6. Heer I see be Barrat, in his Alvearie, that sum wald be at symbolizing these soundes, the ane with the greek diphthong ει, and the other with ᴉ inverted; as, rειd, equitare; bειd, manere; rᴉd, legere; hᴉd, cavere. In this opinion I se an eye of judgement, and therfoer wil not censure it, except I saw the auctour’s whole drift. Onelie for my awn parte I will avoid al novelties, and content my self with the letteres quhilk we have in use. And seeing we have no other use of y distinguished from i, condiscend to the opinion of the south using i for ane, and y for the other.
7. O, we sound al alyk. But of it we have sundrie diphthonges: oa, as to roar, a boar, a boat, a coat; oi, as coin, join, foil, soil; oo, as food, good, blood; ou, as house, mouse, &c. Thus, we commonlie wryt mountan, fountan, quhilk it wer more etymological to wryt montan, fontan, according to the original.
8. In this diphthong we commit a grosse errour, saving better judgement, spelling how, now, and siklyk with w, for if w be (as it sal appear, quhen we cum to the awn place of it) a consonant, it can noe wayes coalesse into a diphthong sound, sik as this out of controversie is.
9. U, the last of this rank, the south, as I have said in the latin sound of it, pronunces eu, we ou, both, in my simple judgement, wrang, for these be diphthong soundes, and the sound of a voual sould be simple. If I sould judge, the frensh sound is neerest the voual sound as we pronunce it in mule and muse.
10. Of it we have a diphthong not yet, to my knawlege, observed of anie; and, for my awn parte, I am not wel resolved neither how to spel it, nor name it. Onelie I see it in this, to bou, a bow. I wait not quhither I sould spel the first buu, or the last boau. As, for exemple, if Roben Hud wer nou leving, he wer not able to buu his aun bou, or to bou his aun boau. And therfoer this with al the rest, hou be it in other I have more for me, I leave to the censure of better judgement.
[ OF CONSONANTES.]
Cap. 4.
1. This for the vouales, and diphthonges made of them without the tuiches of the mouth. Now followe the consonantes.
2. A consonant is a letter symbolizing a sound articulat that is broaken with the tuiches of the mouth.
3. The instrumentes of the mouth, quherbe the vocal soundes be broaken, be in number seven. The nether lip, the upper lip, the outward teeth, the inward teeth, the top of the tongue, the midle tong, and roof of the mouth. Of these, thre be, as it were, hammeres stryking, and the rest stiddies, kepping the strakes of the hammeres.
4. The hammeres are the nether lip, the top of the tongue, and the midle tongue. The stiddies the overlip, the outward teeth, the inward teeth, and the roofe of the mouth.