quhilk 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, quhilk, if then it had sounded as now we sound it, he sould rather have written it with γ and β, γόυνιος βίνδεξ.

9. We have in our use the sam soundes quhilk 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 quhilk now is in the latin use to the latines, and take as our’s the sound quhilk they have left, and geve to the sound, quhilk 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 quhilk 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 pronunced, I can not but commend the wisdom of the south, quhilk 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, quhilk 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 pronunced.

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, quhilk 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 pronunced 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, turning it into an Italian chirt; as, charitie, cherrie, of quhilk hereafter.

OF OUR ABUSING SUM CONSONANTES.
Cap. 5.

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, etc.

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 quhilk I hard doctour Laurence, the greek professour in Oxfoord, a man bothe of great learning 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, pronunciant 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, quhilk it will be hard to bring in use.

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 commend 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 commend 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,