s. 210. Before _i_, _e_, and _y_ of the English alphabet, and before _ue_ and _oe_ German, the letters _c_ and _g_ have the tendency to assume the sound and power of _s_ or _z_, of _sh_ or _zh_, of _ch_ or _j_; {150} in other words, of becoming either _s_ or some sound allied to _s_. Compared with _a_, _o_, and _u_ (as in _gat_, _got_, _gun_), which are _full_, _i_, _e_, _y_, are _small_ vowels. It not every vowel that is susceptible of every modification. _I_ (_ee_) and _u_ (_oo_) are incapable of becoming broad. _E_ in _bed_ (as I have convinced myself), although both broad and slender, is incapable of becoming independent. For the _u_ in _but_, and for the _oe_ of certain foreign languages, I have no satisfactory systematic position. s. 211. _Vowel System._ _Broad._ | _Slender._ | | _Independent._ |_Independent._ | _Dependent._ | | _a_, in _father_ |_a_, in _fate_ |_a_, in _fat_. |_e ferm['e]_, _long_ |_e ferm['e]_, _short_. _e_, in _meine_, Germ.| |_e_, in _bed_. |_ee_, in _feet_ |_i_, in _pit_. |_ue_, of the German, _long_|the same, _short_. |_oo_, in _book_ |_ou_, in _could_. |_o chiuso_ |the same, _short_. _aw_, in _bawl_ |_o_, in _note_ |_o_, in _note_. From these, the semivowels _w_ and _y_ make a transition to the consonants _v_ and the so-called aspirate of _g_ ([gamma], not being in English), respectively. s. 212. _System of Consonants._ _Liquids._ | _Mutes._ | _Semivowels._ | | | _Lene._ | _Aspirate._ | | | | | _Sharp._ _Flat._ | _Sharp._ _Flat._ | | | | _m_ | _p_ _b_ | _f_ _v_ | _w_ _n_ | _t_ _d_ | _th_ _dh_ | _l_ | _k_ _g_ | [kappa] [gamma] | _y_ _r_ | _s_ _z_ | [sigma] [zeta] | s. 213. Concerning the vowel system I venture no assertion. The consonantal system I conceive to have been exhibited above in its whole fulness. The number of mutes, _specifically_ distinct, I consider to be sixteen and no more: the number of liquids, four. What then are the powers of the numerous letters in alphabets like those of Arabia and Armenia? What {151} is the German _ch_, and Irish _gh_? _Varieties_ of one or other of the sounds exhibited above, and not articulations specifically distinct.