April — sept. 1859.] On the Power of the Letter p. 7 



that the corresponding surd of the remaining ' n' (ear) is likewise 

 a 4 t,' and that its power corresponds with the power of «w\ 



6. A new consideration is afforded in the direction of No. 2 

 above by the etymological formation of words expressing the 

 lower numerals. 



In each of these numeral words from * one' up to 4 ten' we have 

 the combination of a root, and a termination ; this termination 

 being in every instance, excepting in jswm^ * four/ and possibly 

 also in cr(X£, « seven,' some modification of the syllable 4 tu.' 



These forms are divided between the dental ^ the cerebral ® , 

 and onr crucial syllable j» : the radical form, as we gather from 

 other analogies, being the first of these three, namely j?. Thus, 

 we have the dental form, with its hard sound, in ujg^gj 4 ten ;' with 

 its soft sound in fQjsjp 4 five ;' and with its aspirated sound in 

 epesru^i 4 nine.' Similarly we have the cerebral form, with its 

 hard sound in eriLQ ' eight ;' and with its soft sound in gD/ra&r® 

 4 two.' The third form, namely «gz/, is found with its soft sound 

 in gpek^i 1 three,' and — shall it be called its aspirated sound ? — 

 in 4 six.' 



Here also, inasmuch as the terminal syllable in all these in- 

 stances is the modification of their original ja 9 influenced in each 

 case by the character of the last letter of the preceding root-sylla- 

 ble, there seems presumptive grounds for concluding that the jp 

 forms in these numeral-words, have some * tu' power equally with 

 the © and & forms ; and that, consequently, our p again belongs 

 to the * t' family. 



7. It may be well to add here that on the supposition that the 

 trilled sound is the proper pronunciation of p, the alone among 

 the nasal letters stands without a corresponding surd : for a trilled 

 sound is semi-vocalic, and our p would then have to be classed, 

 not with the surds, as it always has been, but amongst the semi- 

 vowel group. 



8. Finally, the only corresponding surd that an 4 n' of any 

 power can admit of is a 4 1' of similar power softened euphonically 

 into 4 d.' Since, therefore, p is unquestionably everywhere treated 

 as the surd corresponding with «5r, how can this letter but be re- 

 garded as a * t' of the power of this efr, and also of e& ? 



