present province of Westphalia, and in the districts. about Cleves, Essen, and Munster was closely akin to the Anglo-Saxon. This language is called the Old Saxon.

§ 28. Old Frisian.-This was the language of the present province of Friesland, and of the parts north and south of that district. The Old Frisian is closely allied to the Anglo-Saxon, and stands in the same relation to the modern Dutch, spoken in Holland, as the Anglo-Saxon does to the English.

§ 29. Old High German.-By tracing towards their sources the rivers Rhine, Mayne, and Neckar, we come to the tracts of country over which another language akin to the Anglo-Saxon was spoken, viz., Bavaria, Alsatia, parts of Lorraine, and of Switzerland, Suabia, and Franconia. This language is the mother-tongue of the present German. Constance, Strasburg, St. Gall, Worms, Spires, Mentz, Wirtzburg, and Fulda may be noted as cities where the Old High German was especially cultivated.

§ 30. Maso-Gothic.-By following the course of the Danube we reach the Roman province of Mœsia. The earliest inhabitants of this province were not akin to any of the tribes of Germany, either Frisian, Angle, Saxon, or German, any more than the original Britons of England were akin to the Anglo-Saxon invaders. However, in the second century of the Christian æra, the province of Masia was possessed by tribes from the north-eastern parts of Germany. These were called Goths, or, more specifically, the Goths of Mosia. Their language is called Moso-Gothic.

The earliest written works that occur either in the

Anglo-Saxon or the languages allied to it are MosoGothic. Parts of a translation of the Gospels written by a Moso-Gothic bishop of the name of Ulphilas in the third century are still extant, and are of great importance in illustrating the Anglo-Saxon and the allied languages.

§ 31. Old Norse.-Languages akin to the AngloSaxon were spoken not only over Germany, but also over Denmark, over Sweden, over Norway and over the distant island, Iceland. The languages of these countries when spoken of collectively, and in their earliest stage, were called the Old Norse. By Old Norse (or Northern) is meant the mother-tongue of the present Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, and Icelandic, and also of the language of the Feroe Isles.

§ 32. Such are the languages from which the modern languages of Germany, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Iceland, are descended, just as the English is descended from the Anglo-Saxon. As these languages were akin to the Anglo-Saxon, so are the modern languages derived from them akin to the English.

In this manner the languages just mentioned, both ancient and modern, constitute what is called one great stock of languages, which stock is named the Gothic stock, from the circumstance of its being the Gothic tribes of Germany that were first known to the civilized world.

11

PART II.

THE SOUNDS, LETTERS, AND ACCENTS.

§ 33. THE simple elementary sounds in the present English are as follows:

1. The sound of the letter a in ah, father, &c.

2. The sound of the letter a in fate, bate, ale, pale, bait, ail, snake, snail, &c.

3. The sound of the letter a in fat, pat, bat, that, hat, patting, &c. All these three sounds are varieties of one and the same original sound. They are generally expressed in spelling by the letter a.

4. The sound of the e in bed, beck, less, net, netting, &c. This is a short quick sound. It is generally expressed by the letter e.

5. The sound of the e in feet, need, seed, seek, leak, seat, beat, &c. This sound is often considered as allied to the preceding one, and as being merely a lengthened variety of it. It is the opinion of the best writers on the subject that it is the lengthened form of the vowel sound next about to be mentioned.

6. The sound of the i in tin, pity, pitted, stick, kick, &c. This sound is often considered as allied to the sound of i in pine, shine, &c., and as being merely a shortened variety of it. It is, however, the opinion of the best writers on the subject that it is a shortened form of the sound of e in feet, rather than of

the i in pine.

This is the view taken of the sound in

point in all languages except the English.

7. The sound of the oo in cool, and of the o in move, prove.

8. The sound of the u in bull, full, pull, &c. Although these two last-mentioned sounds are expressed in spelling by different letters, (the one by u, and the other by o,) they are evidently allied in utterance. They are both varieties of one and the same sound, pronounced rapidly in the one case, and slowly in the other. The two sounds bear the same relation to each other as the a in fate bears to the a in fat, and the ee in feet to the i in fit.

9. The sound of the aw in bawl, of the au in haul, and of the a in hall, all, talk, &c. This sound is generally expressed by the letter a, either alone, as in all and ball, or combined with some other letter, as in haul and bawl. This mode of expression is faulty, and conceals the true nature of the sound. Its real relation is to the two sounds that will next be mentioned, to which it stands in the same relation that the a in father does to the a in fate and the a in fat.

10. The sound of the o in note, boat, float, no, so, &c. 11. The sound of the o in not, knot, knotty, &c.

12. The sound of the u in but, nut, &c. It is doubtful how far this sound is a separate and independent sound, or how far it is a variety of the oo in cool, and the u in pull.

The sounds hitherto named are called vowel sounds, or vowels.

This

13. The sound of the letter w, in wo, will. sound is evidently allied to the sound of the oo in cool (7).

Some writers consider it identical, and assert that the words will and oo-il are sounded alike. It is, however, convenient to consider the w in will as a separate independent sound.

14. The sound of the letter y in ye, yes, yet. This sound is evidently allied to the sound of the ee in feet (5). Some writers consider it identical, and assert that the words yet and ee-et are sounded alike. It is, however, convenient to consider the y in yet as a separate independent sound.

15. The sound of the letter p in pin, pip, &c. 16. The sound of the letter b in bin, bit, &c. 17. The sound of the letter f in fin, fit, &c.

18. The sound of the letter v in van, vane, &c.

19. The sound of the letter t in tin, tip, teal, neat, &c.

20. The sound of the letter d in din, dip, deal, need, &c.

21. The sound of the letters th in thin, thick, through, cloth, moth, &c. It is here necessary to remark the difference that exists between the speaking and the spelling. The sound of the th in thin is a simple single elementary sound; and, as such, should be expressed by a simple single elementary letter. Instead of this, it is expressed by two letters or by a combination; so that, although a simple sound to the ear, it has the appearance of being a compound one to the eye. It is above all things necessary to remember that the real sound of h preceded by t is very different from that of the thin thin, and that the real sound of the th in thin is very different from that of h preceded by t. More upon this matter will appear in the sequel.