In accommodating the Greek alphabet to their own language, the Latins recognised the following principles:—
I. The ejection of such letters as were not wanted. Thus it was that the seventh letter (zayn, zæta) was thrown out of the alphabet, and the new letter, g, put in its place. Subsequently, z was restored for the sake of spelling Greek words, but was placed at the end of the alphabet. Thus also it was, that thæta, kappa (c being equivalent to k), and the fifteenth letter, were ejected, while ψ and χ were never admitted. In after-times the fifteenth letter (now xi) was restored, for the same reason that z was restored, and, like z, was placed at the end of the alphabet.
II. The use of the imported letters with a new power. Hence the sixth letter took the sound, not of v or w, but of f; and the eighth of h.
Beyond this the Romans made but slight alterations. In ejecting kappa, thæta and chi, they did mischief. The same in changing the power of c. The representation of φ by ph, and of θ by th was highly erroneous. The retention of x and q was unnecessary. V and j, two letters whereby the alphabet was really enriched, were mere modifications of u and i respectively. Y also seems a modification of v.
Neither the Latin, Greek, nor Hebrew orthographies were much warped to etymological purposes.
It should be observed, that in the Latin the letters have no longer any names (like beth, bæta), except such as are derived from their powers (be, ce).
It may now be seen that with a language containing such sounds as the th in thin and thine, and the ch in the German auch, it is to their advantage to derive their alphabet from the Greek; whilst, with a language containing such sounds as h and v, it is to their advantage to derive it from the Latin.
It may also be seen, that, without due alterations and
additions, the alphabet of one country will not serve as the alphabet of another.
[§ 263]. The Mœso-Gothic alphabet.—In the third century the classical alphabets were applied to a Gothic language. I use the word alphabets because the Mœso-Gothic letters borrowed from both the Latin and the Greek. Their form and order may be seen in Hickes' Thesaurus and in Lye's Grammar. With the Greek they agree in the following particulars.