Simple Lessons In Irish | Grammar| The Tironian Et Symbol

Introduction:

In this chapter, we shall examine the Tironian ‘et’ symbol. The Wikipedia article on Tironian notes is worth consulting ^[1].

Body:

Figure 1: There were a series of extensive spelling and orthographical reforms done to Irish Gaelic in the middle of the 20^th century. The standardised Modern Irish that resulted from it, the Caighdeán Oifigiúil /ˈka͡ɪ.ʤɔː.ən/ /ˌɪ.fɪ.ˈɡjuː.əl/—employed the Roman script, rather than the Celtic script, as formerly. I am putting finishing touches to a book that I hope to republish in pre-standard Irish Gaelic: Simple Lessons in Irish by Reverend Eugene O’ Growney. According to Wikipedia, pre-standard Gaelic is termed ‘Classical Gaelic.’^[2]

I drew the above-depicted ‘Tironian Et Symbol’ in SVG. Below is the SVG code that produces the above image depicted in Figure 1:


                                
                                   
                                   <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 936 1363">
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                       <title>Tironian And/Et Symbol/Glyph My Scripted SVG</title>
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                       <desc>In the pre Caighdean-oifigiuil form of Irish Gaelic, this symbol was used as an ampersand, representing 'and,' or 'agus.'</desc>
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                       <g id="tironian_mark_et_and_symbol_image_glyph">
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                           <path stroke="#000000" stroke-width="0" fill="#000000" d="M122,83C190,83,211,137,396,137C563,137,632,83,681,83C710,83,723,105,723,128L669,1280H581L634,232C600,232,560,282,377,282C210,282,95.40446,250.40446,80,235C64.59554,219.59554,64,206.2,64,179C64,134,84,83,122,83Z">
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                               <title>Tironian And/Et glyph/symbol Path</title>
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                           </path>
                                   
                                   
                                                                   
                                        </g>
                                    
                                    
                                    
                                    </svg>

You may view the vector file/image of the Tironian et symbol, depicted in Figure 1 at my codepen account^[3].

In the pre-Caighdeán Oifigiúil form of Irish Gaelic, this symbol functioned as an ampersand. This ‘et sign,’ in Classical Irish Gaelic, represents the conjunction, ‘and,’ or ‘agus.’ /ˈɔː.ɡʊs/. ‘et,’ is the conjunction ‘and’ in Latin. This symbol is named after Marcus Tulius Tiro, a secretary of Marcus Tulius Cicero’s.

a_pencil_drawing_of_marcus_tulius_cicero_based_on_home_box_office_apostrophe_s_rome_series — **Figure 2:** I drew this image of Tyro based on HBO’s Rome series.

Conclusion:

In this chapter, we have thoroughly examined the ‘Tironian et Symbol.’ In subsequent chapters, we shall examine how to apply this knowledge—garnered from this present chapter—so as to employ this et symbol in Microsoft Word, and with HTML5 and CSS3. Doing this will allow us to use the and symbol in conjunction with the font, Bunchló Ársa, so as to write classical, or pre-caighdeán Irish Gaelic, in both Word Documents and Web Pages.

The Tironian ‘et’ Symbol:

Introduction:

Body:

Conclusion:

tironian_et_symbol_html_svg