Re: Irish vs. Scot Gaelic

Scríobh Einde O'Callaghan <einde.ocallaghan@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>:
>John P. Mullen wrote:
>> This is what happens when you let monks invent your spelling rules. 
>> Even little Irish children can work out the initial mutations, but the
>> monks needed the extra letters to keep matters straight.
>> 
>As I understand it Old and Middle Irish did not write the 
>transformations - it was assumed that the reader knew what they were. 

Old Irish certainly, Middle Irish less so.

>The letters used to write Irish until the introduction of the Roamn 
>alphabet in the 1960s was invented by Elizabethan scholars who were 
>trying to convert the irish to Protestantism - although it was based on 
>the scripts used in monastic manuscripts (but variations of these 
>scripts were used in many Western European countries).

The letters used to write Irish have always been Roman alphabet. The
initial spellings of Irish are based on 5th century British
pronunciation of Roman, since we got literacy rom 5th century Britons.

IIRC the orthographic reform was in 1948. Contrary to popular belief,
standard typefaces as well as the cló gaelach were used both before
and after it.

-- 
"Ferr fíor fertaib"
Féachadóir