Breis eolais
Ní úsáidtear den chuid is mó an Cló Gaelach toisc nach raibh an teicneolaíocht luathphriontála ag luí leis, rud a chuir iachall ar théacsanna Gaeilge a thiontú go litreacha Béarla den chuid is mó.
San aibítir Laidineach, ba dheacair an séimhiú - an ponc thar na litreacha b, c, d, f, g, m, p, s, agus t - a atáirgeadh. Athraíonn an séimhiú a bhfuaimniú agus is minic a bhíonn brí leis.
Mar mhalairt air sin, cuireadh h i ndiaidh gach ceann de na litreacha seo in ionad an séimhiú. Mar shampla scríobhadh ḃí (le séimhiú) ar an bhfocal bhí ar dtús. Níorbh fhéidir bí (gan séimhiú) a scríobh toisc go bhfuil brí eile leis, agus athraíonn an séimhiú an fhuaimniú.
Go stairiúil, dfhorbair roinnt litreacha Gaeilge go héagsúil le haibítir na Laidine, go háirithe d, f, agus t, chun spás a cheadú don séimhiú, agus de gnáth níl aon phonc os cionn na litreach i chun mearbhall a sheachaint. Mar gheall ar dhul chun cinn na teicneolaíochta, is féidir gach aon cló a úsáid. Is furasta na clónna a chur le do ríomhaire, ach is féidir go bhfuil sé deacair an séimhiú a chlóscríobh.
Ligeann an suíomh seo téacs ar bith a ghreamú nó a chlóscríobh, agus ullmhóidh sé é le húsáid leis an gCló Gaelach – scríobh bhí, agus tugann sé ḃí (leis an séimhiú). Is féidir é a ghreamú in aon ríomhchlár eile ansin, ach is fearr cló oiriúnach a shuiteáil.
Is minic a úsáideann an Cló Gaelach ꞅ, an s inseach, ar féidir a mheascadh uaireanta le r beag, mar sin úsáidtear an r inseach Ꞃ chomh maith. Tugann an suíomh seo rogha idir s agus r inseach nó leagan Laidine a úsáid.
More information
Use of Irish script (Cló Gaelach) was largely discontinued because early printing technology was not made to be compatible with it, forcing Irish texts to be converted to mostly being written with English-style letters.
In English text, the séimhiú - the dot over the letters b, c, d, f, g, m, p, s, and t - was difficult to reproduce - it changes their pronunciation and often carries meaning. As an alternative, a h was placed after each of these letters to replace the missing séimhiú.
For example the word bhí (was, past tense) in Irish was originally written ḃí (with a séimhiú). The séimhiú could not just be left out, because it carries meaning, (bí, no séimhiú, is the same verb in the imperative) and the séimhiú changes the pronunciation from bee to vee.
Historically, some Irish letters developed differently to the latin alphabet, particularly d, f, and t, to allow space for the séimhiú, and there is typically no dot above the letter i to avoid confusion. Given the advance of technology, there is now no reason why people can’t use any script they choose. Adding the fonts to your computer is easy, but typing the séimhiú can be difficult.
This website allows you to paste or type in any text in Irish, and it will convert it to the being suitable for Cló Gaelach, using the séimhiú correctly – so you type in bhí, and it gives you ḃí (with the séimhiú). You can then paste it into any other program, but it appears best if you install a suitable font.
The Cló Gaelach often uses a long letter s which can sometimes be confused with a latin lower-case r, so the lower-case r often is styled like the upper-case version. This website gives an option to use either the long s or a latin-style version
