T the last letter in the Semitic alphabet, where, however, its form in the earliest inscriptions is that of a St Andrew's Cross X. In both Greek and Latin, however, although the upright and cross stroke are frequently not exactly at right angles and the upright often projects beyond the cross stroke, the forms approach more nearly to the modern than to the Semitic shape. The name Tāw was taken over in the Greek ταῦ). The sound was that of the unvoiced dental stop. The English t, however, is not dental but alveolar, being pronounced, as d also, not by putting the tongue against the teeth but against their sockets. This difference is marked in the phonetic differentiation of the dental and the alveolar t by writing them respectively t and ṭ. The alveolar sound is frequent also in the languages of India, which possess both this and the dental sound. The Indian ṭ, however, is probably produced still farther from the teeth than is the English sound. In the middle of words when t precedes a palatal sound like i (y) which is not syllabic, it coalesces with it into the sound of sh as in position, nation, &c. The change to a sibilant in these cases took place in late Latin, but in Middle English the i following the t was still pronounced as a separate syllable. A later change is that which is seen in the pronunciation of nature as neitṣᵊ. This arises from the pronunciation of u as yu, and does not affect the English dialects which have not thus modified the u sound. Similar changes had taken place in some of the local dialects of Italy before the Christian era. At the end of words the English t is really aspirated, a breath being audible after the t in words like bit, hit, pit. This is the sound that in ancient Greek was represented by θ. In medieval and modern Greek, however, this has become the unvoiced sound represented in English by th in thin, thick, pith. Though represented in English by two symbols this is a single sound, which may be either inter dental or, as frequently in English, produced “ by keeping the tongue loosely behind the upper front teeth, so that the breath escapes partly between the tongue and the teeth, and partly, if the teeth are not very closely set, through the interstices between them” (Jespersen). In English th represents both the unvoiced sound þ as in thin, &c., and the voiced sound ð, which is found initially only in pronominal words like this, that, there, then, those, is commonest medially as in father, bother, smother, either, and is found also finally in words like with (the preposition), both. Early English used þ and ð indiscriminately for both voiced and unvoiced sounds, in Middle English ð disappeared and þ was gradually assimilated in form to y, which is often found for it in early printing. It is, however, to be regretted that English has not kept the old symbols for sounds which are very characteristic of the language. In modern Greek the ancient δ (d) has become the voiced spirant (ð), though it is still written δ. Hence to represent D, Greek has now to resort to the clumsy device of writing NT instead. (P. Gi.)
TAAFFE, EDUARD FRANZ JOSEPH VON, Count [11th
Viscount Taaffe and Baron of Ballymote, in the peerage of
Ireland] (1833–1895), Austrian statesman, was born at Vienna on 24th February 1833. He was the second son of Count Ludwig Patrick Taaffe (1791–1855), a distinguished public man who was minister of justice in 1848 and president of the court of appeal. As a child Taaffe was one of the chosen companions of the young archduke, afterwards emperor, Francis Joseph. In 1852 he entered the public service; in 1867 he was Statthalter of Upper Austria, and the emperor offered him the post of
minister of the interior in Beust’s administration. In time he became vice-president of the ministry, and at the end of the year he entered the first ministry of the newly organized Austrian portion of the monarchy. For the next three years he took a very important part in the confused political changes, and probably more than any other politician represented the wishes of the emperor. He had entered the ministry as a German Liberal, but he soon took an intermediate position between the Liberal majority of the Berger ministry and the party which desired a federalistic amendment of the constitution and which was strongly supported at court. From September 1868 to January 1870, after the retirement of Auersperg, he was president of the cabinet. In 1870 the government broke up on the question of the revision of the constitution: Taaffe with Potocki and Berger wished to make some concessions to the Federalists; the Liberal majority wished to preserve
undiminished the authority of the Reichsrath. The two parties
presented memoranda to the emperor, each defending their view, and offering their resignation: after some hesitation the emperor accepted the policy of the majority, and Taaffe with his friends resigned. The Liberals, however, failed to carry on the government, as the representatives of most of the territories refused to appear in the Reichsrath: they resigned, and in the month of April Potocki and Taaffe returned to office. The latter failed, however, in the attempt to come to some understanding with the Czechs, and in their turn had to make way for the Clerical and Federalist cabinet of Hohenwart. Taaffe
now became Statthalter of Tirol, but once more on the breakdown of the Liberal government in 1879 he was called to office. At first he attempted to carry on the government without change of principles, but he soon found it necessary to come to an understanding with the Feudal and Federal parties, and he was responsible for the conduct of the negotiations which in the elections of this year gave a majority to the different groups of the National and Clerical opposition. In July he
became minister president: at first he still continued to govern with the Liberals, but this was soon made impossible, and he was obliged to turn for support to the Conservatives. It was his great achievement that he persuaded the Czechs to abandon the policy of abstention and to take part in the parliament. It was on the support of them, the Poles, and the Clericals that his majority depended. His avowed intention was to unite the nationalities of Austria: Germans and Slavs were, as he
said, equally integral parts of Austria; neither must be oppressed; both must unite to form an Austrian parliament. Notwithstanding the growing opposition of the German Liberals, who refused to accept the equality of the nationalities, he kept his position for thirteen years. Not a great creative statesman, he had singular capacity for managing men; a very poor orator, he had in private intercourse an urbanity and
quickness of humour which showed his Irish ancestry. 'For the history of his administration see Austria-Hungary, History (Sec. II. “Austria Proper”). Beneath an apparent cynicism and frivolity Taaffe hid a strong feeling of patriotism to his country and loyalty to the emperor. It was no small service to both that for so long, during very critical years in European history, he maintained harmony between the two parts of the monarchy and preserved constitutional government in Austria. The necessities of the parliamentary situation compelled him sometimes to go farther in meeting the demands of the Conservatives and Czechs than he would probably have wished, but he was essentially an opportunist: in no way a party man, he recognized that the government must be carried on, and he cared little by the aid of what party the necessary majority was maintained. In 1893 he was defeated on a proposal for the revision of the franchise, and resigned. He retired into private life, and died two years later at his country residence, Ellerschau, in Bohemia, on 29th November 1895.
By the death of his elder brother Charles (1823–1873), a colonel in the Austrian army, Taaffe succeeded to the Austrian and Irish titles. He married in 1862 Countess Irma Tsaky, by whom he left four daughters and one son, Henry. The family history presents points of unusual interest. From the 13th century the Taaffes had been one of the leading families in the north of Ireland. In 1628 Sir John Taaffe was raised to the peerage as Baron Ballymote and Viscount Taaffe of Corven. He left fifteen children, of
