Page:Irish Made Easy - Shán Ó Cuív.pdf/27

 “e” is of itself fully slender, whereas in the old it was considered necessary to put in “i” as a slender glide after e. Leis, old spelling, of which the new spelling is “les,” is an example. In the preparation of this alphabet an analysis was made of the sounds of modern Irish, and as far as possible a distinct symbol was apportioned to each sound. There was one sound, however, which it was found impossible to represent by a separate symbol without at the same time impairing the practical utility of the entire alphabet. That sound is the irrational vowel sound which is heard in unaccented monosyllables, and in the unaccented syllables of longer words, and is generally represented by phoneticians by an inverted e. Examples of it occur in our Gaelic stories in the article “an” in the second syllable of the noun Seamaróg and in other, words. It is also found in the first syllable of the English word “broad,” or any similar word. In the. ordinary Gaelic spelling it is represented by “a,” “e,” “i,” “o,” in some words, and in others like seamróg and garbh it is not represented at all. In all words in which that sound is represented in the ordinary spelling by an “a,” “e,” “i,” or “o” it is represented by the same letter in the new spelling; in words where it is heard, but is not represented in the old spelling, it will be represented by an “a” or an “i.” The number of words in which the sound occurs is not very great, but they are common, frequently recurring words, and students will, without difficulty, learn to