What is insular writing?

What is insular writing?

Insular script was a medieval script system originating from Ireland that spread to Anglo-Saxon England and continental Europe under the influence of Irish Christianity. Irish missionaries took the script to continental Europe, where they founded monasteries such as Bobbio.

What is the Irish font called?

Gaelic type (sometimes called Irish character, Irish type, or Gaelic script) is a family of Insular script typefaces devised for printing Classical Gaelic. It was widely used from the 16th until the mid-18th century (Scotland) or the mid-20th century (Ireland) but is now rarely used.

What is insular half Uncial?

Roman Half-Uncial. Insular Half-Uncial. Ascenders and descenders are relatively short in proportion to the body of the text, which gives it a majuscule look, even though it is not strictly a majuscule script, contained between the head- and base-lines.

What is insular hand?

Definition of Insular hand : a script characterized by thick initial strokes and heavy shading developed from half uncial under the influence of uncial by Irish scribes about the 5th and 6th centuries a.d. and used in England until the Norman conquest and in Ireland with modifications to the present day.

Why is insular art called insular?

Insular art, also known as Hiberno-Saxon art, was produced in the post-Roman era of the British Isles. The term derives from insula, the Latin term for “island”; in this period Britain and Ireland shared a largely common style different from that of the rest of Europe.

Is there a Celtic script?

The Gaelic script is known as An Cló Gaelach (Gaelic type) in Irish. It is also known as Irish character, Irish type, Gaelic type, Celtic script or the Uncial alphabet. It is now used mainly as a decorative script on road signs, street names, shop signs and elsewhere in Ireland.

What is Celtic writing?

Celtic literature, the body of writings composed in Gaelic and the languages derived from it, Scottish Gaelic and Manx, and in Welsh and its sister languages, Breton and Cornish. For writings in English by Irish, Scottish, and Welsh authors, see English literature.

What is a characteristic of insular art?

Insular style is characterized by an interest in abstraction over figural ornament, an interest in linear pattern and rhythmic form over three-dimensional space and perspective, and, especially in manuscript illumination and metalwork, a love of colorful surfaces.

What type of decoration appeared in Insular manuscripts?

One major distinctive feature is interlace decoration, in particular the interlace decoration as found at Sutton Hoo, in East Anglia. This is now applied to decorating new types of objects mostly copied from the Mediterranean world, above all the codex or book.

What letter does not exist in Irish?

The letters j (jé), k (ká), q (cú), v (vé), w (wae), x (ex), y (yé) and z (zae) do not occur in native Irish words, but do appear in some English loanwords, for example jab (job) and veain (van).

What is an Uncial manuscript?

Definition of uncial (Entry 2 of 2) 1 : a handwriting used especially in Greek and Latin manuscripts of the fourth to the eighth centuries a.d. and made with somewhat rounded separated majuscules but having cursive forms for some letters. 2 : an uncial letter. 3 : a manuscript written in uncial.

What is Roman calligraphy?

roman script, also called Antiqua Script, Italian Lettera Antica, in calligraphy, script based upon the clear, orderly Carolingian writing that Italian humanists mistook for the ancient Roman script used at the time of Cicero (1st century bc).

What does Insular mean in art?

Insular art. Insular art, also known as Hiberno-Saxon art, is the style of art produced in the post-Roman history of the British Isles. The term derives from insula, the Latin term for “island”; in this period Great Britain and Ireland shared a largely common style different from that of the rest of Europe.

What are Insular gospel books?

(www.e-codices.unifr.ch) The Insular Gospel Books transcription project plans to make full electronic transcriptions of all of the the manuscripts of Latin Gospels copied in Irish script. The Insular tradition offers distinctive and fascinating evidence for the history of the transmission of the Latin biblical text.

What is insular script?

Insular script was a medieval script system originating from Ireland that spread to Anglo-Saxon England and continental Europe under the influence of Irish Christianity. Irish missionaries took the script to continental Europe, where they founded monasteries such as Bobbio.

What fonts support insular letters?

There are only a few insular letters encoded, these are shown below, but most fonts will only display U+1D79 (ᵹ). To display the other characters there are several fonts that may be used; three free ones that support these characters are Junicode, Montagel, and Quivira.

How do I write in Gaelic fonts?

To write text in an ordinary Gaelic font, only ASCII letters should be used, the font making all the relevant substitutions; the insular letters are for use only by specialists who require them for particular purposes.

What fonts do you use to display other characters?

To display the other characters there are several fonts that may be used; three free ones that support these characters are Junicode, Montagel, and Quivira. Gentium and Charis SIL support the alphabetic letters (U+A77x and U+A78x).