260 



Mr. Pickering on the Pronunciation 



should have transmitted this word from age to age, without ever 

 intimating, that it was a poor imitation, because it began with a 

 letter, which sounded like Fand not like U? Yet it has been so 

 transmitted to us ; and Pliavorinus, following Eustathius and the 

 JEtymologicon Magnum, makes no other remark than this — (after 



the 



used to ex- 



speaking of several other words which 



press various noises) 'O/ $s kvroi (the ancients) (putriv oyi^oicaq ^i^ 



Here, we find, that although Phavorinus notic 



word so 



particularly, as to tell his 



that the ancients wrote it /3 



and not /3a;, (which, in his time, we know were pronounced 

 and vayj yet he says not a word implying, that it was 



an imper- 



fect representation of 

 with a Beta. 



d in consequence of its beg 



Another argument for the Erasmic pronunciation of the Beta 



founded upon the practice of 



Greeks 



g Homan 



^. 



L 



names ; in which case it is urged (and with truth) that they ren- 

 dered the B by their /S ; as in Fabius, Tiberius, Gahiniiis, which 

 they wrote ^ul^iog, TiQe^iog, Fa^mo?, etc. ; and on the other hand, 

 the Romans used their B for the Greek /3, when they had occa- 

 sion to write Greek names, as Bacchus for 'QocKy^cg, etc. Beza, 

 however, candidly admits, that this is by no means satisfactory ; 

 because the Greeks not only represented the Roman B, but the 

 Falsoby/3i of which he adduces some instances himself, as 



Valerius 



a 



well 



Bsp^^jj, BaXe^/o?, for Verres, 



known fact, that in Roman names, which had a F in them, the 



• 



* Phavorin. 1186. v. Airi?. 



