The accent in modern Scottish Gaelic indicates a long vowel.
car (during) is pronounced "kar" (short a)
càr (car) is pronounced "ka:r" (long a)
bean (woman) is pronounced "ben" (short e)
fhèin (self) is pronounced "he:n" (long e)
bi (be) is pronounced "bi" (short i)
bìth (peaceful) is pronounced "bi:" (long i)
sona (happy) is pronounced "sona" (short o)
sòfa (sofa) is pronounced "so:fa" (long o)
suil (letter s in Ogham) is pronounced "sul" (short u)
sùil (eye) is pronounced "su:l" (long u)
Note that modern Scottish Gaelic no longer uses the acute accent in spelling. The acute accent used to be used to indicate the closed pronunciation of a vowel. For example, é was pronounced "ay" as in "pay" and ó was pronounced as "oh!". Whereas, è was pronounced as "ai" as in "pair" and ò was pronounced as "awe". Nowadays, both sounds are represented using the grave accent, è and ò.
The following words used to be spelt using á:
à, às
The following words used to be spelt using é:
a' bhòn-dè, an-dè, cèile, cèilidh, Cèitean, dè, dèan, dèidh, dèine, Dùn Èideann, èirich, Èirinn, èisg, èist, èisteachd, fèidh, fhèin, gèig, gèire, glè, Grèig, grèine, lèine, lèire, rè, sgèine, sèithear, sgèith, Sgèithe, slèibhtean, stèidhich, stèidhichte, stèite, thèid, tèid, tè, tèigin, Trèig.
The following words used to be spelt using ó:
bò, cò, còig, còigeamh, còignear, fòghnaidh, fòn, fònadh, mòr, Mòrag, mòran, Pòlainn.
• Elements of Scottish Gaelic Verbs
|
• Irregular Verbs • Defective Verbs • Verbal Nouns • Infinitives |
• Tenses • Impersonal Forms • Passive • Derivatives |
• Regular Verb Paradigm (Broad Consonant)
• Regular Verb Paradigm (Slender Consonant)
• Independent Particles
• Dependent Particles
• Prepositional Pronouns
• Possessive Pronouns
• Prepositional Possessive Pronouns
• Written Accents