhead ('watching') may result in [ˈkʰõ.ət̪] , [ˈkʰɔ̃jət̪] , [ˈkʰɤi.ət̪] , or [ˈkʰɛ̃.ət̪] . Conversely, it allows the sometimes highly divergent phonetic forms to be covered by a single written form, rather than requiring multiple written forms.
The alphabet (Scottish Gaelic: aibidil, formerly Beith Luis Nuin from the first three letters of the Ogham alphabet) now used for writing Scottish Gaelic consists of the following Latin script letters, whether written in Roman type or Gaelic type:
Vowels may be accented with a grave accent but accented letters are not considered distinct letters. [1] Prior the 1981 Gaelic Orthographic Convention (GOC), Scottish Gaelic traditionally used acute accents on ⟨a, e, o⟩ to denote close-mid long vowels, clearly graphemically distinguishing ⟨è⟩/ɛː/ and ⟨é⟩/eː/, and ⟨ò⟩/ɔː/ and ⟨ó⟩/oː/. However, since the 1981 GOC and its 2005 and 2009 revisions, standard orthography only uses the grave accent. [2] [lower-alpha 1] Since the 1980s, the acute accent has not been used in Scottish high school examination papers, and many publishers have adopted the Scottish Qualifications Authority's orthographic conventions for their books. [3] Despite this, traditional spelling is still used by some writers and publishers, although not always intentionally. [4] In Nova Scotia, the 2009 Gaelic language curriculum guidelines follow the 2005 GOC orthography, but do not change the traditional spelling of words and phrases common to Nova Scotia or in pre–spelling-reform literature. [5]
The early Medieval treatise Auraicept na n-Éces ('The Scholars' Primer') describes the origin of alphabets from the Tower of Babel. It assigns plant names and meanings to the Ogham alphabet, to a lesser extent to Norse Younger Futhark runes, and by extension to Latin letters when used to write Gaelic. Robert Graves' book The White Goddess has been a major influence on assigning divinatory meanings to the tree symbolism. (See also Bríatharogam.) Some of the names differ from their modern equivalents (e.g. dair > darach, suil > seileach).
Letter | Name(s) (meaning) |
---|---|
Aa | Ailm (elm) |
Bb | Beith (silver birch) |
Cc | Coll (hazel) |
Dd | Dair (oak) |
Ee | Eadha (aspen) |
Ff | Feàrn (alder) |
Gg | Gort (ivy) |
Hh | Uath (hawthorn) |
Ii | Iogh (yew) |
Ll | Luis (rowan) |
Mm | Muin (vine) |
Nn | Nuin (ash) |
Oo | Onn (furze) |
Oir (spindle) | |
Pp | Peith (downy birch) |
Rr | Ruis (elder) |
Ss | Suil (willow) |
Tt | Teine (furze) |
Uu | Ura (heather) |
The consonant letters generally correspond to the consonant phonemes as shown in this table. See Scottish Gaelic phonology for an explanation of the symbols used. Consonants are "broad" (velarised) when the nearest vowel letter is one of ⟨a, o, u⟩ and "slender" (palatalised) when the nearest vowel letter is one of ⟨e, i⟩. A back vowel is one of the following; [o(ː)ɔ(ː)ɤ(ː)u(ː)ɯ(ː)a(ː)au]; a front vowel is any other kind of vowel.
Letter(s) | Phoneme(s) | Examples | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
b | broad | /p/ | bàta/paːʰt̪ə/, borb/pɔrɔp/ | |
slender | before front vowel, or finally | /p/ | bean/pɛn/, caibe/kʰapə/, guib/kɤp/ | |
before back vowel | /pj/ | beò/pjɔː/, bealltainn/pjaul̪ˠt̪ɪɲ/, bealach/pjal̪ˠəx/ | ||
bh | between vowels, sometimes | /./ | siubhal/ʃu.əl̪ˠ/, iubhar/ju.əɾ/ | |
finally, sometimes | none | dubh/t̪u/, ubh/u/ | ||
usually | broad | /v/ | cabhag/kʰavak/, sàbh/s̪aːv/ | |
slender, before front vowel | /v/ | dhuibh/ɣɯiv/, dibhe/tʲivə/ | ||
slender, before back vowel | /vj/ | ro bheò/rɔvjɔː/, dà bhealltainn/t̪aːvjaul̪ˠt̪ɪɲ/ | ||
see below for ⟨abh, oibh⟩ when they precede consonants | ||||
c | broad | initially, or non-finally after consonant | /kʰ/ | cas/kʰas̪/, cam/kʰaum/ |
between vowels | /ʰk/ | bacadh/paʰkəɣ/, mucan/muʰkən/ | ||
finally after vowel | /ʰk/ | mac/maʰk/ | ||
finally after consonant | /k/ | corc/kʰɔrʰkʲ/ | ||
slender | initially or after consonant | /kʰʲ/ | ceòl/kʰʲɔːl̪ˠ/, ceum/kʰʲeːm/ | |
between vowels | /ʰkʲ/ | lice/ʎiʰkʲə/, brice/prʲiʰkʲə/ | ||
finally after vowel | /ʰkʲ/ | mic/miʰkʲ/ | ||
finally after consonant | /kʲ/ | cuilc/kʰulʰkʲ/ | ||
ch | broad | /x/ | loch/l̪ˠɔx/, dòchas/t̪ɔːxəs̪/ | |
slender | /ç/ | deich/tʲeç/, dìcheall/tʲiːçəl̪ˠ/ | ||
chd | /xk/ | lionntachd/ʎuːn̪ˠt̪əxk/, doimhneachd/t̪ɔiɲəxk/ | ||
cn | /kr/ | cneap/krɛʰp/, cneasta/krʲes̪t̪ə/ | ||
d | broad | /t̪/ | cadal/kʰat̪al̪ˠ/, fada/fat̪ə/ | |
slender | /tʲ/ | diùid/tʲuːtʲ/, dearg/tʲɛrak/ | ||
dh | in final -⟨aidh⟩ | none | pòsaidh/pʰɔːs̪ɪ/ | |
broad | between vowels | /./ /ɣ/ | odhar/o.ər/, cladhadh/kʰl̪ˠɤ.əɣ/ modhail/mɔɣal/ | |
elsewhere | /ɣ/ | dhà/ɣaː/, modh/mɔɣ/, tumadh/t̪ʰuməɣ/ | ||
slender | between vowels | /./ | Gàidheal/kɛː.əl̪ˠ/ | |
elsewhere | /ʝ/ | dhìth/ʝiː/, dhìol/ʝiəl̪ˠ/ | ||
see below for ⟨adh, aidh, iodh⟩ when they precede consonants | ||||
f | broad | /f/ | fathan/fahan/, gafann/kafən̪ˠ/ | |
slender | before front vowel | /f/ | fios/fis̪/, féill/feːʎ/ | |
before back vowel | /fj/ | fiùran/fjuːran/, feòl/fjɔːl̪ˠ/ | ||
fh | usual | none | fhios/is̪/, a fharadh/arəɣ/ | |
exceptionally | /h/ | fhathast/ha.əs̪t̪/, fhèin/heːn/, fhuair/huəɾʲ/ | ||
g | broad | /k/ | gad/kat̪/, ugan/ukən/ | |
slender | /kʲ/ | gille/kʲiʎə/, leig/ʎekʲ/ | ||
gh | finally, sometimes | none* | an-diugh/əɲˈtʲu/, nigh/ɲiː/ | |
between vowels | /./* /ɣ/ | aghaidh/ɤː.ɪ/, fiughar/fju.əɾ/, nigheann/ɲiː.an̪ˠ/ laghail/l̪ˠɤɣal/ | ||
elsewhere | broad | /ɣ/ | mo ghoc/məɣɔʰk/, lagh/l̪ˠɤɣ/ | |
slender | /ʝ/ | mo ghille/məʝiʎə/, do thaigh/t̪əhɤj/ | ||
see below for lengthened ⟨agh, aigh, eagh, iogh, ogh, oigh⟩ when preceding another consonant | ||||
gn | /kr/ | gnè/krɛː/ | ||
h | /h/ | a h-athair/əhahɪɾʲ/, Hearach/hɛɾəx/ | ||
l | broad | /l̪ˠ/ | lachan/l̪ˠaxan/, a laoidh/əl̪ˠɯj/, balach/pal̪ˠəx/ | |
slender | initially, unlenited | /ʎ/ | leabaidh/ʎepɪ/, leum/ʎeːm/ | |
initially, lenited | /l/ | dà leabaidh/t̪aːlepɪ/, bho leac/vɔlɛʰk/ | ||
elsewhere | /l/ | cuilean/kʰulan/, sùil/s̪uːl/ | ||
ll | broad | /l̪ˠ/ | balla/pal̪ˠə/, ciall/kʰʲial̪ˠ/ | |
slender | /ʎ/ | cailleach/kʰaʎəx/, mill/miːʎ/ | ||
m | broad | /m/ | maol/mɯːl̪ˠ/, màla/maːl̪ˠə/ | |
slender | before front vowel | /m/ | milis/milɪʃ/, tìm/tʰʲiːm/ | |
before back vowel | /mj/ | meall/mjaul̪ˠ/, meòg/mjɔːk/ | ||
mh | between vowels, sometimes | /./ | comhairle/kʰo.əɾlə/ | |
broad | /v/ | àmhainn/aːvɪɲ/, caomh/kʰɯːv/ | ||
slender | before front vowel | /v/ | caoimhin/kʰɯːvɪɲ/, làimh/l̪ˠaiv/ | |
before back vowel | /vj/ | do mhealladh/t̪ɔvjal̪ˠəɣ/, dà mheall/t̪aːvjaul̪ˠ/ | ||
see below for ⟨amh, eadh, oimh, uimh⟩ when they precede consonants | ||||
n | broad | initially, unlenited | /n̪ˠ/ | nàbaidh/n̪ˠaːpi/, norrag/n̪ˠɔrˠak/ |
initially, lenited | /n/ | mo nàire/mɔnaːɾʲɪ/, bho nàbaidh/vɔnaːpɪ/ | ||
elsewhere | /n/ | dona/t̪ɔnə/, sean/ʃɛn/ | ||
slender | initially, unlenited | /ɲ/ | neul/ɲial̪ˠ/, neart/ɲɛɾʃt̪/ | |
initially, lenited | /n/ | mo nighean/mɔni.an/, dà nead/t̪aːnɛt̪/ | ||
elsewhere, after back vowel | /ɲ/ | duine/t̪ɯɲɪ/, càineadh/kʰaːɲəɣ/ | ||
elsewhere, after front vowel | /n/ | cana/kʰanə/, teine/tʰʲenɪ/ | ||
ng | broad | /ŋɡ/ | teanga/tʰʲɛŋɡə/, fulang/ful̪ˠəŋɡ/ | |
slender | /ŋʲɡʲ/ | aingeal/aiŋʲɡʲəl̪ˠ/, farsaing/faɾs̪ɪŋʲɡʲ/ | ||
nn | broad | /n̪ˠ/ | ceannaich/kʰʲan̪ˠɪç/, ann/aun̪ˠ/ | |
slender | /ɲ/ | bainne/paɲɪ/, tinn/tʰʲiːɲ/ | ||
p | broad slender not before back vowel | initially or after consonant | /pʰ/ | post/pʰɔs̪t̪/, campa/kʰaumpə/, peasair/pʰes̪ɪɾʲ/, |
between vowels | /ʰp/ | cupa/kʰuʰpə/, cipean/kʰʲiʰpan/ | ||
finally after vowel | /ʰp/ | cuip/kʰuiʰp/ | ||
finally after consonant | /p/ | ailp/alp/ | ||
slender before back vowel | after consonant, or initially | /pj/ | piuthar/pju.əɾ/, peall/pjaul̪ˠ/ | |
ph | broad | /f/ | sa phost/s̪əfɔs̪t̪/, bho phàiste/vɔfaːʃtʲə/ | |
slender | before front vowel | /f/ | dà pheasair/t̪aːfes̪ɪɾʲ/, mo pheata/mɔfɛʰt̪ə/ | |
before back vowel | /fj/ | mo phiuthar/mɔfju.əɾ/, sa pheann/s̪əfjaun̪ˠ/ | ||
r | initially, unlenited | /rˠ/ | ràmh/rˠaːv/, rionnag/rˠun̪ˠak/ | |
initially, lenited | /ɾ/ | do rùn/tɔɾuːn/, bho réic/vɔɾeːʰkʲ/ | ||
elsewhere | broad | /ɾ/ | caran/kʰaɾan/, mura/muɾə/ | |
slender | /ɾʲ/ | cìr/kʰʲiːɾʲ/, cuireadh/kʰuɾʲəɣ/ | ||
rr | /rˠ/ | cearr/kʰʲaːrˠ/, barra/parˠə/ | ||
-rt, -rd | /ɾʃt̪/ | neart/ɲɛɾʃt̪/, bord/pɔːɾʃt̪/ | ||
s | broad | /s̪/ | sàr/s̪aːɾ/, casan/kʰas̪ən/ | |
slender | /ʃ/ | siùcair/ʃuːʰkɪɾʲ/, càise/kʰaːʃɪ/ | ||
sh | broad | /h/ | ro shalach/ɾɔhal̪ˠəx/, glé shoilleir/kleːhɤʎɪɾʲ/ | |
slender | before front vowel | /h/ | dà shìl/t̪aːhiːʎ/, glé shean/kleːhɛn/ | |
before back vowel | /hj/ | de shiùcair/tʲehjuːʰkɪɾʲ/, a sheòladh/əhjɔːl̪ˠəɣ/ | ||
sr, str | /s̪t̪ɾ/ | sràc/s̪t̪ɾaːʰk/, strì/s̪t̪ɾiː/ | ||
t | broad | initially, or non-finally after consonant | /t̪ʰ/ | tasdan/t̪ʰas̪t̪an/, molta/mɔl̪ˠt̪ə/ |
between vowels | /ʰt̪/ | bàta/paːʰt̪ə/ | ||
finally, after vowel | /ʰt̪/ | put/pʰuʰt̪/ | ||
finally, after consonant | /t/ | |||
slender | initially, or non-finally after consonant | /tʰʲ/ | tiugh/tʰʲu/, caillte/kʰaiʎtʲə/ | |
between vowels | /ʰtʲ/ | litir/ʎiʰtʲɪɾʲ/ | ||
finally, after vowel | /ʰtʲ/ | cait/kʰɛʰtʲ/ | ||
finally, after consonant | /tʲ/ | ailt/altʲ/ | ||
th | finally | none | teth/tʰʲe/, leth/ʎe/, strath/s̪t̪ɾa/ | |
between vowels | /./ /h/ | leotha/lɔ.ə/, piuthar/pju.əɾ/, cnòthan/kɾɔː.ən/ beatha/pɛhə/, fathan/fahan/, a mhàthair/əvaːhɪɾʲ/ | ||
initially | broad | /h/ | mo thòn/mɔhɔːn/, do thaigh/t̪ɔhɤʝ/ | |
slender, before front vowel | /h/ | thig/hikʲ/, ro thinn/rˠɔhiːɲ/ | ||
slender, before back vowel | /hj/ | do theaghlach/t̪ɔhjɔːl̪ˠəx/, glé thiugh/kleːhju/ | ||
Many of the rules in this section only apply in stressed syllables. In unstressed syllables, the range of vowels is highly restricted, with mainly /ə/, /ɪ/ or /a/ appearing and on occasion /ɔ/. Only certain vowel graphs appear in unstressed syllables: ⟨a, ai, e, ea, ei, i⟩ and very infrequently ⟨o, oi, u, ui⟩.
Letter(s) | Phoneme(s) | Examples | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
a | unstressed | in -⟨ag⟩ in -⟨an⟩ (when not plural) | /a/ | cnèatag/kʰriaʰt̪ʰak/, luchag/l̪ˠuxak/ lochan/l̪ˠɔxan/, beagan/pekan/ |
elsewhere | /ə/ | balach/pal̪ˠəx/, balla/pal̪ˠə/ | ||
stressed | before ⟨dh, gh⟩ + vowel or word finally | /ɤ/ | dragh/t̪ɾɤɣ/, laghail/l̪ˠɤɣal/ | |
before ⟨ll, m, nn⟩ + consonant or word finally | /au/ | bann/paun̪ˠ/, calltainn/kʰaul̪ˠt̪ɪɲ/, campa/kʰaumpə/ | ||
before ⟨rr⟩ + consonant or word finally before ⟨rn, rd⟩ | /aː/ | barr/paːrˠ/, carnadh/kʰaːɾnəɣ/ | ||
elsewhere | /a/ | acras/aʰkɾəs̪/, gealladh/kʲal̪ˠəɣ/, barra/parˠə/ | ||
See below for ⟨abh, adh, agh, amh⟩ when they precede consonants | ||||
ai | unstressed | in -⟨ail⟩ | /a/ | modhail/mɔɣal/, eudail/eːt̪al/ |
elsewhere | /ɪ/ /e/ /ə/ | caraich/kʰaɾɪç/, mholainn/vɔl̪ˠɪɲ/ air an fhéill/eɾʲəˈɲeːʎ/ comhairle/kʰo.əɾlɪ/ | ||
stressed | before ⟨ll, m, nn⟩ + consonant or word finally before ⟨bh, mh⟩ + consonant | /ai/ | caill/kʰaiʎ/, cainnt/kʰaiɲtʲ/ aibhne/aivɲə/, aimhreid/aivɾʲɪtʲ/ | |
before ⟨rr⟩ + consonant or word finally before ⟨rn, rd⟩ | /aː/ | aird/aːɾʃt̪/ | ||
elsewhere | /a/ | baile/palɪ/, lainnir/l̪ˠaɲɪɾʲ/ | ||
See below for ⟨aidh⟩, ⟨aigh⟩ when they precede consonants | ||||
à | /aː/ | àlainn/aːl̪ˠɪɲ/, bràmar/praːməɾ/ | ||
ài | /aː/ /ɛː/ | àite/aːʰtʲɪ/, càil/kʰaːl/ Gàidheal/kɛː.əl̪ˠ/, pàipear/pʰɛːʰpəɾ/ | ||
ao | /ɯː/ | maol/mɯːl̪ˠ/, caomh/kʰɯːv/ | ||
aoi | before ⟨mh, bh⟩ + consonant or word finally | /ɯi/ | aoibhneas/ɯivɲəs̪/, caoimhneas/kʰɯivɲəs̪/ | |
elsewhere | /ɯː/ | faoileag/fɯːlak/, caoimhin/kʰɯːvɪɲ/ | ||
e | unstressed | /ə/ | maise/maʃə/, cuine/kʰuɲə/ | |
stressed | /e/ | teth/tʰʲe/, le/le/ | ||
ea | unstressed | in -⟨eag⟩ | /a/ | faoileag/fɯːlak/, uiseag/ɯʃak/ |
elsewhere | /ə/ | rinnear/ɾiɲəɾ/, mìltean/miːltʲən/ | ||
stressed | before ⟨dh, gh⟩ finally | /ɤ/ | feadh/fjɤɣ/, seagh/ʃɤɣ/ | |
before ⟨d, g, s⟩ | /e/ | eadar/et̪əɾ/, creagan/kʰɾekən/ | ||
before ⟨ll, nn⟩ + consonant or word finally | /au/ | peann/pʰjaun̪ˠ/, teannta/t̪ʰʲaun̪ˠt̪ə/ | ||
before ⟨rr⟩ + consonant or word finally before ⟨rn⟩ | /aː/ | fearna/fjaːɾnə/, dearrsadh/t̪ʲaːrˠs̪əɣ/ | ||
before ⟨ll, nn, rr⟩ + vowel, initially | /ja/ | eallach/jal̪ˠəx/, earrach/jarˠəx/ | ||
before ⟨ll, nn, rr⟩ + vowel, elsewhere | /a/ | ceannard/kʰʲan̪ˠaɾʃt̪/, gealladh/kʲal̪ˠəɣ/ | ||
elsewhere | /ɛ/ | fear/fɛɾ/, earrann/ɛrˠən̪ˠ/ | ||
See below for ⟨eagh, eamh⟩ when they precede consonants | ||||
èa | /ia/ | dèan/tʲian/, cnèatag/kʰɾiaʰt̪ak/ | ||
ei | unstressed | /ɪ/ | aimhreid/aivɾʲɪtʲ/, bigein/pikʲɪɲ/ | |
stressed | before ⟨ll, m, nn⟩ + consonant or word finally | /ei/ | greim/kɾeim/, peinnsean/pʰeiɲʃan/ | |
elsewhere | /e/ | ceist/kʰʲeʃtʲ/, seinneadair/ʃeɲət̪ɪɾʲ/ | ||
è, èi | /ɛː/ /eː/ | crè/kʰrɛː/, sèimh/ʃɛːv/ dè/tʲeː/, cèile/kʰʲeːlə/ | ||
eo | /ɔ/ | deoch/tʲɔx/, leotha/lɔ.ə/ | ||
eò, eòi | initially | /jɔː/ | eòlas/jɔːl̪ˠəs̪/, eòin/jɔːɲ/ | |
elsewhere | /ɔː/ | seòl/ʃɔːl̪ˠ/, meòir/mjɔːɾʲ/ | ||
eu | before ⟨m⟩ | /eː/ | Seumas/ʃeːməs̪/, leum/ʎeːm/ | |
elsewhere | /ia/ | ceud/kʰʲiat̪/, feur/fiaɾ/ | ||
i | unstressed | /ɪ/ | litir/ʎiʰtʰʲɪɾʲ/, fuirich/fuɾʲɪç/ | |
stressed | before ⟨ll, m, nn⟩ + consonant or word finally | /iː/ | till/tʰʲiːʎ/, sinnsear/ʃiːɲʃəɾ/ | |
elsewhere | /i/ | thig/hikʲ/, tinneas/tʰʲiɲəs̪/ | ||
ì | /iː/ | cìr/kʰʲiːɾʲ/, rìbhinn/rˠiːvɪɲ/ | ||
ia | /iə/ /ia/ | liath/ʎiə/, iarraidh/iərˠɪ/ sgian/s̪kʲian/, dia/tʲia/ | ||
io | before ⟨ll, nn⟩ + consonant or word finally | initially | /ju/ | ionnsaich/juːn̪ˠsɪç/ |
elsewhere | /uː/ | lionn/ʎuːn̪ˠ/, fionntach/fjuːn̪ˠt̪əx/ | ||
before ⟨ll, nn⟩ + vowel | /u/ | fionnar/fjun̪ˠəɾ/, sionnach/ʃun̪ˠəx/ | ||
elsewhere | /i/ | fios/fis̪/, lios/ʎis̪/ | ||
See below for ⟨iodh, iogh⟩ when they precedes consonants | ||||
ìo | /iə/ | mìos/miəs̪/, cìoch/kʰʲiəx/ | ||
iu | initially | /ju/ | iubhar/ju.əɾ/ | |
before ⟨rr, rs⟩ | /uː/ | ciurr/kʰʲuːrˠ/, siursach/ʃuːɾs̪əx/ | ||
elsewhere | /u/ | fliuch/flux/, siubhal/ʃu.əl̪ˠ/ | ||
iù, iùi | /uː/ | diù/tʲuː/, ciùil/kʰʲuːl/ | ||
o | before ⟨b, bh, g, gh, m, mh⟩ | /o/ | gob/kop/, bogha/po.ə/ | |
before ⟨ll, m, nn⟩ + consonant or word finally | /ɔu/ | tom/t̪ʰɔum/, tolltach/t̪ʰɔul̪ˠt̪əx/ | ||
before ⟨rr⟩ + consonant or word finally before ⟨rn, rd⟩ | /ɔː/ | torr/t̪ʰɔːrˠ/, dornan/t̪ɔːɾnan/ | ||
elsewhere | /ɔ/ | loch/l̪ˠɔx/, follais/fɔl̪ˠɪʃ/, dorra/t̪ɔrˠə/ | ||
See below for ⟨ogh⟩ when it comes before consonants | ||||
oi | before ⟨b, bh, g, gh, m, mh⟩ | /o/ | ||
before ⟨ll, m, nn⟩ + consonant or word finally | /əi/ | broinn/pɾəiɲ/, oillt/əiʎʲtʲ/ | ||
elsewhere | /ɤ/ /ɔ/ | goid/kɤtʲ/, doirbh/t̪ɤɾʲɤv/, coileach/kʰɤləx/ toil/t̪ʰɔl/, coire/kʰɔɾʲə/ | ||
See below for ⟨oibh, oigh, oimh⟩ when they precede consonants | ||||
ò, òi | /oː/ /ɔː/ | bò/poː/, còig/kʰoːkʲ/ òir/ɔːɾʲ/, bòid/pɔːtʲ/ | ||
u | before ⟨ll, m, nn⟩ + consonant or word finally before ⟨rr, rn⟩ | /uː/ | cum/kʰuːm/, sunndach/s̪uːn̪ˠt̪əx/, murn/muːɾn/ | |
elsewhere | /u/ | dubh/t̪u/, cumail/kʰumal/ | ||
ua, uai | before ⟨m, n, ng⟩ | /ua/ | cuan/kʰuan/, uaine/uaɲə/ | |
elsewhere | /uə/ | tuagh/t̪ʰuəɣ/, duais/t̪uəʃ/ | ||
ui | before ⟨m, n, ng, s⟩ | /ɯ/ | uisge/ɯʃkʲə/, duine/t̪ɯɲə/ | |
before ⟨dh⟩ | /ɯi/ | buidhe/pɯi.ə/, suidhe/s̪ɯi.ə/ | ||
before ⟨ll, m, nn⟩ + consonant or word finally | /ɯi/ | druim/t̪ɾɯim/, muinntir/mɯiɲtʲɪɾʲ/ | ||
before ⟨ll, m, nn⟩ + vowel | /ɯ/ | cluinneadh/kl̪ˠɯɲəɣ/, tuilleadh/t̪ʰɯʎəɣ/ | ||
elsewhere | /u/ | cuir/kʰuɾʲ/, tuit/t̪ʰuʰtʲ/ | ||
See below for ⟨uimh⟩ when it precedes consonants | ||||
ù, ùi | /uː/ | sùil/s̪uːl/, cùis/kʰuːʃ/ | ||
⟨bh, dh, gh, mh⟩ are commonly pronounced as vowels or are deleted if they are followed by a consonant. For example, in cabhag the ⟨bh⟩ is usually /v/ but in cabhlach the ⟨bh⟩ has turned into an /u/ vowel, yielding /au/ rather than /av/ in the first syllable.
Letters | Phoneme(s) | Examples |
---|---|---|
abh, amh | /au/ | cabhlach/kʰaul̪ˠəx/, samhradh/s̪auɾəɣ/ |
adh, agh | /ɤː/ | adhbran/ɤːpɾan/, ladhran/l̪ˠɤːɾan/ |
aidh | /ai/ | snaidhm/s̪n̪ˠaim/ |
aigh | /ɤi/ | saighdear/s̪ɤitʲəɾ/, maighdean/mɤitʲən/ |
eagh | /ɤː/ | do theaghlach/t̪əhjɤːl̪ˠəx/ |
eamh | /ɛu/ | geamhradh/kʲɛuɾəɣ/, leamhrag/ʎɛuɾak/ |
iodh, iogh | /iə/ | tìodhlaic/tʰʲiəl̪ˠɪʰkʰʲ/, ioghnadh/iənəɣ/ |
ogh | /oː/ | foghnaidh/foːnɪ/, roghnaich/rˠoːnɪç/ |
oibh | /ɤi/ | goibhle/kɤilə/, goibhnean/kɤinən/ |
oigh | /ɤi/ | oighre/ɤiɾʲə/, sloighre/s̪l̪ˠɤiɾʲə/ |
oimh | /ɔi/ | doimhne/t̪ɔiɲə/, doimhneachd/t̪ɔiɲəxk/ |
uimh | /ui/ | cuimhne/kʰuiɲə/, cuimhneachadh/kʰuiɲəxəɣ/ |
Where an ⟨l, n, r⟩ is followed (or in the case of ⟨m⟩, preceded) by a ⟨b, bh, ch, g, gh, m, mh⟩, an epenthetic vowel is inserted between the two. This is usually a copy of the vowel that preceded the ⟨l, n, r⟩. Examples; Alba/al̪ˠapə/, marbh/maɾav/, tilg/tʰʲilikʲ/, arm/aɾam/, iomradh/imiɾəɣ/.
If this process would lead to the sound sequence /ɛɾɛ/, the epenthetic vowel is an /a/ in many dialects, e.g dearg/tʲɛɾak/.
The acute accent is no longer used in standard Scottish Gaelic orthography, although it may be encountered in late 20th century writings, and occasionally in contemporary writings, especially in Canadian Gaelic.
Letter(s) | Phoneme(s) | Examples | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
á | /a/ | ás/as/ | ||
é, éi | /eː/ | Dùn Éideann/dunˈeːtʲən̪ˠ/, éirigh/eːɾʲɪ/ | ||
ó, ói | /oː/ | bó/poː/, cóig/kʰoːkʲ/, mór/moːɾ/ | ||
Certain spellings have also been regularised where they violate pronunciation rules. "Tigh" in particular can still be encountered in house names and certain place names, notably Tighnabruaich and Eilean Tigh.
A diacritic is a glyph added to a letter or to a basic glyph. The term derives from the Ancient Greek διακριτικός, from διακρίνω. The word diacritic is a noun, though it is sometimes used in an attributive sense, whereas diacritical is only an adjective. Some diacritics, such as the acute ⟨á⟩, grave ⟨à⟩, and circumflex ⟨â⟩, are often called accents. Diacritics may appear above or below a letter or in some other position such as within the letter or between two letters.
Latin phonology continually evolved over the centuries, making it difficult for speakers in one era to know how Latin was spoken before then. A given phoneme may be represented by different letters in different periods. This article deals primarily with modern scholarship's best reconstruction of Classical Latin's phonemes (phonology) and the pronunciation and spelling used by educated people in the late Roman Republic. This article then touches upon later changes and other variants. Knowledge of how Latin was pronounced comes from Roman grammar books, common misspellings by Romans, transcriptions into other ancient languages, and from how pronunciation has evolved in derived Romance languages.
In linguistics, specifically phonetics and phonology, schwa is a vowel sound denoted by the IPA symbol ⟨ə⟩, placed in the central position of the vowel chart. In English and some other languages, it usually represents the mid central vowel sound, produced when the lips, tongue, and jaw are completely relaxed, such as the vowel sound of the ⟨a⟩ in the English word about.
The acute accent, ◌́, is a diacritic used in many modern written languages with alphabets based on the Latin, Cyrillic, and Greek scripts. For the most commonly encountered uses of the accent in the Latin and Greek alphabets, precomposed characters are available.
Welsh orthography uses 29 letters of the Latin script to write native Welsh words as well as established loanwords.
The orthography of the Old Norse language was diverse, being written in both Runic and Latin alphabets, with many spelling conventions, variant letterforms, and unique letters and signs. In modern times, scholars established a standardized spelling for the language. When Old Norse names are used in texts in other languages, modifications to this spelling are often made. In particular, the names of Old Norse mythological figures often have several different spellings.
Nauruan or Nauru is an Austronesian language, spoken natively in the island country of Nauru. Its relationship to the other Micronesian languages is not well understood.
German orthography is the orthography used in writing the German language, which is largely phonemic. However, it shows many instances of spellings that are historic or analogous to other spellings rather than phonemic. The pronunciation of almost every word can be derived from its spelling once the spelling rules are known, but the opposite is not generally the case.
Italian orthography uses 21 letters of the 26-letter Latin alphabet to write the Italian language. This article focuses on the writing of Standard Italian, based historically on the Florentine dialect, and not the other Italian dialects.
In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived length of a vowel sound: the corresponding physical measurement is duration. In some languages vowel length is an important phonemic factor, meaning vowel length can change the meaning of the word, for example in Arabic, Estonian, Finnish, Fijian, Japanese, Kannada, Kyrgyz, Latin, Malayalam, Old English, Scottish Gaelic, Tamil and Vietnamese.
Irish orthography is the set of conventions used to write Irish. A spelling reform in the mid-20th century led to An Caighdeán Oifigiúil, the modern standard written form used by the Government of Ireland, which regulates both spelling and grammar. The reform removed inter-dialectal silent letters, simplified some letter sequences, and modernised archaic spellings to reflect modern pronunciation, but it also removed letters pronounced in some dialects but not in others.
Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic, is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive written texts. It was used from c. 600 to c. 900. The main contemporary texts are dated c. 700–850; by 900 the language had already transitioned into early Middle Irish. Some Old Irish texts date from the 10th century, although these are presumably copies of texts written at an earlier time. Old Irish is thus forebear to Modern Irish, Manx and Scottish Gaelic.
Dutch orthography uses the Latin alphabet. The spelling system is issued by government decree and is compulsory for all government documentation and educational establishments.
Although Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx Gaelic are closely related as Goidelic Celtic languages, they are different in many ways. While most dialects are not immediately mutually comprehensible, speakers of the three languages can rapidly develop mutual intelligibility.
Spanish orthography is the orthography used in the Spanish language. The alphabet uses the Latin script. The spelling is fairly phonemic, especially in comparison to more opaque orthographies like English, having a relatively consistent mapping of graphemes to phonemes; in other words, the pronunciation of a given Spanish-language word can largely be predicted from its spelling and to a slightly lesser extent vice versa. Spanish punctuation uniquely includes the use of inverted question and exclamation marks: ⟨¿⟩⟨¡⟩.
Portuguese orthography is based on the Latin alphabet and makes use of the acute accent, the circumflex accent, the grave accent, the tilde, and the cedilla to denote stress, vowel height, nasalization, and other sound changes. The diaeresis was abolished by the last Orthography Agreement. Accented letters and digraphs are not counted as separate characters for collation purposes.
Greek orthography has used a variety of diacritics starting in the Hellenistic period. The more complex polytonic orthography, which includes five diacritics, notates Ancient Greek phonology. The simpler monotonic orthography, introduced in 1982, corresponds to Modern Greek phonology, and requires only two diacritics.
The modern Corsican alphabet uses twenty-two basic letters taken from the Latin alphabet with some changes, plus some multigraphs. The pronunciations of the English, French, Italian or Latin forms of these letters are not a guide to their pronunciation in Corsican, which has its own pronunciation, often the same, but frequently not. As can be seen from the table below, two of the phonemic letters are represented as trigraphs, plus some other digraphs. Nearly all the letters are allophonic; that is, a phoneme of the language might have more than one pronunciation and be represented by more than one letter. The exact pronunciation depends mainly on word order and usage and is governed by a complex set of rules, variable to some degree by dialect. These have to be learned by the speaker of the language.
Norwegian orthography is the method of writing the Norwegian language, of which there are two written standards: Bokmål and Nynorsk. While Bokmål has for the most part derived its forms from the written Danish language and Danish-Norwegian speech, Nynorsk gets its word forms from Aasen's reconstructed "base dialect", which is intended to represent the distinctive dialectal forms. Both standards use a 29-letter variant of the Latin alphabet and the same orthographic principles.
There is no standard variety of Scottish Gaelic; although statements below are about all or most dialects, the north-western dialects are discussed more than others as they represent the majority of speakers.