{{Short description|Typefaces to print Classical Gaelic}} {{More footnotes |date=November 2016}} {{EngvarB|date=October 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}} {{Infobox writing system |name= Gaelic script |type= Alphabet |time= 1571 – |languages= Modern Irish, Scots Gaelic |fam1 = Latin script |fam2 = Insular script |children= |sample= Gaelic-font-Gaelach.svg |imagesize= 200px |iso15924= Latg |direction = Left-to-right }}
'''Gaelic type''' (sometimes called '''Irish character''', '''Irish type''', or '''Gaelic script''') is a family of Insular script typefaces devised for printing Early Modern Irish. It was widely used from the 16th century until the mid-18th century in Scotland and the mid-20th century in Ireland, but is now rarely used. Sometimes, all Gaelic typefaces are called ''Celtic'' or ''uncial'' although most Gaelic types are not uncials. The "Anglo-Saxon" types of the 17th century are included in this category because both the Anglo-Saxon types and the Gaelic/Irish types derive from the insular manuscript hand.
The terms ''Gaelic type'', ''Gaelic script'' and ''Irish character'' translate the Modern Irish phrase {{lang|ga|cló Gaelach}} ({{IPA|ga|ˌkl̪ˠoː ˈɡeːl̪ˠəx|pron}}). In Ireland, the term {{lang|ga|cló Gaelach}} is used in opposition to the term {{lang|ga|cló Rómhánach}}, Roman type.
The Scots Gaelic term is {{lang|gd|corra-litir}} ({{IPA|gd|ˌkʰɔrˠə ˈliʰtʲɪɾʲ|pron}}). {{lang|gd|Alasdair mac Mhaighstir Alasdair|italic=no}} ({{circa|1698}}–1770) was one of the last Scottish writers with the ability to write in this script,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Quinnell |first1=Teàrlach |title=Moladh air deagh bhàrd... |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/alba/naidheachdan/story/2009/09/printable/090908_macmhaighstir.shtml |access-date=22 April 2017 |publisher=BBC Alba |work=Naidheachdan |date=8 July 2009 |language=gd }}</ref> but his main work, {{lang|gd|Ais-Eiridh na Sean Chánoin Albannaich}}, was published in the Roman script.
==Characteristics== thumb|upright=1|Overview of some Gaelic typefaces
Besides the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet, Gaelic typefaces must include all vowels with acute accents {{angbr|Áá Éé Íí Óó Úú}} as well as a set of consonants with dot above {{angbr|Ḃḃ Ċċ Ḋḋ Ḟḟ Ġġ Ṁṁ Ṗṗ Ṡṡ Ṫṫ}}, and the Tironian sign et {{angbr|⁊}}, used for {{lang|ga|agus}} 'and' in Irish.
Gaelic typefaces also often include insular forms: {{angbr|ꞃ ꞅ}} of the letters {{angbr|r}} and {{angbr|s}}, and some of the typefaces contain a number of ligatures used in earlier Gaelic typography and deriving from the manuscript tradition. Lower-case {{angbr|i}} is drawn without a dot (though it is not the Turkish dotless {{angbr|ı}}), and the letters {{angbr|d f g t}} have insular shapes {{angbr|ꝺ ꝼ ᵹ ꞇ}}.
Many modern Gaelic typefaces include Gaelic letterforms for the letters {{angbr|j k q v w x y z}}, and typically provide support for at least the vowels of the other Celtic languages. They also distinguish between {{angbr|&}} and {{angbr|⁊}} (as did traditional typography), though some modern fonts replace the ampersand with the Tironian note ostensibly because both mean 'and'.
==History== {{main|Insular script}} [[File:Gaelic-font-Corcaigh.png|thumb|upright=1.2|left|The word {{lang|ga|Corcaigh}} in the Gaelic-script font of the same name.]] The Irish uncial alphabet originated in medieval manuscripts as an "insular" variant of the Latin alphabet. The first Gaelic typeface was designed in 1571 for {{lang|ga|Aibidil Gaoidheilge agus Caiticiosma}}, a catechism commissioned by Elizabeth I to help attempt to convert the Irish Catholic population to Anglicanism.<ref name=NineArrow>{{cite web|url=https://www.ninearrow.com/blog/clo-gaelach-project|title=Cló Gaelach - Irish Script font project|website=Nine Arrow}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.libfocus.com/2020/04/cataloguing-older-irish-language.html|title=Cataloguing older Irish language material: some brief notes on the Cló Gaelach.|website=Libfocus}}</ref>
In 1611, Franciscans from Leuven/Louvain (Belgium) created their own typeface, known as Louvain Irish Type.<ref name=NineArrow /> {{clear}}
==Use== Typesetting in Gaelic script remained common in Ireland until the mid-20th century. Gaelic script is today used merely for decorative typesetting; for example, a number of traditional Irish newspapers still print their name in Gaelic script on the first page, and it is also popular for pub signs, greeting cards, and display advertising. Edward Lhuyd's grammar of the Cornish language used Gaelic-script consonants to indicate sounds like {{IPAblink|ð}} and {{IPAblink|θ}}.
In 1996 {{lang|ga|RTÉ|italic=no}} created a new corporate logo. The logo consists of a modern take on the Gaelic type face. The R's counter is large with a short tail, the T is roman script while the E is curved but does not have a counter like a lower case E, and the letters also have slight serifs to them. TG4's original logo, under the brand {{lang|ga|TnaG}}, also used a modernization of the font, the use of the curved T and a sans-serif A in the word {{lang|ga|na}}. Other Irish companies that have used Gaelic script in their logos including the GAA, {{lang|ga|Telecom Éireann|italic=no}} and {{lang|ga|An Post|italic=no}}. The {{lang|ga|Garda Síochána|italic=no}} uses Gaelic Script on its official seal.
==In Unicode== {{see also|Insular script#Unicode}} Unicode treats the Gaelic script as a font variant of the Latin alphabet (for example, the glyphs for {{angbr|G}} and {{angbr|g}} in Gaelic types typically resemble the phonetics insular g, but use {{unichar2|G}} and {{unichar2|g}}, not {{unichar|1D79}} and {{unichar|A77D}}). A lowercase insular g (ᵹ) was added in version 4.1 as part of the Phonetic Extensions block because of its use in Irish linguistics as a phonetic character for {{IPAblink|ɣ}}.
According to Michael Everson, in the 2006 Unicode proposal for these characters:<ref>{{cite web|last=Everson|first=Michael|author-link=Michael Everson|title=N3122: Proposal to add Latin letters and a Greek symbol to the UCS|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2006/06266-n3122-insular.pdf|publisher=ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2|date=2006-08-06|access-date=2016-11-22}}</ref> {{blockquote |text=To write text in an ordinary Gaelic font, only ASCII letters should be used, the font making all the relevant substitutions; the insular letters [proposed here] are for use only by specialists who require them for particular purposes.}}
Unicode 5.1 (2008) added a capital G (Ᵹ) and both capital and lowercase letters D, F, R, S, T, besides "turned insular G", on the basis that Edward Lhuyd used these letters in his 1707 work {{lang|la|Archæologia Britannica}} as a scientific orthography for Cornish.
* Ꝺ ꝺ Insular D (U+A779, U+A77A) * ◌ᷘ Combining Small Insular D (U+1DD8) (Used for Old Norse)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2006/06027-n3027-medieval.pdf | title=N3027: Proposal to add medievalist characters to the UCS | publisher=ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2 | date=2006-01-30 }}</ref> * Ꝼ ꝼ Insular F (U+A77B, U+A77C) * Ᵹ ᵹ Insular G (U+A77D, U+1D79) * Ꝿ ꝿ Turned insular G (U+A77E, U+A77F) * Ꞃ ꞃ Insular R (U+A782, U+A783) * Ꞅ ꞅ Insular S (U+A784, U+A785) * Ꞇ ꞇ Insular T (U+A786, U+A787)
Unicode 14.0 (2021) added characters, including Insular letters, for the Ormulum:<ref>{{cite web|title=L2/20-268 Revised proposal to add ten characters for Middle English to the UCS|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2020/20268-n5145-ormulum.pdf|first1=Michael|last1=Everson|first2=Andrew|last2=West|date=2020-10-05|access-date=2022-09-19}}</ref> * Ꟑ ꟑ Closed Insular G (U+A7D0, U+A7D1) * ◌ᫌ Combining Insular G (U+1ACC) * ◌ᫍ Combining Insular R (U+1ACD) * ◌ᫎ Combining Insular T (U+1ACE)
==Samples==
[[Image:Gaelic-text-Duibhlinn.png|frame|center|{{lang|ga|Duibhlinn}} (digital type 1993, based on Monotype Series 24 A, 1906)]]
[[File:Gaelic-text-Ceanannas.png|frame|center|{{lang|ga|Ceanannas}} (digital type 1993, based on drawings of ''Book of Kells'' lettering by Arthur Baker.)]]
{{center|1=In each figure above, the first sentence is a pangram and reads:<br/>'''{{lang|ga-Latg|Chuaigh bé mhórshách le dlúthspád fíorfhinn trí hata mo dhea-phorcáin bhig}}''',<br/>'''{{lang|ga-Latg|Ċuaiġ bé ṁórṡáċ le dlúṫspád fíorḟinn trí hata mo ḋea-ṗorcáin ḃig}}''', <br/>meaning "A maiden of great appetite with an intensely white, dense spade went through my good little porker’s hat".<br/>The second sentence (bottom line) reads:<br/>'''{{lang|ga-Latg|Duibhlinn/Ceanannas an cló a úsáidtear anseo}}''',<br/>meaning "{{lang|ga|Duibhlinn}}/{{lang|ga|Ceannanas}} is the typeface used here".<br/>The second sentence uses the short forms of the letters ''r'' and ''s''; the first uses the long forms. See: Long s and R rotunda. }}
==Gallery== <gallery> Image:Dublin City Hall information.JPG|Gaelic script used on an information plaque outside City Hall, near Dublin Castle. Image:Gates of Irish College.JPG|Gaelic script on the gates of the Pontifical Irish College in Rome. File:Mac grait grave.jpg|Gaelic script on a gravestone in County Kerry. File:Sign-Irish-English-PS01.jpg|Gaelic script on an Irish national monument. File:Annagassan_fingerpost.jpg|Old road sign, reading {{lang|ga|Áth na gCasán}} File:Irish_Coast_Guard_sign.jpg|Stencilled Gaelic type File:Irish script.gif |Poem </gallery>
==See also== * {{anl|Blackletter}} * {{anl|Fraktur}} * {{anl|Irish orthography}} * {{anl|ISO/IEC 8859-14}} * {{anl|Theobald Stapleton}} (who devised an Antiqua orthography for Irish in 1639)
==References== {{reflist}}
==Sources== * Lynam, E. W. 1969. ''The Irish character in print: 1571–1923''. New York: Barnes & Noble. First printed as Oxford University Press offprint 1924 in ''Transactions of the Bibliographical Society'', 4th Series, Vol. IV, No. 4, March 1924.) * McGuinne, Dermot. ''Irish type design: A history of printing types in the Irish character''. Blackrock: Irish Academic Press. {{ISBN|0-7165-2463-5}}
==External links== * Brendan Leen's [https://web.archive.org/web/20030129001032/http://136.206.208.1/library/LIBeng/Special%20Collections/spcoll4cent.htm Four centuries of printing in the Irish character], Cregan Library, St Patrick's College, Drumcondra * Vincent Morley's [http://www.scribhinn.org/ An Cló Gaelach] (in Irish) * Mícheál Ó Searcóid's [http://www.tug.org/TUGboat/Articles/tb12-1/tb31searcoid.pdf The Irish Alphabet], an article on the origin, history and present-day usage of the Irish typeface, 1990 * Mathew D. Staunton's [https://web.archive.org/web/20080307035221/http://www.unicaen.fr/mrsh/lisa/publications/008/v3_2005-1_085staunton.pdf Trojan Horses and Friendly Faces: Irish Gaelic Typography as Propaganda]. ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060928073040/http://www.unicaen.fr/mrsh/lisa/indexGb.php?p= La revue LISA]''. {{ISSN|1762-6153}}. Vol. III; n°1. 2005. * [http://www.gaelchlo.com/bungc.html Bunchló GC] (in Irish), a Gaelic modern minuscule font in Unicode for non-commercial use. * [http://www.gaelchlo.com/glangc.html Glanchló GC] (in Irish), a Gaelic type font in Unicode for non-commercial use. * [https://web.archive.org/web/20131030063341/http://www.iol.ie/~sob/gadelica/ Gadelica], a Gaelic traditional minuscule font in Unicode. * [http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/~oduibhin/mearchlar/fonts.htm More information about Gaelic fonts]
{{Gaels}} {{Irish linguistics}} {{Typography terms}} {{List of writing systems}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaelic Type}} Category:Irish language Category:Latin-script typefaces