Chapter CLVIII: Appendix: I. to Part First, or Orthography. of the Sounds of the Letters

In the first chapter of Part I, the powers of the letters, or the elementary sounds of the English language, were duly enumerated and explained; for these, as well as the letters themselves, are few, and may be fully stated in few words: but, since we often express the same sound in many different ways, and also, in some instances, give to the same letter several different sounds,--or, it may be, no sound at all,--any adequate account of the powers of the letters considered severally according to usage,--that is, of the sound or sounds of each letter, with its mute positions, as these occur in practice,--must, it was thought, descend to a minuteness of detail not desirable in the first chapter of Orthography. For this reason, the following particulars have been reserved to be given here as an Appendix, pertaining to the First Part of this English Grammar.

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--A proper discrimination of the different vowel sounds by the epithets most commonly used for this purpose,--such as _long_ and _short, broad_ and _slender, open_ and _close_, or _open_ and _shut_,--is made difficult, if not impossible, by reason of the different, and sometimes directly contradictory senses in which certain orthoepists [sic--KTH] have employed such terms. Wells says, "Vowel sounds are called _open_ or _close_, according to the _relative size of the opening_ through which the voice passes in forming them. Thus, _a_ in _father_, and _o_ in _nor_, are called _open_ sounds, because they are formed by a _wide opening_ of the organs of speech; while _e_ in _me_, and _u_ in _rule_, are called _close_ sounds, because the organs are _nearly closed_ in uttering them."--_School Grammar_, 1850, p. 32. Good use should fix the import of words. How does the passage here cited comport with this hint of Pope?

"These equal syllables alone require,
_Though oft the ear the open_ vowels tire."
--_Essay on Criticism_, l. 344.

OBS. 2.--Walker, too, in his Principles, 64 and 65, on page 19th of his Critical Pronouncing Dictionary, mentions a similar distinction of vowels, "which arises from _the different apertures_ of the mouth in forming them;" and says, "We accordingly find vowels denominated by the French, _ouvert_ and _fermé_; by the Italians, _aperto_ and _chiuso_; and by the English [,] _open_ and _shut_. But whatever propriety there may be in the use of these terms in other languages, it is certain they must be used with caution in English for fear of confounding them with _long_ and _short_. Dr. Johnson and other grammarians call the _a_ in _father_ the _open a_: which may, indeed, distinguish it from the _slender a_ in _paper_; but not from the _broad a_ in _water_, which is still more _open_. Each of these letters [the seven vowels] has a _short_ sound, which may be called a _shut_ sound; but the _long_ sounds cannot be so properly denominated _open_ as more or less _broad_; that is, the _a_ in _paper_, the slender sound; the _a_ in _father_, the broadish or middle sound; and the _a_ in _water_, the broad sound. The same may be observed of the _o_. This letter has three long sounds, heard in _move, note, nor_; which graduate from slender to broadish, and broad [,] like [those three sounds of] the _a_. The _i_ also in _mine_ may be called the broad _i_, and that in _machine_, the slender _i_; though each of them is equally _long_; and though these vowels that are _long_ [,] may be said to be more or less _open_ according to the different apertures of the mouth in forming them, yet the _short_ vowels cannot be said to be more or less _shut_; for as _short_ always implies _shut_ (except in verse,) though _long_ does not always imply _open_, we must be careful not to confound _long_ and _open_, and _close_ and _shut_, when we speak of the quantity and quality of the vowels. The truth of it is," continues he, "all vowels either terminate a syllable, or are united with a consonant. In the first case, if the accent be on the syllable, the vowel is _long_, though it may not be _open_: in the second case, where a syllable is terminated by a consonant, except that consonant be _r_, whether the accent be on the syllable or not, the vowel has its _short_ sound, which, compared with its long one, may be called _shut_: but [,] as no vowel can be said to be _shut_ that is not joined to a consonant, _all vowels that end syllables_ may be said to be _open_, whether the accent be on them or not."--_Crit. Pron. Dict._, New York, 1827, p. 19.

OBS. 3.--These suggestions of Walker's, though each in itself may seem clear and plausible, are undoubtedly, in several respects, confused and self-contradictory. _Open_ and _shut_ are here inconsistently referred first to one principle of distinction, and then to another;--first, (as are "_open_ and _close_" by Wells,) to "the _relative size_ of the opening," or to "the _different apertures_ of the mouth;" and then, in the conclusion, to the _relative position_ of the vowels with respect to other letters. These principles improperly give to each of the contrasted epithets two very different senses: as, with respect to aperture, _wide_ and _narrow_; with respect to position, _closed_ and _unclosed_. Now, that _open_ may mean _unclosed_, or _close_ be put _for closed_, is not to be questioned; but that _open_ is a good word for _wide_, or that _shut_ (not to say _close_) can well mean _narrow_, is an assumption hardly scholarlike. According to Walker, "_we must be careful_ not to confound" _open_ with _long_, or _shut_ with _short_, or _close_ with _shut_; and yet, if he himself does not, in the very paragraph above quoted, confound them all,--does not identify in sense, or fail to distinguish, the two words in each of these pairs,--I know not who can need his "caution." If there are vowel sounds which graduate through several degrees of openness or broadness, it would seem most natural to express these by regularly comparing the epithet preferred; as, _open, opener, openest_; or _broad, broader, broadest_. And again, if "all vowels that end syllables may be said to be open," then it is not true, that "the long sounds" of _a_ in _paper, father, water_, cannot be so "denominated;" or that to "call the _a_ in _father_ the _open a_, may, indeed, distinguish it from the slender _a_ in _paper_." Nor, on this principle, can it be said that "the broad _a_ in _water_ is still _more open_;" for this a no more "ends a syllable" than the others. If any vowel sound is to be called the _open_ sound because the letter ends a syllable, or is not shut by a consonant, it is, undoubtedly, the _primal_ and _most usual_ sound, as found in the letter when accented, and not some other of rare occurrence.

OBS. 4.--Dr. Perley says, "It is greatly to be regretted that the different sounds of a vowel should be called by the names _long, short, slender_, and _broad_, which convey no idea of the nature of the sound, for _mat_ and _not_ are as long in poetry as _mate_ and _note_. The first sound of a vowel[,] as [that of _a_ in] _fate_[,] may be called _open_, because it is the sound which the vowel generally has when it ends a syllable; the second sound as [that of _a_ in] _fat_, may be called _close_, because it is the sound which the vowel generally has when it is joined with a consonant following in the same syllable, as _fat-ten_; when there are more than two sounds of any vowel[,] they may be numbered onward; as 3 _far_, 4 _fall_."--_Perley's Gram._, p. 73.

OBS. 5.--Walker thought a long or short vowel sound essential to a long or short quantity in any syllable. By this, if he was wrong in it, (as, in the chapter on Versification, I have argued that he was,) he probably disturbed more the proper distinction of quantities, than that of vowel sounds. As regards _long_ and _short_, therefore, Perley's regret seems to have cause; but, in making the same objection to "_slender_ and _broad_," he reasons illogically. So far as his view is right, however, it coincides with the following earlier suggestion: "The terms _long_ and _short_, which are often used to denote certain vowel sounds; being also used, with a different import, to distinguish the quantity of syllables, are frequently misunderstood; for which reason, we have substituted for them the terms _open_ and _close_;--the former, to denote the sound usually given to a vowel when it _forms_ or _ends_ an accented syllable; as, _ba, be, bi, bo, bu, by_;--the latter, to denote the sound which the vowel commonly takes when closed by a consonant; as, _ab, eb, ib, ob, ub_"--_Brown's Institutes_, p. 285.

I. OF THE LETTER A.

The vowel A has _four_ sounds properly its own; they are named by various epithets: as,

1. The English, open, full, long, or slender _a_; as in _aid, fame, favour, efficacious_.

2. The French, close, curt, short, or stopped _a_; as in _bat, banner, balance, carrying_.

3. The Italian, broadish, grave, or middle _a_; as in _far, father, aha, comma, scoria, sofa_.

4. The Dutch, German, Old-Saxon, or broad _a_; as in _wall, haul, walk, warm, water_.

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--Concerning the number of sounds pertaining to the vowel _a_, or to certain other particular letters, and consequently in regard to the whole number of the sounds which constitute the oral elements of the English language, our educational literati,--the grammarians, orthoepists [sic--KTH], orthographers, elocutionists, phonographers, and lexicographers,--are found to have entertained and inculcated a great variety of opinions. In their different countings, the number of our phonical elements varies from twenty-six to more than forty. Wells says there are "_about forty_ elementary sounds."--_School Gram._, §64. His first edition was more positive, and stated them at "_forty-one_." See the last and very erroneous passage which I have cited at the foot of page 162. In Worcester's Universal and Critical Dictionary, there appear to be noted several _more_ than _forty-one_, but I know not whether this author, or Walker either, has anywhere told us how many of his marked sounds he considered to be severally different from all others. Sheridan and Jones admitted _twenty-eight_. Churchill acknowledges, as undisputed and indisputable, only _twenty-six_; though he enumerates, "Of simple vowel sounds, _twelve_, or _perhaps thirteen_" (New Grammar, p. 5,) and says, "The consonant sounds in the English language, are _nineteen_, or _rather twenty_."--P. 13.

OBS. 2.--Thus, while Pitman, Comstock, and others, are amusing themselves with the folly of inventing new "Phonetic Alphabets," or of overturning all orthography to furnish "a character for each of the 38 elementary sounds," more or fewer, one of the acutest observers among our grammarians can fix on no number more definite or more considerable than _thirty-one, thirty-two_, or _thirty-three_; and the finding of these he announces with a "_perhaps_," and the admission that other writers object to as many as _five_ of the questionable number. Churchill's vowel sounds, he says, "may be found in the following words: 1. B_a_te, 2. B_a_t, 3. B_a_ll; 4. B_e_t, 5. B_e_; 6. B_i_t; 7. B_o_t, 8. B_o_ne, 9. B_oo_n; 10. B_u_t, 11. B_u_ll; 12. Lovel_y_; 13. _W_ool."--_New Grammar_, p. 5. To this he adds: "Many of the writers on orthoepy [sic--KTH], however, consider the first and fourth of the sounds above distinguished as actually the same, the former differing from the latter only by being lengthened in the pronunciation. They also reckon the seventh sound, to be the third shortened; the twelfth, the fifth shortened; and the eleventh, the ninth shortened. Some consider the fifth and sixth as differing only in length; and most esteem the eleventh and thirteenth as identical."--_Ib._

OBS. 3.--Now, it is plain, that these six identifications, or so many of them as are admitted, must diminish by six, or by the less number allowed, the thirteen vowel sounds enumerated by this author. By the best authorities, _W_ initial, as in "_W_ool." is reckoned a _consonant_; and, of course, its sound is supposed to differ in some degree from that of _oo_ in "B_oo_n," or that of _u_ in "B_u_ll,"--the ninth sound or the eleventh in the foregoing series. By Walker, Murray, and other popular writers, the sound of _y_ in "Lovel_y_" is accounted to be essentially the same as that of _e_ in "B_e_." The twelfth and the thirteenth, then, of this list, being removed, and three others added,--namely, the _a_ heard in _far_, the _i_ in _fine_, and the _u_ in _fuse_,--we shall have the _fourteen vowel sounds_ which are enumerated by L. Murray and others, and adopted by the author of the present work.

OBS. 4.--Wells says, "_A_ has _six_ sounds:--1. Long; as in _late_. 2. Grave; as in _father_. 3. Broad; as in _fall_. 4. Short; as in _man_. 5. The sound heard in _care, hare_. 6. Intermediate between _a_ in _man_ and _a_ in _father_; as in _grass, pass, branch_."--_School Grammar_, 1850, p. 33. Besides these six, Worcester recognizes a seventh sound,--the "_A obscure_; as in _liar, rival_"--_Univ. and Crit. Dict._, p. ix. Such a multiplication of the oral elements of our first vowel.--or, indeed, any extension of them beyond four,--appears to me to be unadvisable; because it not only makes our alphabet the more defective, but is unnecessary, and not sustained by our best and most popular orthoepical [sic--KTH] authorities. The sound of _a_ in _liar_, (and in _rival_ too, if made "_obscure_") is a borrowed one, pertaining more properly to the letter _u_. In _grass, pass_, and _branch_, properly uttered, the _a_ is essentially the same as in _man_. In _care_ and _hare_, we have the first sound of _a_, made as slender as the _r_ will admit.

OBS. 5.--Concerning his fifth sound of _a_, Wells cites authorities thus: "Walker, Webster, Sheridan, Fulton and Knight, Kenrick, Jones, and Nares, give _a_ in _care_ the _long_ sound of _a_, as in _late_. Page and Day give it the _short_ sound of _a_, as in _mat_. See Page's Normal Chart, and Day's Art of Elocution. Worcester and Perry make the sound of _a_ in _care_ a separate element; and this distinction is also recognized by Russell, Mandeville, and Wright. See Russell's Lessons in Enunciation, Mandeville's Elements of Reading and Oratory, and Wright's Orthography."--_Wells's School Grammar_, p. 34. Now the opinion that _a_ in _care_ has its long, primal sound, and is not properly "a separate element," is maintained also by Murray, Hiley, Bullions, Scott, and Cobb; and is, undoubtedly, much more prevalent than any other. It accords, too, with the scheme of Johnson. To count this _a_ by itself, seems too much like a distinction without a difference.

OBS. 6.--On his sixth sound of _a_, Wells remarks as follows: "Many persons pronounce this _a_ incorrectly, giving it either the grave or the short sound. Perry, Jones, Nares, Webster, and Day, give to _a_ in _grass_ the grave sound, as in _father_; while Walker, Jamieson, and Russell, give it the short sound, as in _man_. But good speakers generally pronounce _a_ in _grass, plant_, etc., as a distinct element, intermediate between the grave and the short sound."--_School Gram._, p. 34. He also cites Worcester and Smart to the same effect; and thinks, with the latter, "_There can be no harm_ in avoiding the censure of both parties by _shunning the extreme_ that offends the taste of each."--_Ib._, p. 35. But I say, that a needless multiplication of questionable vowel powers difficult to be discriminated, _is_ "harm," or a fault in teaching; and, where intelligent orthoepists [sic--KTH] dispute whether words have "the _grave_ or the _short_ sound" of _a_, how can others, who condemn both parties, acceptably split the difference, and form "a distinct element" in the interval? Words are often mispronounced, and the French or close _a_ may be mistaken for the Italian or broadish _a_, and _vice versa_; but, between the two, there does not appear to be room for an other distinguishable from both. Dr. Johnson says, (inaccurately indeed,) "_A_ has _three_ sounds, the slender, [the] open, and [the] broad. _A_ slender is found in _most words_, as _face, mane_. _A_ open is the _a_ of the Italian, or nearly resembles it; as _father, rather, congratulate, fancy, glass_. _A_ broad resembles the _a_ of the German; as _all, wall, call_. [fist] The _short a_ approaches to the _a_ open, as _grass_."--_Johnson's Grammar, in his Quarto Dictionary_, p. 1. Thus the same word, _grass_, that serves Johnson for an example of "the _short a_" is used by Wells and Worcester to exemplify the "_a intermediate_;" while of the Doctor's five instances of what he calls the "_a open_," three, if not four, are evidently such as nearly all readers nowadays would call close or short!

OBS. 7.--There are several grammarians who agree in ascribing to our first vowel _five_ sounds, but who nevertheless oppose one an other in making up the five. Thus, according to Hart, "A has five sounds of its own, as in fate, fare, far, fall, fat,"--_Hart's E. Gram._, p. 26. According to W. Allen, "A has five sounds;--the long or slender, as in _cane_; the short or open, as in _can_; the middle, as in _arm_; the broad, as in _all_; and the _broad contracted_, as in _want_."--_Allen's E. Gram._, p. 6. P. Davis has the same sounds in a different order, thus: "a [as in] mane, mar, fall, mat, what."--_Davis's E. Gram._, p. xvi. Mennye says, "A has five sounds; as, 1 fame, 2 fat, 3 false, 4 farm, 5 beggar."--_Mennye's E. Gram._, p. 55. Here the fifth sound is the seventh of Worcester,--the "_A obscure_."

DIPHTHONGS BEGINNING WITH A.

The only proper diphthong in which _a_ is put first, is the word _ay_, meaning _yes_: in which _a_ has its _middle_ sound, as in _ah_, and _y_ is like _open e_, or _ee_, uttered feebly--_ah-ee_. _Aa_, when pronounced as an improper diphthong, and not as pertaining to two syllables, usually takes the sound of _close a_; as in _Balaam, Canaan, Isaac_. In many words, as in _Baäl, Gaäl, Gaäsh_, the diæresis occurs. In _baa_, the cry of a sheep, we hear the Italian sound of _a_; and, since we hear it but once, one _a_ or the other must be silent.

_Æ_, a Latin improper diphthong, common also in the Anglo-Saxon, generally has, according to modern orthoëpists, the sound of _open e_ or _ee_; as in _Cæsar, ænigma, pæan_;--sometimes that of _close_ or _short e_; as in _aphæresis, diæresis, et cætera_. Some authors, judging the _a_ of this diphthong to be needless, reject it, and write _Cesar, enigma_, &c.

_Ai_, an improper diphthong, generally has the sound of _open_ or _long a_; as in _sail, avail, vainly_. In a final unaccented syllable, it sometimes preserves the first sound of _a_; as in _chilblain, mortmain_: but oftener takes the sound of _close_ or _short i_; as in _certain, curtain, mountain, villain_. In _said, saith, again_, and _against_, it takes the sound of _close_ or _short e_; and in the name _Britain_, that of _close_ or _short u_.

_Ao_, an improper diphthong, occurs in the word _gaol_, now frequently written as it is pronounced, _jail_; also in _gaoler_, which may be written _jailer_; and in the compounds of _gaol_: and, again, it is found in the adjective _extraordinary_, and its derivatives, in which, according to nearly all orthoëpists, the _a_ is silent. The name _Pharaoh_, is pronounced _F=a'r=o_.

_Au_, an improper diphthong, is generally sounded like _broad a_; as in _cause, caught, applause_. Before _n_ and an other consonant, it usually has the sound of _grave_ or _middle a_; as in _aunt, flaunt, gaunt, launch, laundry_. So in _laugh, laughter_, and their derivatives. _Gauge_ and _gauger_ are pronounced _gage_ and _gager_, and sometimes written so.

_Aw_, an improper diphthong, is always sounded like _broad a_; as in _draw, drawn, drawl_.

_Ay_, an improper diphthong, like _ai_, has usually the sound of _open_ or _long a_; as in _day, pay, delay_: in _sayst_ and _says_, it has the sound of _close_ or _short e_.

TRIPHTHONGS BEGINNING WITH A.

_Awe_ is sounded _au_, like _broad a_. _Aye_, an adverb signifying _always_, has the sound of _open_ or _long a_ only; being different, both in sound and in spelling, from the adverb _ay_, yes, with which it is often carelessly confounded. The distinction is maintained by Johnson, Walker, Todd, Chalmers, Jones, Cobb, Maunder, Bolles, and others; but Webster and Worcester give it up, and write "_ay_, or _aye_," each sounded _ah-ee_, for the affirmation, and "_aye_," sounded _=a_, for the adverb of time: Ainsworth on the contrary has _ay_ only, for either sense, and does not note the pronunciation.

II. OF THE LETTER B.

The consonant _B_ has but one sound; as in _boy, robber, cub_. _B_ is silent before _t_ or after _m_ in the same syllable; as in _debt, debtor, doubt, dumb, lamb, climb, tomb_. It is heard in _subtile_, fine; but not in _subtle_, cunning.

III. OF THE LETTER C.

The consonant _C_ has two sounds, neither of them peculiar to this letter; the one _hard_, like that of _k_, and the other _soft_, or rather _hissing_, like that of _s_. _C_ before _a, o, u, l, r, t_, or when it ends a syllable, is generally hard, like _k_; as in _can, come curb, clay, crab, act, action, accent, flaccid_. _C_ before _e, i_, or _y_, is always soft, like _s_; as in _cent, civil, decency, acid_.

In a few words, _c_ takes the _flat_ sound of _s_, like that of _z_; as in _discern, suffice, sacrifice, sice_. _C_ before _ea, ia, ie, io_, or _eou_, when the accent precedes, sounds like _sh_; as in _ocean, special, species, gracious, cetaceous_. _C_ is silent in _czar, czarina, victuals, indict, muscle, corpuscle_, and the second syllable of _Connecticut_.

_Ch_ is generally sounded like _tch_, or _tsh_, which is the same to the ear; as in _church, chance, child_. But in words derived from the learned languages, it has the sound of _k_; as in _character, scheme, catechise, chorus, choir, chyle, patriarch, drachma, magna charta_: except in _chart, charter, charity_. _Ch_, in words derived from the French, takes the sound of _sh_; as in _chaise, machine_. In Hebrew words or names, in general, _ch_ sounds like _k_; as in _Chebar, Sirach, Enoch_: but in _Rachel, cherub_, and _cherubim_, we have Anglicized the sound by uttering it as _tch_. _Loch_, a Scottish word, sometimes also a medical term, is heard as _lok_.

"_Arch_, before a vowel, is pronounced _ark_; as in _archives, archangel, archipelago_: except in _arched, archer, archery, archenemy_. Before a consonant it is pronounced _artch_; as in _archbishop, archduke, archfiend_."--See _W. Allen's Gram._, p. 10. _Ch_ is silent in _schism, yacht_, and _drachm_. In _schedule_, some utter it as _k_; others, as _sh_; and many make it mute: I like the first practice.

IV. OF THE LETTER D.

The general sound of the consonant _D_, is that which is heard in _dog, eddy, did_. _D_, in the termination _ed_, preceded by a sharp consonant, takes the sound of _t_, when the _e_ is suppressed or unheard: as in _faced, stuffed, cracked, tripped, passed_; pronounced _faste, stuft, cract, tript, past. D_ before _ia, ie, io_, or _eou_, when the accent precedes, generally sounds like _j_; as in _Indian, soldier, tedious, hideous_. So in _verdure, arduous, education_.

V. OF THE LETTER E.

The vowel _E_ has _two_ sounds properly its own,--and I incline to think, _three_:--

1. The open, long, full, or primal _e_; as in _me, mere, menial, melodious_.

2. The close, curt, short, or stopped _e_; as in _men, merry, ebony, strength_.

3. The obscure or faint _e_; as in _open, garden, shovel, able_. This third sound is scarcely perceptible, and barely sufficient to articulate the consonant and form a syllable.

_E final_ is mute and belongs to the syllable formed by the preceding vowel or diphthong; as in _age, eve, ice, ore_. Except--1. In the words, _be, he, me, we, she_, in which it has the open sound; and the article _the_, wherein it is open before a vowel, and obscure before a consonant. 2. In Greek and Latin words, in which it has its open sound, and forms a distinct syllable, or the basis of one; as in _Penelope, Pasiphaë, Cyaneë, Gargaphië, Arsinoë, apostrophe, catastrophe, simile, extempore, epitome_. 3. In the terminations _ere, gre, tre_, in which it has the sound of _close_ or _curt u_, heard before the _r_; as in _acre, meagre, centre_.

Mute _e_, after a single consonant, or after _st_ or _th_, generally preserves the open or long sound of the preceding vowel; as in _cane, here, pine, cone, tune, thyme, baste, waste, lathe, clothe_: except in syllables unaccented; as in the last of _genuine_;--and in a few monosyllables; as _bade, are, were, gone, shone, one, done, give, live, shove, love_.

DIPHTHONGS BEGINNING WITH E.

_E_ before an other vowel, in general, either forms with it an _improper_ diphthong, or else belongs to a separate syllable. We do not hear both vowels in one syllable, except perhaps in _eu_ or _ew_.

_Ea_, an improper diphthong, mostly sounds like _open_ or _long e_; as in _ear, fear, tea_; frequently like _close_ or _curt e_; as in _head, health, leather_: sometimes, like _open_ or _long a_; as in _steak, bear, forswear_: rarely, like _middle a_; as in _heart, hearth, hearken. Ea_ in an unaccented syllable, sounds like _close_ or _curt u_; as _in vengeance, pageant_.

_Ee_, an improper diphthong, mostly sounds like one _open_ or _long e_; as in _eel, sheep, tree, trustee, referee_. The contractions _e'er_ and _ne'er_, are pronounced _air_ and _nair_, and not like _ear_ and _near. E'en_, however, preserves the sound of _open e. Been_ is most commonly heard with the curt sound of _i, bin_.

_Ei_, an improper diphthong, mostly sounds like the _primal_ or _long a_; as in _reign, veil_: frequently, like _open_ or _long e_; as in _deceit, either, neither, seize_: sometimes, like _open_ or _long i_; as in _height, sleight, heigh-ho_: often, in unaccented syllables, like _close_ or _curt i_; as in _foreign, forfeit, surfeit, sovereign_: rarely, like _close e_; as in _heifer, nonpareil_.

_Eo_, an improper diphthong, in _people_, sounds like _open_ or _long e_; in _leopard_ and _jeopard_, like _close_ or _curt e_; in _yeoman_, according to the best usage, like _open_ or _long o_; in _George, Georgia, georgic_, like _close o_; in _dungeon, puncheon, sturgeon_, &c., like _close u_. In _feoff_, and its derivatives, the _close_ or _short_ sound of _e_ is most fashionable; but some prefer the long sound of _e_; and some write the word "_fief." Feod, feodal, feodary, feodatory_, are now commonly written as they are pronounced, _feud, feudal, feudary, feudatory_.

_Eu_ and _ew_ are sounded alike, and almost always with the diphthongal sound of _open_ or _long u_; as in _feud, deuce, jewel, dew, few, new_. These diphthongs, when initial, sound like _yu_. Nouns beginning with this sound, require the article _a_, and not _an_, before them; as, _A European, a ewer_. After _r_ or _rh, eu_ and _ew_ are commonly sounded like _oo_; as in _drew, grew, screw, rheumatism_. In _sew_ and _Shrewsbury, ew_ sounds like _open o_: Worcester, however, prefers the sound of _oo_ in the latter word. _Shew_ and _strew_, having the same meaning as _show_ and _strow_, are sometimes, by sameness of pronunciation, made to be the same words; and sometimes distinguished as different words, by taking the sounds _shu_ and _stroo_.

_Ey_, accented, has the sound of _open_ or _long a_; as in _bey, prey, survey_: unaccented, it has the sound of _open e_; as in _alley, valley, money. Key_ and _ley_ are pronounced _kee, lee_.

TRIPHTHONGS BEGINNING WITH E.

_Eau_, a French triphthong, sounds like _open o_; as in _beau, flambeau, portmanteau, bureau_: except in _beauty_, and its compounds, in which it is pronounced like _open u_, as if the word were written _buty_.

_Eou_ is a combination of vowels sometimes heard in one syllable, especially after _c_ or _g_; as in _crus-ta-ceous, gor-geous_. Walker, in his Rhyming Dictionary, gives one hundred and twenty words ending in _eous_, in all of which he separates these vowels; as in _ex-tra-ne-ous_. And why, in his Pronouncing Dictionary, he gave us several such anomalies as _fa-ba-ce-ous_ in four syllables and _her-ba-ceous_ in three, it is not easy to tell. The best rule is this: after _c_ or _g_, unite these vowels; after the other consonants, separate them.

_Ewe_ is a triphthong having the sound of _yu_, and forming a word. The vulgar pronunciation _yoe_ should be carefully avoided.

_Eye_ is an improper triphthong which also forms a word, and is pronounced like _open i_, or the pronoun _I_.

VI. OF THE LETTER F.

The consonant _F_ has one unvaried sound, which is heard in _fan, effort, staff_: except _of_, which, when simple, is pronounced _ov_.

VII. OF THE LETTER G.

The consonant _G_ has two sounds;--the one _hard_, guttural, and peculiar to this letter; the other _soft_, like that of _j. G_ before _a, o, u, l, r_, or at the end of a word, is hard; as in _game, gone, gull, glory, grace, log, bog_; except in _gaol. G_ before _e, i_, or _y_, is soft; as in _gem, ginger, elegy_. Except--1. In _get, give, gewgaw, finger_, and a few other words. 2. When a syllable is added to a word ending in g: as, _long, longer; fog, foggy_.

_G_ is silent before _m_ or _n_ in the same syllable; as in _phlegm, apothegm, gnaw, design. G_, when silent, usually lengthens the preceding vowel; as in _resign, impregn, impugn_.

_Gh_ at the beginning of a word has the sound of _g hard_; as in _ghastly, gherkin, Ghibelline, ghost, ghoul, ghyll_: in other situations, it is generally silent; as in _high, mighty, plough, bough, though, through, fight, night, bought. Gh final_ sometimes sounds like _f_; as in _laugh, rough, tough_; and sometimes, like _g hard_; as in _burgh_. In _hough, lough, shough_, it sounds like _k_, or _ck_; thus, _hock, lock, shock_.

VIII. OF THE LETTER H.

The sound of the consonant _H_, (though articulate and audible when properly uttered,) is little more than an aspirate breathing. It is heard in _hat, hit, hot, hut, adhere_.

_H_ at the beginning of a word, is always sounded; except in _heir, herb, honest, honour, hospital, hostler, hour, humble, humour_, with their compounds and derivatives. _H_ after _r_, is always silent; as in _rhapsody, rhetoric, rheum, rhubarb. H final_, immediately following a vowel, is always silent; as in _ah, Sarah, Nineveh, Shiloh_.

IX. OF THE LETTER I.

The vowel _I_ has three sounds, each very common to it, and perhaps properly its own:--

1. The open, long, full, or primal _i_; as in _life, fine, final, time, bind, child, sigh, pint, resign_. This is a diphthongal sound, equivalent to the sounds of _middle a_ and _open e_ quickly united.

2. The close, curt, short, or stopped _i_; as in _ink, limit, disfigure, mimicking_.

3. The feeble, faint, or slender _i_, accentless; as in _divest, doctrinal, diversity_.

This third sound is equivalent to that of _open e_, or _ee_ uttered feebly. _I_ generally has this sound when it occurs at the end of an unaccented syllable: except at the end of Latin words, or of ancient names, where it is _open_ or _long_; as in _literati, Nervii, Eli, Levi_.

In some words, (principally from other modern languages,) _i_ has the full sound of _open e_, under the accent; as in _Porto Rico, machine, magazine, antique, shire_.

Accented _i_ followed by a vowel, has its open or primal sound; and the vowels belong to separate syllables; as in _pliant, diet, satiety, violet, pious_. Unaccented _i_ followed by a vowel, has its feeble sound; as in _expatiate, obedient, various, abstemious_.

DIPHTHONGS BEGINNING WITH I.

_I_, in the situation last described, readily coalesces with the vowel which follows, and is often sunk into the same syllable, forming a proper diphthong: as in _fustian, quotient, question_. The terminations _cion, sion, and tion_, are generally pronounced _shun_; and _cious_ and _tious_ are pronounced _shus_.

_Ie_ is commonly an improper diphthong. _Ie_ in _die, hie, lie, pie, tie, vie_, and their derivatives, has the sound of _open i. Ie_ in words from the French, (as _cap-a-pie, ecurie, grenadier, siege, bier_,) has the sound of _open e_. So, generally, in the middle of English roots; as in _chief, grief, thief_; but, in _sieve_, it has the sound of _close_ or _short i_. In _friend_, and its derivatives or compounds, it takes the sound of _close e_.

TRIPHTHONGS BEGINNING WITH I.

The triphthongs ieu and iew both sound like open or long u; as in lieu, adieu, view.

The three vowels iou, in the termination ious, often fall into one syllable, and form a triphthong. There are two hundred and forty-five words of this ending; and more than two hundred deriva- tives from them. Walker has several puzzling inconsistencies in their pronunciation; such as fas-tid-i-ous and per-fid-ious, con-ta-gi-ous and sac-ri-le-gious. After c, g, t, or x, these vowels should coalesce: as in gra-cious, re-li-gious, vex-a-tious, ob-nox-ious, and about two hundred other words. After the other consonants, let them form two syllables; (except when there is a syn- seresis in poetry;) as in dw-bi-ou-s, o-di-ous, va-ri-ous, en-vi-ous.

X. OF THE LETTER J.

The consonant _J_, the tenth letter of the English alphabet, has invariably the sound of _soft g_, like the _g_ in _giant_, which some say is equivalent to the complex sound _dzh_; as, _jade, jet, jilt, joy, justice, jewel, prejudice_.

XI. OF THE LETTER K.

The consonant _K_, not silent, has uniformly the sound of _c_ hard; and occurs where _c_ would have its soft sound: as in _keep, looking, kind, smoky_.

_K_ before _n_ is silent; as in _knave, know, knuckle_. In stead of doubling _c final_, we write _ck_; as in _lack, lock, luck, attack_. In English words, _k_ is never doubled, though two Kays may come together in certain compounds; as in _brickkiln, jackknife_. Two Kays, belonging to different syllables, also stand together in a few Scripture names; as in _Akkub, Bakbakkar, Bukki, Bukkiah, Habakkuk. Hakkoz, Ikkesh, Sukkiims_. _C_ before _k_, though it does not always double the sound which _c_ or _k_ in such a situation must represent, always shuts or shortens the preceding vowel; as in _rack, speck, freckle, cockle, wicked_.

XII. OF THE LETTER L.

The consonant _L_, the plainest of the semivowels, has a soft, liquid sound; as in _line, lily, roll, follow. L_ is sometimes silent; as in _Holmes, alms, almond, calm, chalk, walk, calf, half, could, would, should. L_, too, is frequently doubled where it is heard but once; as in _hill, full, travelled_. So any letter that is written twice, and not twice sounded, must there be once mute; as the last in _baa, ebb, add, see, staff, egg, all, inn, coo, err, less, buzz_.

XIII. OF THE LETTER M.

The consonant _M_ is a semivowel and a liquid, capable of an audible, humming sound through the nose, when the mouth is closed. It is heard in _map, murmur, mammon_. In the old words, _compt, accompt, comptroller_, (for _count, account, controller_,) the _m_ is sounded as _n. M_ before _n_, at the beginning of a word, is silent; as in _Mnason, Mnemosyne, mnemonics_.

XIV. OF THE LETTER N.

The consonant _N_, which is also a semivowel and a liquid, has two sounds;--the first, the pure and natural sound of _n_; as in _nun, banner, cannon_;--the second, the ringing sound of _ng_, heard before certain gutturals; as in _think, mangle, conquer, congress, singing, twinkling, Cen'chreä_. The latter sound should be carefully preserved in all words ending in _ing_, and in such others as require it. The sounding of the syllable _ing_ as if it were _in_, is a vulgarism in utterance; and the writing of it so, is, as it would seem by the usage of Burns, a Scotticism.

_N final_ preceded by _m_, is silent; as in _hymn, solemn, column, damn, condemn, autumn_. But this _n_ becomes audible in an additional syllable; as in _autumnal, condemnable, damning_.

XV. OF THE LETTER O.

The vowel _O_ has _three_ different sounds, which are properly its own:--

1. The open, full, primal, or long _o_; as in _no, note, opiate, opacity, Roman_.

2. The close, curt, short, or stopped _o_; as in _not, nor, torrid, dollar, fondle_.

3. The slender or narrow _o_, like _oo_; as in _prove, move, who, to, do, tomb_.

_O_, in many words, sounds like _close_ or _curt u_; as in _love, shove, son, come, nothing, dost, attorney, gallon, dragon, comfit, comfort, coloration. One_ is pronounced _wun_; and _once, wunce_. In the termination _on_ immediately after the accent, _o_ is often sunk into a sound scarcely perceptible, like that of _obscure e_; as in _mason, person, lesson_.

DIPHTHONGS BEGINNING WITH O.

_Oa_, an improper diphthong, has the sound of _open_ or _long o_; as in _boat, coal, roach, coast, coastwise_: except in _broad_ and _groat_, which have the sound of _broad a_.

_Oe_, an improper diphthong, when _final_, has the sound of _open_ or _long o_: as in _doe, foe, throe_: except in _canoe, shoe_, pronounced _canoo, shoo_. _OE_, a Latin diphthong, generally sounds like _open e_; as in _Antoeci, foetus_: sometimes, like _close_ or _curt e_; as in _foetid, foeticide_. But the English word _f~etid_ is often, and perhaps generally, written without the _o_.

_Oi_ is generally a proper diphthong, uniting the sound of _close o_ or _broad a_, and that of _open e_; as in _boil, coil, soil, rejoice_. But the vowels, when they appear together, sometimes belong to separate syllables; as in _Stoic, Stoicism. Oi_ unaccented, sometimes has the sound of _close_ or _curt i_; as in _avoirdupois, connoisseur, tortoise_.

_Oo_, an improper diphthong, generally has the slender sound of _o_; as in _coo, too, woo, fool, room_. It has, in some words, a shorter or closer sound, (like that of _u_ in _bull_,) as in _foot, good, wood, stood, wool_;--that of _close u_ in _blood_ and _flood_;--and that of _open o_ in _door_ and _floor_. Derivatives from any of these, sound as their primitives.

_Ou_ is generally a proper diphthong, uniting the sound of _close_ or _curt o_, and that of _u_ as heard in _bull_,--or _u_ sounded as _oo_; as in _bound, found, sound, ounce, thou. Ou_ is also, in certain instances, an improper diphthong; and, as such, it has _six_ different sounds:--(l.) That of _close_ or _curt u_; as in _rough, tough, young, flourish_. (2.) That of _broad a_; as in _ought, bought, thought_. (3.) That of _open_ or _long o_; as in _court, dough, four, though_. (4.) That of _close_ or _curt o_; as in _cough, trough, lough, shough_: which are, I believe, the only examples. (5.) That of _slender o_, or _oo_; as in _soup, you, through_. (6.) That of _u_ in _bull_, or of _oo_ shortened; only in _would, could, should_.

_Ow_ generally sounds like the proper diphthong _ou_,--or like a union of _short o_ with _oo_; as in _brown, dowry, now, shower_: but it is often an improper diphthong, having only the sound of _open_ or _long o_; as in _know, show, stow_.

_Oy_ is a proper diphthong, equivalent in sound to _oi_; as in _joy, toy, oyster_.

TRIPHTHONGS BEGINNING WITH O.

_OEu_ is a French triphthong, pronounced in English as _oo_, and occurring in the word _manoeuvre_, with its several derivatives. _Owe_ is an improper triphthong, and an English word, in which the _o_ only is heard, and heard always with its long or open sound.

XVI. OF THE LETTER P.

The consonant _P_, when not written before _h_, has commonly one peculiar sound; which is heard in _pen, pine, sup, supper_. The word _cupboard_ is usually pronounced _kubburd_. _P_, written with an audible consonant, is sometimes itself silent; as in _psalm, psalter, pseudography, psychology, ptarmigan, ptyalism, receipt, corps_.

_Ph_ generally sounds like _f_; as in _philosophy_. In _Stephen_ and _nephew, ph_ has the sound of _v_. The _h_ after _p_, is silent in _diphthong, triphthong, naphtha, ophthalmic_; and both the _p_ and the _h_ are silent in _apophthegm, phthisis, phthisical_. From the last three words, _ph_ is sometimes dropped.

XVII. OF THE LETTER Q.

The consonant _Q_, being never silent, never final, never doubled, and not having a sound peculiar to itself, is invariably heard, in English, with the power of _k_; and is always followed by the vowel _u_, which, in words _purely English_, is sounded like the narrow _o_, or _oo_,--or, perhaps, is squeezed into the consonantal sound of _w_;--as in _queen, quaver, quiver, quarter, request_. In some words of _French_ origin, the _u_ after _q_ is silent; as in _coquet, liquor, burlesque, etiquette_.

XVIII. OF THE LETTER R.

The consonant _R_, called also a semivowel and a liquid, has usually, at the beginning of a word, or before a vowel, a rough or pretty strong sound; as in _roll, rose, roam, proudly, prorogue_. "In other positions," it is said by many to be "smooth" or "soft;" "as in _hard, ford, word_."--_W. Allen_.

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--The letter _R_ turns the tip of the tongue up against or towards the roof of the mouth, where the sound may be lengthened, roughened, trilled, or quavered. Consequently, this element may, at the will of the speaker, have more or less--little or nothing, or even very much--of that peculiar roughness, jar, or whur, which is commonly said to constitute the sound. The extremes should here be avoided. Some readers very improperly omit the sound of _r_ from many words to which it pertains; pronouncing _or_ as _awe, nor_ as _knaw, for_ as _faugh_, and _war_ as the first syllable of _water_. On the other hand, "The excessive _trilling_ of the _r_, as practised by some speakers, is a great fault."--_D. P. Page_.

OBS. 2.--Dr. Johnson, in his "Grammar of the English Tongue," says, "_R_ has the same _rough snarling sound_ as in other tongues."--P. 3. Again, in his Quarto Dictionary, under this letter, he says, "_R_ is called the _canine letter_, because it is uttered _with some resemblance to the growl or snarl of a cur_: it has _one constant sound_ in English, such as it has in other languages; as, _red, rose, more, muriatick_." Walker, however, who has a greater reputation as an orthoepist [sic--KTH], teaches that, "There is a distinction in the sound of this letter, which is," says he, "in my opinion, _of no small importance_; and that is, the [distinction of] the rough and [the] smooth _r_. Ben Jonson," continues he, "in his Grammar, says, 'It is sounded firm in the beginning of words, and more liquid in the middle and ends, as in _rarer, riper_; and so in the Latin.' The rough _r_ is formed by jarring the tip of the tongue against the roof of the mouth near the fore teeth: the smooth _r_ is a vibration of the lower part of the tongue, near the root, against the inward region of the palate, near the entrance of the throat."--_Walker's Principles_, No. 419; _Octavo Dict._, p. 48.

OBS. 3.--Wells, with his characteristic indecision, forbears all recognition of this difference, and all intimation of the quality of the sound, whether smooth or rough; saying, in his own text, only this: "_R_ has the sound heard in _rare_."--_School Grammar_, p. 40. Then, referring the student to sundry authorities, he adds in a footnote certain "quotations," that are said to "present a general view of the different opinions which exist among orthoepists respecting this letter." And so admirably are these authorities or opinions balanced and offset, one class against an other, that it is hard to tell which has the odds. First, though it is not at all probable that Wells's utterance of "_rare_" exhibits twice over the _rough snarl_ of Johnson's _r_, the "general view" seems intended to confirm the indefinite teaching above, thus: "'_R_ has one constant sound in English.'--_Johnson_. The same view is adopted by Webster, Perry, Kendrick, Sheridan, Jones, Jameson, Knowles, and others."--_School Grammar_, p. 40. In counterpoise of these, Wells next cites about as many more--namely, Frazee, Page, Russell, Walker, Rush, Barber, Comstock, and Smart,--as maintaining or admitting that _r_ has sometimes a rough sound, and sometimes a smoother one.

XIX. OF THE LETTER S.

The consonant _S_ has a sharp, hissing, or hard sound; as in _sad, sister, thus_: and a flat, buzzing, or soft sound, like that of _z_; as in _rose, dismal, bosom, husband. S_, at the beginning of words, or after any of the sharp consonants, is always sharp; as in _see, steps, cliffs, sits, stocks, smiths_. _S_, after any of the flat mutes, or at the end of words when not preceded by a sharp consonant, is generally flat; as in _eyes, trees, beds, bags, calves_. But in the English termination _ous_, or in the Latin _us_, it is sharp; as _joyous, vigorous, hiatus_.

_Ss_ is generally sharp; as in _pass, kiss, harass, assuage, basset, cassock, remissness_. But the first two Esses in _possess_, or any of its regular derivatives, as well as the two in _dissolve_, or its proximate kin, sound like two Zees; and the soft or flat sound is commonly given to each _s_ in _hyssop, hussy, and hussar_. In _scissel, scissible_, and _scissile_, all the Esses hiss;--in _scissors_, the last three of the four are flat, like _z_;--but in the middle of _scissure_ and _scission_ we hear the sound of _zh_.

_S_, in the termination _sion_, takes the sound of _sh_, after a consonant; as in _aspersion, session, passion, mission, compulsion_: and that of _zh_, after a vowel; as in _evasion, elision, confusion_.

In the verb _assure_, and each of its derivatives, also in the nouns _pressure_ and _fissure_, with their derivatives, we hear, according to Walker, the sound of _sh_ for each _s_, or twice in each word; but, according to the orthoëpy of Worcester, that sound is heard only in the accented syllable of each word, and the vowel in each unaccented syllable is _obscure_.

_S_ is silent or mute in the words, _isle, island, aisle, demesne, corps_, and _viscount_.

XX. OF THE LETTER T.

The general sound of the consonant _T_, is heard in _time, letter, set_. _T_, immediately after the accent, takes the sound of _tch_, before _u_, and generally also before _eou_; as in _nature, feature, virtue, righteous, courteous_: when _s_ or _x_ precedes, it takes this sound before _ia_ or _io_; as in _fustian, bastion, mixtion_. But the general or most usual sound of _t_ after the accent, when followed by _i_ and an other vowel, is that of _sh_; as in _creation, patient, cautious_.

In English, _t_ is seldom, if ever, silent or powerless. In _depot_, however, a word borrowed from the French, we do not sound it; and in _chestnut_, which is a compound of our own, it is much oftener written than heard. In _often_ and _soften_, some think it silent; but it seems rather to take here the sound of _f_. In _chasten, hasten, fasten, castle, nestle, whistle, apostle, epistle, bustle_, and similar words, with their sundry derivatives, the _t_ is said by some to be mute; but here it seems to take the sound of _s_; for, according to the best authorities, this sound is beard twice in such words. _Th_, written in Greek by the character called _Theta_, ([Greek: th] or O capital, [Greek: th] or [Greek: th] small,) represents an elementary sound; or, rather, two distinct elementary sounds, for which the Anglo-Saxons had different characters, supposed by Dr. Bosworth to have been applied with accurate discrimination of "the _hard_ or _sharp_ sound of _th_," from "the _soft_ or _flat_ sound."--(See _Bosworth's Compendious Anglo-Saxon Dictionary_, p. 268.) The English _th_ is either sharp, as in _thing, ethical, thinketh_; or flat, as in _this, whither, thither_.

"_Th initial_ is sharp; as in _thought_: except in _than, that, the, thee, their, them, then, thence, there, these, they, thine, this, thither, those, thou, thus, thy_, and their compounds."--_W. Allen's Grammar_, p. 22.

_Th final_ is also sharp; as in _south_: except in _beneath, booth, with_, and several verbs formerly with _th_ last, but now frequently (and more properly) written with final _e_; as _loathe, mouthe, seethe, soothe, smoothe, clothe, wreathe, bequeathe, unclothe_.

_Th medial_ is sharp, too, when preceded or followed by a consonant; as in _Arthur, ethnic, swarthy, athwart_: except in _brethren, burthen, farther, farthing, murther, northern, worthy_. But "_th_ between two vowels, is generally flat in words purely English; as in _gather, neither, whither_: and sharp in words from the learned languages; as in _atheist, ether, method_"--See _W. Allen's Gram._, p. 22.

"_Th_, in _Thames, Thomas, thyme, asthma, phthisis_, and their compounds, is pronounced like _t_."--_Ib._

XXI. OF THE LETTER U.

The vowel _U_ has three sounds which may be considered to be properly its own:--

1. The open, long, full, primal, or diphthongal _u_; as in _tube, cubic, juvenile_.

2. The close, curt, short, or stopped _u_; as in _tub, butter, justice, unhung_.

3. The middle _u_, resembling a short or quick _oo_; as in _pull, pulpit, artful_.

_U_ forming a syllable by itself or _U_ as naming itself is nearly equivalent in sound to _you_, and requires the article _a_, and not _an_, before it; as, _a U, a union_.

_U_ sometimes borrows the sound of some other vowel; for _bury_ is pronounced _berry_, and _busy_ is pronounced _bizzy_. So in the derivatives, _burial, buried, busied, busily_, and the like.

The long or diphthongal _u_, commonly sounded as _yu_, or as _ew_ in _ewer_,--or any equivalent diphthong or digraph, as _ue, ui, eu_, or _ew_.--when it follows _r_ or _rh_, assumes the sound of slender _o_ or _oo_; as in _rude, rhubarb, rue, rueful, rheum, fruit, truth, brewer_.

DIPHTHONGS BEGINNING WITH U.

_U_, in the proper diphthongs, _ua, ue, ui, uo, uy_, has the sound of _w_ or of _oo feeble_; as in _persuade, query, quell, quiet, languid, quote, obloquy_.

_Ua_, an improper diphthong, has the sound--1. Of _middle a_; as in _guard, guardian_. 2. Of _close a_; as in _guarantee, piquant_. 3. Of _obscure e_; as in _victuals_ and its compounds or kindred. 4. Of _open u_; as in _mantuamaker_.

_Ue_, an improper diphthong, has the sound--1. Of _open u_; as in _blue, ensue, ague_. 2. Of _close e_; as in _guest, guesser_. 3. Of _close u_; as in _leaguer_. _Ue final_ is sometimes silent; as in _league, antique_. _Ui_, an improper diphthong, has the sound--1. Of _open i_; as in _guide, guile_. 2. Of _close i_; as in _conduit, circuit_. 3. Of _open u_; as in _juice, sluice, suit_.

_Uo_ can scarcely be called an improper diphthong, except, perhaps, after _q_ in _liquor, liquorice, liquorish_, where _uor_ is heard as _ur_.

_Uy_, an improper diphthong, has the sound--1. Of _open y_; as in _buy, buyer_. 2. Of _feeble y_, or of _ee feeble_; as in _plaguy, roguy_.

TRIPHTHONGS BEGINNING WITH U.

_Uai_ is pronounced nearly, if not exactly, like _way_; as in _guai-a-cum, quail, quaint_. _Uaw_ is sounded like _wa_ in _water_; as in _squaw_, a female Indian. _Uay_ has the sound of _way_; as in _Par-a-guay_: except in _quay_, which nearly all our orthoepists pronounce _kee_. _Uea_ and _uee_ are each sounded _wee_; as in _queasy, queer, squeal, squeeze_. _Uoi_ and _woy_ are each sounded _woi_; as in _quoit, buoy_. Some say, that, as _u_, in these combinations, sounds like _w_, it is a consonant; others allege, that _w_ itself has only the sound of _oo_, and is therefore in all cases a vowel. _U_ has, certainly, in these connexions, as much of the sound of _oo_, as has _w_; and perhaps a little more.

XXII. OF THE LETTER V.

The consonant _V_ always has a sound like that of _f flattened_; as in _love, vulture, vivacious_. In pure English, it is never silent, never final, never doubled: but it is often doubled in the dialect of Craven; and there, too, it is sometimes final.

XXIII. OF THE LETTER W.

_W_, when reckoned a _consonant_, (as it usually is when uttered with a vowel that follows it,) has the sound heard at the beginning of _wine, win, woman, woody_; being a sound less vocal than that of _oo_, and depending more upon the lips.

_W_ before _h_, is usually pronounced as if it followed the _h_; as in _what, when, where, while_: but, in _who, whose, whom, whole, whoop_, and words formed from these, it is silent. Before _r_, in the same syllable, it is also silent; as in _wrath, wrench, wrong_. So in a few other cases; as in _sword, answer, two_.

_W_ is never used alone as a _vowel_; except in some Welsh or foreign names, in which it is equivalent to _oo_; as in "_Cwm Cothy_," the name of a mountain in Wales; "_Wkra_" the name of a small river in Poland.--See _Lockhart's Napoleon_, Vol. ii, p. 15. In a diphthong, when heard, it has the power of _u_ in _bull_, or nearly that of _oo_; as in _new, now, brow, frown_. _Aw_ and _ow_ are frequently improper diphthongs, the _w_ being silent, the _a_ broad, and the _o_ long; as in _law, flaw,--tow, snow_. _W_, when sounded before vowels, being reckoned a _consonant_, we have no diphthongs or triphthongs beginning with this letter.

XXIV. OF THE LETTER X.

The consonant "_X_ has a _sharp_ sound, like _ks_; as in _ox_: and a _flat_ one, like _gz_; as in _example_. _X_ is sharp, when it ends an accented syllable; as in _exercise, exit, excellence_: or when it precedes an accented syllable beginning with a consonant; as in _expand, extreme, expunge_. _X_ unaccented is generally flat, when the next syllable begins with a vowel; as in _exist, exemption, exotic_. _X initial_, in Greek proper names, has the sound of _z_; as in _Xanthus, Xantippe, Xenophon, Xerxes_"--See _W. Allen's Gram._, p. 25.

XXV. OF THE LETTER Y.

_Y_, as a _consonant_, has the sound heard at the beginning of _yarn, young, youth_; being rather less vocal than the feeble sound of _i_, or of the vowel _y_, and serving merely to modify that of a succeeding vowel, with which it is quickly united. _Y_, as a vowel, has the same sounds as _i_:--

1. The open, long, full, or primal _y_; as in _cry, crying, thyme, cycle_.

2. The close, curt, short, or stopped _y_; as in _system, symptom, cynic_.

3. The feeble or faint _y_, accentless; (like _open e feeble_;) as in _cymar, cycloidal, mercy_.

The vowels _i_ and _y_ have, in general, exactly the same sound under similar circumstances, and, in forming derivatives, we often change one for the other: as in _city, cities; tie, tying; easy, easily_.

_Y_, before a vowel heard in the same syllable, is reckoned a _consonant_; we have, therefore, no diphthongs or triphthongs _commencing_ with this letter.

XXVI. OF THE LETTER Z.

The consonant _Z_, the last letter of our alphabet, has usually a soft or buzzing sound, the same as that of _s flat_; as in _Zeno, zenith, breeze, dizzy_. Before _u primal_ or _i feeble, z_, as well as _s flat_, sometimes takes the sound of _zh_, which, in the enumeration of consonantal sounds, is reckoned a distinct element; as in _azure, seizure, glazier; osier, measure, pleasure_.

END OF THE FIRST APPENDIX.