Note 125 — Fabre d’Olivet

It can be seen that I have placed in the word Stesi[`c]horus, an accent grave over the consonant c, and it will be noticed that I have used it thus with respect to many similar words. It is a habit I have contracted in writing, so as to distinguish, in this manner, the double consonant ch, in the foreign words, or in their derivatives, when it should take the guttural inflexion, in place of the hissing inflexion which we ordinarily give to it. Thus I accent the [`c] in Chio, [`c]hœur, [`c]horus, é[`c]ho, [`c]hlorose, [`c]hiragre, [`c]hronique, etc.; to indicate that these words should be pronounced Khio, khœur, khorus, ékho, khlorose, khiragre, khronique, with the aspirate sound of k, and not with that of the hissing c, as in Chypre, chaume, échope, chaire, etc. This accentuation has appeared to me necessary, especially when one is obliged to transcribe in modern characters many foreign words which, lacking usage, one knows not, at first, how to pronounce. It is, after all, a slight innovation in orthography, which I leave to the decision of the grammarians. I only say that it will be very difficult for them, without this accent, or any other sign which might be used, to know how one should pronounce with a different inflexion, A[`c]haïe and Achéen; Achille and A[`c]hilleïde; Achêron and a[`c]hérontique; Bac[`c]hus and bachique, etc.