The defects noticed in the preceding sections are _absolute_ defects, and would exist, as they do at present, were there no language in the world except the English. This is not the case with those that are now about to be noticed; for them, indeed, the word _defect_ is somewhat too strong a term. They may more properly be termed inconveniences. Compared with the languages of the rest of the world the use of many letters in the English alphabet is _singular_. The letter _i_ (when long or independent) is, with the exception of England, generally sounded as _ee_. With Englishmen it has a diphthongal power. The inconvenience of this is the necessity that it imposes upon us, in studying foreign languages, of {186} unlearning the sound which we give it in our own, and of learning the sound which it bears in the language studied. So it is (amongst many others) with the letter _j_. In English this has the sound of _dzh_, in French of _zh_, and in German of _y_. From singularity in the use of letters arises inconvenience in the study of foreign tongues. In using _j_ as _dzh_ there is a second objection. It is not only inconvenient, but it is theoretically incorrect. The letter _j_ was originally a modification of the vowel _i_. The Germans, who used it as the semivowel _y_, have perverted it from its original power less than the English have done, who sound it _dzh_. With these views we may appreciate, of the English alphabet and orthography, I). _Its convenience or inconvenience in respect to learning foreign tongues._--The sound given to the _a_ in _fate_ is singular. Other nations sound it as _a_ in _father_. The sound given to the _e_, long (or independent), is singular. Other nations sound it either as _a_ in _fate_, or as _['e] ferm['e]_. The sound given to the _i_ in _bite_ is singular. Other nations sound it as _ee_ in _feet_. The sound given to the _oo_ in _fool_ is singular. Other nations sound it as the _o_ in _note_, or as the _['o] chiuso_. The sound given to the _u_ in _duck_ is singular. Other nations sound it as the _u_ in _bull_. The sound given to the _ou_ in _house_ is singular. Other nations, more correctly, represent it by _au_ or _aw_. The sound given to the _w_ in _wet_ is somewhat singular, but is also correct and convenient. With many nations it is not found at all, whilst with those where it occurs it has the sound (there or thereabouts) of _v_. The sound given to _y_ is somewhat singular. In Danish it has a vowel power. In German the semivowel sound is spelt with _j_. The sound given to _z_ is not the sound which it has in German and Italian; but its power in English is convenient and correct. The sound given to _ch_ in _chest_ is singular. In other languages it has generally a guttural sound; in French that of {187} _sh_. The English usage is more correct than the French, but less correct than the German. The sound given to _j_ (as said before) is singular.