Letter rules

This is the rule that shapes Gaelic spelling more than any other. A consonant, or a group of consonants, must have vowels of the same kind on either side of it: slender (e, i) on both sides, or broad (a, o, u) on both sides.

It exists because a consonant sounds different next to a slender vowel than next to a broad one, and the vowels on either side are there to agree about which sound is meant. That is why so many Gaelic words seem to have spare vowels — some of them are not pronounced at all, and are only there to mark the consonant beside them.

You see the rule at work whenever an ending is added. The same plural ending is written -an after a broad vowel and -ean after a slender one:

• bròganBRAW-kunshoes

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• sgoileanSKOL-unschools

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• balaichBAL-eekhboysFrom balach, boy. Slendering the last consonant — writing an i before it — is a common way to make a plural.

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• caitKATCHcatsFrom cat. The i turns the t slender, which changes its sound.

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A handful of words break the rule — esan (him, emphatic) is one — and compound words often break it where the two parts meet.

Only vowels can take an accent, and modern Gaelic uses just one kind: the grave accent, which slopes down to the right (à, è, ì, ò, ù). It tells you the vowel is long.

Older books also use an acute accent on é and ó. The Gaelic Orthographic Conventions, the spelling standard used in schools and publishing, replaced these with the grave accent.

The accent is not decoration. Leaving it off can give you a different word, and it is required in exams.

• bataBAT-uha stick

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• bàtaBAA-tuha boat

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• casKASa foot, a leg

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• càsKAASa difficulty

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Grammar often softens the first consonant of a word, and in writing this is shown by putting an h after it. It happens after words like mo (my), glè (very) and the feminine article, and in the past tense of verbs — the grammar page lists the triggers.

Only nine letters can take the h: b, c, d, f, g, m, p, s and t. Vowels never do, and neither do l, n and r (their sound can soften, but the spelling stays the same). An s followed by g, m, p or t is also left alone, so sgoil stays sgoil.

• mo bhràthairmo VRAA-hurmy brother

  mo

  my

  bhràthair

  brother

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• mo mhàthairmo VAA-hurmy mother

  mo

  my

  mhàthair

  mother

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• mo phiutharmo FYOO-urmy sister

  mo

  my

  phiuthar

  sister

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• glè mhathGLAY VAvery good

  glè

  very

  mhath

  good

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Every one of these combinations is covered with examples on the sounds page.

Sometimes a t- or h- is joined to the front of a word with a hyphen. It is not part of the word itself — grammar adds it, usually to stop two vowels running into each other — and it is pronounced as if it were.

t- comes after the article an: before a masculine word starting with a vowel, and before a feminine word starting with s followed by a vowel, l, n or r. h- comes before a vowel after words like na (the, plural), a (her) and le (with).

The prefix is always lower case, even when the word after it has a capital.

• an t-uisgeun TOOSH-kuhthe water

  an

  the

  t-uisge

  water

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• an t-sràidun TRAAJthe streetThe s goes silent after t-.

  an

  the

  t-sràid

  street

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• na h-uinneagannuh HOON-yuh-kunthe windows

  na

  the

  h-uinneagan

  windows

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• a h-athairuh HA-hurher father

  a

  her

  h-athair

  father

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• Banca na h-AlbaBANG-kuh nuh HAL-a-puhBank of ScotlandCapital A, lower-case h-.

  Banca

  bank

  na

  of-the

  h-Alba

  Scotland

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As in English, an apostrophe shows where a letter has been left out. You will meet it in a few very common places:

• mo (my) and do (your) lose their vowel before a vowel or fh: m' athair, d' ainm.
• The feminine article an becomes a' before a softened consonant: a' chaileag.
• dh' goes in front of past-tense verbs that start with a vowel or fh: dh'òl, dh'fhàg.
• agus (and) and is are often shortened to 's.

• m' athairMA-hurmy father

  m'

  my

  athair

  father

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• d' ainmDAN-umyour name

  d'

  your

  ainm

  name

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• a' chaileaguh KHAL-yakthe girl

  a'

  the

  chaileag

  girl

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• dh'òl miGHAWL meeI drank

  dh'òl

  drank

  mi

  I

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• mise 's tusaMEE-shuh STOO-suhme and you

  mise

  me (emphatic)

  's

  and

  tusa

  you (emphatic)

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Names of people and places, languages, and days of the week start with a capital, much as in English. When a name has a lenited first letter or a hyphenated prefix, the capital goes on the name itself, not on the h or the prefix.

• GàidhligGAA-likScottish Gaelic

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• Diluainjee-LOO-unMonday

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• à Dùn Èideannaa doon AY-junfrom Edinburgh

  à

  from

  Dùn Èideann

  Edinburgh

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• a Mhòraguh VAW-rakMòrag! (calling to her)Capital M, lower-case h.

  a

  O (calling)

  Mhòrag

  Mòrag

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