Of the Orthographie and Congruitie of the Britan Tongue: A Treates, noe shorter than necessarie, for the Schooles — David Hume — John Shaqi
Of the Orthographie and Congruitie of the Britan Tongue: A Treates, noe shorter than necessarie, for the Schooles
David Hume · en
1. Now I am cum to a knot that I have noe wedg to cleave, and wald be
glaed if I cold hoep for help. Ther sould be for everie sound that can
occur one symbol, and of everie symbol but one onlie sound. This reason
and nature craveth; and I can not but trow but that the worthie
inventoures of this divyne facultie shot at this mark.
2. But, contrarie to this sure ground, I waet not be quhat corruption,
we see, not onelie in our idiom, but in the latin alsoe, one symbol to
have sundrie soundes, ye, and that in one word; as, lego, legis.
3. First, to begin with c, it appeeres be the greekes, quho ever had
occasion to use anie latin word, quharein now we sound c as s, in their
tymes it sounded k; for Cicero, thei wryt Kikero; for Cæsar, Kaisar; and
Plut., in Galba, symbolizes principia, πρινκιπια.
4. This sound of it we, as the latines, also keepe befoer a, o, and u;
as, canker, conduit, cumber. But, befoer e and i, sum tymes we sound it,
with the latin, lyke an s; as, cellar, certan, cease, citie, circle,
_et_c.
5. Behind the voual, if a consonant kep it, we sound it alwayes as a k;
as, occur, accuse, succumb, acquyre. If it end the syllab, we ad e, and
sound it as an s; as, peace, vice, solace, temperance; but nether for
the idle e, nor the sound of the s, have we anie reason; nether daer I,
with al the oares of reason, row against so strang a tyde. I hald it
better to erre with al, then to stryve with al and mend none.
6. This consonant, evin quher in the original it hes the awne sound, we
turn into the chirt we spak of, cap. 4, sect. 14, quhilk, indeed, can be
symbolized with none, neither greek nor latin letteres; as, from cano,
chant; from canon, chanon; from castus, chast; from κυριακὴ, a church,
of q_uhi_lk I hard doctour Laurence, the greek professour in Oxfoord, a
man bothe of great learni_n_g and judgement, utter his opinion to this
sense, and (excep my memorie fael me) in these wordes: κυριακὴ ut
βασιλικὴ suppresso substantivo ὀικία domus domini est. Unde nostrum
derivatur, quod Scoti et Angli boreales recte, pronu_n_ciant a kyrk, nos
corrupte a church.
7. Yet, notwithstanding that it is barbarouse, seing it is more usual in
our tongue then can be mended befoer the voual, as chance, and behind
the voual, as such, let it be symbolized, as it is symbolized with ch,
hou beit nether the c nor the h hath anie affinitie with that sound;
1, because it hath bene lang soe used; and 2, because we have no other
mean to symbolize it, except it wer with a new symbol, q_uhi_lk it will
be hard to bring in use.