IRISH SPELLING 



relations with the language of his time Stapleton was 

 guided by two main principles. The dropping of dead 

 letters, and the introduction of epenthetic vowels. The 

 old spelling was in some respects too long, and in others 

 too short, for there are many vowel sounds which were 

 in Stapleton's time, and are now, an essential part of 

 popular speech, but which did not occur in the older language, 

 and are therefore rigidly excluded from the conventional 

 orthography. 



We may take some striking examples of each class 

 from the Catechism : 



A. Dropping of Dead Letters: 



lu 



ardu 



neartu 



leasu 



meadu 



mall ft 



fiosoru 



sealabhu 



slanu 



gortu 



oibriu 



foillsiii 



rniniu 



amii 



ur 



docul 



iomaduil 



barulach 



oiriunach 



duramair 



tiura 



sui 



fiafrui 



gui 



for 



"O OCA til At 



iotr>A > OAtriAit 



5111-66 



