Tionscadal na Nod

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3. Alphabetic symbols and their allographs

Alphabetic symbols and their allographs

This page is intended as a reference sheet of alphabetic letter symbols in Irish manuscripts. One column holds the minuscules together with some of their allograph forms (e.g. rounded a, tall e and long s), while adjacent columns show their majuscule, subscript and superscript counterparts in parallel. There are a number of peculiar items in this list: (1) letters which are uncommon in Irish writing, or common only in specific usages, such as k, p, q, x and z; and (2) the symbol for ar and the mirrored c for con.

An Irish and/or Latin transcription is provided under each image. Collapsible boxes can be expanded to show a glimpse of special contexts in which these symbols may occur, including digraphs and other combinations. To see further details about a particular symbol, such as a fuller description, other images, related entries and manuscript sources, click on the image or its accompanying transcription. This will send you to the relevant entry in the collection.

	minuscule	majuscule	superscript	subscript
a	a > pointed (most common variant) examples in context an, ach, a() ac acht ae ae, ae□ ae no image available am no image available amh no image available ann ao apud	A >	□ra > examples in context cra gra tra	□a > examples in context ea ea
	a > rounded		□ra > examples in context tra
	a > open allograph, not to be confused with minuscule u below examples in context ataa chomram húasa ta
	a > yet another variant examples in context ea
>	ar; qu() > examples in context air are, que(?) arr arus iarum, íarum, íarom, íaram, iaramh tarb
b	b > examples in context ben, bene ber, bar, b() bre, ber
c	c > examples in context ac no image available cum, c()m no image available c() cc, g no image available cecinit cer cet, cét, céad ch colum cille, Colum Cille cra cri no image available críst, críost, Críst, Críost cru dec ec no image available etcetera, etc.		□ac / □()c > examples in context cormac, Cormac gach mac, maic, meic tuicius, tuicios
ↄ	con > examples in context conepert, co n-epert conacht, Conacht conall, Conall conchobar, Conchobar no image available conn, con() connacht, Connacht
d	d > examples in context dh nd, d(), ()d dur, dru de de di, ti, dio, tio do dr no image available duine dur ed
e	e > examples in context ae ae are, que(?) De ea no image available eile, éile eir no image available eter re		□er / □re > examples in context bre, ber de he tre
	e > also a common constituent of digraphs examples in context ae, ae□ cet, Cet de ea ea ec ed eg ei eo ep eper er, Er et, & oe oen re, re□
f	f > examples in context ocus f, etf, et f no image available f(), for, féin fer fri
g	g > examples in context eg gh no image available gach no image available gro, gor, ergo no image available gn, gan, g() gach gearr, gerr gg gra oeg reg
h	h > examples in context no image available immurgu, immorro, autem he hi hoc hoc Uí, hUí
i	i > examples in context i no image available im in, i(), ingen ed ón, eadh on, id est immurgu, immorro ised, is ed ol sé vii, secht, 7		□ri / □ir > angular examples in context air cri frim uaire uir	□i > examples in context di, ti, dio, tio ei hi ir muire, Muire ni si ti ui ui
			□ri / □ir > rounded examples in context fri tri, tir
k	k > Rare examples in context cath, kalendae calann, cal(), kalendas, calendas, kalendae, calendae, calend()
l	l > examples in context l() no, nó, ()l, uel, vel
m	m > examples in context mar, m(), ()m mac, maic, meic mar, mair no image available míle, m() mortuus est mur	M >	Cf. m stroke
	m >
n	n > examples in context no image available duine nn, n(), ()n() na ni ni ren tongat	N > examples in context IN, In, I n
o	o > examples in context ao do om oe om or to		□ro / □or / □oir > examples in context a quo no image available gro, gor, ergo hoc quo tromdámh uero, vero uero, vero
p	p > examples in context no image available crist, críst, críost, Críst, Críost ep no image available p() per, par, por post pr pro xp
q	q > also cu in Irish. Cf. the ar symbol examples in context acu, aq ar, quia, quam, quod, qu() arr chucu quam cunn, cun(), quando, qn() ce, que quo ar, quod quod est
r	r > examples in context aer no image available críst, críost, Críst, Críost er, Er etr, ocus r, et r rí, ríg, r() rosc(?), (marks out verse), (marks out special text form) r(), ()r re, re□ re rr sr
	r > examples in context cormac, Cormac dr or pr rr
s	s > insular s examples in context dis, tis, dios, tios acht, cht, sed, s(), ()s() ser, s()r, s(), secund() acht, set, sed sein si ss	S > examples in context IS, Is IS, Is regtaiss	□s > examples in context Toisc
	s > long s examples in context secht, seacht, ss(), ssed sr ss sus, sas, sed, acht, set
t	t > examples in context no image available cecinit et, & no image available eter tar, tir, ter, irt ta te(i)t, té(i)t th ti to tra tra tre tri, tir tru, tur tur tur, tru		□t / □()t > examples in context post ut dicitur
u	u > examples in context ol sé unde uero, vero		□ru / □ur / □uir > examples in context tru, tur
	u > v-shaped allograph examples in context ui uir ut uero, vero		□ru / □ur / □uir > examples in context dur, dru
x	x > used in Roman numerals and the nomen sacrum for Christ examples in context no image available crist, críst, críost, Críst, Críost no image available x(), cs(), ()x() xp xxx, 30
z	z > Rare