jxjLY— SEPT. 1857.] The Study of Living Languages. 
mentary books, without much loss of time, and certainly with much 
less expenditure of time, than by studying in the common ways 
with such books as are already provided ; and Fourthly, that if 
there is no alternative, we must of course begin by learning the Na- 
tive character, but still if we follow out the other parts of the sys- 
tem here proposed, it will be much less a hindrance to him than to 
those who adopt the usuaf means, because he will seldom have to 
read any words but those which he knows, and then the strange cha- 
racter is comparatively a small hindrance. Of course, in applying 
the English character, the vSue of each letter must first be defined, 
as is now fully ^c^ognized as an essential principle, and which, 
is always acted up#n in the Bengal books. The letter, A, for 
instance, has in English seven distinct sounds as in the words, 
half mast, all, many, America, Yacht, make. In all the East In- 
dian languages, the letter which represents the sound of our A, in 
Mast or long A, somewhat modified, represents the sound of our 
A in amuse, or short A, and therefore this letter, with and without 
a long mark over it, should represent these two sounds and be used 
"whenever the corresponding cljaracters are used or implied in the 
foreign word. With respect to the other sounds of it, some are un- 
known in certain languages, as for instance the sounds of that let- 
ter in the words hat and Yacht are unknown in any Asiatic lan- 
guage. No Native Indians can pronounce the words hat and hot, 
but are under the necessity of substituting some other vocal sound 
for them, till they have learnt the true pronunciation. The other 
sounds of it will of course be represented by those English vowels 
which more properly represent them, only taking care, to use the 
same letter to represent the long and short sound, distinguishing 
the former by a long mark over it. Thus the sound of E in Hen, 
and Fete which are properly the same sound pronounced long or 
short, are represented in the Indian languages by modifications of 
the same letter and should therefore both be represented by E. 
With respect to the sounds which are either unknown i* English, 
or not represented by any one English letter, they should either be 
represented by a combination of English letters, if possible, or if 
not by a letter or letters, distinguished by a mark ; as for instance 
one or more dots under them. There are, for instance, four let- 
