s.

[.M], [.N], (S) like French final _m_ or _n_, nasalizing the preceding
vowel.

[N.], see [D.]. N, like _ng_ in _singing_.

O, (S) as in _so_. (A) as in _obey_.

Q, (A) like _k_ (or _c_) in _cook_; further back in the mouth than in
_kick_.

R, (S) English _r_, smooth and untrilled. (A) stronger. [R.], (S) r used as
vowel, as in _apron_ when pronounced _aprn_ and not _apern_; modern Hindus
say _ri_, hence our _amrita_, _Krishna_, for _a-m[r.]ta, K[r.][s.][n.]a_.

S, as in _same_. [S.], see [D.]. ['S], (S) English _sh_ (German _sch_).

[T.], see [D.].

U, as in _put_. [=U], as in _rule_.

Y, as in _you_.

[Z.], see [D.].

`, (A) a sound kindred to the spiritus lenis (that is, to our ears, the
mere distinct separation of a vowel from the preceding sound, as at the
beginning of a word in German) and to _[h.]_. The ` is a very distinct
sound in Arabic, but is more nearly represented by the spiritus lenis than
by any sound that we can produce without much special training. That is, it
should be treated as silent, but the sounds that precede and follow it
should not run together. In Arabic words adopted into English it is treated
as silent, e.g. in _Arab_, _amber_, _Caaba_ (_`Arab_, _`anbar_, _ka`abah_).

(A) A final long vowel is shortened before _al_ (_'l_) or _ibn_ (whose _i_
is then silent).

Accent: (S) as if Latin; in determining the place of the accent _[.m]_ and
_[.n]_ count as consonants, but _h_ after another consonant does not. (A),
on the last syllable that contains a long vowel or a vowel followed by two
consonants, except that a final long vowel is not ordinarily accented; if
there is no long vowel nor two consecutive consonants, the accent falls on
the first syllable. The words _al_ and _ibn_ are never accented.

* * * * *

{1}

THE HINDU-ARABIC NUMERALS

CHAPTER I

EARLY IDEAS OF THEIR ORIGIN

It has long been recognized that the common numerals used in daily life are
of comparatively recent origin. The number of systems of notation employed
before the Christian era was about the same as the number of written
languages, and in some cases a single language had several systems. The
Egyptians, for example, had three systems of writing, with a numerical
notation for each; the Greeks had two well-defined sets of numerals, and
the Roman symbols for number changed more or less from century to century.
Even to-day the number of methods of expressing numerical