Löwenstern, as we have said, considered that Rawlinson was fundamentally wrong in applying the laws derived from Indo-European languages ‘to a writing and a language that are Semitic.’ He absolutely denied that the vowel is inherent.[791] The signs are simple consonants, and they may be used in connection with any vowel sound. The vowels may or may not be expressed, and the signs for them are to a large extent expressive of any vowel sound. One sign he mentions may convey the sound of _hou_, _a_, and _ya_; another of _a_ or _ha_, _w_ and _ü_.[792] The vowels are, he says, by no means limited to the _a_, _i_ and _u_ of the Sanscrit, but include also the _e_ and _o_ and the diphthong _ao_. He entirely disagrees with the opinion of Rawlinson that the equivalent signs have any modified value. He compares Assyrian with Egyptian, and regards the signs that are apparently interchangeable as simple ‘homophones.’ He shows the different ways in which the names of the Achaemenian kings are written; and draws the apparently inevitable inference that the different signs have one and the same sound. ‘The variants,’ he says, ‘may be used indifferently without violating the phonetic laws of the language.’[793] He was apparently the first to observe that some signs ‘express different sounds’; and these he calls ‘homotypes.’[794] As was natural, he does not appear to have had any idea of the importance of this discovery. His homotypes seem limited to the signs for vowels, any one of which may express almost any vowel sound, and also aspirates and liquids; and he observed that _m_ and _w_, and _y_ and _i_, are each expressed by the same signs. His present pamphlet indicates how rapidly the study was progressing. He now relies entirely upon the analysis of proper names, in accordance with the suggestion of Longpérier; and he abandons his attempted comparison with the form of the Hebrew letters. He surrenders his reading of ‘Ashdod,’ and suggests ‘No Kaschzar’ in place of it; and he even doubts the identity of Arsak and Sargon. He thinks he has discovered from the Naksh-i-Rustam inscription that the sign he mistook for _r_ is really _s_, and that his _k_ is certainly _n_. Accordingly he reads the word _s_ _ch(kh)_ _n_ which somewhat revives his confidence in Sargon.