Hitherto the expression of the sounds in point is a matter of convenience only. No question has been raised as to its consistency or inconsistency. This begins under conditions like the following:--Let there be in the language in point the sounds of the _t_ in _tin_, and of the _th_ in _thin_; which (it may be remembered) are precisely in the same relation to each other as the _p_ in _pate_ and the _f_ in _fate_. Let each of these sounds have a sign (or letter) expressive of it. Upon the nature of these signs, or letters, will depend the nature of the sign or letter required for the _f_ in _fate_. If the letter expressing the _th_ in _thin_ be a mere modification of the letter expressing the _t_ in _tin_, then must the letter expressive of the _f_ in _fate_ be a mere modification of the letter expressing the _p_ in _pate_, and _vice vers[^a]_. If this be not the case, the alphabet is inconsistent. In the English alphabet we have (amongst others) the following inconsistency:--The sound of the _f_ in _fate_, in a certain relation to the sound of the _p_ in _pate_, is expressed by a totally distinct sign; whereas, the sound of the _th_ in _thin_ (similarly related to the _t_ in _tin_) is expressed by no new sign, but by a mere modification of _t_; viz., _th_. {180} A third element in the faultiness of an alphabet is the fault of erroneous representation. The best illustration of this we get from the Hebrew alphabet, where the sounds of [Hebrew: T] and [Hebrew: T`], mere _varieties_ of each other, are represented by distinct and dissimilar signs, whilst [Hebrew: T] and [Hebrew: T], sounds _specifically_ distinct, are expressed by a mere modification of the same sign, or letter. s. 249. _The right application of an alphabet._--An alphabet may be both sufficient and consistent, accurate in its representation of the alliances between articulate sounds, and in nowise redundant; and yet, withal, it may be so wrongly applied as to be defective. Of defect in the use or application of the letters of an alphabet, the three main causes are the following:-- 1. _Unsteadiness in the power of letters._--Of this there are two kinds. In the first, there is one sound with two (or more) ways of expressing it. Such is the sound of the letter _f_ in English. In words of Anglo-Saxon origin it is spelt with a single simple sign, as in _fill_; whilst in Greek words it is denoted by a combination, as in _Philip_. The reverse of this takes place with the letter _g_; here a single sign has a double power; in _gibbet_ it is sounded as _j_, and in _gibberish_ as _g_ in _got_.