‘The Oriental geography of Ebn Haukal, an Arabian traveller of the tenth century’ [‎20] (35/388)

xx
PREFACE.
perhaps, he necessary to demonstrate, by a particular example,
the extraordinary influence of those diacritical points, which, as
they are essential parts of letters, must not he confounded with
the vowel points or accents.
One example will suffice—Let us suppose the three letters
forming the name libbct to he diuested of their diacriti
cal points, and thus written —The first character may he
rendered, hy the application of one point ahove, an N, thus, J—
of two points a T, 'J—of three points a TH or S, S; if one point
is placed under, it becomes a B j—if two points, a Yj and
if three points, a P j . In like manner the second character
may he affected, and the third character may he, according
to the addition of points, rendered a B, P, T, and TH, or S
Ihus, amidst the multiplicity of names which may he
formed of those three characters, it would he almost impos-
sible, without the aid of context,
to ascertain the true reading: and o /G olius,
that most learned Orientalist, on a similar occasion, one
must act the part of a diviner before he can perform that of an
interpreter
-U the whle passage, m w h,ch Golius afoh