day; which he did accordingly. Now, because his discourse seems
evidently to discover the vanity of this pretence, that the Hebrew
vowels are an arbitrary invention from their number, I have here
inserted it: —
. . J •,, (Simple. Vowels.
Apert sounds are either -St^ Vi -rv- i i
(Double. Diphthongs.
1. Apei't simple sounds are distinguishable ■< . ., •',.
(1.) The formal difference is that which doth constitute several letters, and must depend upon the various apertion required to the making of them, together with the gravity or acuteness of the tone which is made by them; according to which there are at least eight simple vowels, that are by us easily distinguishable, namely, —
1. ) -p (magis acutum : as in he, me, she, ye, etc.
2. > (mi, us acutum: as the English, the; the Latin, me, te, se, etc.
3. I or Y, which are both to be accounted of one power and sound. Shi,
di ; thy, my. 4. 1 . C magis apertuni. All, tall, gall, wall. 5. ) i minus apertum. Ale, tale, gale, wale. 6. ) Q (rotundum, minus grave: as the English, go, so, no ; the Latin, do.
7. j ( magis grave et pingue: as the English, do, to, who.
8. U as in tu, use, us, etc.
So many apert simple sounds there are evidently distinguishable: I would be loath to say that there neither are nor can be any more ; for who knows how many other minute differences of apertion and gravity may be now used, or here- after found out by others, which practice and custom may make as easy to them as these are to us?
(2.) But besides this formal difference, they are some of them accidentally dis- tinguishable from one another, with reference to the quantity of time required to
' " Literas semper arbitror Assyrias fuisse, sed alii apud Egyptios a Mercuric, ut Gellius; alii apud Tyros repertas volant: utique in Grseciam intulisse e Phoenice Cadmum sexdecim numero, quibus Trojano bello adjecisse quatuor hac figura ^l <p x- Palimedem totidem, post eum Simonidem Melicum % n ■^ a, quarum omnium vis in nostris cognoscitux-." — Plinius Nat. Hist. lib. vii. cap. Ivi. qute quis in vita invenerit.
« Dr Wilkins, ward, of Wad. Col. : [afterwards bishop of Chester, and author of a celebrated " Essay towards a Real Character and Philosophical Language." On account of his literary pursuits in this direction, Owen seems to have appealed to him as an authority in the present instance. A complete and more accurate classification of sounds will be found in certain recent works. See a list of authors on the subject in the ap- pendix to the " Essentials of Phonetics," by Ellis. — Ed.]
396 INTEGRITY AND PURITY OF THE HEBREW AND GREEK TEXT.
their prolation, whereby the same vowel becomes sometimes long [and sometimes]
short: —
o -ri • i. (Long. Mete, steme.
bo ill mm. acut i o., ,-■
(fehort. Met, stem.
Y (L. Alive, give, drive, title, thine.
(S. Live, give, driven. J^~ i. e., tittle, thin.
A „• .A (L. Bate, hate, cate, same, dame — ae.
A mm. apert. A ... < „ -r, , '
( fe. iiat, hat, cat, sum, dam.
O.J (L. One, none, note, etc. — oevcloa,.
rotund 1 o /-> / t x
( o. One (non Lat.), not.
jT (L, U.se, tune, pule, acute. ue.
( S. Us, tun, pull, cut.
The other remaining vowels, namely, E magis acut., A magis apert., and O
magis grave, do not change their quantities, but are always long.
2. Diphthongs are made of the complexion of two vowels in one syllable,
where the sounds of both are heard. These are : —
1. Ei, ey Hei, Lat. They.
2. Ea Eat, meat, seat, teat, yea, plea.
3. Eu, ew Heu, Lat. Few, dew.
4. Ai, ay Aid, said, pay, day.
5. Au, aw Audience, author, law, draw.
6. Oi, oy Point, soil, boy, toy.
7. On, ow Rout, stout, how, now.
8. Ui, uy Bui, juice.
9. Eo Yeoman, people.
How other diphthongs (which have been used) may be significant for the ex- pression of long vowels, see noted above.
There is, then, very little weight to be ventured upon the strength of this objection.
7. It is further pleaded, Proleg. 8, sect. 46, that the ancient trans- lations,— the Greek, the Chaldee, and the Syriac, — do manifest that at the time of their composing the points were not invented, and that because in sundry places it is evident that they read otherwise, or the words with other points (I mean as to the force and sound, not figure of them) than those now affixed. For this purpose, very many instances are given us out of the Septuagint, especially by Cappellus ; Grotius also takes the same course. But neither is this objection of any force to turn the scale in the matter under consideration. Some- what will, in the close of this discourse, be spoken of those transla- tions. The differences that may be observed in them, especially in the former, would as well prove that they had other consonants, — that is, that the copies they used had other letters and words, — than ours, as other vowels ; yea, if we must suppose that where they differ from our present reading they had other and better copies, it is most certain that we must grant ours to be very corrupt. " Hoc Ithacus vellet." Nor can this inference be avoided, as shall, God willing, be further manifested, if occasion be administered. The truth is, the present copies that we have of the Septuagint do in many places so vary from