Say

A guide to pronunciation of

Gaelic place-names in Gairloch

(Careful reference to this is essential for reasonably accurate pronunciation. This system has been tested with a variety of British speakers of English but cannot be guaranteed to work with other speakers!)

Vowels

a = a in 'cat'; A = ay in'say'; ao = eu in 'fleur'; E =ee in 'see'; O = o in 'comb'; ow = ow in'cow';

∂ = e in 'butter'

long vowels are shown with the addition of acolon

Consonants

ch = ch in 'loch'; gh =equivalent of ch with a 'g'; tj =tch in 'catch'; y = y in 'yes'; n (i.e. italic n) = n in 'onion'

Other

, is used to separate vowel sounds where necessary; bold is used to show where stress falls

Most likely errors

1. y must not be read as 'ee'; 2. ao is not common in English but the vowel sound of 'fleur' is close to that required

This is a selection from the full system used by the author on a series of maps produced to aid pronunciation of place names on Ordnance Survey maps.