Page:A handbook of the Cornish language; Chiefly in its latest stages with some account of its history and literature.djvu/84

Rh before e, i, y has a sound approaching to that of ch in church, or to ti in words ending in tion. Sometimes ch is written and fully pronounced where a t was formerly written. Thus chŷ, house, was formerly ty, and in the eighteenth century tî, thou, was pronounced and often written chee.

17. v is sounded as in English, but is often nearly inaudible at the end of a word, unless the next word begins with a vowel. Thus ev, he, is often written e in later MSS.

18. w, except in compound vowels, is always a consonant, and has the same sound as in English. For its sound before l and r see Compound consonants.

19. y consonant is sounded as y consonant in English, or as j in German. It is always consonant when it precedes a vowel, unless it is written ŷ, when it is a vowel, as in such words as crŷes, tŷak, etc.

20. z is only used as an initial, but it is seldom used at all. The sound is that of an English z.

B. Compound consonants.

1. bm, dn represent respectively the sound of m and n after a short vowel in an accented syllable or monosyllable (see m, n). There is no vowel sound between the two letters.

2. ch is always sounded as in church. It usually represents a former t, or else occurs in borrowed English words.

3. dh is sounded as th in thy, the, etc., the Welsh dd, the Old English and Icelandic ð, the Modern Greek δ. In the MSS. it is represented by th or ʒ. Lhuyd writes it ꝺ.