comb holme, brogue rogue vogue, won't, sew shew strew dough though bow (to shoot with), blow crow flow glow grow know low (not bigh), mow (to cut down), owe row show slow snow sow (to scatter), stow strow throw tow trow, door floor four, fourth, mould, moult poult, mourn, soul trowl bowl (a vessel), own flown grown shown sown, beau, beaux. u] Suit, sluice, ewe view lieu. a shut] Bade, have, salve valve, drachm, wag, wax, thwack, swam, mall shall, shalt, plaid. e shut] Were, said, says, feof, friend, bread dead dread head lead (a metal), read (past time), stead spread thread tread, breast, breath death, breadth, cleanse, deaf, health stealth wealth, meant, dealt, realm, sweat threat, earth dearth, earl pearl, earn learn yearn, heard, hearse, search, guess, guest. i shut] Give live (the verb), gild, wind (familiarly), niche, cinque, teint, sieve, build guild, built guilt. • shut] Gone shone, trode, doll loll, cough clough trough, hough lough shough. u sbut] Bird, first (or bĕrd, fĕrst), coz, son ton won done none, ront wont, word, work, world, worm, worse, worst, wort, worth, dove glove love shove, come some bomb, month, sponge, blood flood, rough tough, touch, young, Scourge, dost, doth, does. Italian â] Ab ha, gape, can't han't shan't, clerk, daunt haunt, haunch paunch, heart, hearth.] Laugh, draught, chant grant jaunt, waft. German â] George, broad, groat (or grat), ought bought brought fought nought sought thought wrought, awe.-A] Swab squab, wan swan, what yacht squat, wad, wand, want, was, wast, wasp, wash swash quash squash. Italian û] Ruth truth, do to (or tŭ), two shoe, lose whose bouse, move prove, Rome tomb wemb whom, where pour tour, fruit route, wound, brew crew grew screw shrew yew you through gout sous, shrewd, rouge, soup croup group, fourbe, gourd, ouphe.-u] Bull full pull, bush push, puss, put (the verb), pugh, wolf, wool, foot soot, good hood stood wood, book brook cook crook hook look shook took, could should would. Obscure ĕ] Her fir sir stir, dirt flirt shirt spirt, dirk, third, thirst, birch. The Scots confound the sounds of the vowels in almost every instance. Instead of Race reed road rude, they say Råce reed road rude; and instead of Hat hem hill hog, they say, HAt ham hell hog. This remark, however, applies only to the retainers of their native dialect, for many of the Scots (as well as of the Irish and Provincial English) can pronounce the language as correctly as the most cultivated inhabitants of London. OF WORDS EXCEEDING ONE SYLLABLE. THE Rules which have already been laid down with regard to the pronunciation of monosyllables, hold equally with regard to accented syllables. The following observations respect unaccented syllables. I. At the end of unaccented syllables, a has its shut sound; e, o, u, have their name-sounds contracted; and i and y generally sound ė; ás in A-dapt', re-pel', pro-tect', lunette', di-vest', cy-mâr'. Exceptions. The initial syllables ï-, bï-, chï-, cli-, crï-, lï-, prï-, trï-, are generally sounded as here marked; and i, ending any other initial syllable, and followed by a syllable commencing with a vowel, is sounded in this manner; as in Di-am'è-ter. To those exceptions may be added Ciba'rious, cita'tion, dijudica'tion, dïnumera'- Note. In unaccented syllables shut by a contion, dïrep'tion, dïrup'tion, gïgan'tic, mïcrom'e-sonant, the sounds of the vowels are often so ter, micrography, migra'tion, nïgres'cent, pi-obscure, that it is difficult to ascertain their quarat'ical, rïval'ity, rhinoceros, vica'rious, vibra'- lity. Accordingly, the word vocal, is marked tion, vitality, vivif'ic, vïvip'arous, chyla'ceous, by Sheridan, Vokel; by Walker, Vokal; and by hydrography, hydrom'etry, hydrop'ic, hydro- Jones, Vokul. The truth is, if this final syllastat'ic, hydraulics, hygrom'etry, hyper'bole, hy-ble be pronounced distinctly kal, kel, or kul, pot'enuse, hypothet'ical, phytiv'orous, typog'- the word will be pronounced improperly; but raphy, tyran'nical. In Chicane', chica'nery, li- if the accented syllable be forcibly articulated, tig'ious, libid'inous, pias'ter, piazza, hypocrisy, and the final syllable pronounced kal, kel, kol, mythology, phylac'tery, physic'ian, pylorus, or kul, obscurely, the word as a whole will apsynod'ic, synon'ima, synop'sis, synech'doche pear to be distinctly and properly pronounced. the i and y sound e. The final syllables fy, Hence we perceive, that Mr Walker has actply, sound fï, plï. ed properly in making no change in the vowel, when a change would serve no purpose but to make foreigners think that our whole orthography is irregular and capricious. II. In unaccented syllables, ending in a single consonant and e silent, a, e, o, u, have their name-sound contracted; as in Trac'tåte, con'crète, dip'tote, trib'úte. I has generally its shut sound; as in ser'vile, res'pite, practice, &c. CLASSIFICATION OF CONSONANTS. eb, ed, ef, eg, hâ (or eh guttural), ej, ek, el, em, en, ep, ăr, ess, et, ev, ex, ez-eth, eth, ezh, esh, ech, eng. Exceptions.-In verbs terminating in ate, the sound of the a is generally prolonged nearly By pronouncing the consonants in the folas much as if it were accented; as in Commu'-lowing manner, as Sheridan directs, their nanicāte, prevaricate, &c.-I has its name-sound ture and powers will be more easily discerned contracted in Ex'ile, e'dile, gen'tïle, em'pïre, than by their common names: um'pire, quagmire, pis'mïre; also in the terminations, ide, ife, ine, ise, ite, ize, when the accent is on the antepenultimate syllable, except in Jac'obine, med'icine, dis'cipline, mas culine, fem'inine, jes'samine, her'oine, nec'tarine, lib'ertine, gen'uine, hy'aline, pal'atine, al'kaline, cor'aline, egʻlantine, cu'curbite, def'inite, hyp'ocrite, favourite, req'uisite, per'quisite, ex'quisite, apposite, op'posite; in all which has its shut sound. III. In unaccented syllables ending in one or more consonants, the vowels generally have their shut sounds, as in accented syllables. Exceptions. In unaccented syllables, o very frequently sounds like u shut; as in Hil'lock, cannon, &c. The consonants are divisible into mutes and semivowels. The mutes are those of which the sounds cannot be prolonged; as, eb, ed, eg, ek, ep, et: The semivowels are those of which the sounds can be continued at pleasure; as, ef, el, em, en, ăr, ess, ev, ez, eth, eth, ezh, esh, eng. But there is another classification of the consonants, of great importance to a just idea of the nature of the letters; and that is, into such as are flat or sharp: Flat.... eb, ev, eg, ed, ez, eth, ezh, ej The consonants may likewise be divided, according to the seat of their formation, or the organs which are chiefly employed in forming them; as the lips, teeth, palate, or nose. Aspirate.. hâ, or eh guttural Labial... eb ep, ev ef. Dental... ed et, ez ess, eth eth, ezh esh. The consonants ex, ej, ech, are compound, being equivalent to eks, edzh, etsh. PARTICULAR OBSERVATIONS ON THE CONSONANTS. B THIS Consonant has always the same sound when pronounced, but it is often silent. It is always so when followed by t in the same syllable; as in Debt, doubt; or preceded by m, as in Tomb, dumb; except Rhomb, accumb, and succumb.-The Welch throw this and all the flat consonants out of their alphabet, and substitute their co-relative sharp consonants; instead of Bill, dame, gore, vile, zeal, they say Pill, tame, core, file, seal. The natives of Somersetshire, on the contrary, substitute the flat for the sharp consonants. C victuals, and always before k in the same syllable. D This letter has always the same sound by those who pronounce English well; but the Provincials, particularly the Irish, in many words thicken the sound by a mixture of breath. Thus, though they sound the d right in the positives Loud and broad, in the comparative degree they thicken it by an aspiration, and sound it as if it were written Loud-her, broad-her. This vicious pronunciation may be easily cured; for, as they can pronounce the d properly in the word Loud, let them rest a little upon that syllable, and then, without an aspiration, pronounce the syllable er. This letter is sometimes, though not often, quiescent; as in the words Handkerchief, handsome, handsel. F F has always its own sound, except in the particle of, which is sounded ov; but in composition, at the end of words, it is sounded off, as in Whereof, &c. Though it is constant to its sound when single, yet it is often marked by ||ƒƒ as in Chaff, scoff; sometimes by ph, both in the beginning and ending of words, as in Philosophy, epitaph; and sometimes by gh, as in Laugh, cough. G G has two sounds, one peculiar to itself, as in Gold; the other in common with j, as in Gentle. The first of these may be called hard, the other soft g. It has, like c, its hard sound, except when followed by e, i, or y; and then generally sounds like j; which it does in the word Gaol, more commonly written Jail. C is a redundant character when standing by itself, supplying the place either of k or s. It has the sound of k, except when followed by e, i, or y, and then it has generally the sound of s. It sounds like k in Sceptic and its derivatives. It has the sound of sh in the termina-it tions cean, cial, ceous, cious, &c. as in Ocean, social, cetaceous, gracious; and it has the sound of x in Suffice, sacrifice, and discern. It is sometimes silent; as in Muscle, indict, G is hard before e or i in Gear, geck, geese, geld, get, gewgaw, target, tiger, toged, together, auger, eager, gibbe, gibcat, gibber, b gibberish, gibbous, giddy, gift, gig, giggle, gild, gill (of a fish), gimlet, gimp, gird, girdle, girl, girth, gizzard, give, begin, and in many pro per names. Gg have the hard sound, except in Aggerate, exaggerate, and suggest. G is silent before m or n in the same syllable, as in Phlegm, diaphragm; gnat, imprēgn, oppugn, expugn, propugn. Gh sometimes sound f, but are generally silent. They sound & in Lough, hough, shough. H This character is no mark of any articulate sound, but is a mere sign of aspiration, or ef-|| fort of the breath. This is the only power it has when single, and all words beginning with that letter are to be preceded by an effort of the breath, except only the following: Herb,herbage, heir, honest, honour, hospital, hostler, hour, humour, humble, humbles. It is silent after r, as in Rhyme, myrrh; and when it follows a vowel in the same syllable, as in Ah, oh. In the combination wh, although written after the w, it is pronounced before it; and, therefore, in pronouncing such words as When, whip, &c. we ought to breathe forcibly before pronouncing the w, as if written, hu-en', hu-ip', and avoid that feeble cockney pronunciation, so disagrecable to a correct ear, which makes no distinction between Wen and when, Wear and where, Wile and while, &c. J formed; then let them try to sound the French j (which is exactly the sound exh), and the compound sound of edzh, or dzha, will be produced. To falicitate this, it will be proper to present the first of these to the eye spelled with the French j, as thus, edj; and afterwards, in order to begin a syllable with that sound, which is more difficult than concluding with it, let them place the tongue in the position of sounding ed, and without uttering the previous vowel, let them run the sound of d into that of the subsequent j followed by a vowel; as Djoy (joy), djoke (joke). This letter is never silent, and has always the same sound, except in Hallelujah, where it is pronounced like initial y. K K has always the same sound, as in King, keel, key; but its sound is often usurped by c and q, as in Car, cat, cock, Queen, quill, quay. It is always silent when it precedes an n in the same syllable; as in Know, knot--pronounced No, not. L L has always one uniform sound, except in Colonel-pronounced Kurnel-It is silent in Almond, calf, half, calve, halve, chaldron, falcon, folk, yolk, fusil, halser, malmsey, salmon, balk, chalk, talk, stalk, walk, aims, balm, calm, palm, psalm, qualm, shalm, could, should, would, M N M is also uniform in its sound, except in the This letter is the representative of a com-old words Comptroll, accompt, pronounced Konpound sound made up of d and xh. This is a trōl', ak-kownt'. It is never silent. difficult sound to such foreigners as have it not in their several tongues; and to enable them to pronounce it, it is only requisite to desire them first to form the letter d with a vowel before it, as ed, keeping the tongue in the position that it has when that letter is Nis likewise uniform, except in accented syl lables, when it precedes the sound of ek or eg, and then it sounds ng; as in Thank, uncle, banquet, anger, &c. It is always mute after min す the same syllable, as in Hymn, condemn; also in the word Kiln. P culiar sound, as in So, yes; 2dly, z, as in Rose; 3dly, sh, as in Passion; 4thly, zb, as in Osier. It has its own proper sound of s always at the beginning of words. The same at the end This letter has always one uniform sound of words, 1st, When they terminate in as, exexcept when joined to an h, for ph united as- cept in the monosyllables As, has, was, and the sume the power of f; as in Philosophy. In plurals of nouns ending in ea, such as Fleas, Nephew and Stephen ph sound v. P is silent pleas, &c. 2dly, In all words ending in ss, as in Psalm, pseudo, and their derivatives; also in Faultless, depress, &c. 3dly, In all words ending Pshaw, ptisan; and always between m and t,in is, as This, tennis; except the verb is, and as in Tempt, sumptuous, &c. Ph are silent in Apophthegm, phthisis, and phthisic. Q the pronoun his, where it has the sound of %. 4thly, In all words ending in us and ous; as Circus, genius; cutaneous, nauseous. 5thly, When preceded in the same syllable by any of the has always the power of k, for which let-sharp consonants, p, ƒ, k, or t ; as in Caps, scoffs, ter it stands only when it precedes u followed || locks, hats. by some other vowel; as in the words Quarrel, question, antiquity, where the two vowels are combined in a diphthong sound; or the words Pique, antique, where the two latter vowels are silent, and the sound of the consonant finishes the syllable. This letter is always followed by u in the French as well as in the English; but the difference between their use of it and ours consists in this, that in the French the u is silent, and the q unites itself immediately with the following vowel, having the sound of k. With us the u forms a diphthong with the following vowel, in the same manner as in the word quoi, the only one in the French into which the diphthong sound is admitted. This will be sufficient to point out its true pronunciation to foreigners. It is never silent. Ꭱ This letter has a rough and a smooth sound. It has always its rough sound, except when preceded by a long vowel, as in Bar, large, &c. S It has the sound of %, 1st, When finishing a word preceded by any other consonant beside the sharp consonants p, f, k, or t; as in Blabs, beds, begs, bells, dams, &c. 2dly, It has the sound of z when finishing a word preceded by the vowel e; as Riches, series, except when preceded by p, f, k, or t, in the same syllable; as Hopes, strifes, &c. It has the sound of sh in all words ending in sion preceded by a consonant; as in Emulsion, expansion, dispersion, &c.: And of xh in sion preceded by a vowel; as in Occasion, cohesion, incision, explosion, confusion: As also in all words ending in sier; as Crosier, hosier; and in Measure, pleasure, treasure, &c. It is silent in Aisle, isle, island, demesne, puisne, and viscount. T This letter has its own proper sound at the beginning of all words, and at the end of syllables, except when followed by the terminations ion, ious, &c. It has the sound of sh in all terminations in tion; as Nation, sanction, notion, &c.; except S has four different sounds; 1st, Its own pe- when s or x precedes ; as in Question, bastion, |