ma, g
hard; [Greek: D d], Delta, d; [Greek: E e], Epsilon, e short; [Greek: Z z],
Zeta, z; [Greek: AE ae], Eta, e long; [Greek: TH Th th], Theta, th; [Greek: I
i], Iota, i; [Greek K k], Kappa, k; [Greek: L l], Lambda, l; [Greek: M m],
Mu, m; [Greek: N n], Nu, n; [Greek: X x], Xi, x; [Greek: O o], Omicron, o
short; [Greek: P p], Pi, p; [Greek: R r] Rho, r; [Greek: S s s], Sigma, s;
[Greek: T t], Tau, t; [Greek: Y y], Upsilon, u; [Greek: PH ph], Phi, ph;
[Greek: CH ch], Chi, ch; [Greek: PS ps], Psi, ps; [Greek: O o], Omega, o
long.

Of these names, our English dictionaries explain the first and the last;
and Webster has defined _Iota_, and _Zeta_, but without reference to the
meaning of the former in Greek. _Beta, Delta, Lambda_, and perhaps some
others, are also found in the etymologies or definitions of Johnson and
Webster, both of whom spell the word _Lambda_ and its derivative
_lambdoidal_ without the silent _b_, which is commonly, if not always,
inserted by the authors of our Greek grammars, and which Worcester, more
properly, retains.

OBS. 10.--The reader will observe that the foregoing names, whether Greek
or Hebrew, are in general much less simple than those which our letters now
bear; and if he has ever attempted to spell aloud in either of those
languages, he cannot but be sensible of the great advantage which was
gained when to each letter there was given a short name, expressive, as
ours mostly are, of its ordinary power. This improvement appears to have
been introduced by the Romans, whose names for the letters were even more
simple than our own. But so negligent in respect to them have been the
Latin grammarians, both ancient and modern, that few even of the learned
can tell what they really were in that language; or how they differed,
either in orthography or sound, from those of the English or the French,
the Hebrew or the Greek. Most of them, however, may yet be ascertained from
Priscian, and some others of note among the ancient philologists; so that
by taking from later authors the names of those letters which were not used
in old times, we can still furnish an entire list, concerning the accuracy
of which there is not much room to dispute. It is probable that in the
ancient pronunciation of Latin, _a_ was commonly sounded as in _father_;
_e_ like the English _a_; _i_ mostly like _e_ long; _y_ like _i_ short; _c_
generally and _g_ always hard, as in _come_ and _go_. But, as the original,
native, or ju