- 
1799.] Propartion of Vowels and Confunants in different Languages.  & 
though it has fo greatly diminifhed the 
faleable value of property therein purchafed 
at a former period, contributes much to 
increafe the income of thofe who inveft 
~ money in thefe fecurities at prefent, by the 
great intereft they make on it. Now, as 
the government poflefles no revenue but 
what is drawn from the people, whatever 
it pays to one defcription of men, muft 
(principally at leaft) be drawn from others; 
and thus the additional income acquired 
by monied men, by taking advantage of 
the neceffities of the ftate, is, in fact, a 
portion of the income of their le{s affluent 
tellow-citizens, which is transferred to 
them through the medium of the govern- 
ment, and which, in a much greater pro- 
portion than it increafes their wealth, mutt 
render thofe poorer from whom it is drawn. 
The natural tendency of the increafe of the 
debt is therefore evidently to produce a 
ftill greater difparity than at pre(ent fub- 
filts in the condition of the different clafies 
of the community, by increafing the wealth 
of the rich, preventing. the advancement of 
the middle clafs, and diminifhing, or rather 
annihilating, the few remaining comforts 
of the poor. 
Fan. 95 1799+ J. J. GRELLIER. 
ee 
To the Editor of the Mouthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
N looking into the new edition of Cham- 
bers’s Cyclopzdia, fometime ago, I 
eafually met with a remark upon a fub- 
ject, which had relation to language, 
wherein the Wel/fh and the Dutch were 
pointed out, as abounding more with con- 
fonants, than moft, if not all of the Euro- 
pean tongues. I well knew that fuch a 
ftatement was proverbial, as a vulgar pre- 
judice; but I became a little angry, at 
finding it had obtained a place in one of 
the firft philofophical diftionaries of the 
prefent age; and, not being able to efface 
the impreflion from my mind, I had re- 
courfe to the finding a tolerably exa& 
arithmetical certainty, as to the fallacy of 
fuch an obfervation. The method, adopt- 
ed as the moft eligible, was to fix upon 
the mean number of vowels to a hundred 
cenfenants, in different languages; and 
to exhibit the refult inatable. As the 
conclufion, to be drawn from it, tends to 
eftablifh a point, if not of importance, at 
leaft of fome curiofity, you may be induc- 
ed, Sir, to give it ifertion, in your yva- 
Juable repofitory, 
Proportion of Vowels and Confonants. 

Vowels, Confonants, 
Welfh 00 — 100 
Greek 95 seme 100 


_ Vowels. . Confonants, 
Spanifh 92 —-——= 100 
Italian 88 roo 
Latin 86 ———- 100 
French 73 -——— 100 
German 74 ———- 109 
Dutch 66 ———{ 100 
Englith 61 100 
As the French, and the Englith, differ 
fo confiderably, in pronunciation, from 
what they appear in orthography, the fol- 
lowing comparifon fhews the reduced 
numbers of the vowels and the confo~ 


nants : Wes fol 
French 67 85 
Englith 56 $4. 
The Englith is very variable, with re- 
{pest to the proportion of vowels and con- 
fonants: that of the confonants is much 
greater in the {cripture,ftyle, than in ele- 
gant writing, and more efpecially that 
which is {cientific, from, its contaming 
more words derived: from the learned lan- 
guages. Inthe bible, the compafs of the 
variation, in the number of vowels, is ge- 
nerally from about 68 to 50; but the me- 
dium may be fettled at 56 to a 100 confo- 
nants. In polifhed writing, the medium 
number of vowels may be fixed at 66; and 
the mean between the two ftyles will be 
61, the number inferted in the foregoing 
table. ; 
The compafs of variation in the Greek 
is confiderable. Ihave found 150 vowels 
to 100 confonants ; and frequently as low 
as 86. The other languages are pretty. 
clofe to the average number, given in the 
table: the Welth feldom deviates three 
vowels from the mean number. 
Having brought forward the above cal- 
' culation, in defence of the Welfhlanguage ; 
and as it completely falfifies the popular 
opinion, I may be excufed, if I fhould, in 
the moment of triumph, recount fome other 
excellencies, which are to be found in it. 
The following enumeration will give 
fome idea of its copioufnefs, with refpect 
tothe compofition of words: it has feven 
prefixes ; it has eleven terminations of 
verbs in the infinitive mood; fifty-four 
terminations of nouns: nineteen of ad- 
jectives ; twenty-one plurals ; and njne di- 
minutive terminations. 
This gives a total of compofitive pare 
ticles, greater than that of all the other 
languages, in the above table, if they were 
put together. In the Welfi they are ge- 
neral in their application too, of which 
there is nothing fimilar in the others ; but 
what is more than ail, they are real words, 
either nouns.or verbs, in their uncon- 
nected ftate; and fuch another example, I 
‘ may 
