, 19th century) The alphabet (Scottish Gaelic: , formerly from the first three letters of the
Ogham alphabet) now used for writing Scottish Gaelic consists of the following
Latin script letters, whether written in
Roman type or
Gaelic type: : Vowels may be
accented with a
grave accent but accented letters are not considered distinct letters. Since the 1980s, the acute accent has not been used in Scottish high school examination papers, and many publishers have adopted the
Scottish Qualifications Authority's orthographic conventions for their books. Despite this, traditional spelling is still used by some writers and publishers, although not always intentionally. In
Nova Scotia, the 2009 Gaelic language curriculum guidelines follow the 2005 GOC orthography, but do not change the traditional spelling of words and phrases common to
Nova Scotia or in pre–spelling-reform literature.
Letter names (early 16th century); it is written in Gaelic using
secretary hand, the style of handwriting conventionally used at the time The early Medieval
treatise ('The Scholars' Primer') describes the origin of alphabets from the Tower of Babel. It assigns plant names and meanings to the
Ogham alphabet, to a lesser extent to Norse
Younger Futhark runes, and by extension to Latin letters when used to write Gaelic.
Robert Graves' book
The White Goddess has been a major influence on assigning divinatory meanings to the tree symbolism. (See also
Bríatharogam.) Some of the names differ from their modern equivalents (e.g.
dair >
darach,
suil >
seileach). ==Consonants==