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
8. Now, quheras ch in nature is c asperat, as it soundes in charus and
chorus; and seing we have that sound also in use, as licht, micht; if I
had bene at the first counsel, my vote wald have bene to have geven ch
the awn sound. But as now the case standes, ne quid novandum sit, quod
non sit necesse, I not onlie consent, but also com_m_end the wisdom of
the south, quho, for distinction, wrytes light, might, with gh and
referres ch to the other sound, how be it improperlie, and this
distinction I com_m_end to our men, quho yet hes not satis attente
observed it.
9. Next cumes g, howbe it not so deformed as c; for, althogh we see it
evin in latin, and that, in one word (as is said cap. 5, sect. 2),
distorted to tuo sonndes, yet both may stand with the nature of the
symbol and differ not in the instrumentes of the mouth, but in the form
of the tuich, as the judiciouse ear may mark in ago, agis; agam, ages.
10. This consonant, in latin, never followes the voual; befoer a, o, u,
it keepes alwayes the awn sound, and befoer e and i breakes it.
11. But with us it may both begin and end the syllab; as, gang; it may,
both behind and befoer, have either sound; as, get, gist, gin, giant.
12. These the south hath providentlie minted to distinguish tuo wayes,
but hes in deed distinguished noe way, for the first sum hath used tuo
gg; as, egg, legg, bigg, bagg; for the other dg; as, hedge, edge,
bridge; but these ar not κατὰ πάντος. Gyles, nomen viri, can not be
written dgiles; nor giles doli, ggiles; nether behind the voual ar they
general; age, rage, suage, are never wrytten with dg. Quherfoer I
conclud that, seeing nether the sound nor the symbol hath anie reason to
be sundrie, without greater auctoritie, nor the reach of a privat wit,
this falt is incorrigible.
13. Here I am not ignorant quhat a doe the learned make about the
symboles of c, g, k and q, that they be al symboles, but of one sound;
but I wil not medle in that question, being besyde my purpose, q_uhi_lk
is not to correct the latin symboles, but to fynd the best use of them
in our idiom.
14. T, the last of these misused souldioures, keepes alwayes it’s aun
nature, excep it be befoer tio; as, oration, declamation, narration; for
we pronunce not tia and tiu as it is in latin. Onelie let it be heer
observed that if an s preceed tio, the t keepes the awn nature, as in
question, suggestion, _et_c.