ALPHABET. 
All the alphabets extant are charged by 
Bishop Wilkins with great irregularities, 
with respect both to order, number, power, 
figure, &c. 
As to the order, it appears (says he) in- 
artificial, precarious, and confused, as the 
vowels and consonants are not reduced into 
classes, with such order of precedence and 
subsequence as their natures will bear. Of 
this imperfection the Greek alphabet, which 
is one of the least defective, is far from 
being free : for instance, the Greeks should 
have separated the consonants from the 
vowels ; after the vowels they should have 
placed the dipthongs, and then the conso- 
nants; whereas in fact, the order is so per- 
verted that we find the o/uixgov the fifteenth 
letter, in order of the alphabet, and the 
wfj.cfa, or long o, the twenty-fourth and last, 
the f the fifth, and the >t the seventh. 
With respect to number, they are both 
redundant and deficient ; redundant, by al- 
lotting the same sound to several letters, as 
in the latin c and k, f and ph ; or by reckon- 
ing double letters among the simple ele- 
ments of speech, as in the Greek f and -j., 
the Latin q or cu, x or ex, and the j conso- 
nant; deficient in many respects, particu- 
larly with regard to vowels, of which seven 
or eight kinds are commonly used, though 
the Latin alphabet takes notice only of five. 
Add to this, that the difference among them, 
with regard to long and short, is not suffi- 
ciently provided against. 
The powers, again, are not more exempt 
from confusion ; the vowels, for instance, 
are generally acknowledged to have each of 
them several different sounds ; and among 
the consonants we need only bring as evi- 
dence of their different pronunciation, the 
letter c in the word circa, and g in the word 
negligence. Hence it happens, that some 
words are differently written, though pro- 
nounced in the same manner, as cessio and 
sessio ; and others are different in pronun- 
ciation, which are the same in writing, as 
give, dare, and give, vinculum. 
Finally, the figures are but ill-concerted, 
there being nothing in the characters of the 
vowels answerable to the different manner of 
pronunciation ; nor in the consonants analo- 
gous to their agreements or disagreements. 
Alphabets of different nations vary in the 
number of their constituent letters. The 
English alphabet contains twenty-four let- 
ters, to which if j and v consonants are ad- 
ded, the sum will be twenty-six ; the French, 
twenty-three ; the Hebrew, Chaldee, Syriac, 
and Samaritan, twenty-two each ; s the Ara- 
bic, twenty-eight ; the Persian, thirty-one; 
the Turkish, thirty-three; the Georgian, 
thirty-six ; the Coptic, thirty-two ; the Mus- 
covite, forty-three; the Greek, twenty-four; 
the Latin, twenty-two ; the Sclavonic, 
twenty-seven; the Dutch, twenty-six; the 
Spanish, twenty-seven ; the Italian, twenty ; 
the Ethiopic, as well as Tartarian, two hun- 
dred and two ; the Indians of Bengal, twen- 
ty-one; the Baramos, nineteen; the Chi- 
nese, properly speaking, have no alpabet, 
except we call their whole language their 
alphabet : their letters are Words, or rather 
hieroglyphics, and amount to about 80,000. 
If alphabets had been constructed by able 
persons, after a full examination of the sub- 
ject, they would not have been filled with 
such contradictions between the manner of 
writing and reading, as we have shewn above, 
nor with those imperfections that evidently 
appear in the alphabets of every nation. 
Mr. Lodowick, however, and Bishop Wil- 
kins, have endeavoured to obviate all these, 
in their universal alphabets or characters* 
See Character. 
It is no wonder that the number of letter* 
in most languages should be so small, and 
that of words so great, since it appears that 
allowing only 24 letters to an alphabet, the 
different words or combinations that may- 
be made out of them, taking them first one 
by one, then two by two, &c. &c. would 
amount to the following number : — 1391 , 
724288, 887252, 999425, 128493, 4022000. 
See Combination. It must be admitted 
nevertheless, that the condition that every 
syllable must contain at least one vowel, 
would modify this number in the way of 
denomination; but on the other hand the 
combinations in polysyllabic words would 
operate the contrary way. 
Many learned authors have composed 
inquiries into the origin of alphabetic writ- 
ing, and not a few have referred the inven- 
tion to the immediate inspiration of God. 
Nevertheless it appears to be a very simple 
and direct improvement of the heiroglyphic 
art. Sensible objects are depicted in out- 
lines by children, and most rude nations ; 
and, as in the construction of languages, so 
in this writing by figures, substantives will 
come to be used adjectively, to denote rela- 
tions or qualities. As words become more 
complex and less perfect by the use of ab- 
stractions, so likewise must the hieroglyphic 
pictures become combined and imperfect, 
and at length must have denoted things 
very different from any object capable of 
being delineated : and among other conse- 
