| We find | p and h | in the words | haphazard, upholder. |
| — | b and h | — | abhorrent, cub-hunting. |
| — | f and h | — | knife-handle, offhand. |
| — | v and h | — | stave-head. |
| — | d and h | — | adhesive, childhood. |
| — | t and h | — | nuthook. |
| — | th and h | — | withhold. |
| — | k and h | — | inkhorn, bakehouse. |
| — | g and h | — | gig-horse. |
| — | s and h | — | race-horse, falsehood. |
| — | z and h | — | exhibit, exhort. |
| — | r and h | — | perhaps. |
| — | l and h | — | well-head, foolhardy. |
| — | m and h | — | Amherst. |
| — | n and h | — | unhinge, inherent, unhappy. |
Now in certain languages the true aspirates are of common occurrence, i.e., sounds like the t in nuthook, the ph in haphazard, &c., are as frequent as the sounds of p, b, s, &c. In the spelling of these sounds by means of the English we are hampered by the circumstance of th and ph being already used in a different sense.
CHAPTER IV.
EUPHONY; THE PERMUTATION AND THE TRANSITION OF LETTERS.
[§ 224]. 1. Let there be two syllables, of which the one ends in m, and the other begins with r, as we have in the syllables num- and -rus of the Latin word numerus.
2. Let an ejection of the intervening letters bring these two syllables into immediate contact, numrus. The m and r form an unstable combination. To remedy this there is a tendency (mark, not an absolute necessity) to insert an intervening sound.
In English, the form which the Latin word numerus takes is number; in Spanish, nombre. The b makes no part of the original word, but has been inserted for the sake of euphony; or, to speak more properly, by a euphonic process. The word euphony is derived from εὖ (well), and φώνη (fônæ, a voice). The province of euphony has not been very accurately determined.
[§ 225]. In the word number, nombre, the letter inserted was b; and for b being the particular letter employed, there is a reason derived from the system of articulate sounds.