of the Greek Language. S79 



5. 



The sound of the letter c is universally agreed to be, that of 

 » in the languages of our own times. W^e sometimes give it the 



sound of % in certain combinations ;'and it is, in fact, occasionally 

 modified by other letters ; tlms^ the expression liog y^ov would 



sound^ to our ears^ like vioi^f^ov, in consecjuence of the flat conso- 

 nant after the <r, But^ generally speaking, we should take care 

 to give this letter the pure sibilant sound of 5. 



T. 



The general pronunciation of the letter r is agreed to have 

 he^n anciently the same that it now is in Greece ; that of the mod- 

 ern T. But the Greeks of the present day, when this letter is 

 preceded by v, give it the sound of d ; thus, xdvnXoig is pronounc- 

 ed pandelos. This pronunciation was violently opposed in the 

 Erasraian controversy ; but principally on the ground, that it was 

 inconsistent, that the same letter should have more than one pro- 

 nunciation ; and yet all the writers in that controversy (who were 

 Frenchmen, Dutchmen and Englishmen) must have observed the 

 like inconsistencies in their own languages. In this and other 

 cases, where we have no evidence in the works of ancient writers, 

 Wl^. general usage of Modern Greece ought to have great weight.* 



* It should have heen remarked under the letter K, that the same modifica- 

 tion takes place in that letter, when preceded by a j?«i consonant (y) as wc find 

 in the other two mutes, tt and r; thus, £yxe^«A«5 is pronounced as if written 



