

CREF.K L 



h probable, cliicfly had in view, wlirn lie fays, Hill. 1. viii. 

 c. 58 ; " Literas icniper arbitroi- AfTv Has 'fmlli; ; fed alii 

 apiid jEgyptios a Mercuiio, ut Gcllius; alii apud S\ru3 

 rcpertas volunt, utiqiie in Grxciain intuli.To e Plicenici 

 Cadmiun fedecim nuinero.'' 



From the fame authority it appears that the Pliccni- 

 cians only changed the (liapc or form of the HebreT\- 

 letters, and were not the firll who difeovered them; nor 

 were they the lirll who introd'.icod the ufc of letters in;.) 

 Greece. For Diodori'S declares tliat Linus corapofed a 

 book, concerning the cNploitj of tile fnil Dionyfuis in Pe- 

 lafgic charaB is, and that tlie lame were ufcd bv Orpheus 

 and Pronapides, the preceptor of Homer, lib. iii. Zeno- 

 bins writes that Csdinus flew IJnus for teaching charafters 

 differing from his: and Paufanias in his Attics alTures us, 

 that he hiinfelf faw an infcription upon the tomb of Corce- 

 Lus, who lived at the time when Crotopus, a contemporary 

 with Deucalio:i, was king of the Argives. The lirll tribe 

 who fettled in Greece were called Ps/a/^!, (probably from 

 vs'.K- o , ylv7,) which name correfponds to our appellation 

 o( ijl jnthri ; and is tlK" fame in import with what Mofes 

 calls the firlt inhabitants ot Evirope, tin ijl^s of ihc nalions. 

 The firll European coloiiills, it appears to us probable, 

 with the life of the prnnreval language of men, introduced 

 its ktUri or charadcrs, which, by their difperfion and con- 

 feqiient relapfe into barbarilm, neceirarily became corrupted, 

 thougli not entirely loll; while Cadmus introduced tiie 

 original alphabet in a more pure or improved Hate. The 

 Phecnician and the Pelafgic characters, previouilv ufed in 

 Greece, Were elTentially the fame, and differant onlv in de- 

 grees of refinement: and it is a remarkable facl, tliat after 

 the introduction of the Cadmcan alphubL-t the Pelafgic ha.s 

 left no trace of its exi!tence, which in our opinion clearly 

 proves that tliefc two fyilems, in confequcnce of their affi- 

 nity, coaleiced, and have been perpetuated under one and 

 the f.ime form. See Lennep. De Analogia, vol. iii. p. 2S. 



The introduclion of the Pliccnlcian al|)habet preceded tlie 

 Chriflian era only about fifteen centuries; and it is curious 

 to obferve the form and extent of it as taught by Cadmus. 

 It tlood thus, K, :, I, '., :; ,5, ir; y, y.; «, r; x, ;, ?, ;j, ■.. 

 Hence it appears that the divifion of the Greek or Pliani- 

 cian alphabet correfponds to that which obtait:b in all the 

 Oriental languages; the vowels being feparated from the 

 eonfonants, and the ctmfonants themiclves clalTcd coiiform- 

 ablv to the organs employed in founding them. It appears 

 farther, that the alphabet at this time exiiled in its moll 

 fimple Hate, and was afterwards enlarged by combining its 

 more iim'ple elements. Thus £ repeated gave birth to «, 

 which conliils of on: epfilon turned backwards to face an- 

 other, as ?!, and thence abbreviated into the form of ■. . Alio 

 i was doubled, which formed the long 1, its figure having 

 faithfu'ly preferved the double «> blended into one letter. 

 The early Greeks c'cprelTed the afpirate by the figure H, 

 which the Lstiiis have hence copied: and this letter com- 

 bining with the lah'tals .?, -, gave birth to ; ; \> ilh the 

 gutturals -. , z, to X ; •^ith the dentals '■, r, to ?. Moreover, 

 the fibilan*^ ^ coalefcing with ~, ,?, .', produced i ; nith 

 r., y, Xf produced *; with 7, ^', S, produced f. The alpha- 

 bet of Cadmus was accordingly augmented by the following 

 letters r 1, ? 5 x:. I ■!- ^ The Greeks, wifhing to difplar 

 their own improvements, have dignified tlule compound 

 letters (which in reality are only combinations of tlie fiinple 

 elements,) as the inventions of P.ilamedes in the times of 

 the Trojan war, or of Simonides of Cos, who flourilhed 

 about 800 years before ChrilL See Beut. on Phalaris, 

 p. 241. 



Tliefe eight letters, bv whomfoever fi»rmed, were firft 

 Vol. XVI. 



ANGUAGE. 



received by the Ionian.?, whofe alphabet, confifling of four. 

 and-twenty letters, was called the lonit, in oppofition to the 

 yittic alphjbft, which confided of merely the fixtet-n fimple 

 elements, the Athenians having, with the other llatci of 

 Greece, for a long time rejected the additional l-ttcri. 

 though after the death of Euripides, in the archonniip of 

 Euclid, tliey were admitted by public authority ; and thu» 

 the Greek :jphabet, as we now find it, became the coramua 

 alphabet of all the Greeks. 



Lallly, the Greek language is of Hebrew cxtraAion, 

 becaufe it; roots will, upon examination, appc-ar to have 

 been no other than radicals uf that language. In proof of 

 this alfertion we give the following (liort lill of them as 

 fpecimens. 



^{^, ab orani, (lem, root; hence x-ro, origin, beginning. 

 It means alfo^»^«, youth; hence rpi. n.3N» "*<■• to love; 

 hence r.-ir, , mild. tl"X' "■' ■'> "'^"> °"<^» '■» "■=» foli:s. '^^J^, 

 aia/, to eat, y..:w',, a piece of bread, x''''- > l''^ ''r» X''''i 

 food, j;'""'-> to feed; xiX>», culina, kitchen. r\'^J<> •'^i 

 a>.;i-, K/.^Ti, a>.*;«ik, a>.;ai>x, a>. "^i, to fludy, invent, in- 

 vedigate; 7,^^*, awal, to be languid, feeble, a^aJ.o.-, ten- 

 '^•-'■■> n!2S'> """> ^t^'^'y 'l"^ fiioiilder; T'^y, nnt;n, to \>c 

 true, hence ay., uu-, u'». This word in Hi brew alfo 

 means to defend with fidelity; hence lutm and y^iv-.x'., t* 

 aid, protect; Q'J*,*, arm, j uo , cruel; *{<, a;e, an ifland; 

 hence >:z, the earth; Ti^', ap'.^cn, a wheel; hence x^rr.rr, a 

 wain or carriage; Tiff, ank, to Uretch forward, '-/-,*; 

 P"1{.{, a chrf, t;jio», unm ; V"\)f, arriz, in Chaldecui p"l{s*t 

 earth, to cultivate the earth, hence ?f,'- , -'vi^-jji, in Sy- 

 riac, y ■*,{>, arc; hence ijoi, to plow, ■■'■f.:-r: and iji, 

 terra; 1~\jV, urr, to curfe, hence a^i, x^xnuxi; \^^i\, frc, 

 ■•ryv.^i, a hearth; Hw'X' ^ facrifice, ;,-.»-, to feaft, trzn, 

 to e-jt, UJbi.-o;, Vulcan, is rji'{<3JC, father of fire, or of 

 lacrilic ; ^2> haa, B^-^, to go; H jll> ^''^'''f ?«Vi. to cat ; 

 nQn]^> '"""k -'..uir., a flock; n'^T— > ^""'''i a I'ig'i pl»<^» 

 where an altar was raifed, $^u.'.; an altar; •'2, bfm, to un- 

 derlland, -r.-.v and -c.-.to , prudent; "IT^, burvi, to prar, 

 blels, to rain, ;5»;x^» ^'^ rain, ^^rir, a drop. Hcrce alfo 

 in the fenfe of to fupplicate came .Sj'-fii, the bending of 

 the knee, fupplication. Hence moreo\er jjana^, a covering 

 for the kneo.i, breeches; nji'i S!'"'' y^'t ^'^ gi'J'^-; "^1^, 

 to move raiiiid, tarry, ••.;->i, gyij; "11^2' ""^''•'•'■1 a plit; 

 of abode, u",x;r,i, a refidcnce; "'T, (irn, to contend, to 

 litigate; r-i-.i-, -ju-.a^i-, -J-no.-; p'T, il.rt, a defence -'"XV, » 

 wall; n2"1> tLjma, to fubdue, ox tx. ; "l^p, ti.1, to vene- 

 rate, to celebrate, praife, uSi, asi'i-, to fing, o-iu, to re- 

 verence, iKvx., to exprels; nTI' " "'" ".'-''' " ^'> VMt '^ 

 eutertain, J^w/, a hoft, ?!"vi ; yi*, =uo, to r-.ove, ck- ; 

 ^'\f^, Ibu!, to illumine, an-, in; '*lp, »';i;, a hero, »:;i- , 

 a lord; npHj to be inferior, rrvai ; Ji^JT' •''■■'*'• ^° ftair, 

 tia;..; n*7t2, tuL; a lamb, :xXxr>i , iiti>.-, ; •»», fer, -.- , 

 wine; wxt and oii..>r, a wine-cellar; ny» '^■"t '° a/Eicl, 

 aim, i.i>.i; 7|0' ^'"^ ^° buxn, xxii, it»^ ; pp, Itih, power, 

 x.xi,, xi/v;, i-.tst/i ; jn^"' ^'j' •<> read, to collect, »r;v, Xi-,»„ 

 '■'>'^» ; bnj^i ^^ pollute, ui>.i-, 4,->>Xi-,>-; QT", nyw, 1 (lain, 

 fii-ya;, auvuv., without a ilain, blamclcfs, f.- '/i; , lo ccnfure; 

 p.") ', /i3.-, to inhabit, >ii» ; "liy, aor, to exc.te, oji ; jyir, 

 pke,v/h, to explain, ?;ii^»; ^nV' '""' '° ftiine, !r...,a;, 

 o-'ijiiv.!, to iJiine, s-uew,-, Sirius, e-!.;-, the fun ; 'iV'?, h!,\.ci 

 call, «.•.>.!.; pI1p> '*"■'> to expect, lean upo... .-; P^iri 

 turbi, •■^■'ix, turba, a multitude, alfo ^5;vi^-, a tumult, 

 ^'j=v'i'.x; m*1, rv, f!Ui, ?«>, fi«>J, (»w, fftiAif, to flow, ta 

 water; {CD""- rapha, to repair, to few, to heal; ;»rTi, 

 fjxji--, a needle, fxytot, a clafp; y^J^, _/3.», Txr, to five; 

 T'J*. /•.-/-, JT ;■•>?, (ri.-ijrn, to play on a pipe; '^^p, l-r, 

 to in-.elligMc, contemplate, v'-n, ?!i;-<-; ^'jj?. iJitiin, a 



vip r, THJ.I, ?li«:9.-. 



4.Y Th.'^'e 



