Of the Orthographie and Congruitie of the Britan Tongue | Page 8

sound them in latin, for in Galba he symbolizes
junius vindex, +iounios ouindex+, q_uhi_lk, if then it had sounded as
now we sound it, he sould rather have written it with gamma and beta,
+gounios bindex+.

9. We have in our use the sam soundes q_uhi_lk it seemes these
consonantes had in Plutarch's dayes, as in yallou, winter. Quhilk, seeing
now they are worn out of the latin use, my counsel is that we leave the
sound of them q_uhi_lk now is in the latin use to the latines, and take
as our's the sound q_uhi_lk they have left, and geve to the sound,
q_uhi_lk now we use in latin, the latin symbol; as, jolie jhon; vertue is
not vain; and to the soundes quhilk they have left the symboles
q_uhi_lk we have usurped to that end; as, yallou, youk; water, wyne.
10. And heer, to put our men af their errour quho had wont to symboliz
yallou with an {gh}, and to put noe difference betueen v and w, {gh} is
a dental consonant, broaken betueen the top of the tongue and root of
the teeth; yal, a guttural sound, made be a mynt of the tongue to the
roofe of the mouth, and therfoer the organes being so far distant, and
the tuich so diverse, this symbol can be no reason serve that sound, nor
nane of that kynd.
11. As for v and w, seeing we have in our idiom, besyd the latin sound,
an other never hard in latin, as now it is pronu_n_ced, I can not but
com_m_end the wisdom of the south, q_uhi_lk gave the latin sound
their awn symbol, and took to our sound a symbol quhilk they use not.
Lyke was their wisdom in j and y; for as the latines usurped the voual i
for a consonant in their use, q_uhi_lk the greekes had not, so they
usurped y, a voual not mikle different from i, for the correspondent
sound, not used in the latin as now it is pronu_n_ced.
12. Heerfoer, for distinctiones of both sound and symbol, I wald
commend the symbol and name of i and u to the voual sound; as,
indifferent, unthankful; the symbols of j and v to the latin consonantes,
and their names to be jod and vau; as, vain jestes; and the symboles y
and w to our English soundes, and their names to be ye and we, or yod
and wau; as, yonder, wel, yallou, wool.
13. Now remaineth h, q_uhi_lk we have called a noat of aspiration, cap.
2, sect. 2, and is, in deed, noe voual, because with a consonant it makes
noe sound; as, ch; nor consonant, because it is pronu_n_ced without the
tuich of the mouth; as, ha.

14. It may affect al vouales and diphthonges; as, hand, hen, hind, hose,
hurt, hail, hautie, health, heel, heifer, _etc._ But behind the voual in our
tong (so far as yet I can fynd) it hath no use. Of consonantes, it
affecteth g beyond the voual; as, laugh; p befoer the voual; as, phason;
s and t also befoer the voual; as, think, shame. With c we spil the
aspiration, tur_n_ing it into an Italian chirt; as, charitie, cherrie, of
quhilk hereafter.

OF OUR ABUSING SUM CONSONANTES.
Cap. 5.
1. Now I am cum to a knot that I have noe wedg to cleave, and wald be
glaed if I cold hoep for help. Ther sould be for everie sound that can
occur one symbol, and of everie symbol but one onlie sound. This
reason and nature craveth; and I can not but trow but that the worthie
inventoures of this divyne facultie shot at this mark.
2. But, contrarie to this sure ground, I waet not be quhat corruption, we
see, not onelie in our idiom, but in the latin alsoe, one symbol to have
sundrie soundes, ye, and that in one word; as, lego, legis.
3. First, to begin with c, it appeeres be the greekes, quho ever had
occasion to use anie latin word, quharein now we sound c as s, in their
tymes it sounded k; for Cicero, thei wryt Kikero; for Cæsar, Kaisar; and
Plut., in Galba, symbolizes principia, +prinkipia+.
{Transcriber's Note: The word is written with nu, not gamma.}
4. This sound of it we, as the latines, also keepe befoer a, o, and u; as,
canker, conduit, cumber. But, befoer e and i, sum tymes we sound it,
with the latin, lyke an s; as, cellar, certan, cease, citie, circle, _et_c.
5. Behind the voual, if a consonant kep it, we sound it alwayes as a k;
as, occur, accuse, succumb, acquyre. If it end the syllab, we ad e, and
sound it as an s; as, peace, vice, solace, temperance; but nether for