> The same discussion is probably going on on Gaelic-l, so I 'll make >the question brief: how can a computer plebian with a little notebook, >word-perfect, nota-bene, word, and access to a laser printer make the printer >do gaelic or celtic script? > Or do I need a mac? > You are talking about a certain font available as public domain >software. Do I need to be a genius to make my word processor use this font? No, Brian, you don't need to be a genius to use Gaelic script fonts, and before very long (I trust) no one who uses computers and Celtic languages will have too much trouble understanding the issues involved. In order to support all Celtic languages, Everson Gunn Teoranta supplied to Apple specifications for a Celtic Roman character set and Celtic Extended Roman character set, which were based on the Apple Roman character set; basically, the Celtic Roman (PQ) set adds letters used in Welsh (since the other Celtic languages were OK with the Roman) and the Celtic Extended Roman (GS) set adds lenited letters for the Gaelic script. I am presently preparing a long article on this for publication in printed and electronic form, and will upload this to GAELIC-L and WELSH-L when it is ready--this may not be until after Christmas. Both the PQ and GS sets have a Windows version as well as an Apple version. Anyone using the Apple Irish operating system GE/-6.0.8 and GE/-7.0.1 can take advantage of this new advance in Celtic text processing; sorting routines for Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic, Breton, Welsh, and Gaelic Script Irish are included as part of the operating system. Also included is the bitmap font Gaillimh (which is in the Gaelic-L archives as GFONT03 PROG). The Apple Irish OS can be had for just IRL48.40 (incl. VAT) from EGT. Three high-quality laserfonts, (Ceanannas, Doire, and Duibhlinn) are also available from EGT for IRL121.00 for the set of three. PostScript and TrueType are available for Macs, and TrueType for Windows 3.1. This package, called CeltScript 1, is GS-conformant. At present there are no laserfonts in the public domain which are fully conformant to either the PQ or the GS standards. MEU Cymru, a software company in Cardiff with whom EGT consulted as we set the standards, markets a set of PQ fonts. Several PQ TrueType fonts come standard with GE/-7.0.1. I trust no one is too impatient waiting for my long article. As you can imagine encoding issues are complicated and writing clearly about them is challenging. Michael Everson School of Architecture, UCD; Richview, Clonskeagh; Dublin 14; E/ire Phone: +353 1 706-2745 Fax: +353 1 283-8908 Home: +353 1 478-2597