Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 47, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 February 1911 — SPELLING TOO HARD [ARTICLE]

SPELLING TOO HARD

Irish Language Too Difficult for Many. , xv.-" Conveyed In Alphabet Of Much Artistic Beauty and There Is Nothing Arbitrary About It—System le - Genuinely Scientific. Chicago.—The Dublin correspondent 3f the Dally News writes: A curious and noteworthy sign of the-times in Ireland is the fact that at this moment of political tension, with a general election In prospect and a concentrated interest in party struggles, so much »PA"o should be devoted In the newspapers to an animated discussion as to how the Irish language should be spelled. - - * The controversy Is carried on by traditionalists and spelling reformed with a zeal and earnestness and occasionally with a warmth of temper hitherto reserved for politics. ' Everybody Is very serious about it and shows to the full that whatever line he take's he is convinced of Its vital Importance to theTrlsh language movement and the value of that movement to the Irish nation. lx Irish has a very wonderful spelling/ conveyed in an alphabet of much artistic beauty. Many people are familiar with a version of Irish words found In the novelists In English transliteration. They would be startled at the appearance of the words in the Irish spelling, even when the English went [airly close to the pronunciation. - Yet there la nothing arbitrary about the Irish spelling; it is a genuinely scientific system. It has none of the inconsistencies and anomalies of English spelling, which have provoked the reforming zeal of Mr. Roosevelt When you have mastered Its rules you can have no ddtrbt as to the pronunciation of any word. But Its rules are not easy to master and many Irish enthusiasts have come to realize that the preliminary necessity of studying a difficult spelling system is a deterrent to the study of Irish and an obstacle to Its popularity. Nor are the reformers found only or mainly among the learners or the inexperienced. Distinguished professors have taken the lead. Professor Bergin, of the National university, and Professor O’Noyan, of St. Patrick’s college; Maynooth, are among the leaders of the movement, and it is said that Canon O’Leary, a writer who has some of the best work in original Irish writing since the Gaelic League was started. Is not opposed to reform. Of course, these learned men have no difficulty with the traditional spelling; it is child’s play to them. What they are thinking of la the learner. _ Irish, says Professor Bergln, is In some Irlsh-speaklng districts decaying as the older generation of Irish speakers dies out, and he believes that unless a radical alteration Is made, In a few years over nine-tenths of Ireland there will be no Irish and In the remaining tenth It will be understood but not spoken. It will have no chance with the young against English. As he phrases it, the old letters and the old spelling are strangling the language and to use them Is like using bows and arrows against machine gilns. >