Editing Irish orthography (section)

==Alphabet==
[[File:Uncial_alphabet.svg|thumb|Gaelic type with Roman type equivalents and the additional [[Irish initial mutations|lenited]] letters.]][[Latin script]] has been the [[writing system]] used to write Irish since the 5th century, when it replaced [[Ogham]], which was used to write [[Primitive Irish]] and [[Old Irish]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Celtic languages - Irish |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Celtic-languages/Irish |access-date=2022-12-31 |website=Britannica |language=en}}</ref> Prior to the mid-20th century, [[Gaelic type]] ({{Lang|ga|cló Gaelach}}) was the main [[typeface]] used to write Irish; now, it is usually replaced by [[Roman type]] ({{Lang|ga|cló Rómhánach}}). The use of Ogham and Gaelic type today is restricted to decorative or self-consciously traditional contexts. The [[Dot (diacritic)#Overdot|dot above]] a [[lenition|lenited]] letter in Gaelic type is usually replaced by a following {{vr|h}} in Roman type (e.g. {{vr|ċ}} → {{vr|ch}}).<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Irish language, alphabet and pronunciation |url=https://www.omniglot.com/writing/irish.htm |access-date=2023-12-13 |website=www.omniglot.com}}</ref>

=== Letters and letter names===
[[File:Gaelic alphabet.jpg|thumb|The traditional Irish alphabet carved in Gaelic type on a building in [[Dublin]], with each type of diacritic ({{lang|ga|síneadh fada}} and {{lang|ga|ponc séimhithe}}) as well as the {{lang|la|[[Tironian notes|Tironian et]]}}.]]

The traditional Irish [[alphabet]] ({{lang|ga|aibítir}}) consists of 18 letters: {{vr|{{wrap|a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, l, m, n, o, p, r, s, t, u}}}}. It does not contain {{vr|j, k, q, v, w, x, y, z}}, although they are used in scientific terminology and modern [[loanword]]s. {{vr|v}} occurs in a small number of (mainly [[Onomatopoeia|onomatopoeic]]) native words (e.g. {{lang|ga|vácarnach}} "to quack" and {{lang|ga|vrác}} "caw") and [[colloquialism]]s (e.g. {{lang|ga|víog}} for {{lang|ga|bíog}} "chirp" and {{lang|ga|vís}} for {{lang|ga|bís}} "screw").<ref>{{Cite book |first=Niall |last=Ó Dónaill |editor=Tomás De Bhaldraithe |title=Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla |date=2007 |publisher=An Gúm |isbn=978-1-85791-038-4 |oclc=670042711}}</ref> {{vr|h}}, when not [[prefix]]ed to a word initial vowel or after a consonant to show [[Irish initial mutations|lenition]], primarily occurs word initially in loanwords, e.g. {{lang|ga|hata}} "hat". {{vr|k}} is the only letter not listed by [[Niall Ó Dónaill|Ó Dónaill]].

Vowels may be [[Diacritic|accented]] with an [[acute accent]] ({{vr|á, é, í, ó, ú}}; see [[Irish orthography#Diacritics|below]]).<ref>[https://www.rosettastone.com/learn-irish/ Learn Irish] Rosetta Stone. Retrieved: 2020-06-21.</ref> Accented letters are considered variants of their unaccented equivalent, and they follow their unaccented equivalents in dictionaries (i.e. {{Lang|ga|a}}, {{Lang|ga|á…abhac}}, {{Lang|ga|ábhacht}}, {{Lang|ga|abhaile}}...).

[[English alphabet#Letter names|English letter names]] are generally used in both colloquial and formal speech but there are modern Irish letter names (based on the original [[latin alphabet#Classical Latin alphabet|Latin names]]), similar to other languages that use a [[Latin-script alphabet|Latin script alphabet]]. Tree names were historically used to name the letters. Tradition taught that they all derived from the [[Bríatharogam|names of Ogham letters]], though it is now known that only some of the earliest were named after trees.

{| class="wikitable"
! Letter
! Name
<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hRiKYbE3cIIC&pg=PA1 |title=Graiméar Gaeilge na mBráithre Críostaí |date=22 September 1999 |publisher=An Gúm |isbn=9781857913279}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Irish Orthography |url=http://www.nualeargais.ie/gnag/ortho.htm |access-date=2022-10-23 |website=www.nualeargais.ie |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326031917/http://www.nualeargais.ie/gnag/ortho.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
!Name
([[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]])
! Tree Name ({{lang|ga|[[Bríatharogam]]}})
!Ogham equivalent
! Notes
|-
|'''[[A]]a'''
|{{lang|ga|á}} {{ref|fada|'''a'''}}
|{{IPA|/aː/}}
|{{lang|ga|[[ailm]]}} ([[pine]])
|ᚐ
| rowspan="9" |
|-
|'''[[B]]b'''
|{{lang|ga|bé}}
|{{IPA|/bʲeː/}}
|{{lang|ga|[[Beith (letter)|beith]]}} ([[birch]])
|ᚁ
|-
|'''[[C]]c'''
|{{lang|ga|cé}}
|{{IPA|/ceː/}}
|{{lang|ga|[[Coll (letter)|coll]]}} ([[hazel]])
|ᚉ
|-
|'''[[D]]d'''
|{{lang|ga|dé}}
|{{IPA|/dʲeː/}}
|{{lang|ga|[[dair]]}} ([[oak]])
|ᚇ
|-
|'''[[E]]e'''
|{{lang|ga|é}} {{ref|fada|'''a'''}}
|{{IPA|/eː/}}
|{{lang|ga|[[eadhadh]]}} ([[populus|poplar]])
|ᚓ
|-
|'''[[F]]f'''
|{{lang|ga|eif}}
|{{IPA|/ɛfʲ/}}
|{{lang|ga|[[Fearn (letter)|fearn]]}} ([[alder]])
|ᚃ
|-
|'''[[G]]g'''
|{{lang|ga|gé}}
|{{IPA|/ɟeː/}}
|{{lang|ga|[[Gort (letter)|gort]]}} ([[ivy]])
|ᚌ
|-
|'''[[H]]h'''
|{{lang|ga|héis}}
|{{IPA|/heːʃ/}}
|{{lang|ga|[[uath]]}} ([[crataegus monogyna|hawthorn]])
|ᚆ
|-
|'''[[I]]i'''
|{{lang|ga|í}} {{ref|fada|'''a'''}}
|{{IPA|/iː/}}
|{{lang|ga|[[iodhadh]]}} ([[taxus|yew]])
|ᚔ
|-
|'''[[J]]j'''
|{{lang|ga|jé}}
|{{IPA|/dʒeː/}}
|
|
|Occurs in relatively new loanwords, such as {{lang|ga|[[job|jab]]}}, {{lang|ga|[[judo|júdó]]}}, and {{lang|ga|[[jeep|jíp]]}}.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Irish Grammar Database: jíp |url=https://www.teanglann.ie/en/gram/j%C3%ADp |access-date=2025-03-03 |website=www.teanglann.ie |language=en}}</ref> Typically represents {{IPA|[dʒ]}}, a non-native phoneme (see [[Irish phonology]]) and is substituted with {{IPA|/ʃ/}} in words like {{lang|ga|[[Japan|Seapáin]]}} {{IPA|/ˈʃapˠaːnʲ/}}.
|-
|'''[[K]]k'''
|{{lang|ga|cá}}
|{{IPA|/kaː/}}
|
|
|Mainly used in foreign proper names (it is usually replaced by {{angbr|c}} in loanwords).
|-
|'''[[L]]l'''
|{{lang|ga|eil}}
|{{IPA|/ɛlʲ/}}
|{{lang|ga|[[Luis (letter)|luis]]}} ([[rowan]])
|ᚂ
| rowspan="4" |
|-
|'''[[M]]m'''
|{{lang|ga|eim}}
|{{IPA|/ɛmʲ/}}
|{{lang|ga|[[Muin (letter)|muin]]}} ([[vine]])
|ᚋ
|-
|'''[[N]]n'''
|{{lang|ga|ein}}
|{{IPA|/ɛnʲ/}}
|{{lang|ga|[[nion]]}} ([[fraxinus|ash]])
|ᚅ
|-
|'''[[O]]o'''
|{{lang|ga|ó}} {{ref|fada|'''a'''}}
|{{IPA|/oː/}}
|{{lang|ga|[[onn]]}} ([[gorse]])
|ᚑ
|-
| rowspan="2" |'''[[P]]p'''
| rowspan="2" |{{lang|ga|pé}}
| rowspan="2" |{{IPA|/pʲeː/}}
|{{Lang|ga|[[ifín]]}} ([[gooseberry]] or [[Thorns, spines, and prickles|thorn]])
|ᚘ
| rowspan="2" |See {{Lang|ga|[[forfeda]]}}.
|-
|{{lang|ga|[[Forfeda|peith]]}} ([[alnus viridis|dwarf alder]])
|ᚚ
|-
|'''[[Q]]q'''
|{{lang|ga|cú}}
|{{IPA|/kuː/}}
|
|ᚊ
|Occurs in unestablished loanwords, such as {{lang|ga|[[quinine|quinín]]}}, but there is often an alternative where {{angbr|q}} has been replaced with {{angbr|c}} ({{lang|ga|cuinín}}).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla (Ó Dónaill): quinín |url=https://www.teanglann.ie/en/fgb/quin%C3%ADn |access-date=2025-03-03 |website=www.teanglann.ie |language=en}}</ref> Typically represents {{IPA|/k/}}. {{vr|Q}} is also used to transliterate {{lang|ga|[[ceirt]]}} ([[apple]]).
|-
| '''[[R]]r'''
|{{lang|ga|ear}}
|{{IPA|/aɾˠ/}}
|{{lang|ga|[[Ruis (letter)|ruis]]}} ([[sambucus|elder]])
|ᚏ
| rowspan="8" |
|-
|'''[[S]]s'''
|{{lang|ga|eas}}
|{{IPA|/asˠ/}}
|{{lang|ga|[[Sail (letter)|sail]]}} ([[willow]])
|ᚄ
|-
|'''[[T]]t'''
|{{lang|ga|té}}
|{{IPA|/tʲeː/}}
|{{lang|ga|[[Tinne (letter)|tinne]]}} ([[holly]])
|ᚈ
|-
|'''[[U]]u'''
|{{lang|ga|ú}} {{ref|fada|'''a'''}}
|{{IPA|/uː/}}
|{{lang|ga|[[úr]]}} ([[calluna|heather]])
|ᚒ
|-
|'''[[V]]v'''
|{{lang|ga|vé}}
|{{IPA|/vʲeː/}}
| rowspan="4" |
| rowspan="4" |
|-
|'''[[W]]w'''
|{{lang|ga|wae}}
|{{IPA|/weː/}}
|-
|'''[[X]]x'''
|{{lang|ga|eacs}}
|{{IPA|/ɛksˠ/}}
|-
|'''[[Y]]y'''
|{{lang|ga|yé}}
|{{IPA|/jeː/}}
|-
| '''[[Z]]z'''
|{{lang|ga|zae}}
|{{IPA|/zˠeː/}}
|
|ᚎ
|{{vr|Z}} is used to transliterate {{lang|ga|[[straif]]}} ([[blackthorn]]); {{IPA|[zˠ]}} is a foreign sound.
|}