Blair Collection > Elements of Gaelic grammar

Part I.] AND ORTHOGRAPHY. 39
IV. The laft principle to be mentioned, which ought
to regulate orthography, is that ' every found ought to be
* reprefented by a correfponding character.' From this rule
there is hardly a fingle deviation in Gaelic, as there is no
found in the fpoken language which is not, in fome mea-
fure, exhibited in the written language. The fault of the
Gaelic orthography is fometimes a redundancy, but never a
deficiency of letters.
A few obfervations on the mode of writing fome particu-
lar words, or particular parts of fpeech, remain to be brought
forward in the fequel of this work, which it would be pre-
mature to introduce here.
The Scottlfh writers of Gaelic in general followed the Irifli
orthography, till after the middle of the laft century. How-
ever that fyftem may fuit the dialect of Ireland, it certainly
is not adapted to the Gaelic of this country. In the Gaelic
tranflation of the New Teftament, printed in 1 767, not only
were moft of the Irifh idioms and inflecflions, which had
been admitted into the Scottifli Gaelic writings, rejecfted,
and the language adapted to the dialect of the Scottilh
Highlands ; but the orthography alfo was adapted to the
language. In later publications, the manner of writing the
language was gradually affimilated to that pattern. The
Gaelic Verfi.on of the Sacred Scriptures lately publiflied has
exhibited a model, both of ftyle and orthography, ftill more
agreeable to the pureft Seottifh idiom -, and has a juft title
to be acknowledged as the ftandard in both. Little feems
to be now wanting, to confer on the orthography of the
Seottifh Gaelic fuch a degree of uniformity, as may re-
deem its credit and enfure its ftability. This, it is to be
hoped, may be attained by a judicious regard to the fepa-
rate, and efpecially the relative powers of the letters ; — to
the moft common and approved modes of pronunciation ; —
to