10 SEPTEMBER 1904, Page 16

ENGLISH AS SPOKEN IN IRELAND.

[TO TEE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."]

Sin,—Without being a philologist, may not the use of the word "soak," as equivalent to "dry," mentioned by "C. H. B." in your issue of the 3rd inst., be a survival of a Celtic word ? The Welsh for " dry " at the present day is "such," the " being pronounced rather like the French "ii," and the "ch " as in "loch." There is a curious similarity in the Hindustani " sukh " for "dry," the " u " being pronounced "00," the