There are four terminations into which n enters, an, en, in, on; of these en is now merely consonantal,* as in even; an and on, sound like un, as in Roman, reason; and in retains its proper sound as in griffin. Our poets use en as a syllable whenever it suits their convenience; though, generally speaking, the only difference in the pronunciation is a lengthening of the n. The terminations an, on, and in, are now commonly used as syllables; although Milton and some of his contemporaries elide the vowel, and tack n to the preceding syllable, when their rhythm requires it. Heaven's is the quarrel: for | heaven's substitute] R 2, 1. 2. Edward's seven sons: whereof | thyself | art one,| And Palamon, this woful prisoner, R 2, 1. 3. Was risen, and rom ed: in|a chambre | on high. Seems another morn Chau. The Knightes Tale. Risen | on mid noon]: some great | behest | from heaven| In any case that migh|te fallen|, or happe. : Fallen cherub to | be weak is miserable. P. L. 5. Chau. Prol. P. L. One of our leading reviews scanned the last verse thus, Fallen cherub, to be weak is miserable. : and Mitford almost laughs at the notion of heav'n and giv'n being pronounced as monosyllables! The following are examples of the termination on, * This is too unqualified; even educated men often pronounce risen, chosen, with two syllables, rizun, chozun, &c. Fardest from him is best Whom reason hath equall'd: force | hath made | supreme There is sometimes the same elision of the vowel, and the same loss of a syllable, in the middle of a word; And thereto had he ridden no man ferre, As wel | in Cristendom: as | in Hethenes se, Chau. Prol. Though of their names]: in heavenly records now | My curse upon your whinstane hearts, Ye Edinburgh gentry! A tithe o' what ye waste at carts, P. L. 1. Wad stow'd his pantry. Burns. It may be here observed, that the elision of the vowel is generally the first step towards corruption. Ed'nburg was merely introductory to E'enboro'. The short vowels were also very frequently elided before n, when that letter began the following syllable. Un to ourselves it hap neth oft | among. Drayton. M. for M. Cromwell, 120. My council swaied all, For still the king: would for the card nall call. Drayton. M. for M. Wolsey, 35. They are but blinde that wake when fortune sleeps, Destiny by death |: spoiled feeble nature's frame. Hall. Elegy on Dr. Whitaker. * Our Editors will not believe that even Milton could write English; and “correct” his fardest, perfet, and other barbarisms of the like kind, without the least hint to the reader. In other's countenance read: his own dismay. P. L. 2. I was despisde, and banisht from my bliss, Discount naunste, fayne |: to hide | myself | for shame]. Higgins. M. for M. King Emerianus. Wisdom in discourse with her Los es discount enanc'd: and | like folly shows. P. L. 8. Thy ignomy sleep with | thee in ❘ thy grave. Hence brother lackley: ignomy | and shame 1 H 4, 5. 4. Tro. and Cress. 5. When the termination en followed r, it often formed a syllable, in cases where the vowel is now elided, as boren, toren, &c. : Eke Zealand's pit|eous plaints and Holland's tor en hair. Spenser. Mourning Muse of Thestylis. When ng followed the short i at the end of a word or syllable, the vowel appears sometimes to have been elided among our dramatists; Having neither subject: wealth, | nor di adem. 2 H 6, 4. 1. Sometimes he angers me With telling me of | the mold- | warp and | the ant. H 4, 3, 1. Buckingham, doth York | intend | no harm | to us |? 2 H 6, 5. 1. Humphrey of Buck|ingham: I| accept | thy greeting. 2 H 6, 5. 1. Why Buckingham is the trai tor: Cade | surpris'd | ? 2 H 6, 4. 8. My Lord Cobham, With whom the Kentish men will willingly rise. : 3 Н 6. This oath I willingly take |: and will perform. 3 H 6, 1. 1. Our dramatists use a very irregular metre, and are therefore not the safest guides in a matter of this kind; but when we find a word recurring again and again, in situations where our prevailing rhythms require the subtraction of a syllable, I think we may fairly conclude such to have been the pronunciation of the poet. L, I believe, in pronunciation no longer follows any consonant at the end of a word or syllable excepting d, t, r. In the language of the present day, we generally hear a short u before it. The difference between it and the letter n in this respect must, I think, be obvious if the pronunciation of evil be compared with that of heaven. The first sounds clearly with two vowels e-vul, but if we were to pronounce the latter hev-un it would at once strike us uncouth and vulgar. In the Anglo-Saxon, I was very generally used without a vowel, as adl sickness, swegl the sky, susl sulphur. In the early English we changed this mode of spelling, and adopted the French ending le in the place of 1, writing settle, for instance, instead of the A. S. setl. We have preserved this orthography, except in cases where I fol-. lows r, although we have since changed the pronunciation. We will first give examples in which the vowel has been elided, and a syllable lost in consequence; What evil is left | undone when man | may have | his will | ? Man ever was a hypocrite, and ever will be still. Tusser's Omnipotence of God. Each home-bred science percheth on the chair, Hall. Sat. 2. 3. Foul devil, for God's sake hence: | and trouble | us not]. But when to sin our biass'd nature leans, : R 3, 1. 2. Dryden. Abs. & Arch. This noble example: to his shepe | he yaf. Chau. Prol. One friend to take his fortune by the arm, When this advice is free, I give, and honest, T. of A. 4. 1. Othello, 2. 3. Probal is found in all the early editions, and is clearly a corruption of probable. It shows, if any proof were wanting, that the French ending able, was commonly used by our early English writers as one syllable. Such was it considered by Chaucer, who makes the word able corresponding to the French habile, a dissyllable. Milton made this ending one or two syllables, as best suited his verse, and such was the common practice of his contemporaries. At present it is always pronounced abul, and of course fills the place of two syllables. When it was so used by our early English poets, they seem, at least in some cases, to have accommodated their spelling to it; to have written, for example, fabill for fable, and delectabill for delectable. This orthography, and in all probability the pronunciation which corresponded with it, prevailed chiefly in the North. And thus with fained flattery and japes He made the persone and the peple | his apes]. : Chau. Prol. Anon ther is a noise of peple | begone]. Chau. Prol. : There was also a nonne, a prioresse, : That of her smiling was ful simple and coy. The wisest heart Of Solomon he led by fraud to build Chau. Prol. His temple right | against |: the temple of God P.L. And his next son, for wealth and wisdom fam'd, The clouded ark of God, till then in tents Wandering, shall in | a glorious : temple | enshrine]. P. L. 12. |