AND THE INVENTION OF ALPHABETS. 3Cl 



and syllables ; so written or visible language is composed of letters, 

 syllables, words, and sentences. 



A letter is an urbi'r..;y mark, made to signify or stand for a par. 

 ticuUr sound significant uy compact ; aud may be properly termed 

 a mark for a certain known sound. 



A determinate or established number of these marks, constitutes 

 the elements or alphabet of written language. The combinations 

 and arrangements of these elements or letters, as settled by con- 

 sent or compact, compose the written languages of civilized 

 nations. 



Tne first step towards the composition of written language, is to 

 conTey an idea of som^ ^ouiid ; ithtr by a i-ingle mark or charac- 

 ter, or by wr.ting two or more of them, which form a syllable : one 

 or moqg of these syllables make a word which is a voice articulate, 

 and significant !>y compact : a s.ent< nee is a compound quantity of 

 sounds significant ; ot which cer;ain parts are themselves also sig- 

 nificant : several words nrike a sentence, and several sentences a 

 memoir or discourse. 



Writing then, may be defined by the art of exhibiting to the 

 sight the conceptions of the mind, by means of marks or characters 

 significant by compact of the sounds of language, which enable us 

 to transfer ideas from the eye to the ear, and vice versa. 



Thus it has been shewn how ideas niay become the objects of 

 vision, and be exhibited to the e)e in legible characters ; and that 

 the notation of language maj be performed, by making a sufficient 

 number of markt, lor sounds, and b\ arranging and combining them 

 properly. 



The elements of all written language are divided into rowels and 

 consonants 5 the former of which is defined to be a simple articu- 

 late sound, uttered by a single impulse of the voice, and forming 

 an articulate sound by itself ; whereas a consonant forms no arti- 

 culate sound of itself, but only assists in forming a sound. 



The vowels were probably invented first, but the consonants 

 form the body ot language, and are properly termed the bones and 

 sinews th M of. 



The consonants are divided into mutes, and liquids, which will 

 seldom join together in the same syllable ; nor will any two of the 

 mutes associate in u syllable, eith'-r in English or in Latin. There 

 are some exceptions as to the association of mutes. 



The first composition of written language, % of letters into syl- 



