. The
d of and is generally dropped before a consonant, as in
ct n cm
gen (cut and come again), where the vowel is
dropped also on account of the t and n (p. 187 above).
Consonants.
As regards the use of the letters there can be no question about the values of the following:- b, d, f, g, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w, z.
This leaves c, j, q, x undisposed of. We also have y, which is not required as a vowel-symbol in English. If we allow y to retain its present value, we can also retain j as a convenient abbreviation of dzh. For tsh we have ch, which, by the omission of the superfluous h, can be reduced simply to c. We thus have c and j perfectly parallel. q may very well be taken to represent the back nasal ng, as Mr. Ellis has done in his Palæotype. x lastly, if employed at all, must in consistency be extended to all kss in the language, not only in such words as six, but also in rex (wrecks), cex (cheques), &c.
These contractions fully counterbalance the necessity of retaining the digraphs th and sh, to which must of course be added dh and zh. wh is very generally made into w in Southern English, but it is well to keep up the distinction on the chance of its being afterwards revived. The breath yh (= German "ich") sometimes occurs in such words as "hue" (yhuu), more commonly, however, pronounced hyuu, with a separate h before the y.
Consonants are often dropped in English. Thus the h of the personal
pronouns is generally dropped when they come after a verb, and are
unaccented, as in ai sao im (I saw him). Saw her and
soar are both pronounced sao. The
d of and is generally dropped before a consonant, as in
ct n cm
gen (cut and come again), where the vowel is
dropped also on account of the t and n (p. 187 above).
Assimilations also occur in rapid speech. Thus, many people who pronounce
the q of "going," &c. quite distinctly in most cases, regularly
change the back into the point nasal (n), when it is followed by a point
consonant (t, d, n), as in gouin t ...
(going to ...). In I can't go the t is generally dropped,
and the point nasal is often assimilated to the g by being made
into the back nasal q - ai kaaq gou.
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James Chandler 1998.