( ? 8 5 )
Numbers in the Hebrew , Greek , Arabick , &c. Languages, for thoughthere may be Two or Three of the Single Strokes joyn’d together into aCompound Character, it hindere not, but that it may still Signify a Letter ,as in the Greek A. A. a. I. r. n. T; In the Runick, where every Letter hathOne Uprighr Line and some other Additional Marks ; In the Roman I. L.F. E. O- V. Y. Or it may signify a Sjllable as in the t /Etbiopick, andin the Hanßrit , and Sunscrit LangUages and Charablers ; The Eirfi of whichbcing the Brackmans Character we sind in P. K irchers China lllujlrata, de-fcribed by P. Roth, who studyed it 7 Years} and the Second (being a Lt-teral Chareäer used over all India by the Merchants) I havescen in a Trans-cript broughc lately out of India by a very worthy Gentleman, who Livedthere many Years, and had the Curiosity to caule to be Transcrib’d andTranflatcd also into Enghßi, a Dictionary of their Language in thcir ownCharacter.
In which Charaden or Ways of Writing a Voivel is always ioyn’d with aConsonant into one Compound CharaCter to make it Effable. And then theSingle Strokes may be taken for Single ineffable Letten , as are the Consonanti,and the Composition of Two or Three (of which one at least may be aVowel) will mak eSyllables.
Of this Kind, there are not so many in the whole Chinese Chat all er, butthat it will be eafy enough to allign each a Proper Monojyüable , which (hallhaveonly One or Two Consonanti, and One or Two V^weli: That is theConsnants together and not separate, either both before the Vc-welox Voovels,is it it be a Diphthong , or both After it or them.
Ot this Kind I understand there are about 500, probably S x 8 x 8, oryi 2.I could Enumerate a greac many, and gtve you also the Name or Words bywhich thty are Pronounced as also their Signisications. But (as I säid before)First, I conceive the present Chinese Language to have no Affiniry at all withthe Charalltr, the TruePrimitive, or First Language, or Pronunciation ofit, having been lost. And Stcondly, I want some further Help to make aFüll and Compleat Discovtry.
The 3^. sort of Charaden isa Decompwnded sort, being madeup of Two,Three, or more of thole of the Second Kind, Dimimsht proportionably intheir Size, either as to their Length, or Breadth, or both, from what theyhave in the some Writing when they are Single, and fill up the whole LetterSquareot Words Square. For there being (everal of them to bt Crouded to-gether within the some Square , according as they are more in number, sothey are always more Squeez’d together. In this Decompound sort, there isa Regulär Order oblerv'd in the Placing of the several Charablers of the 2 d.sort; their being some that are always on the LeftSide, some always on theRight, some at the Top, some at the Battom. Ot which I doubc not butthat they have a certain Regulär Method, which had we Dictionaries Ex-plain’d would be eafy enough to be discover’d.
This Method alone of Crouding together All the Charablers (how many soever go to make up the Decompounded CharaÜer) into one Square, (which isof the Same Size for the most Simple and for themost Compound) soemsto beVol. III. Ddd the