[StGeorge]

Originally Posted by Niamhxo

It's in Irish which is a different language, that's why. There is no letter V in the Irish langauge and so mh together are pronounced like a V, see my username Niamh is pronounced Nee-av. It is not in English so different rules apply

Thats what i thought, but then i wonder how letters mean one thing in one language and something else in another? Surely when letters, in the form we know now, had a certain meaning when they were first used? By that, i mean that Germans speak a different language, but the pronunciation of the words is similar to how an English speaker would say them. Although their use of V and W gets mixed up.
A similar thing is the mix up of the oriental use of L and R. Now ive always thought that the original translation from the oriental characters was perhaps wrong, and that L and R got mixed and has stuck ever since. But can this be said of Irish to English? Do the Irish have their own characters to represent certain letters? By this i mean that as the Irish doesnt have a letter V..why/who where/when was it decided mh was a valid substitute?