Cap. 4.
1. This for the vouales, and diphthonges made of them without the
tuiches of the mouth. Now followe the consonantes.
2. A consonant is a letter symbolizing a sound articulat that is broaken
with the tuiches of the mouth.
3. The instrumentes of the mouth, quherbe the vocal soundes be broaken,
be in number seven. The nether lip, the upper lip, the outward teeth,
the inward teeth, the top of the tongue, the midle tong, and roof of the
mouth. Of these, thre be, as it were, ha_m_meres stryking, and the rest
stiddies, kepping the strakes of the ha_m_meres.
4. The ham_m_eres are the nether lip, the top of the tongue, and the
midle tongue. The stiddies the overlip, the outward teeth, the inward
teeth, and the roofe of the mouth.
5. The nether lip stryking on the overlip makes b, m, p, and on the
teeth it makes f and v.
6. The top of the tongue stryking on the inward teeth formes d, l, n, r,
s, t, and z.
7. The midle tongue stryking on the rouf of the mouth formes the rest,
c, g, k, j, q, and x, and so we have 18 consonantes borrowed of the
latines.
8. These they borrow al from the greekes, saving j and v, quhilk our age
soundes other wayes then it seemes the romanes did; for Plutarch, more
then 100 yeeres after Christ, expressing the sound q_uhi_lk they had in
his tyme, symbolizes them neerar the sound of the vouales quherof they
are maed then now we sound them in latin, for in Galba he symbolizes
junius vindex, ἰόυνιος ὀύινδεξ, q_uhi_lk, if then it had sounded as
now we sound it, he sould rather have written it with _gamma_ and
_beta_, γόυνιος βίνδεξ.
9. We have in our use the sam soundes q_uhi_lk it seemes these
consonantes had in Plutarch’s dayes, as in yallou, winter. Quhilk,
seeing now they are worn out of the latin use, my counsel is that we
leave the sound of them q_uhi_lk now is in the latin use to the latines,
and take as our’s the sound q_uhi_lk they have left, and geve to the
sound, q_uhi_lk now we use in latin, the latin symbol; as, jolie jhon;
vertue is not vain; and to the soundes quhilk they have left the
symboles q_uhi_lk we have usurped to that end; as, yallou, youk;
water, wyne.
10. And heer, to put our men af their errour quho had wont to symboliz
yallou with an ȝ, and to put noe difference betueen v and w, ȝ is
a dental consonant, broaken betueen the top of the tongue and root of
the teeth; yal, a guttural sound, made be a mynt of the tongue to the
roofe of the mouth, and therfoer the organes being so far distant, and
the tuich so diverse, this symbol can be no reason serve that sound, nor
nane of that kynd.
11. As for v and w, seeing we have in our idiom, besyd the latin sound,
an other never hard in latin, as now it is pronu_n_ced, I can not but
com_m_end the wisdom of the south, q_uhi_lk gave the latin sound their
awn symbol, and took to our sound a symbol quhilk they use not. Lyke was
their wisdom in j and y; for as the latines usurped the voual i for a
consonant in their use, q_uhi_lk the greekes had not, so they usurped y,
a voual not mikle different from i, for the correspondent sound, not
used in the latin as now it is pronu_n_ced.
12. Heerfoer, for distinctiones of both sound and symbol, I wald commend
the symbol and name of i and u to the voual sound; as, indifferent,
unthankful; the symbols of j and v to the latin consonantes, and their
names to be jod and vau; as, vain jestes; and the symboles y and w to
our English soundes, and their names to be ye and we, or yod and wau;
as, yonder, wel, yallou, wool.
13. Now remaineth h, q_uhi_lk we have called a noat of aspiration, cap.
2, sect. 2, and is, in deed, noe voual, because with a consonant it
makes noe sound; as, ch; nor consonant, because it is pronu_n_ced
without the tuich of the mouth; as, ha.
14. It may affect al vouales _and_ diphthonges; as, hand, hen, hind,
hose, hurt, hail, hautie, health, heel, heifer, _etc._ But behind the
voual in our tong (so far as yet I can fynd) it hath no use. Of
consonantes, it affecteth g beyond the voual; as, laugh; p befoer the
voual; as, phason; s and t also befoer the voual; as, think, shame.
With c we spil the aspiration, tur_n_ing it into an Italian chirt; as,
charitie, cherrie, of quhilk hereafter.