German infinitives in-en end in-ǝ in PG., a vowel not subject to nasality, so that when G. _gehen_ (to go) remains a dissyllable it is 'gee'ǝ,' but when monosyllabised it becomes 'gee˛'--this vowel being nasalisable. Similarly, G. _zu stehen_ (to stand) becomes 'tsu schteeǝ' and 'tsu schtee˛;' G. _zu thun_ (to do) may be 'tsu tuu˛'--'tsu tuuǝ' or (with _n_ preserved) 'tsu tuunǝ,' and G. _gehen_ (to go) may have the same phases. § 5. _The Consonants._ The Germanism of confusing b, p; t, d; k, g, is present in PG. and they are pronounced _flat_, that is, with more of the surface of the organs in contact than in English--a characteristic which distinguishes German from languages of the Dutch and Low-Saxon (Plattdeutsch) type.[11] This must be remembered in reading the examples, in which the ordinary usage of these letters will be nearly followed. The consonants are b, ch, d, f, g (in _g_et, _g_ive), gh, h, j (English _y_), k, l, m, n, ng, p, r (trilled), s (in _s_eal, not as in mi_s_er), sch (in _sh_ip), t, w (a kind of _v_ made with the lips alone). 'ch' has the two usual variations as in _recht_ and _buch_, and its sonant equivalent 'gh' (written with 'g' in German) presents the same two phases, as in G. _regen_ and _bogen_. 'ng' before a vowel as in _singer_, hence 'finger' is _fing-er_ and not _fing-ger_. 'n' before 'k' is like 'ng,' as in G. _links_ (on the left), which is pronounced like an English syllable. Vowels to be repeated are indicated by a hyphen, as in ge-ennǝrt (altered), nei-ichkeit (novelty). Should letters be wanted for English j, z, v, w, the first may have _dzh_, and the others italic _z_, _v_, _w_, with ks for x. As the reader of English who speaks PG. can learn the German alphabetic powers in half an hour, PG. should be written on a German basis, and not according to the vagaries of English spelling, with its uncertainty and reckless sacrifice of analogy. In print, PG. should appear in the ordinary roman type, in which so many German books are now published.[12] § 6. _Stein or Schtein?_ The sequents _sp_, _st_, are perhaps universally converted into 'schp' and 'scht' in PG., as in 'geescht' for _gehest_, 'hascht' for _hast_, 'Kaschp'r' for _Caspar_, 'schtee˛' for _stein_, and 'schpeck' for _speck_, all of which are genuine German, as distinguished from Saxon, Anglo-saxon, and Hollandish, because _S is incompatible before labials_ (w, m, p) _and dentals_ (l, n, t) _in High German_. Hence, where Dutch has _zwijn_, _smidt_, and _speelen_, German has _schwein_, _schmidt_, and _schpielen_; and for Dutch forms like _slijm_, _snee_, and _steen_, German has _schleim_, _schnee_, and _schtein_; but as the German uses the conventional spellings 'spielen' and 'stein,' he is apt to fancy that a law of speech is of less importance than the flourishes of a writing-master, or the practice of a printing-office, even when his own speech should teach him the law.