Spectroscopy of star cluster candidates and HII regions in NGC 6822

We present optical spectroscopy of four star clusters and six H II regions in the nearby, dwarf irregular galaxy NGC 6822. From the data, we estimate ages of 2.5(-1.0)(+1.5) x 10(7), 2.0(-1.0)(+3.0) x 10(8), 1.4(-0.6)(+1.1) x 10(9), and 10 +/- 2 x 10(9) yr for clusters H VI, C21, H VIII, and H VII, respectively. For clusters H VI and H VII we estimate [Fe/H] approximate to -1.46 +/- 0.26 and similar to -2.0, lower than Large and Small Magellanic Cloud clusters at similar ages. Mass estimates for H VI, H VII, and H VIII demonstrate that clusters with typical globular cluster masses (>10(4) M.) have formed over the lifetime of NGC 6822. For six H II regions, ionic abundances are derived for element species of N, O, S, and Ne. These show that there is a correlation of abundance with position, the highest oxygen abundance H II regions being located off the main body of the galaxy.