from the Oros EAλnixè, a language moreover which Herodotus calls γλῶσσα βάρβαρος, this same γλῶσσα βάρβαρος must have been spoken by the Athenians themselves. But, in c. 56. he had re ferred the Athenians to the Ovos EAAHNIKON. And, if the Hellenes spake a different language from the Pelasgi, how was it pos. sible to rank the Athenians, as well among the former, as among the latter? To this question Herodotus answers, To 'ATTIXÒ Oy, ἐὸν ΠΕΛΑΣΓΙΚΟΝ, ἅμα τῇ μεταβολῇ τῇ ἐς Ἕλληνας καὶ τὴν ΓΛΩΣΣΑΝ METEμal. Now a whole nation, all at once forgetting its former language and learning a new one, is a phænomenon of which history affords no example. The μεταβολὴ ἐς Ἕλληνας as Herodotus calls it, was a change only in name. It was nothing more than μεταβολὴ ἐς ὄνομα Ελληνικόν : for a change of inhabitants at Athens, in consequence of any conquest by the Hellenes, which alone could have produced such a change in the language there, is a thing of which we have never heard. But Herodotus himself has elsewhere informed us, that the Athenians frequently changed their name. He says (Lib. VIII. c. 44.) 'Αθηναῖοι δέ ἐπὶ μὲν Πελασ γῶν ἐχόντων τὴν νῦν Ἑλλάδα καλεομένην, ἔσαν Πελασγοί, οὔνομαζόμενοι Κραναοί· ἐπὶ δὲ Κέκροπος βασιλῆος, ἐπεκλήθησαν Κεκροπίδαι· ἐκδεξαμένου δὲ Ερεχθῆος τὴν ἀρχὴν, ̓Αθηναῖοι μετωνομάσθησαν· Ἴωνος δὲ τοῦ Ξούθου στρα πάρχει γενομένου Αθηναίοισι, ἐκλήθησαν ἀπὸ τούτου ΙΩΝΕΣ. Consistently with this last term Herodotus (Lib. I. c. 56.) had referred the Athenians to the yévos 'INNIKON, as he referred the Lacedæmonians to the γένος ΔΩΡΙΚΟΝ. And as he did not think it necessary to suppose, that the Lacedæmonians had changed their language, because they belonged to the Ovos Пay, the circumstance that the Athenians belonged likewise to the os hoyxor afforded no reason to suppose a change of language on their part. In short the whole confusion on this subject was occasioned by making a distinction between two names, which belonged to the same thing, and then arguing, as frequently happens, from a nominal to a real distinction. It must be observed, however, in justice to Hero. dotus, that he himself has spoken with some hesitation in regard to his own conclusion. After his appeal to the Crestonians, in proof of the position, that the yλŵσσa Пλασyin was different from the γλῶσσα Ελληνική, he prefaces his conclusion about the change of language by the Athenians with the words, εἰ τοίνυν ἦν καὶ ΠΑΝ τοιοῦτον τὸ Πελασγικόν. Now it has been already shewn that the whole Pelasgic nation could not have been such, as the Crestonians were in the time of Herodotus. The condition therefore fails, without which, as Herodotus himself admits, his conclusion cannot be valid." P. 27.

Another proof is cited from Herodotus himself, who asserts, ΙΙ. 52. ΘΕΟΥΣ προσωνόμασαν σφεας ἀπὸ τοῦ τοιούτου, ὁτὶ κόσμῳ ΘΕΝΤΕΣ τὰ πράγματα. After this evidence not only of their words, but of their mode of deriving those words, there can be little doubt that the Pelasgi spoke Greek. Another argument

is deduced from the Latin language, which was derived from, Greece through the intervention of the Pelasgi from Arcadia, -nnder Evander, for which we have the authority of Livy, Tacitus, and Pliny. The next point which Dr. Marsh proves, is the identity of the Pelasgic and Æolic dialects: we have not room to follow him through all the evidence which he adduces on this occasion, but it appears to us incontestible. The great proof, however, of their connection is their usage of the celebrated Digamma. And this brings us to the third chapter, in which the various inscriptions are examined in which it still exists, and an examination is made into the principle of its application.

To those who still doubt the existence of this letter, we, recommend the study of this chapter. In the tablet discovered near the scite of Petilia, a town of the Bruttii, where the Pelasgi settled, we find OIKIAN distinctly engraved FOIKIAN. The testimony of the Delian inscription is too well known to require mention. The inscription on the helmet found by Mr. Moritt in the Alpheus, near Olympia, where the Æolic was originally spoken, is most curious: as the ingenuity and acuteness of Dr. Marsh in decyphering it, appear in so prominent a point of view, we shall extract it for the amusement of our readers.

"Some of the letters of the first word being effaced, we can only conjecture what it was: but as it was evidently some proper name in the plural number, and as it is of no importance to our present inquiry what that proper name was, I shall confine myself to the words, in which we must seek for the Digamma. These are, when written, continua serie, as on the helmet,

ΑΝΕΘΕΝΤΟΙ ΔΙΓΙ.

Now we are hardly at liberty to argue, as if any of these letters were effaced, for in the very description, which is given in the Classical Journal, it is said, "the surface of all that remains is per"fectly preserved, and the letters are deeply impressed, so that "every line is distinctly visible, as it was originally formed." We must read therefore, without any attempt at correction, ANE EN TOI AIFI, that is áribeca T A, posuerunt Jovi. The contraction of ANEOEZAN to ANEOEN, where room was so much wanted, cannot excite our surprise. It is true, that the contraction would not have been allowable even in such a case, had it been contrary to the practice of the Greeks at other times. But the writers on the Greek dialects assuré us that it was not.. In the Port Royal Greek Grammar, p. 200. we find ca Boot. 9; and the Bootians used the Eolic dialect, as well as the Olympians. In p. 39. of the Synopsis Dialectorum, at the end of Scapula's Lexicon, bev pro ioa is given also as a Doric form. And Maittaire (p. 309. ed. Sturz.) refers to Pindar Pyth. III. 114. for rider, instead of itiboar. If on the other hand we so divide the words as to

write ANE ENTO, we militate against the usual practice of the Greeks: for in such inscriptions they used the active, not the middle voice, as appears from the three inscriptions, of which Herodotus has given a copy, Lib. V. c. 69, 70, 71." P. 62.

Dr. Marsh vindicates the existence of the digamma in A, from the Latin Divus. The Elean inscription, of which a copy is given in the Museum Criticum, Vol. I. p. 356. contains also the most curious and convincing specimens of the digamma. This inscription also confirms the opinion, that in many instances the words now beginning with an aspirated P began in old Eolic with FP, though the late Æolians began such words with BP. It is clear, however, that the Pelasgi used the aspirate, as, the Latin hora from pa clearly shews. If any scepticism on the part of our readers should still exist, we would refer them to the marble from Orchomenus, which is now to be seen in the Museum of Lord Elgin.

e,

It is remarkable that the Greek numerals proceed in the fol-lowing order: a, 6, v, d, ε, 5, 4, n, 0, 1, &c. clearly derived from the order of the alphabet. From whence then comes the s for 6 The existence of another letter in the old alphabet must be inferred from this circumstance, and this letter must have been the digamma; for the form E for six, now may be seen in the Codex Beza, Mark xv. 33. It appears also to exist for the same number in certain coins; and in an inscription discovered at Heraclea that CETOΣ is used for ros, a word in which the existence of the digamma is acknowledged. This form of the digamma has also been found in various coins, &c. It is also remarkable that in the Samaritan alphabet the sixth letter was double gamal, so the sixth letter in the Greek alphabet was a double gamma. It is to be remembered also that its correspondent F, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet—an alphabet clearly derived from the Pelasgic.

·66

sa

It is impossible for us to give, within our short limits, any adequate idea of the ingenuity and learning displayed in the fourthand last chapter; which Dr. Marsh with great modesty calls, an attempt to determine the original Pelasgic pronunciation of the digamma." The sum of his opinion upon this point is, that the Greek F corresponded with the Latin F, as the Greek V did with the Latin V. Dr. Marsh combats with considerable success, the grammarians, and others, who suppose that the digamma is always to be pronounced as V. He produces fifty instances where the Latin F is the representative of the Greek F, as dunia, Fouxía, familia, &c. We shall not follow the Professor through all his proofs, but shall extract what appears to us one of the most ingenious.

"But

"But if the Digamma was pronounced like F, why was it called Vau? Does not this very name imply, that it was pronounced like V? Priscian himself, in the place where he says that the Di gamma was pronounced like the Latin V (ap. Putsch. p. 545.) adds, Unde a plerisque ei nomen hoc datur, quod apud Eoles habuit olim F Digamma, id est VAV, ab ipsius voce profectum, teste Varrone et Didymo, qui id ei nomen esse ostendunt. That the Digamma was called VAV, may be readily granted: but the inference deduced by Priscian, when he says, VAV ab ipsius voce profectum, may be disputed. Varro, who was a Roman, wrote it as Priscian did, Didymus, who was a Greek grammarian of the fourth cen tury, must have written it Bau, as it is written by Marius Victorinus, who says, (ap. Putsch. p. 2468.) vocarique Bav et Digamma, and as it is still written by the Greeks of the present day, who pronounce it however as we should pronounce Vaf, the v being considered as a consonant, and B being pronounced like V, whence the coincidence between the Latin VAV and the modern Greek Bau. But we cannot argue to the manner, in which the ancient Greeks pronounced their F, either from the manner, in which the name of it was afterwards expressed in Latin letters, or from the manner, in which the later Greeks expressed it, when both the form and the sound of it was lost among them, and they could only express the name by an imperfect substitution, We must ask how the ancient Greeks wrote it at the time when the Digamma was still in use, Now there cannot be a doubt, that they wrote the name of their letter with F, for the very same reason that the names Beta, GamDelta, began with B, r, A. Indeed if the form of the letter is not used in the name of the letter, the thing to be expressed will not correspond with the expression. And since the letter F was a constituent part of the primitive Greek alphabet, whereas V was afterwards added to it, and F must have had a name from the be ginning, that name could have been no other than FAF, whence the Latin AF, afterwards softened to EF. Let us now apply Pris cian's argument to the Greek name for the Digamma, the only name to which it can be applied and his argument (ab ipsius voce profectum) will run thus. Would the Greek F have been named FAF, if it had not been pronounced F?" P, 104.

ma,

:

We admire the learning, the acuteness, and the research with which Dr. Marsh has contested this point. We own that he has in almost every point worked conviction upon our minds, but at the same time we must confess that there are one or two assertions which he appears not to have sufficiently guarded. He has clearly proved that F is the representative of the Greek F, but we are of opinion that V must be associated in the representation. The digamma is a letter of such importance as to return two voices to the Parliament of sounds. It is true that F has most votes, but V also must be elected. Indeed, after the enumeration of words in which F is clearly preserved, Dr. Marsh adds, "These

1

"These examples are sufficient to shew, that the Latin F was the proper representative of the Greek F. And hence we may infer, that in those cases, where V is used, the V is merely a substitute for the Latin F, which, though naturally hard in reference to V, acquires in certain cases a softer sound than at other times, and thus becomes more easily exchanged. When the Latin F was followed by the consonants 1, r, or the vowels a, o, u, it preserved the hard sound, which naturally belongs to it, and consequently was not so liable to be changed. Thus in Flamma, Fluo, Frango, Frigeo, Fama, Fagus, Follis, Folium, Fuga, Fumus, and others of the same description, the F was not converted into V. But before the vowels e and i, the F acquired a softer sound, and accordingly was often, though not always, changed into V. Hence Festa, Felia, Festis, Fis, Finum, &c. as written according to the Greek form, from which they were taken, became Vesta, Velia, Vestis, Vis, Vinum, &c. On the other hand, in Fera, Fero, Firmus, Filius, &c. the F remained. But when F was placed between two vowels, it necessarily acquired a softer sound: and in such cases it appears to have been always changed into V. Hence ofis, ofum, &c. became ovis, ovum, &c. On a similar principle to that, which changed F into V, when F was so placed as to lose a portion of its natural hardness, V was sometimes changed into F, when it was so placed, as to lose a portion of its natural softness." P. 98.

But not only when followed by e and i was the Greek F changed into a V, we have Φατής, Faτης, Vates, εἰλέω, Γειλ Fω, Volvo, &c.

But however we are inclined to declare the election of V, we heartily coincide with Dr. Marsh in throwing out the third candidate W, in whose favour there appears not the vote of a single word. The only apparent argument in favour of the Latin V being pronounced as our W, is, that the Latin V was occasionally represented by the Greek OT. Now, here it is first taken for granted, that the Greek OT was pronounced as the Latin W, which can by no means be proved; nor is it remembered that in many cases B, not OT, is used as the representative of V; as Victor, BixTop; Vitelleius, BITERIOS, &c. &c.

The W has been patronised in England by a curious misunderstanding of a passage in Vossius, who, in his De Arte Gram. I. 24. cautions his readers against pronouncing F and V in the same manner, and informs them that they ought to pronounce the Latin V not like their V, but their W. Now, the English have forgotten that Vossius was writing not to them, but to the High Germans, who always pronounce their V like our F, and their W like our V. Every lady of fashion, even in our own country, knows but too well that she ought not to say Waltz, but Valtz. Yet upon the authority of G. Vossius we have all been taught to say Wava, not Vavas, or more properly Favaž; Wide, not Vide, &c. &c.