t
lesson in this treates, and may be called the key of orthographie.

OF THE LATINE VOUALES.

Cap. 2.

1. We, as almaest al Europ, borrow our symboles from the Romanes.
Quherforr, to rectefie our aun, first it behoves us to knaw their's.
Thei are in nu_m_ber 23: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, k, l, m, n, o, p, q,
r, s, t, u, x, y, and z.

2. To omit the needless questiones of their order and formes; of them,
five be vouales, ane a noat of aspiration, and all the rest consonantes.

3. A voual is the symbol of a sound maed without the tuiches of the
mouth.

4. They are distinguished the ane from the other be delating and
contracting the mouth, and are a, e, i, o, u.

5. Quhat was the right roman sound of them is hard to judge, seeing now
we heer nae romanes; and other nationes sound them after their aun
idiomes, and the latine as they sound them.

6. But seeing our earand is with our aun britan, we purpose to omit
curiosities, _et_ quae nihil nostra intersunt. Our aun, hou-be it
dialectes of ane tong, differing in the sound of them, differ alsoe in
pronuncing the latine. Quherfoer, to make a conformitie baeth in latine
and English, we man begin with the latine.

7. A, the first of them, the south soundes as beath thei and we sound it
in bare, nudus; and we, as beath thei and we sound it in bar, obex.

8. But without partialitie (for in this earand I have set my compas to
the loadstar of reason), we pronunce it better. If I am heer deceaved,
reason sall deceave me.

9. For we geve it alwaies ane sound beath befoer and behind the
consonant: thei heer ane and ther an other. As in amabant, in the first
tuae syllabes they sound it as it soundes in bare, and in the last as it
sounds in bar. Quherupon I ground this argument. That is the better
sound, not onelie of this, but alsoe of al other letteres, q_uhi_lk is
alwayes ane. But we sound it alwayes ane, and therfoer better. Ad that
their sound of it is not far unlyke the sheepes bae, q_uhi_lk the greek
symbolizes be _eta_ not _alpha_, +be:+ not +ba+. See Eustat. in Homer.

10. Of this letter the latines themselfes had tuae other sounds
differing the ane from the other, and beath from this, quhilk they
symbolized be adding an other voual, ae and au. And these they called
diphthonges.

11. The diphthong they defyne to be the sound of tuae vouales coalescing
into ane sound, quhilk definition in au is plaen, in ae obscurer as now
we pronunce it, for now we soun