tion of l in calf and salmon, see under A.

L is mute be

tween a and k in the same syllable, as in balk.

For the

Ben

I in could, see that word. In the Anglo-Saxon, is sometimes preceded by h, and aspirated, as in hlaf, loaf. Jonson says that "melteth in the sounding, and is therefore called a liquid.”

M.

M represents the Seventeenth elementary sound, as in man.

N.

N represents the Eighteenth elementary sound, as in not. N is mute when preceded by m or l, as in hymn, kiln. In such words then originally belonged to the succeeding syllable; as, hymnus, cylene.

Ng represents the Sixteenth elementary sound, as in king.

P.

P represents the Twenty-first elementary sound, as in pate. It has the sound of b in cupboard. It is sometimes mute at the beginning of words before s and t, as in psalm, ptisan. It is mute in the middle of words between m and t, as in empty.

Ph usually has the sound of f, as in philosophy. In Stephen it has the sound of v. In apophthegm ph is silent.

Q.

Q, accurately speaking, is neither a letter nor an abbreviation. It is always followed by u, as in queen, and the two letters qu must be looked upon as a single sign equivalent to, but scarcely an abbreviation of, kw. In some words of French origin, the u is mute; as, coquet.

R.

R represents the Twentieth elementary sound, as in run. The vocal sound of this letter, uniting with a preceding vowel sound, modifies it, as in dare, her, bird, for, syrtis. sound of r has a tendency to transposition, as in apron, iron, pronounced sometimes as if written apurn, iurn.

S.

The

S represents the Thirty-first elementary sound, as in sin.

L

It also has the sound of z in zeal, as in besom; and also the sound of sh, as in sure; and also the sound of zh, as in pleas ure. It is sometimes silent, as in island.

When a word ends in a Flat Consonant, b, v, d, g, the Plural termination is not the sound of s, but that of z (stagz, dogz), although s be the letter written. Such, also, is the case with words ending in the Vowels or the Liquids (peaz, beanz, hillz, not peace, beance, hillce). This fact influences our Orthography. The majority of words ending in s are found to be Plural Numbers, or else (what is the same thing in respect to form) either Genitive Cases, or Verbs of the Third Person Singular; while in the majority of these the s is sounded as z. Hence the inference, from analogy, that s single, at the end of words, is sounded as z. Now this fact hampers the Orthography of those words wherein s final retains its natural sound; as, since, once, mass, mace; for let these be written sins, ons, mas, the chances are that they will be pronounced sinz, onz, maz. To remedy this, the s may be doubled, as in mass. This, however, can be done but in few cases only. It can not be done conveniently where the Vowel is long, the effect of a double Consonant being to denote that the preceding Vowel is short. Neither can it be done conveniently after a Consonant, such combinations as sinns, &c., being unsightly. This throws the Grammarian upon the use of c, which, as stated above, has, in certain situations, the power of s. To write, however, simply sinc, or onc, would induce the risk of the words being sounded sink, onk. To obviate this, e is added, which has the double effect of not requiring to be sounded (being mute), and of showing that the c has the sound of s (being small).

It is the peculiar quality of s that it may be sounded before all Consonants, except x and z, in which s is comprised, x being only ks, and z only a hard (flat) or gross s. This s is, therefore, termed by Grammarians suæ potestatis litera, "the reason of which the learned Dr. Clarke erroneously supposed to be that in some words it might be doubled at pleasure.”—Johnson. A reference to the current Greek Grammars will indicate another reason for a being called suæ potestatis litera. It will there be seen that, while T, B, 4-, Y, X-T, 5, 0, are

grouped together as Tenues, Media, and Aspiratæ, and as inter se cognatæ, o stands by itself; 5, its Media (flat sound) being treated as a double letter, and sh, its so-called Aspirate, being non-existent in the Greek language.

T.

T represents 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

van.

V.

represents the Twenty-fourth elementary sound, as in

X.

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.

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.

§ 119. Instead of the Letters which represent some of the elementary sounds, as arranged in the Table, § 61, other letters, in certain circumstances, are their Equivalents in representing the same sounds.

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

2. The letters equivalent to a in fat are ua, all, ai, i; as in guarantee, shall, plaid, sirrah.

3. The letters equivalent to a in fate are ai, ao, ay, e,

ea, ey, au; as in pain, gaol, day, there, great, reign, they, gauge.

4. The letters equivalent to a in fall are au, aw, awe, 0, oa, ou; as in caul, awful, awe, nor, broad, ought.

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

6. The letters equivalent to e in met are ai, ae, ea, ei, ie, œ, a, u, eo; as in again, Dædalus, head, heifer, friend, fætid, any, bury, leopard.

7. The letters equivalent to i in fit are 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; as in hautboy, beau, yeoman, sew, groan, foe, floor, mould, show.

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; as in wool, wolf, would.

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

12. The letters equivalent to u in but are e, ea, i, 0, 00, ou; as in her, earth, sir, won, flood, rough.

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; as in beauty, feud, new, ewe, adieu, view, true, you.

An equivalent of oi in voice is oy; as in boy. An equiv alent of ou in house is ow; as in now.

CHAPTER V.

APPLICATION OF THE PRINCIPLES OF ORTHOGRAPHY.

§ 120. In settling a point in Orthography, one must be qualified to take into consideration the various facts upon which a correct decision can be founded.

I. Ancient use and Present use; General use and Local use; Divided use and Good use.

II. The Normal use of the letters in representing the elementary sounds in the language; and, also, the Anomalous use in representing the same sounds. What the normal use of the letters is, may be seen from the Table of Elementary Sounds, 61. What is the anomalous use, may be seen from § 118 on equivalent letters. The sound of a in ap is normal; it is the Second elementary sound, represented by the letter a in its normal use. The sound of a in any is anomalous; it is the Seventh elementary sound in the table normally represented by e, and anomalously represented by a. Other things being equal, the normal use of the letters should, in orthography, be preferred to their anomalous use.

III. The advantages or the disadvantages of leaving off Silent or Useless letters. In honour and favour, u is a useless letter so far as sound is concerned. The u signifies that the words came to us through the French. Without the u, the words stand just as they were originally spelled in the Latin. So that the question is, whether we shall be at the trouble of retaining a letter that is useless as to sound, for the sake of the historical association, when the real origin of the words are to be sought in the Latin.

IV. Etymological facts and reasons. The question may arise whether Rane-deer or Rein-deer is the true spelling. In favor of the first, it can be said that rane is the normal representative of the sound in the spoken language, whereas rein is an anomalous representative of that sound, and the ei might by a foreigner be confounded or identified with the ei in deceit and in either. The word is derived from the