Editing Gallo language (section)

== Orthography ==

=== Overview ===
There is not yet a single writing system that is unanimously agreed upon, mainly due to regional pronunciation differences. The word for “me” could be pronounced any of the following ways: [maj], [mεj], [mej], [ma], [mε] or [me]. This large variance makes it difficult to pick a single written form that would be most suitable. If the orthography of French was used, the word could be written in countless ways: ''maï, maye, maille, mèï, mey, meille, ma, mé, mè'', etc.

However, the creation of a common writing system is important for ensuring comprehensibility of text across regions and making a dictionary. There are two main strategies that have been employed in past attempts at a writing system. One strategy proposes a single written form for words that will be pronounced differently according to the region. The other strategy proposes allowing a word to be written in multiple different ways, with different letters or letter combinations, to allow for speakers of Gallo to write according to their pronunciation. Another difference separating the proposed systems is their usage of silent letters and non-phonetic spelling. Some systems try to maintain a one-to-one correspondency between letters and sounds, whereas some choose to add silent letters or diagraphs in an attempt to better represent the sounds of Gallo.<ref name=":6">Ôbrée, Bèrtran (2008). Lire et écrire en gallo avec le Moga (in French) (2nd ed.). Retiers, France. Archived at https://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/index2.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chubri.org%2Fdocs%2FBani%2FMoga-le-livre.pdf%2Findex.html#federation=archive.wikiwix.com&tab=url</ref><ref name=":7">Association of Gallo Teachers (''Association des Enseignants de Gallo)'' (2009)''. [http://gallo-es-ecole.net/_media/ens/ecriture_abcd.pdf L'écriture ABCD]'' (in French). Rennes, France.</ref>

The first effort to codify Gallo spelling was undertaken by the Friends of the Gallo Language (''Association des Amis du parler gallo'') in 1977. It proposed using French spelling as a baseline and adjusting it to fit Gallo’s unique phonetic features, such as using ''lh'' to indicate palatalization and ''ë'' to represent schwa. Since then, other systems have emerged, such as ELG, MOGA, ABCD, and BAP.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Comparison of various writing systems using an example sentence:<ref name=":5" />
!ELG
!Aneit
!Vantyé
!MOGA
!ABCD
!French translation
!English translation
|-
|Il faut qe j'auj le veir anoet.
|I faùt qe j'aùge le vair aneit.
|I faw ke j'awj le vèy ane.
|I fao qe j'aoje le vaer aneit.
|Faot qe j'aoje le vaer anet.
|Il faut que j'aille le voir aujourd'hui.
|I have to go see him today.
|}

=== ELG ===
The ELG system (short for "''écrire le gallo''", French for “write the Gallo [language]”), the oldest system, was proposed in 1978 by Alan-Joseph Raude and completely eschews French orthography. Raude based his writing system on medieval texts written in Gallo, therefore creating a system authentic to the language without reference to other modern writing systems. Regional differences were less pronounced during the Medieval era, meaning ELG’s spelling choices are based on a more standardized form.<ref name=":2" />[[Image:Signalétique gallo, métro de Rennes.jpg|thumb|A Gallo sign in the [[Rennes]] [[rapid transit|metro]]]]In the words for finger, evening, and me (in French: doigt, soir, moi), which display regional pronunciation differences, the “oi” found in French is written as “ei”, giving the forms: deit, seir, mei, though [ei] will not be the pronunciation everywhere.<ref name=":2" />

Ruczèu ("stream", in French: ruisseau) is pronounced [ʁysəw] in eastern Upper Brittany and [ʁyzəw] in the west. The ''ae'' in Bertaeyn ("Brittany"), can be pronounced [ae], [aɛ], [aə], or other possibilities. The diagraphs oe, cz, and tz are notable distinguishing elements of ELG.<ref name=":8">Raude, Alan. ''Écrire le gallo''. Rennes, France. 1993.</ref>

Word-final ''e'' ceased to be pronounced as early as the twelfth century in Gallo, several centuries before French, so Raude proposes to not write them. On the other hand, word-final silent consonants are retained to preserve the continuity between derived forms: fauc (false) (the final c is not pronounced) is related to fauchae (to mow), where the consonant is pronounced. In French, word-final e often serves to indicate an otherwise silent consonant should be pronounced, such as in grand [grɑ̃] and grande [grɑ̃d]. ELG indicates this with a doubled consonant: graund and graundd.<ref name=":2" />

ELG’s choices create a visually distinct system for Gallo, but it requires learning and is not immediately intuitive for Gallo speakers, who may not even recognize it as Gallo upon first seeing it.<ref name=":8" />

ELG is used in some public places, such as for bilingual signage in the [[Rennes]] metro system.<ref>Villard, Laurence. ''Langues dominantes, langues dominées''. Publications of the universities of Rouen and Le Havre (modern name: University Press of Rouen and Le Havre). 2008.</ref>

=== Aneit ===
[[Image:Bilingual signage-Gallo2.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Bilingual signage in the [[Rennes metro]]]]The Aneit system was introduced in 1984 by the Bertègn Galèzz Association, successor to the organization Friends of the Gallo Language. The system is the result of five years' research throughout Upper Brittany, and takes its name from the brochure presenting it to the public: ''Nostre lenghe aneit'' ("our language today"). Also called "unified spelling", it follows in the footsteps of ELG in terms of its basis on [[etymology]] for its spelling.

The Aneit system differs from ELG on a number of points, however. For example, every letter must have a purpose, which means that the silent h and double consonants are eliminated, except in certain specific cases (ll to indicate palatalization, etc.).<ref name=":2" /> Aneit has the same difficulties as ELG, since a speaker with a different pronunciation needs to know the standardized spelling to be able to decipher the written system. Another problem faced by Aneit is its use of [[diacritic]]s not easily accessible on a French keyboard (ó, ú and r̃).<ref name=":6" />

=== Vantyé ===
The Vantyé spelling system was developed again by the Bertègn Galèzz association in the early 1980s, and is notable for its attempt to be closer to  [[Breton language|Breton]]. The letters ''k'' and ''w'' are not native to French, which prefers ''q'' and ''o'' plus a vowel to represent [k] and [w], respectively. Breton, however, uses ''k'' and ''w'' regularly, so the Vantyé system does as well. For example, ''ke'' ("that') and ''wézyaw'' ("bird"), compared to the French ''que'' and ''oiseau''. Silent letters are also avoided in the Vantyé system.<ref name=":2" />

Unlike ELG and Aneit, Vantyé is more of a practical tool than a codified orthography, and is therefore much easier to master. However, it was primarily designed for speakers in the Mitau region, and does not account for the phonemes that exist in other regions, making it less useful as a universal standard.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Michel |first=Jean-M. |title=Pihern Revue Vantyé |year=1981 |location=Guémené-Penfao, France |language=fr}}</ref><ref name=":6" />

=== MOGA ===
The MOGA system was introduced in 2007 by Bèrtran Ôbrée and the Chubri Association. Unlike ELG and Aneit, which are based on etymology, it is a phonetic script. It is also intentionally close to French, making it easier for speakers of French to learn. For example, [<nowiki/>[[Voiced palatal nasal|ɲ]]] is written with the French diagraph ''gn'' instead of less familiar propositions from previous systems such as ''ny'' or ''nh''. Similarly, the diphthong [aw] is written ''ao'', instead of the ''aù'' and ''au'' of previous systems, which could create confusion, because ''au'' is a diagraph in French corresponding to a single vowel, [o]. Each MOGA letter or diagraph corresponds to a single sound.

Regional varieties are taken into account, and letter combinations are used to represent all Gallo phonemes, even if they are only used by a few speakers. The diagraph ''lh'' signifies [<nowiki/>[[Voiced palatal lateral approximant|ʎ]]], a rare phoneme that is confined to central Côtes-d'Armor.<ref name=":9">{{Cite web |last=Chubri Association |date=May 2016 |title=Règles orthographiques pour le gallo (Orthographic rules for Gallo) |url=https://www.chubri-galo.bzh/docs/files/z-ortograf/Regles-orthograph-gallo-moga-05-2016.pdf |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231209033447/https://www.chubri-galo.bzh/docs/files/z-ortograf/Regles-orthograph-gallo-moga-05-2016.pdf#federation=archive.wikiwix.com&tab=url |archive-date=9 December 2023 |access-date=8 December 2023 |website=Chubri }}</ref>

The same word can be written in different ways according to local usage, such as the city of Rennes, which could be written ''Renn, Rènn, Rein-n'' or ''Rin-n''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chubri Association |date=2023 |title=ChubEndret — Dictionnaire de noms de lieux en gallo (Dictionary of place names in Gallo) |url=https://www.chubri-galo.bzh/chubri-galo_dictionnaire-gallo-francais_ChubEndret-toponymie__fr.htm }}</ref> There is therefore not one MOGA spelling, but many MOGA spellings.

=== ABCD ===
The ABCD system (from the initials of its inventors: Régis Auffray, André Bienvenu, André Le Coq, and Patrice Dréano) is used by the Association of Gallo Teachers and also the [[University of Rennes]]. It was created in 2009 and preserves the main principles of MOGA: similarity to French and phonetic spelling. Whereas MOGA allows only one sound per letter or group of letters, ABCD allows several, enabling users to make a choice. This covers regional variants, and a text in ABCD will not be read in the same way by all Gallo speakers. ABCD also mirrors the French trait of silent letters, such as the plural s, and is therefore easier to read without prior learning.<ref name=":7" />

=== Spelling equivalencies between ELG, MOGA and ABCD ===

Sources:<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":9" /><ref name=":10">{{Cite web |title=La graphie normalisée du gallo : tableau récapitulatif |url=http://www.maezoe.com/graphie5.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071130165010/http://www.maezoe.com/graphie5.htm|archive-date= 2007-11-30|access-date=30 Nov 2007}}</ref>

Most consonants are written identically between the variants, and also the same as in French, and are not included in the table. As the pronunciation of ELG and ABCD letters varies greatly from region to region, this list is not exhaustive.
{| class="wikitable"
!Phoneme
!ELG
!MOGA
!ABCD
|-
|[a]
| colspan="3" |a
|-
|[<nowiki/>[[Open back unrounded vowel|ɑ]]]
|a / au (word-final)
|â
|â / ae
|-
|[ɑ̃]
|aen / an / with labiovelarization: aun
|aun (long) / en (short)
|am / an / en / em
|-
|[ə]
|ae / aé / aeu / aéy / ei / oe
|e
|e / ë
|-
|[ɛ]
|aè / ei / èu / ey (word-final)
|è / e (word-final as a supporting vowel)
|e / è / ae / ai / aï
|-
|[e]
|aé / ey (word-final)
|é / e (word-final as a supporting vowel)
|e / é / ë
|-
|[eː]
|aé / ey (word-final)
|ée
|é
|-
|[ɛ̃]
|aen / en / 
with labiovelarization: aeun /  aun / ein
|ein (long) / in (short) / 
iñ (word-final short) / èn (short after i)
|aen / aim / ain / eim / ein
|-
|[œ] 
|oe / oey
| colspan="2" |eu
|-
|[ø] 
|oe / oey
|eû
|eû / eu
|-
|[i]
|iy (long) / i (short) / iu
|î (long) / i (short)
|i
|-
|[ɔ]
|o
|o
|o
|-
|[o]
|o
| colspan="2" |ô
|-
|[ɔ̃]
|on
|on
|om / on
|-
|[u]
|ó / ou
|ou
|ou / oû
|-
|[y]
|aü / eü / iu / uy (word-final)
|û (long) / u (short)
|û / u
|-
|[œ̃]
|un
|ûn
|um / un / eum / eun
|-
|[aj]
|aè / àè /aéy / ai
|aï
|ae / aï
|-
|[ɑj]
|ei
|âï
|ây
|-
|[aw]
|au
| colspan="2" |ao
|-
|[ɛj]
|aè / ei
|èï
|ae / aï / é
|-
|[ɛw]
|èu
|éw
|iao / éou
|-
|[əɥ]
|aeü
|eù
|eû
|-
|[ɔj]
|oy
|oï
|oy
|-
|[ɔw]
|ou
|ow
|ao
|-
|[ ʃ ]
| colspan="3" |ch
|-
|[ ʒ] 
| colspan="3" |j
|-
|[k]
| colspan="2" |c / q
|c before a, â, o and ô, otherwise: q
|-
|[tʃ ]
[c]
|q
|qh
|q before a, â, o and ô, otherwise: qh
|-
|[dʒ]
[ ɟ]
|g
| colspan="2" |gh
|}
Additionally, MOGA and ABCD use the diagraph ''ll'' in words palatalized by certain Gallo speakers. Thus, ''bllë'' is pronounced [bjə] or [blə] depending on the region.

In ABCD, the combinations mm, nm and nn work differently than in French. When two nasal consonants are written in ABCD, the first consonant nasalizes the preceding vowel, and the second consonant is pronounced as normal. ''Fenme'' is pronounced [fɑ̃m] and not [fenm], as French orthography would dictate, and ''Janne'' is pronounced [ʒɑ̃n] and not [ʒan]. As in French, if the final letter is an e or a consonant, they are generally not pronounced.<ref name=":7" />

In MOGA, [lj] is written ''lh'', and ''ñ'' is used in place of ''n'' when the preceding consonant should not be nasal: ''diñra'' is pronounced [dinʁa].<ref name=":9" />

In the ELG, certain letters and letter groups are only possible in certain positions, such as ''oey'', which only exists at the ends of words. As in ABCD, final consonants in ELG are generally silent. The sound [s] is written as ''cz'', ''c'', ''ç'' or ''s'', depending on its position in the word and the surrounding letters. Silent ''s'' at the end of a word is written ''tz.''<ref name=":10" />