Madam, - Derek Fanning (April 29th) does well to draw attention to the unnecessary nuisance caused to learners of Irish by eclipses, lenition and prefixes.
However, it should also be noted that this problem is well on the way to being solved in the context of the spoken language, since most of those who speak Irish today are primarily speakers of English, and naturally drop an aspect of Irish that appears dysfunctional to them.
Thus the soft sound "ch" has been replaced by the English sound "k" and the distinction in Irish phonetics between broad and slender consonants is almost forgotten. So the nuisance that Mr Fanning refers to is being eliminated as we speak.
Much more problematic is the continued existence of the genitive case, an tuiseal ginideach, so long known and so widely feared by generations of pupils. Not only is this an obstacle to learning Irish, but I would go so far as to say that it is the principal cause of the failure of the language revival as a whole.
Unlike eclipses, lenition, and prefixes, the genitive case will not disappear simply through the passage of time and the use of English phonetics. No, radical surgery and reconstruction of the grammatical base of the language will be required, something that can only be brought about through Government action. We can only hope that the Minister for Education will be able to give this important matter her attention. - Yours, etc,
DONAL FLYNN,
Breffni Terrace,
Sandycove,
Co Dublin.