Of the Orthographie and Congruitie of the Britan Tongue - A Treates, noe shorter than necessarie, for the Schooles by Alexander Hume
page 20 of 82 (24%)
page 20 of 82 (24%)
|
and therfoer wil not censure it, except I saw the auctourâs whole drift.
Onelie for my awn parte I will avoid al novelties, and content my self with the letteres q_uhi_lk we have in use. And seeing we have no other use of y distinguished from i, condiscend to the opinion of the south using i for ane, and y for the other. 7. O, we sound al alyk. But of it we have sundrie diphthonges: oa, as to roar, a boar, a boat, a coat; oi, as coin, join, foil, soil; oo, as food, good, blood; ou, as house, mouse, &c. Thus, we com_m_onlie wryt mountan, fountan, q_uhi_lk it wer more etymological to wryt montan, fontan, according to the original. 8. In this diphthong we co_m_mit a grosse errour, saving better judgement, spelling how, now, and siklyk with w, for if w be (as it sal appear, quhen we cum to the awn place of it) a consonant, it can noe wayes coalesse into a diphthong sound, sik as this out of controversie is. 9. U, the last of this rank, the south, as I have said in the latin sound of it, pronu_n_ces eu, we ou, both, in my simple judgement, wrang, for these be diphthong soundes, and the sound of a voual sould be simple. If I sould judge, the frensh sound is neerest the voual sound as we pronu_n_ce it in mule and muse. 10. Of it we have a diphthong not yet, to my knawlege, observed of anie; and, for my awn parte, I am not wel resolved neither how to spel it, nor name it. Onelie I see it in this, to bou, a bow. I wait not quhither I sould spel the first buu, or the last boau. As, for exemple, if Roben Hud wer nou leving, he wer not able to buu his aun bou, or to bou his aun boau. And therfoer this with al the rest, hou be it in other I have |
|