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S.

§ 148. S represents the thirty-first elementary sound, as in sin. It often represents the sound of z, as in besom. It also represents the sound of sh, as in sure; and also zh, as in pleasure. It is sometimes silent, as in island.

T.

§ 149. Trepresents the twenty-seventh elementary sound, as in take. Th represents the twenty-fifth elementary sound, as in thin; and the twenty-sixth, as in thine. In the substantives breath, cloth, the th is sharp or surd; that is, like th in thin. In the verbs breathe, clothe, the th is flat, or sonant; that is, like th in thine.

Th between two vowels, and between r and a vowel, is flat (sonant), as father, burthen.

Th, in certain words, like Thomas, is pronounced like t.

V.

§ 150. V represents the twenty-fourth elementary sound, as in van.

X.

§ 151. X represents, 1. The sound of ks, as in exercise. 2. The sound of gz, as in exert. 3. The sound of z, as in Xenophon.

Z.

§ 152. Z represents the thirty-second elementary sound, as in zeal; and the thirty-fourth elementary sound, as in azure. The name of this letter is zee, izzard, or zed, from the French.

EQUIVALENT LETTERS.

§ 153. Instead of the letters which regularly (normally) represent some of the elementary sounds, as arranged in the table, § 76, other letters, in certain circumstances, are irregularly (abnormally) their equivalents, representing the same sounds.

1. The letters equivalent to a in father are ea, au, ah, aa; as in heart, aunt, ah, baa.

2. The letters equivalent to a in fat are ua, ea, all, ai, i, ae, agh; as in guarantee, sergeant, shall, plaid, sirrah, Haerlem, Armagh.

3. The letters equivalent to a in fate are ai, ao, ay, e, ea, ei, ey, au; as in pain, gaol, day, there, great, reign, they, gauge.

4. The letters equivalent to a in full are au, aw, awe, al, o, oa, ou; as in caul, awful, awe, walk, nor, broad, ought.

5. The letters equivalent to e in mete are æ, ea, ee, ei, eo, ey, ie, i, oe, oi, eg; as in Casar, seat, deer, deceit, people, key, field, machine, antæci, turkois, impregn.

6. The letters equivalent to e in met are ai, ae, ea, ei, eg, ie, œ, a, U,

What do you understand by equivalent letters? in father? What letters are equivalent to a in fat? a in hate?

What letters are equivalent to a

What letters are equivalent to

eo; as in again, Dædalus, head, heifer, phlegm, friend, fœtid, any, bury, leopard.

7. The letters equivalent to i in fit aré ai, e, ee, ei, ia, ie, oi, o, ui, u, cy; as in captain, yes, breeches, surfeit, carriage, sieve, tortoise, women, guilt, busy, cyst.

8. The letters equivalent to o in note are au, eau, eo, ew, oa, oe, oo, ou, ow, owe, ot; as in hautboy, beau, yeoman, sew, groan, foe, floor, mould, show, owe, depôt.

9. The letters equivalent to o in not are a, eo, ou; as in what, George, cough.

10. The letters equivalent to u in bull are oo, o, ou, ue; as in wool, wolf, would, construe.

11. The letters equivalent to oo in fool are o, oe, ou, œu, wo; as in move, shoe, tour, manœuvre, two.

12. The letters equivalent to u in but are e, ea, i, o, oo, ou, oe; as in her, hearth, sir, won, flood, rough, does.

13. The letters equivalent to i in pine are ai, ei, eye, ie, oi, ui, wy, ye; as in aisle, height, eye, die, choir, guide, why, rye.

14. The letters equivalent to u in rude are eau, eu, ew, ewe, ieu, iew, ue, ou, ui; as in beauty, feud, new, ewe, adieu, view, true, you, suit. An equivalent of oi in voice is oy, as in boy. An equivalent of ou in house is as in now.

ow,

CHAPTER III.

DEFECTS OF THE ENGLISH ALPHABET.

IT IS DEFICIENT.

§ 154. IF the letter a be considered as the appropriate sign of the sound of a in father, then neither the sound of a in fate, nor the sound of a in fat, nor the sound of a in all, has either of them a separate single sign. Thus one sign is used for four different sounds. In like manner, one sign, namely, the letter o, is used to represent the two vowel sounds in note and not. So the two sounds of th in thin and in thine have but one sign, namely, th, and that sign is not simple. So the sound of sh in shine, of z in azure, and ng in song, have no corresponding simple signs. The English Alphabet is thus deficient in respect to the first condition mentioned in § 124.

IT IS REDUNDANT.

§ 155. The letter c, in words like city, may be replaced by s; and in words like cat, by k; ch, in words like chest, is equivalent to tsh; in words like mechanic, to k. In like manner, x is superfluous, ks, gz, or z being its equivalent. Q is superfluous, cw or kw being its equivalent.

What are the four principal defects of the English Alphabet? What facts can you mention to show that the English Alphabet is deficient? What facts can you mention to show that the English Alphabet is redundant?

The English Alphabet is thus redundant, and does not meet the second condition in § 124.

IT IS INCONSISTENT.

§ 156. Fin for resembles in sound v in van, but the letter has no resemblance to the letter v. Th in thin, and th in thine, sh in shine, have a relationship in sound, respectively, to t, d, and z, but not in form. The compound sibilant sound of j in just is spelled with the simple sign, j, while the compound sibilant sound in chest is spelled with the combination ch. The English Alphabet is thus inconsistent. It does not meet the third condition in § 124.

IT IS UNSTEADY.

G

§ 157. The letter c represents two sounds, as in city and in cat. represents two sounds, as in gin and in gun. X represents three sounds, as in exert, apoplexy, Xenophon. The English Alphabet is thus unsteady. It does not meet the second condition in § 124.

The defects of the English system of literal notation, in its application to elementary sounds, are strikingly seen in § 153, on equivalent letters.

While it is true that no alphabet was ever invented, which expresses all the powers of articulation common to mankind in general, or even the sounds of any one language according to the theory of a perfect notation, still it is believed that the English Alphabet is the worst in its practical application.

CHAPTER IV.

THE ORIGIN OF THE ENGLISH ALPHABET ACCOUNTS FOR ITS

DEFECTS.

§ 158. THE English Alphabet was not invented to express the phonetic elements and combinations of the English language. It was derived from the Phoenician Alphabet, of which the Hebrew is a type, modified to express the sounds of the Greek language, thus becoming the Greek Alphabet. This, in turn, was modified to express the sounds of the Latin language, and thus became the Roman Alphabet. This, in turn, was modified to express the sounds of the Anglo-Saxon language, and thus became the Anglo-Saxon Alphabet. This was modified to express the sounds of the English language, and thus became the English Alphabet, with all its defects.

In the stages of progress from oral communication to letters, PICTURE

What facts can you mention to show that the English Alphabet is inconsistent? What facts can you mention to show that the English Alphabet is unsteady? Was the English Alphabet invented to express the phonetic elements and combinations in the English language? From what several successive alphabets was the English language derived?

D

WRITING probably came first. In this way the ancient Mexicans transmitted the memory of the most important transactions of their empire. The next in order were HIEROGLYPHICS, which, like pictures, were the signs of things, or Ideographic signs, though some of them were signs of the spoken language. Thus ingratitude was indicated by a viper, wisdom by an ant, and impudence by a fly.

The next step in the progress was the use of SYLLABIC CHARACTERS, which were employed as signs of sounds, and not as signs of things.

THE INVENTION OF LETTERS.

§ 159. LETTERS representing the elementary sounds in the language constitute the last stage of improvement in the communication of thought by visible signs. These are called the Alphabet, from Alpha, Beta, the two first letters in the list in the Greek language. When and where letters took their origin is not known. The Egyptians paid divine honors to the inventor of letters under the name of THEUTH. By the Greeks he was worshiped under the name of HERMES, and was represented commonly by a head alone, without other limbs. The head itself was that of a beautiful youth, having on it a petasus, or bonnet, adorned with two wings. He possessed no other part of the human figure but the head, because no other part was deemed requisite to rational communication. This head had wings, in order to represent words, the medium of this communication being, as described by Homer, epea pteroenta, winged words.

THE HEBREW ALPHABET.

§ 160. The Hebrew Alphabet is a type of alphabets used by the Shemitic nations, including the Phoenician. It consists of twenty-two consonants, some of which have the power of vowels, as follows:

, Aleph, ox=. =A; 2, Beth, house=B; 1, Gimel, camel=G; 7, Daleth, door=D;, He, window=E; Vau, hook=V or U; 1, Zain, weapon =Z;, Cheth, fence=H; , Teth, snake=T; ", Jod, hand=J or Y; , Kaph, hand shut=K; 3, Lamed, ox-goad=L; 2, Mem, water=M; 2, Nun, fish=N; o, Samech, prop=S, », Ain, eye=0; 5, Pe, mouth= P; Y, Tsaddi, fish-hook=Tz; P, Koph, ape=Q; -, Resh, head=R; , Shin, tooth=Sh; n, Tau, cross=T.

Originally the letters were rude representations of the visible objects, the names of which began with the sounds represented by the several characters. Some of them still retain the resemblance of those objects, as 1, 3, 3, D. The language was written from right to left.

THE GREEK ALPHABET.

§ 161. The common opinion is that Cadmus, a Phoenician, who setWhat was the first mode of communication by visible signs, and the second mode, and the third mode, before the invention of letters? From what is the word alphabet derived? Is it known when and where letters were invented? What is said of the honors paid to the inventor of letters by the Egyptians and the Greeks? Of what alphabet is the Hebrew Alphabet a type? Of how many letters is the Hebrew Alphabet composed, and what is said of them? What is said of the shape of the letters, and in what direction was the language written?

tled in Boeotia and founded Thebes, introduced letters into Greece A.C. 1493. The Cadmean letters, it is commonly thought, were sixteen: A, B, г, ▲, E, (F), I, K, A, M, N, O, II, P, Σ, T. Upsilon should be viewed in connection with digamma. The Greeks took but twenty-one of the twenty-two Phoenician letters. The letter Tsaddi, Y, was never adopted by the Greeks. The letter p, Koph, at first received under the name of koppa, was afterward ejected. Y, , X, Y, , were afterward added, in order to express sounds, probably, in the Greek, but not in the Phoenician language. Some of the Phoenician characters introduced into Greece were used with changed or new powers, according to the wants of the language which they were used to express. The form of the letters was also changed in the progress of time, so that the similarity is lessened between the Hebrew Alphabet and the Greek. The manner of writing it was also changed. Ancient Greek, like the Hebrew, was written from right to left. It was afterward used as in the manner of plowing, alternately from right to left and from left to right. It was subsequently written like the English, from left to right.

THE ROMAN ALPHABET.

§ 162. The Roman Alphabet was derived from the Greek. A part of the letters only were at first introduced, and afterward others.

In accommodating the Greek Alphabet to their own language, the Latins (1) dropped those letters that were not needed, and (2) they used some of the letters imported with a new power, and (3) they introduced some new letters. They dropped Y, and X, and O, and K, and permanently. They dropped and Z for a time, and then restored them, placing them at the end of the Alphabet. They used the letter digamma, F, with the power, not of v or w, but with that of F. They used the letter eta, H, with a new power, namely, that of h. They introduced the letter c, at first with the power of g as well as k; and also the letters v and j, which are modifications, the one of u, and the other of i; and also the letter q, which seems to have come directly from the Phoenician Alphabet, as the equivalent of koph or qoph; and also the letter y, which seems a modification of v. X and q are redundant. and ✪ ought to have been retained, inasmuch as ph and th do not properly represent the sound which they are employed to indicate.

THE ANGLO-SAXON ALPHABET.

§ 163. The Anglo-Saxon Alphabet was derived mainly from the Roman, from which, indeed, it differs by certain additions, omissions, and modifications. 1. It has the letter pth in thin-0 in Greek, which the Roman has not. 2. It has the letter =th in thine, which the Roman has not. 3. It has the letter c, to the exclusion of k, in common with the Latin, but which the Greek has not. 4. It has the letter w, which the Roman has not. 5. It has the letter j, either with the power of y as in German, or of zh as in French, or of dzh as in English, which

What is said of the Greek Alphabet? What is said of the Roman Alphabet? What is said of the Anglo-Saxon Alphabet?

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