necessary to represent this difference in the spelling. In such a case he would devise one combination of letters for the word in one sense, and another for the word in another. Let the words lone and loan explain this principle of differentiation.

How old is it? It is certainly English. Was it also Latin? Was it Greek? The Greeks recognised it, but not to any great extent. But the Greeks had, over and above their letters, a system of accents as well. Now these accents they used as means of differentiation, and, so doing, expressed to the eye differences which the ear did not recognise, and which had had no existence in the language as it was spoken. The Romans, on the other hand, who had no accents in current use, could only differentiate their words by changing the combination of letters by which they were represented. Hence, we may say that, if the Greeks recognised the principle of differentiation, it was the Romans who brought it to bear upon the spelling of words-spelling meaning the combination of letters.

§ 319. The German period.—It was from the classical alphabets that the German were derived-classical meaning Latin and Greek, collectively.

This mode of expressing ourselves is necessary; inasmuch as it was from neither the one nor the other of these languages exclusively that the German alphabets were derived. Nor is this double origin difficult to explain. The Goths of Mœsia had moved so far eastwards, before they became a Christian and lettered nation, that their area was conterminous with that of the Greek language of Byzantium as well as that of the Latin of Italy.

Let us say, then, that whilst the Western German alphabets were Latin, the Eastern German alphabets were Latin and Greek as well.

This intermixture of Latin and Greek influences is visible in the alphabet of the Germans just noticed, viz. :

The Maso-Gothic Alphabet.-The form and order of the letters may be seen in Hickes' "Thesaurus" and in Lye's "Grammar." With the Greek they agree in the following particulars :

K

1. In the sound of the third letter being not that of к (c), but of the g in gun.

2. In retaining kappa and khi.

3. In expressing the simple single sound of th by a simple single sign. This sign, however, has neither the shape nor the alphabetical position of the Greek theta.

With the Latin they agree, 1, in possessing letters equivalent to h, q, y.

2. In placing z at the end of the alphabet.

The Moso-Gothic alphabet seems to have been formed on sound principles, and on principles sufficiently bold. Neither was its application traversed by etymological views.

§ 320. The Angle Alphabet.—I hold that the particular Germans from whom the Angles took their alphabet were the Franks.

What were the chief peculiarities of the Angle soundsystem?

It contained

1. The th in thin.-A sign in Greek (0), but none in Latin. 2. The th in thine.-A sign neither in Greek nor Latin. 3. The ch in the German auch.-A sign in Greek (x), but none in Latin.

4. The flat sound of the same, or the probable sound of the h in þurh, leoht, &c., Anglo-Saxon.-A sign neither in Greek nor Latin.

5. The sh in shine.-A sign neither in Greek nor Latin.

6. The z in azure.-A sign neither in Greek nor Latin. 7. The ch in chest.-A sign neither in Greek nor Latin, unless we suppose that at the time when the Anglo-Saxon alphabet was formed, the Latin e in words like civitas had the power, which it has in the present Italian, of ch.

8. The j in jest.-A sign neither in Greek nor Latin, unless we admit the same supposition in respect to g, that has been indicated in respect to c.

9. The sound of the kj in the Norwegian kjenner; viz. that (thereabouts) of ksh.—A sign neither in Latin nor Greek.

10. The English sound of w.-A sign neither in Latin nor Greek.

11. The sound of the German ü, Danish y.-No sign in Latin, probably one in Greek, viz. v.

η,

12. Signs for distinguishing the long and short powers of ɛ and ŋ, o and w.-Wanting in Latin, but existing in Greek. In all these points the classical alphabets (one or both) were deficient. To make up for their insufficiency one of two things was necessary-either to coin new letters, or to use conventional combinations of the old.

In the Anglo-Saxon alphabet (derived from the Latin) we have the following features:

1. C used to the exclusion of k.

2. The absence of the letter j, either with the power of y, as in German, of zh, as in French, or of dzh, as in English. 3. The absence of q; a useful omission, cw serving instead. 4. The absence of v; u, either single or double, being used instead.

5. The use of y as a vowel, and of e as y.

6. The absence of z.

7. Use of uu, as w, or v in Old Saxon.

8. The use, in certain conditions, of ƒ for v.

9. The presence of the simple single signs þ and, for the th in thin, and the th in thine, these being introduced as new signs.

"Literam T pronunciaturo, si spiritus pinguius exeat, et quasi per foramen; formatur Graecorum ; Hebraeorum Thau raphatum; Arabum The hoc est Anglorum th in vocibus thigh, femur; thin, tenuis; thing, res; thought, cogitatio; throng, caterva, &c.

'Anglo-Saxones olim scribebant hac nota þ quam Spinam vocabant. Cambro-Britanni per th semper scribunt."

"Literam D pronunciaturo, si spiritus erumpat modo pinguiori, et quasi per foramen, formatur Arabum Dhal; Hebraeorum Daleth raphatum; Hispanorum D mollius, qualitur nempe proferri solet ea litera in medio et fine vocabulorum, ut Majestad, Trinidad, &c.

"Hunc sonum Angli eodem prorsus modo scribunt quo sonum alium paulo supra nominatum, nempe per th, ut in vocibus thy, thine, tuus; this, hoc; though, quamvis ; &c. Anglo-Saxones olim sonum illum per p, hunc vero per D, X, scripsisse puto, prout ex eorum scriptis, liquet (quanquam et ipsi characteres illos non raro promiscue usurpabant):

Sequentibus autem seculis Angli eundem characterem þ utrique sono adhibuerunt, qui paulatim degeneravit in characterem p, qui in libris quamplurimis manu-scriptis perpetuo conspicitur in iis vocabulis

quae nunc per th scribuntur: Atque hinc est quod mos olim invaluerit, qui etiam adhuc non raro retinetur, scribendi ye, y, y", pro the, that, thou, &c. Cambro-Britanni sonum illum per th, hunc per dd perpetuo scribunt; nisi quod aliqui melius scribi posse contendunt per dh, qui non tamen obtinuerunt ut mos olim receptus immutetur.

"Nos autem (ut dictum est) utrumque sonum promiscue scribimus per th. Sed male quidem; cum neuter eorem sit sonus compositus, sed plane simplex, a sonis literarum t et d eodem fere modo deflectentes quo f et va sonis literarum p et b."

I cannot say whether the Moso-Gothic practice of expressing the sound of the Greek 0 by a simple single sign did, or did not, help in the evolution of these two sounds.

The letter w was evolved out of u, being either an original improvement of the Anglo-Saxon orthographists, or a mode of expression borrowed from one of the allied languages of the Continent. Probably the latter was the case; since we find the following passage in the Latin dedication of Otfrid's “Krist :”—“ Hujus enim linguæ barbaries, ut est inculta et indisciplinabilis, atque insueta capi regulari freno grammaticæ artis, sic etiam in multis dictis scriptu est difficilis propter literarum aut congeriem, aut incognitam sonoritatem. Nam interdum tria uu u ut puto quærit in sono; priores duo consonantes, ut mihi videtur, tertium vocali sono manente."

The Anglo-Saxon alphabet, although not originally meant to express a Gothic tongue at all, answered the purpose to which it was applied tolerably.

Change, however, went on; and the orthography which suited the earlier Anglo-Saxon would not suit the later; at any rate, it would not suit the language which had become, or was becoming, English, wherein the sounds for which the Latin alphabet had no equivalent signs increase. Thus there is at present

1. The sound of the sh in shine.

2. The sound of the z in azure.

How are these to be expressed? The rule has hitherto been to denote simple single sounds by simple single signs, and where such signs have no existence already, to originate new

ones.

To combine existing letters, rather than to coin new ones,

has but been done rarely. The Latin substitution of the combination th for the simple single 0, was exceptionable. It was a precedent, however, which was generally followed.

It is this precedent which accounts for the absence of any letter in English, expressive of either of the sounds in question. Furthermore, our alphabet has not only not increased in proportion to our sound-system, but it has decreased. The Anglo-Saxon the th in thin and the th in thine, have become obsolete. Hence, a difference in pronunciation, which our ancestors expressed, we overlook.

This leads us to

§ 321. The Anglo-Norman Alphabet.-The Anglo-Saxon language was Gothic, the alphabet Roman.

The Anglo-Norman language was Roman, the alphabet Roman also.

The Anglo-Saxon took his speech from one source; his writing from another.

The Anglo-Norman took both from the same.

Between the Latin alphabet as applied to the Anglo-Saxon, and the Latin alphabet, as applied to the Norman-French, there are certain points of difference. In the first place, the sound-system of the languages (like the French) derived from the Latin, bore a greater resemblance to that of the Romans, than was to be found amongst the Gothic tongues. Secondly, the alphabets of the languages in point were more exclusively Latin. In the present French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese, there is an exclusion of the k. This is not the case with the Anglo-Norman. Like the Latins, the Anglo-Normans considered that the sound of the Greek 0 was represented by th: not, however, having this sound in their language, they had no corresponding sign in their alphabet. The greatest mischief done by the Norman influence was the ejection from the English alphabet of þ and ð. In other respects the alphabet was improved. The letters z, k, j, were either imported or more currently recognised. The letter y took a semi-vowel power, having been previously represented by e, itself having the power of i. The mode of spelling the compound sibilant with ch was evolved. My notions concerning this mode of spelling are as follows:-At a given period the sound of ce in

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