  The gamma Doradus stars are a recent class of variable main sequence F-type
stars located on the red edge of the Cepheid instability strip. They pulsate in
gravity modes, and this makes them particularly interesting for detailed
asteroseismic analysis, which can provide fundamental knowledge of properties
near the convective cores of intermediate-mass main sequence stars. To improve
current understanding of gamma Dor stars through theoretical modelling,
additional constraints are needed. Our aim is to estimate the fundamental
atmospheric parameters and determine the chemical composition of these stars.
Detailed analyses of single stars have previously suggested links to Am and
lambda Bootis stars, so we wish to explore this interesting connection between
chemical peculiarity and pulsation. We have analysed a sample of gamma Dor
stars for the first time, including nine bona fide and three candidate members
of the class. We determined the fundamental atmospheric parameters and compared
the abundance pattern with other A-type stars. We used the semi-automatic
software package VWA for the analysis. This code relies on the calculation of
synthetic spectra and thus takes line-blending into account. This is important
because of the fast rotation in some of the sample stars, and we made a
thorough analysis of how VWA performs when increasing vsini. We obtained good
results in agreement with previously derived fundamental parameters and
abundances in a few selected reference stars with properties similar to the
gamma Dor stars. We find that the abundance pattern in the gamma Dor stars is
not distinct from the constant A- and F-type stars we analysed.
