Alphabet

(the alphabet)

The Scottish Gaelic alphabet uses the following 18 letters from Latin ⟨a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, l, m, n, o, p, r, s, t, u⟩

am Fuaimneachadh

(phonology)

Fuiamreagan

(vowels)

The vowels are ⟨a, e, i, o, u⟩, long vowels are marked with a grave accent ⟨à, è, ì, ò, ù⟩

fuaimreag (vowel)	stressed	unstressed
a	[ɤ] before ⟨dh, gh⟩ + vowel or word finally [au] before ⟨ll, m, nn⟩ + consonant or word finally [aː] before ⟨rr⟩ + consonant or word finally before ⟨rn, rd⟩ [a] elsewhere	⟨-ag⟩ [ak] ⟨-an⟩ [an] elsewhere [ə]






ù, ùi	[uː]

Connragan

(consonants)

Consonants are velarised when next to ⟨a, o, u⟩ and known as ⟨leathann⟩ ‘broad’.

Cosonants are palatalised when adjacent to the front vowels ⟨e, i⟩ and known as ⟨caol⟩ ‘slender’

Letter	IPA
b	[p] [pj]	⟨leathann⟩ ‘broad’ ⟨caol⟩ ‘slender’ ⟨caol⟩ ‘slender’
bh	[.] [] [v] [vj]
c	[kʰ] [ʰk] [k] [kʰʲ] [ʰkʲ] [kʲ]	⟨cambë⟩ ‘palm’
ch	[x] [ç]
chd	[xk]
cn	[kr]
d	[t̪] [tʲ]	broad; ⟨dà⟩ ‘two’ [t̪aː] slender; ⟨dè⟩ ‘what’ [tʲeː]
dh	[.] [ɣ] [.] [ʝ]	broad broad slender slender
f	[f] [f] [fj]	broad slender slender
fh	[h]
g	[k] [kʲ]	broad slender
gh	[] [.] [ɣ] [ɣ] [ʝ]	broad slender
gn	[kr]
h	[h]
l	[ɫ̪] [ʎ] [l] [l]	broad slender, initial & unlenited; ⟨litir⟩ ‘letter’ [ˈʎihtʲɪɾʲ] slender, initial & lenited ⟨dà litir⟩ ‘two letters’ [t̪aː ˈ ʎihtʲɪɾʲ]] slender
ll	[ɫ̪] [ʎ]	broad slender
m
mh
n
ng
nn
p
ph
r	[ᵲ] [ɾ] [ɾ] [ɾʲ]
rr	[ᵲ]
-rd	[ɾʃt̪]
-rt	[ɾʃt̪]
s	[] [] []
sh	[] [] []
sr	[] [] []
str	[] [] []
t	[] [] []
th	[] [.] [h] [h] [h] [hj]	finally; between vowels between vowels broad slender before front vowel slender before back vowel: