76 R. H. MATHEWS. 



Orthography. 

 Eighteen letters of the English alphabet are sounded, 

 comprising thirteen consonants — b, d, g, h, k, Z, m, n, p, 1% 

 i, w % y — and five vowels — a, e, i, o, it. 



The system of orthoepy adopted is that recommended by 

 the circular issued by the Royal Geographical Society, 

 London, with the following qualifications : — 



It is frequently difficult to distinguish between the short 

 sound of a and u. A thick sound of i is occasionally met 

 with, which closely resembles the short sound of u or a. 



As far as possible, vowels are unmarked, but in some 

 instances the long sound of a, e, and u are indicated thus, 

 a, e, u. In a few cases the short sound of u has been 

 marked thus, ii. 



G is hard in all cases. R has a rough, trilled sound, as 

 in hurrah ! W always commences a syllable or word. 



Ng at the beginning of a word or syllable as ngu in ngu-ya, 

 a camp, has a peculiar sound, which can be got very closely 

 by putting u before it, as ungu\ and then articulating it as 

 one syllable. At the end of a syllable it has substantially 

 the sound of ng in " sing." 



The sound of the Spanish n is frequent ; at the beginning 

 of a word or syllable I have given it as ny, but when ter- 

 minating a word the Spanish letter is used. Y at the 

 beginning of a word or syllable has its ordinary consonant 

 value. 



Dh is pronounced nearly as th in " that," with a slight 

 sound of d preceding it. Nh has also nearly the sound of 

 th in " that," but with an initial sound of the n. A final 

 h is guttural, resembling ch in the German word joch. 



T is interchangeable with d, p with b, and g with fc, in 

 most words where these letters are employed. Ty and dy 

 at the commencement of a word or syllable have nearly 



