Old English Without Short Diphthongs: The Outlines of a New Interpretation

The traditional interpretation of Old English (OE) spelling is problematic in (1) positing short diphthongs, not otherwise known to exist, and (2) not resolving various coincidences involving the spelling/writing of Old Irish (OI ): that OI uses spellings that appear to represent short diphthongs (gaib) but do not, and that OE is written in the Irish hand. Both problems can be solved by positing that the spelling/writing system of OE was developed by Irish missionary linguists who perceived OE as being like OI in having front and back consonants, and spelt OE in the manner of OI : using front or back vowels as diacritics for front or back consonants.