[.G], (A) a voiced consonant formed below the vocal cords; its sound is compared by some to a _g_, by others to a guttural _r_; in Arabic words adopted into English it is represented by _gh_ (e.g. _ghoul_), less often _r_ (e.g. _razzia_). H preceded by _b_, _c_, _t_, _[t.]_, etc. does not form a single sound with these letters, but is a more or less distinct _h_ sound following them; cf. the sounds in _abhor, boathook_, etc., or, more accurately for (S), the "bhoys" etc. of Irish brogue. H (A) retains its consonant sound at the end of a word. [H.], (A) an unvoiced consonant formed below the vocal cords; its sound is sometimes compared to German hard _ch_, and may be represented by an _h_ as strong as possible. In Arabic words adopted into English it is represented by _h_, e.g. in _sahib_, _hakeem_. [H.] (S) is final consonant _h_, like final _h_ (A). I, as in _pin_. [=I], as in _pique_. K, as in _kick_. KH, (A) the hard _ch_ of Scotch _loch_, German _ach_, especially of German as pronounced by the Swiss. [.M], [.N], (S) like French final _m_ or _n_, nasalizing the preceding vowel. [N.], see [D.]. N, like _ng_ in _singing_. O, (S) as in _so_. (A) as in _obey_. Q, (A) like _k_ (or _c_) in _cook_; further back in the mouth than in _kick_. R, (S) English _r_, smooth and untrilled. (A) stronger. [R.], (S) r used as vowel, as in _apron_ when pronounced _aprn_ and not _apern_; modern Hindus say _ri_, hence our _amrita_, _Krishna_, for _a-m[r.]ta, K[r.][s.][n.]a_. S, as in _same_. [S.], see [D.]. ['S], (S) English _sh_ (German _sch_). [T.], see [D.]. U, as in _put_. [=U], as in _rule_. Y, as in _you_. [Z.], see [D.]. `, (A) a sound kindred to the spiritus lenis (that is, to our ears, the mere distinct separation of a vowel from the preceding sound, as at the beginning of a word in German) and to _[h.]_. The ` is a very distinct sound in Arabic, but is more nearly represented by the spiritus lenis than by any sound that we can produce without much special training. That is, it should be treated as silent, but the sounds that precede and follow it should not run together. In Arabic words adopted into English it is treated as silent, e.g. in _Arab_, _amber_, _Caaba_ (_`Arab_, _`anbar_, _ka`abah_). (A) A final long vowel is shortened before _al_ (_'l_) or _ibn_ (whose _i_ is then silent). Accent: (S) as if Latin; in determining the place of the accent _[.m]_ and _[.n]_ count as consonants, but _h_ after another consonant does not. (A), on the last syllable that contains a long vowel or a vowel followed by two consonants, except that a final long vowel is not ordinarily accented; if there is no long vowel nor two consecutive consonants, the accent falls on the first syllable. The words _al_ and _ibn_ are never accented. * * * * * {1} THE HINDU-ARABIC NUMERALS CHAPTER I EARLY IDEAS OF THEIR ORIGIN