138 ANJLOGT of GREEK LETTERS; 



The reafon why v remains in the cafe of Iv, is, that if v were 

 omitted, as in the cafe of cwy certain perfons of the prefent of 

 the compound verb would be confounded with certain perfons 

 of the imperfecfl tenfe of the fimple verb, as in the cafe of b 

 becoming eg before ^ , which has been already mentioned *. 



V. Lojlly, The peculiar nature of '^ly/^a,, and that which feems 

 to have fuggefted its various fundlions in the flrudlure of the 

 Greek tongue, arifes fi-om this, that it is the only letter which 

 is fibilant or hifling in the whole Greek alphabet. For i^, which 

 by fome is confidercd as a fibilant letter, is no farther fo than 

 the two other double confonants | and ■^' and whatever fibila- 

 tion is obferved in their fouiid, they plainly derive from <r,. which 

 is half of their composition. 



In what manner then the improvers of the Greek language- 

 availed themfelves of this fingular letter, I have now endea- 

 voured to {how. From the various ufes to which it has been 

 applied, fome have confidered it as a fei'vile letter ; and from 

 its hifling, and, as they thought, difagreeable found, fome of 

 the ancient, writers, notwithftanding its great ufe in their lan- 

 guage, conceived a violent diflike at it. But this, with feveral 

 other particulars relative to the fame letter, I propofe to confider 

 in a fecond part of this Eflay. 



In the mean time, if the authority of names be deemed of 



any ufe in juftifying inquiries of this nature, I may afk with 



QuiNCTiLiAN, " An ideo minor eft M. Tullius orator, quod 



" idem artis hujus diligentifllmus fuit, et in filio (ut in epifto- 



" lis apparet) rede loquendi ufquequaque afper quoque exadlor ? 



" Aut vim C. C^SARis fregerunt editi de analogia libri ? Aut 



" ideo minus Mess ala nitidus, quia quofdam totos libellos non 



" de verbis modo fingulis, fed etiam Uteris dedit f ?" 



If 



* This will appear evident, by declining the prefent tenfe of'a compound verb, with 

 the » thrown out) as ia-mi^u, &c. aud the in\perfe6\ tenfe of the fimple verb, as ic-rti^tr, &c. 



f TnJ/itut. Oral. Lib. I. Caf. -]. " Vilefcit tibi hie fermo. Itane ? Scilicet Murkto 

 " et Lipsio indignum decurrere Grammaticum hoc sequor, quod tot olim Senatores 



