294 ANALYTIC ORTHOGRAPHY. 
one vowel, and it is worthy of notice, that whilst the secondary not has a closer aperture 
than its primary naught, the secondary them is more open than its primary they. But 
this seeming law would disappear with a change in our conventional nomenclature, if, for 
example, we were to consider foot the primary and fool the secondary. The following is 
a comparison of lip and throat vowels of about the same degree upon each side of the scale: 
odd add 
owe there 
o-bey them 3 
Lilies they 
fool his 
foot he 
COALESCENTS. 
163. The labial vowel ooze readily becomes the consonant way, and between them there 
is a shade of sound allied to both, but a variety of the latter, and a consonant, because it 
has the power of forming a single syllable with a vowel, which two vowels cannot do. 
Hence to connect I A U into a monosyllable, the extremes must be consonanted, making 
JAV (yow,) and the result is similar if the order is changed, as in AJV, JVA, &c. 
Conceiving the coalescents to be vowels, the ancient grammarians adopted the word diph- 
thong to account for two vowels forming one syllable. The labial coalescent is represented 
by u, w, in English, as in writing—out, house, mouse, (German aus, haus, maus.) 
164. The guttural vowel pique may become the guttural liquid yea, as in minion, and 
between the two lies the guttural coalescent in aisle, eye, boy. The consonant relation 
of the coalescents is shown in the combinations how well, my years, in which it is difficult 
to tell where the coalescent ends. A comparison of the former (or how-ell) with ha-well 
and the latter (or my-ears) with ma-years, will show their affinity. 
165. A coalescent between vowels is apt to form a fulcrum by becoming a more complete 
consonant. Compare (emp)loyer with lawyer. Hence the Romans, who wrote AE be- 
fore a consonant in GRMC-I (Greeks,) used their I consonant when the cay was omitted, 
or a vowel followed, as in GRaAgi (a dissyllable,) for GRAI. 
166. In English, the guttural coalescent is preceded by the vowel of aisle (varying dia- 
lectically to at and up,*) that of oil, boy; and of full, as in buoy, pronounced boo-y by fish- 
ermen, &c., but sometimes corrupted with -oy. The labial coalescent occurs after the 
same French 4 of aisle, as in now (varying dialectically to at, wp,) Faust, saur-kraut. But 
*The vowel of wp is the normal sound according to Wallis, Wilkins, Franklin, Pitman and Hllis. The last 
uses it concurrently with a7, as in Isaiah, with wi (up) initial, and ai (aye) medial, and he says (Ms.) that the 
second syllable of this word is pronounced with ai in ail “only by dissenting, i. e. non-university clergymen.” I 
was told by Greeks at the Propaganda that in the island of Syra the Catholics say tyee or tshee, and the schismatics 
* kyee for ~1—the latter being nearest the true form. 
