diff --git a/src/libespeak-ng/translate.c b/src/libespeak-ng/translate.c
index 958b0971..d51616a9 100644
--- a/src/libespeak-ng/translate.c
+++ b/src/libespeak-ng/translate.c
@@ -1790,80 +1790,6 @@ static int EmbeddedCommand(unsigned int *source_index_out)
 	return 1;
 }
 
-// handle .replace rule in xx_rules file
-static int SubstituteChar(Translator *tr, unsigned int c, unsigned int next_in, int *insert, int *wordflags)
-{
-	int ix;
-	unsigned int word;
-	unsigned int new_c, c2 = ' ', c_lower;
-	int upper_case = 0;
-	static bool ignore_next = false;
-	const unsigned int *replace_chars;
-
-	if (ignore_next) {
-		ignore_next = false;
-		return 8;
-	}
-	if (c == 0) return 0;
-
-	if ((replace_chars = tr->langopts.replace_chars) == NULL)
-		return c;
-
-	// there is a list of character codes to be substituted with alternative codes
-
-	if (iswupper(c_lower = c)) {
-		c_lower = towlower2(c, tr);
-		upper_case = 1;
-	}
-
-	new_c = 0;
-	for (ix = 0; (word = replace_chars[ix]) != 0; ix += 2) {
-		if (c_lower == (word & 0xffff)) {
-			if ((word >> 16) == 0) {
-				new_c = replace_chars[ix+1];
-				break;
-			}
-			if ((word >> 16) == (unsigned int)towlower2(next_in, tr)) {
-				new_c = replace_chars[ix+1];
-				ignore_next = true;
-				break;
-			}
-		}
-	}
-
-	if (new_c == 0)
-		return c; // no substitution
-
-	if (new_c & 0xffe00000) {
-		// there is a second character to be inserted
-		// don't convert the case of the second character unless the next letter is also upper case
-		c2 = new_c >> 16;
-		if (upper_case && iswupper(next_in))
-			c2 = ucd_toupper(c2);
-		*insert = c2;
-		new_c &= 0xffff;
-	}
-
-	if (upper_case)
-		new_c = ucd_toupper(new_c);
-
-	*wordflags |= FLAG_CHAR_REPLACED;
-	if (option_phonemes & espeakPHONEMES_TRACE) {
-		char msg[21] = {'R','e','p','l','a','c','e',':',' '};
-		char *index = msg;
-		index += 9;
-		index += utf8_out(c, index);
-		*index++ = ' ';
-		*index++ = '>';
-		*index++ = ' ';
-		index += utf8_out(new_c, index);
-		index += utf8_out(c2, index);
-		*index = 0;
-		fprintf(f_trans, "%s\n", msg);
-	}
-	return new_c;
-}
-
 static bool GetNextTranslateChars(const int **from, const int **to, bool next_step)
 {
 	// Set pointers to next 'from' and 'to' part for replacement