LEEUWENHOEK’S LANGUAGE 311 
qu=kw=k. Hig. quaet [kwaad], quaelijck [kwalijk], 
manqueeren | mankeeren |. 
s = z. Hxamples of this equivalency are too numerous 
for selection. Words such as sin [zijn], dese [deze], 
seer [zeer] occur copiously on every page of the 
early manuscripts. 
sch and ssch sometimes stand for s or ss. Examples: 
wasch | Du. was = Engl. wax], volwassche [| volwassen].' 
We even find sch = z occasionally-—as in schonne- 
schijn | zonneschijn]. 
th is occasionally written for ¢. E.g. voortseth 
[ voortzet ]. 
x sometimes represents modern fs. Hxample: exter 
[ekster ]. 
The wrregular and capricious spellings—common in English 
and Dutch of Leeuwenhoek’s period, and of no philological 
importance—are too numerous to mention. Variants may 
often be found in the very same sentence. Itis perhaps worth 
noting, however, that certain spellings are phonetically 
interesting—the omission of letters indicating, for example, 
that they were commonly not pronounced at that date. Thus, 
the final -n (now silent in Dutch, though still heard in 
Flemish) in a word like volwassen was sometimes unwritten 
(volwassche) : while Leeuwenhoek also sometimes wrote seder 
(for sedert), ondecking (for ontdekking), schilpad (for schildpad), 
ert (for erwt) etc. He also occasionally added a consonant 
where it is properly lacking—as in pampvter (for papier) and 
miscroscope (for microscoop). The former is a vulgarism, the 
latter a mistake. What appears at first sight to be a mis- 
spelling is occasionally, however, an earlier form—such as the 
word mergen (A.-S. Mergen), which Leeuwenhoek regularly 
wrote for morgen (= Engl. morning, morrow) in his early 
letters. Omme (for om: O.Du. ombe) occurs very frequently ; 
while omtrent and ontrent are one as common as the other. 
The only other obsolete usages likely to trouble modern 
foreign readers are the frequent insertion of the negative 
adverb en in phrases such as “ alsoo ick niet en versta ”, “ ick 
miet en can”, “dat ick daer gansch geen sin utjt en conde 
' _s and -ce may also represent -sch(e): thus, in Letter 13a we find “ de 
france tael”’ and “ het frans”’ in the same sentence—followed by a reference 
to ‘‘ de engelsche tael”’ and “ de engelse kerck’’. 
