P

P has always the same sound, except, perhaps, in cupboard, where it sounds like b. It is sometimes mute; as in psalm, psalter, Ptolemy: and betweem m and ; as in tempt, empty, presumptuous.

Ph is generally pronounced like /s as in philosophy, philanthropy, Philip.

In nephew and Stephen, it has the sound of v. In apophthegm, phthisis, phthisic, and phthisical, both letters are entirely dropped.

Q

2 is always followed by u: as, quadrant, queen, quire. 2u is sometimes sounded like : as, conquer, liquor, risque.

R

R has a rough sound; as in Rome, river, rage: and a smooth one; as in bard, card, regard.

Be at the end of many words, is pronounced like a weak er; as in theatre, sepulchre, massacre.

S has two different sounds.

$

A soft and flat sound like : as, besom, nasal, dismal. A sharp hissing sound: as, saint, sister, cyprus.

It is always sharp at the beginning of words.

At the end of words it takes the soft sound: as, his, was, trees, eyes; except in the words this, thus, us, yes, rebus, surplus, &c.; and in words terminating with ous.

It sounds like z before ion, if a vowel goes before: as, intrusion; but like s sharp, if it follows a consonant: as, conversion. It also sounds like z before e mute: as, amuse; and before y final: as, rosy; and in the words bosom, desire, wisdom, &c.

S is mute in isle, island, demesne, viscount.

T

T generally sounds, as in take, temper. T before u, when the accent precedes, sounds like tch: as, nature, virtue, are pronounced, natchure, virtchue. Ti before a vowel has the sound of sh; as in salvation: except in such words as tierce, tiara, &c. and unless an s goes before: as, question; and excepting also derivatives from words ending in ty: as, mighty, mightier.

Th has two sounds: the one soft and flat: as, thu', whether, heathen: the other hard and sharp: as, thing, think, breath.

Th, at the beginning of words, is sharp; as in thank, thick, thunder: except in that, then, thus, thither, and some others. Th, at the end of words, is also sharp: as, death, breath, mouth: except in with, booth, beneath, &c. Th, in the middle of words, is sharp: as, panther, orthodox, misanthrope: except worthy, farthing, brethren, and a few others.

:

Th, between two vowels, is generally flat in words purely English as, father, heathen, together, neither, mother. Th, between two vowels, in words from the learned languages, is generally sharp: as, apathy, sympathy, Athens, theatre, apothecary.

This sometimes pronounced like simple t: as, Thomas, thyme, Thames, asthma.

U has three sounds, viz.

U

A long sound; as in mule, tube, cubic.
A short sound; as in dull, gull, custard.

An obtuse sound, like oo; as in bull, full, bushel. The strangest deviation of this letter from its natural sound, is in the words busy, business, bury, and burial; which are pronounced bizzy, bizness, berry, and berrial.

is now often used before words beginning with a long,

and an always before those that begin with a short: as, a union, a university, a useful book; an uproar, an usher, an umbrella.

The diphthong na, has sometimes the sound of wa; as in assuage, persuade, antiquary. It has also the sound of middle a; as in guard, guardian, guarantee.

Ue is often sounded like we; as in quench, querist, conquest. It has also the sound of long u; as in cue, hue, ague. In a few words, it is pronounced like e short; as in guest, guess. In some words it is entirely sunk; as in antique, oblique, prorogue, catalogue, dialogue, &c.

Ui is frequently pronounced wi; as in languid, anguish, extinguish. It has sometimes the sound of t long; as in guide, guile, disguise: and sometimes that of i short; as in guilt, guinea, guildhall. In some words it is sounded like long u; as in juice, suit, pursuit: and after r, like oo; as in bruise, fruit, recruit.

Uo is pronounced like wo; as in quote, quorum, quondam.

Uy has the sound of long e; as in obloquy, soliloquy; pronounced obloquee, &c. except buy, and its derivatives.

V

V has the sound of flatƒ, and bears the same relation to it, as b does to p, d to /, hard g to k, and z to s. It has also one uniform sound: as, vain, vanity, love.

W

W, when a consonant, has nearly the sound of oo; as water resembles the sound of ooater: but that it has a stronger and quicker sound than oo, and has a formation essentially different, will appear to any person who pronounces, with attention, the words we, woo, beware; and who reflects that it will not admit the article an before it; which oo would admit. In some words it is not sounded;

as in answer, sword, wholesome: it is always silent before r; as in wrap, wreck, wrinkle, wrist, wrong, wry, bewray, &c.

W before his pronounced as if it were after the A; as, why, hwy; when, hwen; what, bwat.

Wis often joined to o at the end of a syllable, without affecting the sound of that vowel; as in crow, blow, grow, know, row, flow, &c.

When wis a vowel, and is distinguished in the pronunciation, it has exactly the same sound as u would have in the same situation: as, dia#, crew, view, now, sawyer, vowel, outlaw.

X has three sounds, viz.

X

It is sounded like x at the beginning of proper names of Greek original; as in Xanthus, Xeuophon, Xerxes.

It has a sharp sound like ks, when it ends a syllable with the accent upon it: as, exit, exercise, excellence; or when the accent is on the next syllable, if it begins with a consonant: as, excuse, extent, expense.

It has, generally, a flat sound like gz, when the accent is not on it, and the following syllable begins with a vowel: as, exert, exist, example; pronounced, egzert, egzist, egzample.

Y

Y, when a consonant, has nearly the sound of ee; as, youth, York, resemble the sounds of eeouth, eeork: but that this is not its exact sound, will be clearly perceived by pronouncing the words ye, yes, new-year, in which its just and proper sound is ascertained. It not only requires a stronger exertiou of the organs of speech to pronounce it, than is required to pronounce ee; but its formation is essentially different It will not admit of an before it, as ee will in the following example; an eel. The

opinion that y and w, when they begin a word or syllable, take exactly the sound of ee and oo, has induced some grammarians to assert, that these letters are always vowels or diphthongs.

When y is a vowel, it has exactly the same sound as t would have in the same situation: as, rhyme, system, justify, pyramid, party, fancy, hungry. See Prosody. Chapter I. Section 2. On "Quantity."

Z

Z has the sound of an s uttered with a closer compression of the palate by the tongue : it is the flats: as, freeze, frozen, brazen.

It may be proper to remark, that the sounds of the let'ters vary, as they are differently associated, and that the pronunciation of these associations depends upon the position of the accent. It may also be observed, that, in order to pronounce accurately, great attention must be paid to the vowels which are not accented. There is scarcely any thing which more distinguishes a person of a poor education, from a person of a good one, than the pronunciation of the unaccented vowels. When vowels are under the accent, the best speakers and the lowest of the people, with very few exceptions, pronounce them in the same manner; but the unaccented vowels in the mouths of the former, have a distinct, open, and specific sound, while the latter often totally sink them, or change them into some other sound.