Latin (Gaelic variant)
Script details
See all script details: code, region, status and more
| Code | Latg |
| Script type | alphabet |
| Region | European |
| Status | Historical |
| Direction | LTR |
| Baseline | bottom |
| Case | yes |
| White space | between words |
| Complex behaviors | diacritics, optional ligatures |
| OpenType code | unspecified |
| ISO 15924 Numeric Code / Key | 216 (left-to-right alphabetic) |
Script description
The Gaelic variant of the Latin script was used between the 16th and 20th centuries for writing Irish.
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Modern and digital forms of the script are based on traditional hand-written manuscript styles.
There are a number of typefaces subsumed under the term ‘Gaelic type’. Michael Everson identifies over 100 Gaelic typefaces dating from 1567 to the present. All Gaelic typefaces include the twenty-six letters of the Latin alphabet, plus the accented vowels and dotted consonants used for writing Irish, and the Tironian sign et
, which represents the Irish word agus, meaning “and”. Archaic ligatures are also sometimes included.
Gaelic type is now largely restricted to decorative contexts. Modern Irish is written using the following Latin letters:
a á b c d e é f g h i í l m n o ó p r s t u ú
j k q v w x y z (for loanwords only)
More information can be found here.
Languages that use this script
| Language | Writing System Code | Writing System Status | SLDR/CLDR locale | Regional variants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irish | ga-Latg | in use | ga-Latg-IE (Ireland) | |
| Middle Irish (900-1200) | mga-Latg | in use | mga-Latg-IE (Ireland) |
Unicode status
Unicode largely treats the Gaelic script as a font variant of the Latin alphabet. However, some letters are encoded separately:
Resources
- ScriptSource page for Latin (Gaelic variant) - all about scripts, languages, and writing systems
- Wikipedia article on Latin (Gaelic variant)