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See Also: Other Celtic Languages | Germanic Languages
Welsh and Breton are both Brythonic Celtic language from Britain. Welsh is spoken by a large community in Walses, especially in the north. Cornish is officially extinct, but many residents of Cornwall have learned a reconstructed variety, and some consider themselves fluent or native
Both languages are closely related to Breton (France) and more distantly related to Irish and Gaelic. Breton does not have as many accented charcters as French.
Because of the writing system, Welsh places accents on the letters w (phonetic /u/) and y (phonetic /ɨ/ or /i/), which is very unique in languages of the world. These symbols require Unicode support apart from that of other Western European languages.
Browsers which fully support Unicode are strongly recommended. Click link in list to view configuration instructions. You will be asked to match a script with a font.
Modern versions of many fonts such as Times New Roman, Arial, Verdana, Tahoman Times CE (Mac OS X) or Palatino (Mac OS X) are Unicode fonts and contain the letters needed for this language. it is recommended you transistion to the newer Unicode fonts whenever possible.
For the more uncommon Middle Welsh manusciript characters (not all of which are listed here), you may need a specialized font such as the ones listed below.
Welsh mostly uses the circumflex accent, but other accents are used as well. Cornish uses few accents, but some texts may use long marks and other accents.
As of Windows XP Microsoft provides a Welsh keyboard utility which allows you to type accented W and Y. If you wish to simulate a Welsh keyboard, do the following:
See Detailed Instructions for more detailed instructions with screen capture images. See the Micorosoft Keyboard Layouts for the position of the keys.
NOTE: Codes with numbers over 255 are only available in Microsoft Word. Users with older versions of Windows or not using may need to use the Character Map utility.
| Accent | A | E | I | O | U | Y | W |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Circumflex (Cap) |
 0194 |
Ê 0202 |
Î 0206 |
Ô 0212 |
Û 0219 |
Ŷ 0374 |
Ŵ 0372 |
| Circumflex (Lower) | â 0226 |
ê 0234 |
î 0238 |
ô 0244 |
û 0251 |
ŷ 0375 |
ŵ 0373 |
| Acute (Cap) |
Á 0193 |
É 0201 |
Í 0205 |
Ó 0211 |
Ú 0218 |
Ý 0221 |
Ẃ 7810 |
| Acute (Lower) | á 0225 |
é 0233 |
í 0237 |
ó 0243 |
ú 0250 |
ý 0253 |
ẃ 7811 |
| Umlaut (Cap) |
Ä 0196 |
Ë 0203 |
Ï 0207 |
Ö 0214 |
Ü 0220 |
Ÿ 0159 |
Ẅ 7812 |
| Umlaut (Lower) | ä 0228 |
ë 0235 |
ï 0239 |
ö 0246 |
ü 0252 |
ÿ 0255 |
ẅ 7813 |
| Grave (Cap) |
À 0192 |
È 0200 |
Ì 0204 |
Ò 0210 |
Ù 0217 |
Ù 0217 |
Ẁ 7808 |
| Grave (Lower) | à 0224 |
è 0232 |
ì 0236 |
ò 0242 |
ù 0249 |
Ù 0217 |
ẁ 7809 |
| Macron/Long (Cap) |
Ā 0256 |
Ē 0274 |
Ī 0298 |
Ō 0332 |
Ū 0362 |
Ȳ 0562 |
-- |
| Umlaut (Lower) | ā 0257 |
ē 0275 |
ī 0299 |
ō 0333 |
ū 0363 |
ȳ 0563 |
-- |
In Windows, combinations of the ALT key plus a numeric code can be used to type a non-English character (accented letter or punctuation symbol) in any Windows application. More detailed instructions about typing accents with ALT keys are available. Additional options for entering accents in Windows are also listed in the Accents section of this Web site.
Thise codes work in any Windows application.
| ALT Code | |
| £ | ALT+0163 |
|---|---|
| € | ALT+0128 |
These codes work only in Microsoft Word and may require a special Middle Welsh font. Note that two lowercase delta characters are listed – one from the Greek block and one from the Latin Extended blocks. Use whichever is most appropriate.
| ALT Code | |
| δ | ALT+948 Greek lower Delta |
|---|---|
| δ | ALT+7839 Latin lower Delta |
| ỽ | ALT+7933 Lower Middle Welsh V alternate (should resemble a pointed "6") |
| Ỽ | ALT+7932 Cap Middle Welsh V alternate (should resemble a cursive V) |
| Ỻ | ALT+7930 Cap Double LL Ligature |
| ỻ | ALT+7931 Lower Double LL Barred |
| Ỿ | ALT+7934 Cap Y with Loop Tail |
| ỿ | ALT+7936 Lower Y with Loop Tail |
In order to use these codes you must activate the international keyboard. Instructions are listed in the Keyboards section of this Web site.
This list is organized by Accent type. The sample shows a letter with that accent, and the Notes present any special comments about using that accent.
For the Template, the symbol "V" means type any vowel.
| ACCENT | SAMPLE | TEMPLATE | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
| Circumflex | â Â | SHIFT+^, V | Wil not work with w. |
| Acute | é É | ', V | ' = apostrophe key |
| Grave | à À | `, V | ` = left single quote |
| Umlaut | ë Ë | ", V | " = quote key |
Example 1: To type lower case ó - Type the apostrophe key ('), then O. For capital Ó, type the apostrophe, then capital O.
For these codes, you must make sure you use the Alt key on the right side of the keyboard.
| Currency | |
| £ | Control+RightAlt+4 |
|---|---|
| € | Control+RightAlt+5 |
Apple now has a Welsh keyboard, but it only works for Unicode Aware applications such as Microsoft Office 2004, Text Edit, Dreamweaver MX, Netscape 7 Composer and others.
See instructions for activating a Macintosh keyboard for more details.
For Unicode Compliant Applications, you can activate the U.S. Extended keyboard (10.3/10.4) or the Extended Roman keyboard (10.2) to type the long marks. This utility will allow you typ type accents over Welsh Y,W and add long marks.
For older applications, the standard Macintosh vowel accent codes are available.
| ACCENT | SAMPLE | TEMPLATE |
|---|---|---|
| Circumflex | Ŵ,ŵ | Option+6, X |
| Acute | Ẃ,ẃ | Option+E, X |
| Grave | Ẁ,ẁ | Option+`, X |
| Umlaut | Ÿ,ÿ | Option+U, X |
| Long Mark | Ā,ā | Option+A, X |
Example 1: To input the lower case ŵ (w-circumflex) hold down the Option key, then the 6 key. Release both keys then type lowercase w.
| Currency | |
| £ | Option+3 |
|---|---|
| € | Shift+Option+2 (not on older fonts) |
To use the option codes below, you must activate and switch to the Unicode Hex Input Keyboard. Note that not all letters have a separate "Insular" counterpart.
Note: This character may not be visiable on a Windows machine unless a user installs a special font such as the ones listed above.
| Option Code | |
| δ | Option+03B4 Greek lower Delta |
|---|---|
| δ | Option+1E9F Latin lower Delta |
| ỽ | Option+1EFD Lower Middle Welsh V alternate (should resemble a pointed "6") |
| Ỽ | Option+1EFD Cap Middle Welsh V alternate (should resemble a cursive V) |
| Ỻ | Option+1EFA Cap Double LL Ligature |
| ỻ | Option+1EFB Lower Double LL Barred |
| Ỿ | Option+1EFE Cap Y with Loop Tail |
| ỿ | Option+1EFF Lower Y with Loop Tail |
These are the codes which allow browsers and screen readers to process data as the appropriate language. All letters in codes are lower case. Welsh pages should be encoded as Unicode in order to display the accent W's and Ys correctly.
Note: There is a "Celtic" Latin-8/Latin-14 standard (ISO-8859-14), but it has been supplanted by Unicode. Few applications support this standard.
See Using Encoding and Language Codes for more information on the meaning and implementation of these codes.
Use these codes to input accented letters in HTML. For instance, if you want to type tân you would type tân. For gŵr, you would input gŵr.
| Accent | A | E | I | O | U | Y | W |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Circumflex &Vcirc; (Cap) |
  (194) |
Ê Ê (202) |
Î Î (206) |
Ô Ô (212) |
Û Û (219) |
Ŷ Ŷ (374) |
Ŵ Ŵ (372) |
| Circumflex (Lower) | â â (226) |
ê ê (234) |
î î (238) |
ô ô (244) |
û û (251) |
ŷ ŷ (375) |
ŵ ŵ (373) |
| Acute &Vacute; (Cap) |
Á Á (193) |
É É (201) |
Í Í (205) |
Ó Ó (211) |
Ú Ú (218) |
Ý Ý (221) |
Ẃ Ẃ (7810) |
| Acute (Lower) | á á (225) |
é é (233) |
í í (237) |
ó ó (243) |
ú ú (250) |
ý ý (253) |
ẃ ẃ (7811) |
| Umlaut &Vuml; (Cap) |
Ä Ä (196) |
Ë Ë (203) |
Ï Ï (207) |
Ö Ö (214) |
Ü Ü (220) |
Ÿ Ÿ (159) |
Ẅ Ẅ (1E84) |
| Umlaut (Lower) | ä ä (228) |
ë ë (235) |
ï ï (239) |
ö ö (246) |
ü ü (252) |
ÿ ÿ (255) |
ẅ ẅ (1E85) |
| Grave &Vgrave; (Cap) |
À À (192) |
È È (200) |
Ì Ì (204) |
Ò Ò (210) |
Ù Ù (217) |
Ỳ Ỳ (7922) |
Ẁ Ẁ (7808) |
| Grave (Lower) | à à (224) |
è è (232) |
ì ì (236) |
ò ò (242) |
ù ù (249) |
ỳ ỳ (7923) |
ẁ ẁ (7809) |
| Long/Macron |
Ā Ā (256) |
Ē Ē (274) |
Ī Ī (298) |
Ō Ō (332) |
Ū Ū (362) |
Ȳ Ȳ (562) |
-- |
| Macron (Lower) | ā ā (257) |
ē ē (275) |
ī ī (299) |
ō ō (333) |
ū ū (363) |
ȳ ȳ (563) |
-- |
The numbers in parentheses are the numeric codes assigned in Unicode encoding. For instance, because â is number 226 tân can also be used to input tân.These numbers are also used with the Windows Alt codes listed above.
| Entity Code | |
| £ | £ |
|---|---|
| € | € |
| Entity Code | |
| δ | δ Greek lower Delta |
|---|---|
| δ | ẟ Latin lower Delta |
| ỽ | ỽ Lower Middle Welsh V alternate (should resemble a pointed "6") |
| Ỽ | Ỽ Cap Middle Welsh V alternate (should resemble a cursive V) |
| Ỻ | Ỻ Cap Double LL Ligature |
| ỻ | ỻ Lower Double LL Barred |
| Ỿ | Ỿ Cap Y with Loop Tail |
| ỿ | ἀ Lower Y with Loop Tail |
Computers process text by assuming a certain encoding or a system of matching electronic data with visual text characters. Whenever you develop a Web site you need to make sure the proper encoding is specified in the header tags; otherwise the browser may default to U.S. settings and not display the text properly.
To declare an encoding, insert or inspect the following meta-tag at the top of your HTML file, then replace "???" with one of the encoding codes listed above.
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=??? ">
...
<head>
Language tags are also suggested so that search engines and screen readers parse the language of a page. These are meta data tags which indicate the page of a language, not devices to trigger translation. Visit the Language Tag page to view information on where to insert it.
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Unicode character names and hexadecimal entity codes are taken from the public Unicode Character Charts.