13. +The Expulsion of Gutturals.+-- (ii) In some cases the guttural disappeared entirely; in others, it was changed into or represented by other sounds. The +ge+ at the beginning of the passive (or past) participles of many verbs disappeared entirely. Thus +gebróht+, +gebóht+, +geworht+, became +brought+, +bought+, and +wrought+. The +g+ at the beginning of many words also dropped off. Thus +Gyppenswich+ became +Ipswich+; +gif+ became +if+; +genoh+, +enough+. --The guttural at the end of words-- hard +g+ or +c+-- also disappeared. Thus +halig+ became +holy+; +eordhlic+, +earthly+; +gastlic+, +ghastly+ or +ghostly+. The same is the case in +dough+, +through+, +plough+, etc. --the guttural appearing to the eye but not to the ear. --Again, the guttural was changed into quite different sounds-- into labials, into sibilants, into other sounds also. The following are a few examples:-- (_a_) The guttural has been softened, through Norman-French influence, into a +sibilant+. Thus +rigg+, +egg+, and +brigg+ have become +ridge+, +edge+, and +bridge+. (_b_) The guttural has become a +labial+-- +f+-- as in +cough+, +enough+, +trough+, +laugh+, +draught+, etc. (_c_) The guttural has become an additional syllable, and is represented by a +vowel-sound+. Thus +sorg+ and +mearh+ have become +sorrow+ and +marrow+. (_d_) In some words it has disappeared both to eye and ear. Thus +makëd+ has become +made+. 14. +The Story of the GH.+-- How is it, then, that we have in so many words the two strongest gutturals in the language-- +g+ and +h+-- not only separately, in so many of our words, but combined? The story is an odd one. Our Old English or Saxon scribes wrote-- not +light+, +might+, and +night+, but +liht+, +miht+, and +niht+. When, however, they found that the Norman-French gentlemen would not sound the +h+, and say-- as is still said in Scotland-- _li+ch+t_, &c., they redoubled the guttural, strengthened the +h+ with a hard +g+, and again presented the dose to the Norman. But, if the Norman could not sound the +h+ alone, still less could he sound the double guttural; and he very coolly let both alone-- ignored both. The Saxon scribe doubled the signs for his guttural, just as a farmer might put up a strong wooden fence in front of a hedge; but the Norman cleared both with perfect ease and indifference. And so it came to pass that we have the symbol +gh+ in more than seventy of our words, and that in most of these we do not sound it at all. The +gh+ remains in our language, like a moss-grown boulder, brought down into the fertile valley in a glacial period, when gutturals were both spoken and written, and men believed in the truthfulness of letters-- but now passed by in silence and noticed by no one.