Note 70 — P H I L O S O P H Y O F L A N G U A G E. (continued 3)
A. J. W. (Alexander James William) Morrison translation
The three primary vowels, according to Bopp and Grimm, are a, i, u, e and o being dipthongal compounds of ai and ao respectively. The former appears from a comparison between the Greek σφαιρα, Latin sphæra, and our sphere; or, again, from Μουσαι, Musæ, pronounced by us Musā; or from the Ionic form ης, of dat. plur. αις. To prove that au gives o, it will be sufficient from many instances to give one:—the Latin pauci, in the Spanish and Italian dialects of the Romance is poco.
The simple alphabet of ten elementary sounds may stand thus:—
Three vowelsa, i, u.
Three consonants p, t, k, or b, d, g in the mediate form, given as by Schlegel.
Three liquidsl, n, r.
Sibilants.—Trans.