1837.] 



Languages and Nations. 



145 



a new dialect, this regularity and consistency is disturbed and broken, 

 Thus we find it in the English language and its dialects ; — and thus we 

 find it, if comparing Sanscrit, Persian, Greek, Latin and German words, 

 which doubtless are identic, but where the changes of vowels are sub- 

 ject to no rule, and vary as much as the colours and hues of flowers 

 transplanted into foreign climes and submitted to different treatments. 



Change of Consonants, 



11. — Those who observe how children, who just begin to speak, form, 

 their sounds, will remark that they, in their attempts to pronounce a 

 consonant, are little guided by the ear, but they appear rather to have a 

 distinct idea by what organs of speech each particular consonant is to be 

 pronounced, and try to pronounce it accordingly. Hence a (German) 

 child whom I requested to say after me, kappe (a cap) said, happe ; — 

 because he was aware that k must be produced by some operation of the 

 throat, but being as yet unacquainted with the mariner of contracting 

 that organ of speech,- produced the simple aspirate h. Many similar 

 remarks I have made with respect to other consonants; and the follow- 

 ing rules are but exemplifications of one general observation. 



Consonants which regularly interchange in different truly cognate 

 Languages and Dialects. 



12. — The labials w, v, b, p,f pf\ but not m, it being of a nature 

 different from the others of this class. — Examples : It is a fact that all 

 words which in Tamul begin with u or o, begin in the Karnataka provin- 

 cial dialects with wu and wo, (or vu and vo), and must in many cases, 

 alsobe written and printed so; just as in the modern English the words, 

 one and once (anciently pronounced in the same manner as on in only) 

 are now pronounced as if written, won, wons. — The Canarese, having 

 once begun a change, carry it regularly through, and pronounce the 

 Tamul v, as b; e.g. Vadugen (fo/'Sssor), in Canarese : Badugen 

 (from Badugu, north). — B in Tamul is p in Canarese ; e. g. kobam 

 is kopa. 



Pf in the dialects of the mountainous parts of Germany, is always 

 pronounced as p in the flat countries ; e. g. pferd is pronounced perd, 

 pard, part, in Nether Saxony. Thus pfennig in German, is penny in 

 English. 



13. — The linguals, th,d,t,s,sh, and tz interchange, but not n; — 

 r and / seldom. 



