The sound given to y is somewhat singular. In Danish it has a vowel power. In German the semivowel sound is spelt with j.
The sound given to z is not the sound which it has in German and Italian; but its power in English is convenient and correct.
The sound given to ch in chest is singular. In other languages it has generally a guttural sound; in French that of
sh. The English usage is more correct than the French, but less correct than the German.
The sound given to j (as said before) is singular.
II.) The historical propriety of certain letters.—The use of i with a diphthongal power is not only singular and inconvenient, but also historically incorrect. The Greek iota, from whence it originates, has the sound of i and ee, as in pit and feet.
The y, sounded as in yet, is historically incorrect. It grew out of the Greek υ, a vowel, and no semivowel. The Danes still use it as such, that is, with the power of the German ü.
The use of j for dzh is historically incorrect.
The use of c for k in words derived from the Greek, as mechanical, ascetic, &c., is historically incorrect. The form c is the representative of γ and σ and not of the Greek kappa.
In remodelling alphabets the question of historical propriety should be recognized. Other reasons for the use of a particular letter in a particular sense being equal, the historical propriety should decide the question. The above examples are illustrative, not exhaustive.