[sic--KTH] _for_ it, implies only capacity for enjoyment: as, 'When we have
had a true taste _of_ the pleasures of virtue, we can have no relish _for_
those of vice.'"--_Bullions cor._ "The Indicative mood simply declares a
thing: as, 'He _loves_;' 'He _is_ loved:' or it asks a question; as,
'_Lovest_ thou me?'"--_Id. and Lennie cor._; also _Murray_. "The Imperfect
(or Past) tense represents an action or event indefinitely as past; as,
'Cæsar _came_, and _saw_, and _conquered_:' or it represents the action
definitely as unfinished and continuing at a certain time now entirely
past; as, 'My father _was coming_ home when I met him.'"--_Bullions cor._
"Some nouns have no plural; as, _gold, silver, wisdom_: others have no
singular: as, _ashes, shears, tongs_: others are alike in both numbers; as,
_sheep, deer, means, news_."--_Day cor._ "The same verb may be transitive
in one sense, and intransitive in an other: thus, in the sentence, 'He
believes my story,' _believes_ is transitive; but, in this phrase, 'He
believes in God,' it is intransitive."--_Butler cor._ "Let the divisions be
_distinct_: one part should not include _an other_, but each should have
its proper place, and be of importance in that place; and all the parts,
well fitted together and united, should present a _perfect_
whole."--_Goldsbury cor._ "In the use of the transitive verb, there are
always _three_ things implied; the _actor_, the _act_, and the _object_
acted upon: in the use of the intransitive, there are only _two_; the
subject, or _the thing_ spoken of, and the _state_ or _action_ attributed
to it."--_Bullions cor._
"Why labours reason? instinct were as well;
Instinct, far better: what can choose, can err."--_Young_, vii, 622.
UNDER RULE III.--OF INDEPENDENT QUOTATIONS.
"The sentence may run thus: 'He is related to the same person, and is
governed by him.'"--_Hart cor._ "Always remember this ancient proverb:
'Know thyself.'"--_Hallock cor._ "Consider this sentence: 'The boy runs
swiftly.'"--_Frazee cor._ "The comparative is used thus: 'Greece was more
polished than any other nation of antiquity.' The same idea is expressed by
the superlative, when the word _other_ is left out: thus, 'Greece was the
most polished nation of antiquity.'"--_Bullions and Lennie cor._ "Burke, in
his speech on the Carnatic war, makes the following allusion to the well
known fable of _Cadmus_ sowing dragon's teeth:--'Every day you are
fatigued and disgusted with this cant: 'The Carnatic is a country that will
soon recover, and become instantly as prosperous as ever.' They think they
are talking to innocents, who believe that by the sowing of dragon's teeth,
men may come up ready grown and ready made.'"--_Hiley and Hart cor._
"For sects he car'd not: 'They are not of us,
Nor need we, brethren, their concerns discuss.'"--_Crabbe cor._
"Habit, with him, was all the test of truth:
'It must be right; I've done it from my youth.'
Questions he answer'd in as brief a way:
'It must be wrong; it was of yesterday.'"--_Id._
MIXED EXAMPLES CORRECTED.
"This would seem to say, 'I doubt nothing, save one thing; namely, that he
will _fulfill_ his promise:' whereas that is the very thing not
doubted."--_Bullions cor._ "The common use of language requires, that a
distinction be made between _morals_ and _manners_: the former depend upon
internal dispositions; the latter, _upon_ outward and visible
accomplishments."--_Beattie cor._ "Though I detest war in each particular
fibre of my heart, yet I honour the heroes among our fathers, who fought
with bloody hand. Peacemakers in a savage way, they were faithful to their
light: the most inspired can be no more; and we, with greater light, do, it
may be, far less."--_T. Parker cor._ "The article _the_, like _a_, must
have a substantive joined with it; whereas _that_, like _one_, may have it
understood: thus, speaking of books, I may select one, and say, 'Give me
that;' but not, 'Give me _the_;'--[so I may say,] 'Give me _one_;' but not,
'Give me _a_.'"--_Bullions cor._ "The Present tense has three distinct
forms: the _simple_; as, I read: the _emphatic_; as, I do read: and the
_progressive_; as, I am reading." Or thus: "The Present tense has three
distinct forms;--the _simple_; as, 'I read;'--the _emphatic_; as, 'I do
read;'--and the _progressive_; as, 'I am reading.'"--_Id._ "The tenses in
English are usually reckoned six: the _Present_, the _Imperfect_, the
_Perfect_, the _Pluperfect_, the _First-future_, and the
_Second-future_."--_Id._ "There are three participles; the Present or
Active, the Perfect or Passive, and the Compound Perfect: as, _loving,
loved, having loved_." Or, better: "There are three participles from each
verb; namely, the _Imperfect_, the _Perfect_, and the _Preperfect_; as,
_turning, turned, having turned_."--_Murray et al. cor._ "The participles
are three; the Present, the Perfect, and the Compound Perfect: as, _loving,
loved, having loved_." Better: "The participles of each verb are three; the
_Imperfect_, the _Perfect_, and the _Preperfect_: as, _turning, turned,
having turned_."--_Hart cor._ "_Will_ is conjugated regularly, when it is a
principal verb: as, present, I _will_; past, I _willed_; &c."--_Frazee
cor._ "And both sounds of _x_ are compound: one is that of _gz_, and the
other, that of _ks_."--_Id._ "The man is happy; he is benevolent; he is
useful."--_L. Mur._, p. 28: _Cooper cor._ "The pronoun stands _in stead_ of
the noun: as, 'The man is happy; _he_ is benevolent; _he_ is useful.'"--_L.
Murray cor._ "A Pronoun is a word used _in stead_ of a noun, to _prevent_
too frequent _a_ repetition of it: as, 'The man is happy; _he_ is
benevolent; _he_ is useful.'"--_Id._ "A Pronoun is a word used in the room
of a noun, or as a substitute for one or more words: as, 'The man is happy;
_he_ is benevolent; _he_ is useful.'"--_Cooper cor._ "A common noun is the
name of a sort, kind, or class, of beings or things; as, _Animal, tree,
insect, fish, fowl_."--_Id._ "Nouns have three persons; the _first_, the
_second_, and the _third_."--_Id._
"_So_ saying, her rash hand in evil hour
Forth reaching to the fruit, she pluck'd, she _eat_:
Earth felt the wound; and _Nature_ from her seat,
Sighing through all her works, gave signs of _woe_,
That all was lost."--MILTON, P. L., Book ix, l. 780.
SECTION IV.--THE PERIOD.
CORRECTIONS UNDER RULE I.--OF DISTINCT SENTENCES.
"The third person is the position of _a word by which an object is merely_
spoken of; as, 'Paul and Silas were imprisoned.'--'The earth
thirsts.'--'The sun shines.'"--_Frazee cor._
"Two, and three, and four, make nine. If he were here, he would assist his
father and mother; for he is a dutiful son. They live together, and are
happy, because they enjoy each other's society. They went to Roxbury, and
tarried all night, and came back the next day."--_Goldsbury cor._
"We often resolve, but seldom perform. She is wiser than her sister. Though
he is often advised, yet he does not reform. Reproof either softens or
hardens its object. He is as old as his classmates, but not so learned.
Neither prosperity, nor adversity, has improved him. Let him that standeth,
take heed lest he fall. He can acquire no virtue, unless he make some
sacrifices."--_Id._
"Down from his neck, with blazing gems array'd,
Thy image, lovely Anna! hung portray'd;
Th' unconscious figure, smiling all serene,
Suspended in a golden chain was seen."--_Falconer._
UNDER RULE II.--OF ALLIED SENTENCES.
"This life is a mere prelude to _an other_ which has no limits. _It_ is a
little portion of duration. As death leaves us, so the day of _judgement_
will find us."--_Merchant cor._
"He went from Boston to New York.--He went (I say) from Boston; he went to
New York. In walking across the floor, he stumbled over a
chair."--_Goldsbury corrected_.
"I saw him on the spot, going along the road, looking towards the house.
During the heat of the day, he sat on the ground, under the shade of a
tree."--_Goldsbury corrected_.
"'George came home; I saw him yesterday.' _Here_ the word _him_ can extend
only to the individual George."--_Barrett corrected_.
"Commas are often used now, where parentheses were [adopted] formerly. I
cannot, however, esteem this an improvement."--_Bucke's Classical
Grammar_, p. 20.
"Thou, like a sleeping, faithless sentinel,
Didst let them pass unnotic'd, unimprov'd.
And know, for that thou _slumberst_ on the guard,
Thou shalt be made to answer at the bar
For every fugitive."--COTTON: _Hallock and Enfield cor._
UNDER RULE III.--OF ABBREVIATIONS.
"The term _pronoun_ (Lat. _pronomen_) strictly means a word used _for_, or
_in stead of_, a noun."--_Bullions corrected_.
"The period is also used after abbreviations; as, A. D., P. S., G. W.
Johnson."--_N. Butler cor._
"On this principle of classification, the later Greek grammarians divided
words into eight classes, or parts of speech: viz., the Article, Noun,
Pronoun, Verb, Participle, Adverb, Preposition, and Conjunction."--
_Bullions cor._
"'_Metre [Melody]_ is not confined to verse: there is a tune in all good
prose; and Shakspeare's was a sweet one.'--_Epea Pter._, ii, 61. [_First
American Ed._, ii, 50.] Mr. H. Tooke's idea was probably just, agreeing
with Aristotle's; but [, if so, it is] not accurately expressed."--
_Churchill cor._
"Mr. J. H. Tooke was educated at Eton and at Cambridge, in which latter
college he took the degree of A. M. Being intended for the established
church of England, he entered into holy orders when young; and obtained the
living of Brentford, near London, which he held ten or twelve
years."--_Tooke's Annotator cor._
"I, nor your plan, nor book condemn;
But why your name? and why A. M.?"--_Lloyd cor._
MIXED EXAMPLES CORRECTED.
"If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath," &c.--_Isaiah_, lviii, 13.
"He that hath eeris of hervnge, _here he_."--WICKLIFFE: _Matt._, xi, 15.
"See General Rules for Spelling, iii, v, and vii."--_N. Butler cor._ "False
witnesses did rise up."--_Ps._, xxxv, 11.
"An _explicative_ sentence is used for explaining; an _interrogative_
sentence, for inquiring; an _imperative_ sentence, for commanding."--
_Barrett cor._ "In October, corn is gathered in the field by men, who go
from hill to hill with baskets, into which they put the ears.--Susan
labours with her needle for a livelihood.--Notwithstanding his poverty, he
is a man of integrity."--_Golds, cor._
"A word of one syllable is called a monosyllable; a word of two syllables,
a dissyllable; a word of three syllables, a trissyllable; a word of four or
more syllables, a polysyllable."--_Frazee cor._
"If I say, '_If it did not rain_, I would take a walk;' I convey the idea
that it _does_ rain at the time of speaking. '_If it rained_,' or, '_Did it
rain_,' in [reference to] the present time, implies _that_ it does _not_
rain. '_If it did not rain_,' or, '_Did it not rain_,' in [reference to
the] present time, implies that it _does_ rain. Thus, in this peculiar
_application_, an affirmative sentence always implies a negation; and a
negative sentence, an affirmation."--_Id._ "'_If I were loved_' and, '_Were
I loved_;' imply I am _not_ loved: '_If I were not loved_,' and, '_Were I
not loved_,' imply I _am_ loved. A negative sentence implies an
affirmation, and an affirmative sentence implies a negation, in these forms
of the subjunctive."--_Id._
"What is Rule III?"--_Hart cor._ "How is Rule III violated?"--_Id._ "How do
you parse _letter_ in the sentence, 'James writes a letter?' Ans. _Letter_
is a common noun, of the third person, singular number, _neuter_ gender,
and objective case; and is governed by the verb _writes_, according to Rule
III, which says, 'A transitive verb governs the objective case.'"--_Id._
"Creation sleeps. 'Tis as the gen'ral pulse
Of life stood still, and nature made a pause;
An awful pause! prophetic of her end.
And let her prophecy be soon fulfill'd:
Fate, drop the curtain; I can lose no more."--_Young_.
SECTION V.--THE DASH.
CORRECTIONS UNDER RULE I.--OF ABRUPT PAUSES.
"And there is something in your very strange story, that resembles--Does
Mr. Bevil know your history particularly?"--_Burgh's Speaker_, p. 149.
"Sir,--Mr. Myrtle--Gentlemen--You are friends--I am but a
servant--But--"--_Ib._, p. 118.
"An other man now would have given plump into this foolish story; but
I--No, no, your humble servant for that."--GARRICK, _Neck or Nothing_.
"Do not plunge thyself too far in anger, lest thou hasten thy trial; which
if--Lord have mercy on thee for a hen!"--SHAKSPEARE, _All's Well_.
"But ere they came,--O, let me say no more!
Gather the sequel by that went before."--IDEM, _Com. of Errors_.
UNDER RULE II.--OF EMPHATIC PAUSES.
"M,--Malvolio;--M,--why, that begins my name."--SINGER'S SHAK., _Twelfth
Night_.
"Thus, by the creative influence of the Eternal Spirit, were the heavens
and the earth finished in the space of six days--so admirably finished--an
unformed chaos changed into a system of perfect order and beauty--that the
adorable Architect himself pronounced it _very good_, and _all the sons of
God shouted for joy_."--_Historical Reader_, p. 10.
"If I were an American, as I am an Englishman, while a foreign troop
remained in my country, I never would lay down my arms--never, never,
never."--_Pitt's Speech_.
"Madam, yourself are not exempt in this,--
Nor your son Dorset;--Buckingham, nor you."--SHAK.
UNDER RULE III.--OF FAULTY DASHES.
"'You shall go home directly, Le Fevre,' said my uncle Toby, 'to my house;
and we'll send for a doctor to see what's the matter; and we'll have an
apothecary; and the corporal shall be your nurse: and I'll be your servant,
Le Fevre.'"--_Sterne cor._
"He continued: 'Inferior artists may be at a stand, because they want
materials.'"--_Harris cor._ "Thus, then, continued he: 'The end, in other
arts, is ever distant and removed.'"--_Id._
"The nouns must be coupled with _and_; and when a pronoun is used, it must
be plural, as in the example. When the nouns are _disjoined_, the pronoun
must be singular."--_Lennie cor._
"_Opinion_ is a common noun, or substantive, of the third person, singular
number, neuter gender, and nominative case."--_Wright cor._
"The mountain, thy pall and thy prison, may keep thee;
I shall see thee no more, but till death I will weep thee."
--_See Felton's Gram._, p. 93.
MIXED EXAMPLES CORRECTED.
"If to accommodate man and beast, heaven and earth--if this be beyond me,
'tis not possible.--What consequence then follows? Or can there be any
other than this?--_if_ I seek an interest of my own, detached from that of
others, I seek an interest which is chimerical, and can never have
existence."--_Harris_.
"Again: I must have food and clothing. Without a proper genial warmth, I
instantly perish. Am I not related, in this view, to the very earth
itself?--_to_ the distant sun, from whose beams I derive vigour?"--_Id._
"Nature instantly ebbed again; the film returned to its place; the pulse
fluttered--stopped--went on--throbbed--stopped again--moved--stopped.--
Shall I go on?--No."--_Sterne cor._
"Write ten nouns of the masculine gender;--ten of the feminine;--ten of the
neuter; ten indefinite in gender."--_Davis cor._
"The infinitive _mood_ has two tenses; the indicative, six; the potential,
_four_; the subjunctive, _two_; and the imperative, one."--_Frazee cor._
"Now notice the following sentences: 'John runs.'--'Boys run.'--'Thou
runnest.'"--_Id._
"The Pronoun sometimes stands for a name; sometimes for an adjective, a
sentence, _or_ a part of a sentence; and, sometimes, for a whole series of
propositions."--_Peirce cor._
"The self-applauding bird, the peacock, see;
Mark what a sumptuous pharisee is he!"--_Cowper cor._
SECTION VI.--THE EROTEME.
CORRECTIONS UNDER RULE I.--OF QUESTIONS DIRECT.
"When will his ear delight in the sound of arms? When shall I, like Oscar,
travel in the light of my steel?"--_Ossian_, Vol. i, p. 357. "Will Henry
call on me, while he shall be journeying south?"--_Peirce cor._
"An Interrogative Pronoun is one that is used in asking a question; as,
'_Who_ is he? and _what_ does he want?'"--_P. E. Day cor._ "_Who_ is
generally used when we would inquire _about_ some unknown person or
persons; as, '_Who_ is that man?'"--_Id._ "_Your_ fathers, where are they?
and the prophets, do they live forever?"--_Zech._, i. 5.
"It is true, that some of our best writers have used _than whom_; but it is
also true that they have used _other_ phrases which we have rejected as
ungrammatical: then why not reject this too?--The sentences in the
exercises, with _than who_, are correct as they stand."--_Lennie cor._
"When the perfect participle of an active-intransitive verb is annexed to
the neuter verb _to be_, what does the combination form?"--_Hallock cor._
"Those adverbs which answer to the question _where_? _whither_? or
_whence_? are called adverbs of _place_."--_Id._ "Canst thou by searching
find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is as
high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou
know?"--SCOTT, ALGER, BRUCE, AND OTHERS: _Job_, xi, 7 and 8.
"Where, where, for shelter shall the wicked fly,
When consternation turns the good man pale?"--_Young_.
UNDER RULE II.--OF QUESTIONS UNITED.
"Who knows what resources are in store, and what the power of God may do
for thee?"--STERNE: _Enfield's Speaker_, p. 307.
"God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he
should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and
shall he not make it good?"--SCOTT'S BIBLE, ALGER'S, FRIENDS', BRUCE'S, AND
OTHERS: _Numb._, xxiii, 19. "Hath the Lord said it, and shall he not do it?
hath he spoken it, and shall he not make it good?"--_Lennie and Bullions
cor._
"Who calls the council, states the certain day,
Who forms the phalanx, and who points the way?"--_Pope's Essay_.
UNDER RULE III.--OF QUESTIONS INDIRECT.
"To be, or not to be;--that is the question."--_Shak. et al. cor._ "If it
be asked, why a pause should any more be necessary to emphasis than to an
accent,--or why an emphasis alone will not sufficiently distinguish the
members of sentences from each other, without pauses, as accent does
words,--the answer is obvious: that we are preacquainted with the sound of
words, and cannot mistake them when distinctly pronounced, however rapidly;
but we are not preacquainted with the meaning of sentences, which must be
pointed out to us by the reader or speaker."--_Sheridan cor._
"Cry, 'By your priesthood, tell me what you are.'"--_Pope cor._
MIXED EXAMPLES CORRECTED.
"Who else can he be?"--_Barrett cor._ "Where else can he go?"--_Id._ "In
familiar language, _here, there_, and _where_, are used for _hither,
thither_, and _whither_."--_N. Butler cor._ "Take, for instance, this
sentence: 'Indolence undermines the foundation of virtue.'"--_Hart cor._
"Take, for instance, the sentence before quoted: 'Indolence undermines the
foundation of virtue.'"--_Id._ "Under the same head, are considered such
sentences as these: '_He_ that _hath ears to hear_, let him hear.'--'_Gad_,
a troop shall overcome him.'"--_Id._
"Tenses are certain modifications of the verb, which point out the
distinctions of time."--_Bullions cor._ "Calm was the day, and the scene,
delightful."--_Id._ See _Murray's Exercises_, p. 5. "The capital letters
used by the Romans to denote numbers, were C, I, L, V, X; which are
therefore called Numeral Letters. I denotes _one_; V, _five_; X, _ten_; L,
_fifty_; and C, _a hundred_."--_Bullions cor._ "'I shall have written;'
viz., at or before some future time or event."--_Id._ "In Latin words, the
liquids are _l_ and _r_ only; in Greek words, _l, r, m_, and _n_."--_Id._
"Each legion was divided into ten cohorts; each cohort, into three
maniples; and each maniple, into two centuries."--_Id._ "Of the Roman
literature previous to A. U. 514, scarcely a vestige remains."--_Id._
"And that which He delights in, must be happy.
But when? or where? This world was made for Cæsar."--CATO.
"Look next on greatness. Say where greatness lies.
Where, but among the heroes and the wise?"--_Pope_.
SECTION VII--THE ECPHONEME.
CORRECTIONS UNDER RULE I.--OF INTERJECTIONS, &c.
(1.) "O! that he were wise!"--_Bullions cor._ (2.) "O! that his heart
_were_ tender!"--_See Murray's Ex._ or _Key_, under Rule xix. (3 and 4.)
"Oh! what a sight is here!"--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 71; (§37;) _Pract.
Les._, p. 82; _Analyt. and Pract. Gram._, p. 111. (5-9.) "O Virtue! how
amiable thou art!"--_Farnum's Gram._, p. 12; _Bullions's Analyt. and Pract.
Gram._, p. 111. (10.) "Oh! that I had been more diligent!"--_Hart cor._;
and _Hiley_. (11.) "O! the humiliation to which vice reduces us!"--_Farnum_
and _Mur. cor._ (12.) "O! that he were more prudent!"--_Farnum cor._ (13
and 14.) "Ah me!"--_Davis cor._
(15.) "Lately, alas! I knew a gentle boy," &c.--_Dial cor._
(16 and 17.) "Wo is me, Alhama!"--_Byron's Poems: Wells cor._
UNDER RULE II.--OF INVOCATIONS.
"Weep on the rocks of roaring winds, O maid of Inistore!"--_Ossian_. "Cease
a little while, O wind! stream, be thou silent a while! let my voice be
heard around. Let my wanderer hear me! Salgar! it is Colma who calls. Here
is the tree, and the rock. Salgar, my love! I am here. Why delayest thou
thy coming? Lo! the calm moon comes forth. The flood is bright in the
vale."--_Id._, Vol. i, p. 369.
"Ah, stay not, stay not! guardless and alone:
Hector! my lov'd, my dearest, bravest son!"--_Pope_, II., xxii, 61.
UNDER RULE III.--OF EXCLAMATORY QUESTIONS.
"How much better is wisdom than gold!"--See _Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 272.
"O Virtue! how amiable art thou!"--See _Murray's Grammar_, 2d Edition, p.
95. "At that hour, O how vain was all sublunary happiness!"--_Brown's
Institutes_, p. 117; see _English Reader_, p. 135. "Alas! how few and
transitory are the joys which this world affords to man!"--_P. E. Day cor._
"Oh! how vain and transitory are all things here below!"--_Id._
"And O! what change of state, what change of rank,
In that assembly everywhere was seen!"--_Pollok cor._; also _Day_.
MIXED EXAMPLES CORRECTED.
"O _Shame_! where is thy blush?"--_Shak._[557] "_John_, give me my
hat."--_Barrett cor._ "What! is Moscow in flames?"--_Id._ "_O_! what
happiness awaits the virtuous!"--_Id._
"_Ah, welladay_! do what we can for him, said Trim, maintaining his
point,--the poor soul will die."--_Sterne_ or _Enfield cor._; also
_Kirkham_.
"Will John return to-morrow?"--_Barrett cor._ "Will not John return
to-morrow?"--_Id._ "John, return to-morrow."--_Id._ "Soldiers, stand
firm."--_Id._ "If _mea_, which means _my_, is an adjective in Latin, why
may not _my_ be so called in English? and if my is an adjective, why not
_Barrett's_?"--_Id._
"O Absalom, my son!"--See _2 Sam._, xix, 4. "O star-eyed Science! whither
hast thou fled?"--_Peirce cor._ "Why do you tolerate your own
inconsistency, by calling it the present tense?"--_Id._ "Thus the
declarative mood [i.e., the indicative mood] may be used in asking a
question: as, '_What_ man _is_ frail?'"--_Id._ "What connection has motive,
wish, or supposition, with the the term _subjunctive_?"--_Id._ "A grand
reason, truly, for calling it a golden key!"--_Id._ "What '_suffering_' the
man who can say this, must be enduring!"--_Id._ "What is Brown's Rule in
relation to this matter?"--_Id._ "Alas! how short is life!"--_P. E. Day
cor._ "Thomas, study your book."--_Id._ "Who can tell us who they
are?"--_Sanborn cor._ "Lord, have mercy on my son; for he is lunatic, and
sorely vexed."--See _Matt._, xvii, 15. "O ye wild groves! O where is now
your bloom?"--_Felton cor._
"O who of man the story will unfold?"--_Farnum cor._.
"Methought I heard Horatio say, To-morrow.
Go to--I will not hear of it--to-morrow!"--COTTON.
"How his eyes languish! how his thoughts adore
That painted coat which Joseph never wore!"
SECTION VIII.--THE CURVES.
CORRECTIONS UNDER RULE I.--OF PARENTHESES.
"_Another_ [, better written as a phrase, _An other_,] is composed of the
indefinite article _an_, (which etymologically means _one_,) and _other_;
and denotes _one other_."--_Hallock cor._
"Each mood has its peculiar Tense, Tenses, or Times."--_Bucke cor._
"In some very ancient languages, (as the Hebrew,) which have been employed
chiefly for expressing plain sentiments in the plainest manner, without
aiming at any elaborate length or harmony of periods, this pronoun [the
relative] occurs not so often."--_L. Murray cor._
"Before I shall say those things, O Conscript Fathers! about the public
affairs, which are to be spoken at this time; I shall lay before you, in
few words, the motives of the journey and the return."--_Brightland cor._
"Of well-chose words some take not care enough,
And think they should be, like the subject, rough."--_Id._
"Then, having _showed_ his wounds, he'd sit him down."--_Bullions cor._
UNDER RULE II.--OF INCLUDED POINTS.
"Then Jael smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it _into_ the
ground: (for he was fast asleep, and weary:) so he died."--SCOTT'S BIBLE:
_Judges_, iv, 21.
"Every thing in the Iliad has manners, (as Aristotle expresses it,) that
is, every thing is acted or spoken."--_Pope cor._
"Those nouns that end in _f_, or _fe_. (except some few _which_ I shall
mention presently,) form plurals by changing those letters into _ves_: as,
thief, _thieves_: wife, _wives_."--_Bucke cor._
"_As_ requires _as_; (expressing equality _of degree_;) _thus_, 'Mine is
_as_ good _as_ yours.' _As_ [requires] _so_; (expressing equality _or
proportion_;) _thus_, '_As_ the stars, _so_ shall thy seed be.' _So_
[requires] _as_; (with a negative expressing inequality;) _as_, 'He is _not
so_ wise _as_ his brother.' _So_ [requires] _that_; (expressing _a_
consequence:) _as_, 'I am _so_ weak _that_ I cannot walk.'"
[558]--_Bullions cor._
"A captious question, sir, (and yours is one,)
Deserves an answer similar, or none."--_Cowper cor._
MIXED EXAMPLES CORRECTED.
"Whatever words the verb TO BE serves to unite, referring to the same
thing, must be of the same case; (§61;) as, '_Alexander_ is a
_student_.'"--_Bullions cor._ "When the objective is a relative _or_ [_an_]
interrogative, it comes before the verb that governs it: (§40, Rule 9:)
Murray's 6th rule is unnecessary."--_Id._ "It is generally improper, except
in poetry, to omit the antecedent to a relative; and always, to omit a
relative, when of the nominative case."--_Id._ "In every sentence, there
must be a verb and a nominative or subject, expressed or
understood."--_Id._ "Nouns and pronouns, and especially words denoting
time, are often governed by prepositions understood; or are used to
restrict verbs or adjectives, without a governing word: (§50, Rem. 6 and
Rule:) as, 'He gave [to] me a full account of the affair.'"--_Id._ "When
_should_ is used in stead of _ought_, to express _present_ duty, (§20, 4,)
it may be followed by the present; as, 'You _should_ study that you _may_
become learned.'"--_Id._ "The indicative present is frequently used after
the words _when, till, before, as soon as, after_, to express the relative
time of a future action: (§24, I, 4;) as, 'When he _comes_, he will be
welcome.'"--_Id._ "The relative is parsed, [_according to Bullions_,] by
stating its gender, number, case, and antecedent; (the gender and number
being always the same as those of the antecedent;) thus, 'The boy
who'--'_Who_ is a relative pronoun, masculine, singular, the nominative;
and refers to '_boy_' as its antecedent."--_Id._
"'Now, now, I seize, I clasp _thy_ charms;
And now _you_ burst, ah cruel! from my arms.'--_Pope_.
"Here is an unnecessary change from the second person singular to the
second _person_ plural. _The text_ would have been better, thus:--
'Now, now, I seize, I clasp _your_ charms;
And now _you_ burst, ah cruel! from my arms.'"--_John Burn cor._
See _Lowth's Gram._, p. 35; _Churchill's_, 293.
SECTION IX.--ALL POINTS.
MIXED EXAMPLES CORRECTED.
"The principal stops are the following: the Comma [,], the Semicolon [;],
the Colon [:], the Period, or Full Stop [.], the Note of Interrogation [?],
the Note of Exclamation [!], the Parenthesis [()], and the Dash
[--]."--_Bullions cor._ "The modern punctuation in Latin is the same as in
English. The _chief_ marks employed are the Comma [,], _the_ Semicolon [;],
_the_ Colon [:], _the_ Period [.], _the Note of_ Interrogation [?], _the
Note of_ Exclamation (!), _the Parenthesis_ [()], _and the Dash_
[--]."--_Id._
"Plato reproving a young man for playing at some childish game, 'You chide
me,' says the youth, 'for a trifling fault.' 'Custom,' replied the
philosopher, 'is no trifle.' 'And,' adds _Montaigne_, 'he was in the right;
for our vices begin in infancy.'"--_Home cor._
"A merchant at sea asked the skipper what death his father died. 'My
father,' says the skipper, 'my grandfather, and my great-grandfather, were
all drowned.' 'Well,' replies the merchant, 'and are not you afraid of
being drowned too?'"--_Id._
"The use of inverted commas derives from France, where one Guillemet was
the author of them; [and,] as an acknowledgement for the improvement, his
countrymen call them after his name, GUILLEMETS."--_Hist. cor._
"This, however, is seldom if ever done, unless the word following the
possessive begins with _s_; thus, we do not say, 'the _prince_' feather;'
but, 'the _prince's_ feather.'"--_Bullions cor._ "And this phrase must
mean, '_the feather of the prince_;' but '_prince's-feather_,' written as
one word, [and with both apostrophe and hyphen,] is the name of a plant, a
species of amaranth."--_G. Brown_. "Boëthius soon had the satisfaction of
obtaining the highest honours his country could bestow."--_Ingersoll cor._;
also _L. Murray_.
"When an example, a quotation, or a speech, is introduced, it is separated
from the rest of the sentence either by a _comma_ or _by_ a colon; as, 'The
Scriptures give us an amiable representation of the Deity, in these words:
_God is love_.'"--_Hiley cor._ "Either the colon or _the comma_ may be
used, [according to the nature of the case,] when an example, a quotation,
or a speech, is introduced; as, 'Always remember this ancient maxim: _Know
thyself_.'--'The Scriptures give us an amiable representation of the Deity,
in these words: _God is love_.'"--_Bullions cor._
"The first word of a quotation introduced after a colon, or _of any
sentence quoted_ in a direct form, must begin with a capital: as, '_Always_
remember this ancient maxim: _Know_ thyself.'--'Our great lawgiver says,
_Take_ up thy cross daily, and follow me.'"--_Bullions and Lennie cor._;
also _L. Murray_; also _Weld_. See _Luke_, ix, 23.
"Tell me, in whose house do you live?"--_N. Butler cor._ "He that acts
wisely, deserves praise."--_Id._ "He who steals my purse, steals
trash."--_Id._ "The antecedent is _sometimes_ omitted; as, 'Who steals my
purse, steals trash.'--[_Shak._] That is, '_He_ who,' or, 'The _person_
who.'"--_Id._ "Thus, 'Whoever steals my purse, steals trash;'--'Whoever
does no good, does harm.'"--_Id._ "Thus, 'Whoever sins, will suffer.' This
means, that any one, without exception, who sins, will suffer."--_Id._
"Letters form syllables; syllables, words; words, sentences; and sentences,
combined and connected, form discourse."--_Cooper cor._ "A letter which
forms a perfect sound when uttered by itself, is called a vowel; as, _a, e,
i_."--_Id._ "A proper noun is the name of an individual, [or of a
particular people or place]; as, John, Boston, Hudson, America."--_Id._
"Many men have been capable of doing a wise thing; more, a cunning thing;
but very few, a generous thing."--_Davis cor._ "In the place of an ellipsis
of the verb, a comma must be inserted."--_Id._ "A common noun unlimited by
an article, is sometimes understood in its broadest acceptation: thus,
'_Fishes_ swim,' is understood to mean _all_ fishes; '_Man_ is mortal,'
_all_ men."--_Id._
"Thus, those sounds formed principally by the throat, are called
_gutturals_; those formed principally by the palate, _palatals_; those
formed by the teeth, _dentals_; those by the lips, _labials; and_ those by
the nose, _nasals_."--_Davis cor._
"Some adjectives are compared irregularly: as, _Good, letter, best; Bad,
worse, worst; Little, less, least_."--_Felton cor._
"Under the fourth head of grammar, therefore, four topics will be
considered; viz., PUNCTUATION, ORTHOEPY [sic--KTH], FIGURES, and
VERSIFICATION."--_Hart cor._
"Direct her onward to that peaceful shore,
Where peril, pain, and death, are felt no more!"--_Falconer cor._
GOOD ENGLISH RIGHTLY POINTED.
LESSON I.--UNDER VARIOUS RULES.
"Discoveries of such a character are sometimes made in grammar also; and
such, too, _are_ often their origin and their end."--_Bullions cor._
"TRAVERSE, [literally to _cross_,] To deny what the opposite party has
alleged. To traverse an indictment, _or the like_, is to deny it."--_Id._
"The _Ordinal_ numerals denote the _order_, or _succession_, in which any
number of persons or things _are_ mentioned; as, _first, second, third_,
fourth, &c."--_Hiley cor._
"Nouns have three persons; _the_ First, _the_ Second, and _the_ Third. The
First person is _that which denotes_ the speaker: the Second is _that which
denotes the person or thing_ spoken to; the Third is _that which denotes_
the _person or thing merely_ spoken of."--_Hart cor._
"Nouns have three cases; _the_ Nominative, _the_ Possessive, and _the_
Objective. The _relations_ indicated by the _cases_ of a noun, _include_
three _distinct_ ideas; viz., those of subject, object, and
ownership."--_Id._
"In speaking of animals that are of inferior size, or whose sex is not
known or not regarded, _we_ often _treat them_ as without sex: thus, we say
of a cat, '_It_ is treacherous;' of an infant, '_It_ is beautiful;' of a
deer, '_It_ was killed.'"--_Id._
"When THIS _and_ THAT, or THESE _and_ THOSE, refer to a preceding sentence;
THIS or THESE _represents_ the latter member or term, _and_ THAT or THOSE,
the former."--_Churchill cor._; and _Lowth_.
"The rearing of them became his first care; their fruit, his first food;
and _the_ marking _of_ their kinds, his first knowledge."--_N. Butler cor._
"After the period used with abbreviations, we should employ other points,
if the construction demands _them_; thus, after 'Esq.,' in the last
example, there should be, besides _the_ period, a comma."--_Id._
"In the plural, the verb _has_ the same _form_ in all the persons; _but
still_ the principle in _Rem._ 5, under Rule iii, that the first or second
person takes precedence, is applicable to verbs, _in parsing_."--_Id._
"Rex and Tyrannus are of very different characters. The one rules his
people by laws to which they consent; the other, by his absolute will and
power: that _government_ is called freedom; this, tyranny."--_L. Murray
cor._
"A noun is the name of any person, place, or thing, _that_ can be known or
mentioned: as, George, London, America, goodness, charity."--See _Brown's
Institutes_, p. 31.
"Etymology treats of the classification of words, their various
modifications, and _their derivation_"--_P. E. Day cor._
"To punctuate correctly, implies a thorough acquaintance with the meaning
of words and phrases, as well as _with_ all their corresponding
connexions."--_W. Day cor._
"All objects _that_ belong to neither the male nor _the_ female kind, are
said to be of the neuter gender, _except certain things
personified_."--_Weld cor twice_.
"The Analysis of the Sounds in the English language, presented in the
preceding statements, _is_ sufficiently exact for the purpose in hand.
Those who wish to pursue _the subject_ further, can consult Dr. Rush's
admirable work, 'The Philosophy of the Human Voice.'"--_Fowler cor._
"Nobody confounds the name of _w_ or _y_ with _the_ sound _of the letter_,
or _with its_ phonetic import."--_Id._ [[Fist] This assertion is hardly
true. Strange as such a blunder is, it has actually occurred. See, in
Orthography, Obs. 5, on the Classes of the Letters, at p. 156.--G. B.]
"Order is Heav'n's first law; and, this _confess'd_,
Some are, and must be, greater than the rest."--_Pope_.
LESSON II--UNDER VARIOUS RULES.
"_From_ adjectives of one syllable, _and some of two_, the comparative is
formed by adding _r_ or _er_ to the positive; and the superlative, by
adding _st_ or _est_: as, _sweet, sweeter, sweetest_; _able, abler,
ablest_."--_Bullions cor._
"_From_ monosyllables, _or from dissyllables ending with a vowel or the
accent_, the comparative is formed by adding _er_ or _r_ to the positive;
and the superlative, by adding _est_ or _st_: as, _tall, taller, tallest_;
_wise, wiser, wisest_; _holy, holier, holiest_; _complete, completer,
completest_."--_Id._
"By this method, the confusion and unnecessary labour occasioned by
studying grammars, in these languages, constructed on different principles,
_are_ avoided; the study of one is rendered a profitable introduction to
the study of an other; and an opportunity is furnished to the _inquiring_
student, of comparing the languages in their grammatical structure, and
_of_ seeing at once wherein they agree, and wherein they differ."--_Id._
"No larger portion should be assigned for each recitation, than the class
can easily master; and, till _the previous lessons are well learned_, a new
portion should not be given out."--_Id._ "The acquisitions made in every
new lesson, should be _riveted_ and secured by repeated revisals."--_Id._
"The personal pronouns may be parsed briefly, thus: '_I_ is a personal
pronoun, _of_ the first _person_, singular _number_, masculine _gender_,
(feminine, if the speaker is a female,) _and_ nominative _case_.' '_His is_
a personal pronoun, _of_ the third _person_, singular _number_, masculine
_gender, and_ possessive _case_.'"--_Id._
"When the male and _the_ female are expressed by distinct terms, as,
_shepherd, shepherdess_, the masculine term has also a general meaning,
expressing both male and female; and is always to be used when the office,
occupation, _or_ profession, and not the sex, of the individual, is chiefly
to be expressed; the feminine term being used only when the discrimination
of sex is indispensably necessary. Thus, when it is said, 'The poets of
this country are distinguished _for_ correctness of taste,' the term
'poets' clearly includes both male and female writers of poetry."--_Id._
"Nouns and pronouns connected by conjunctions, must be in the same
_case_"--_Ingersoll cor._
"Verbs connected by _and, or_, or _nor_, must _generally_ be in the _same
mood_ and _tense_; and, when _the tense has different forms_, they must be
in the same form."--_Id._
"This will habituate him to reflection; exercise his _judgement_ on the
meaning of the author; and, without any great effort on his part, impress
indelibly on his memory the rules which he is required to give. After the
exercises under _any_ rule have been gone through, _agreeably to the
direction_ in the note _at the bottom of_ page _88th_, they may be read
over again in a corrected state, the pupil making an emphasis on the
correction made; or they may be presented in writing, at the next
recitation."--_Bullions cor._
"Man, but for that, no action could attend;
And, but for this, _were active_ to no end."--_Pope_.
LESSON III.--UNDER VARIOUS RULES.
"'Johnson, the bookseller and stationer' indicates that _bookseller_ and
_stationer_ are _terms_ belonging to the same person; 'the bookseller and
the stationer,' would indicate that they belong to different
persons."--_Bullions cor._
"_Past_ is [commonly] an adjective; _passed_, the past tense or perfect
participle of the verb: and they ought not (as _they_ frequently _are_) to
be confounded with each other."--_Id._
"Not only the nature of the thoughts and sentiments, but the very selection
_or_ arrangement of the words, gives English poetry a character which
separates it widely from common prose."--_Id._
"Men of sound, discriminating, and philosophical minds--men prepared for
the work by long study, patient investigation, and extensive
acquirements--have laboured for ages to improve and perfect it; and nothing
is hazarded in asserting, that, should it be unwisely abandoned, it will be
long before an other, equal in beauty, stability, and usefulness, _will_ be
produced in its stead."--_Id._, on the common "system of English Grammar."
"The article _the_, on the other hand, is used to restrict; and is
therefore termed _Definite_. Its proper office is, to call the attention to
a particular individual or class, or to any number of such; and
_accordingly it_ is used with nouns _of_ either number, singular or
plural."--_Id._
"Hence, also, the infinitive mood, a participle _with its adjuncts_, a
member of a sentence, or a _whole_ proposition, forming the subject of
discourse, or the object of a verb or preposition, and being the name of an
act or circumstance, _is_, in construction, regarded as a _noun_; and _is_
usually called, 'a substantive phrase:' as, '_To play_, is
pleasant.'--'_That he is an expert dancer_, is no recommendation.'--'Let
your motto be, _Honesty is the best policy_.'"--_Id._
"In accordance with his definition, Murray has divided verbs into three
classes: _Active, Passive_, and _Neuter_;--and _included_ in the first
class transitive verbs only; and, in the last, all verbs used
intransitively"--_Id._
"Moreover, as the name of the speaker or _that of_ the person spoken to is
seldom expressed, (the _pronoun_ I being used _for the former_, and THOU
_or_ YOU _for the latter_,) a noun is very _rarely_ in the first person;
not often in the second; and _hardly ever_ in either, unless it _is_ a
proper noun, or a common noun _denoting an object_ personified."--_Id._
"In using the _parsing_ exercises, it will save much time, (_and this
saving_ is _all-important_,) if the pupil be taught to say _all things_
belonging to the noun, in the fewest words possible; and to say them always
in the same order, _after the example_ above."--_Id._
"In any phrase or sentence, the adjectives qualifying a noun may generally
be found by prefixing the phrase, 'What kind of,' to the noun, in the form
of a question; as, 'What kind of horse?' 'What kind of stone?' 'What kind
of way?' The word containing the answer to the question, is an
adjective."--_Id._
"In the following exercise, let the pupil first point out the nouns, and
then the adjectives; and tell how he knows them to be _such_."--_Id._
"In the following sentences, point out the improper _ellipses_; _show_ why
_they are_ improper; and correct _them_."--_Id._
"SINGULAR. PLURAL.
1. I am smitten, 1. We are smitten,
2. Thou art smitten, 2. You are smitten,
3. He is smitten; 3. They are smitten."--_Wright cor._
CHAPTER II.--UTTERANCE.
The second chapter of Prosody, treating of articulation, pronunciation,
elocution and the minor topics that come under Utterance, contains no
exercises demanding correction in this Key.
CHAPTER III.--FIGURES.
In the third chapter of Prosody, the several Figures of speech are
explained; and, as the illustrations embrace no errors for correction,
nothing here corresponds to the chapter, but the title.
CHAPTER IV.--VERSIFICATION.
FALSE PROSODY, OR ERRORS OF METRE, CORRECTED.
LESSON I.--RHYTHM RESTORED.
"Where thy true treasure? Gold says, 'Not in me.'"
--_Young_.
"Canst thou grow sad, thou _say'st_, as earth grows bright."
--_Dana_.
"It must be so;--Plato, thou _reason'st_ well"
--CATO: _Enfield_, p. 321.
"Slow rises _worth_ by poverty depressed."
--_Wells's Gram., Late Ed._, p. 211.
"Rapt _into_ future times, the bard begun."
--POPE.--_Ib._, p. 165.
"Is there not rain enough in the sweet heavens
To wash it white as snow? _Whereto_ serves mercy
But to confront the visage of offence?"
--_Shak., Hamlet_.
"Look! in this place ran _Cassius_' dagger through."
--_Id., J. Cæsar_.
"_And_ when they list, their lean and flashy songs
Grate on their scrannel pipes of wretched straw."
--_Milton, Lycidas_.
"Did not great Julius bleed for _justice'_ sake?"
--_Dodd and Shak. cor._
"May I _express thee' unblam'd? since_ God is light"
--_Milton_, B. iii, l. 3.
"Or _hear'st_ thou rather pure ethereal stream?"
--_Id._, B. iii, l. 7.
"Republics, kingdoms, empires, may decay;
_Great_ princes, heroes, sages, sink to nought."
--_Peirce or La-Rue cor._
"Thou _bringst_, gay creature as thou art,
A solemn image to my heart."
--_Hallock cor._
"Know _then_ thyself, presume not God to scan;
The proper study of mankind is Man."
--_Pope, on Man_, Ep. ii, l. 1.
"Raised on _pilasters high_ of _burnished_ gold."
--_Dr. S. Butler cor._
"Love in _Adalgise_' breast has fixed his sting."
--_Id._
"Thirty days _each have_ September,
April, June, and _old_ November;
_Each_ of the rest _has_ thirty-one,
Bating February alone,
Which has twenty-eight in fine,
Till leap-year gives it twenty-nine."
--_Dean Colet cor._
LESSON II.--RHYTHM RESTORED.
"'Twas not the fame of what he once had been,
Or tales in _records old_ and annals seen."
--_Rowe cor._
"And Asia now and Afric are explored
For high-priced dainties and _the_ citron board."
--_Rowe cor._
"Who knows not how the trembling judge beheld
The peaceful court with _arm~ed_ legions fill'd?"
--_Rowe cor._
"With thee the Scythian wilds we'll wander o'er,
With thee _the_ burning Libyan sands explore."
--_Rowe cor._
"Hasty and headlong, different paths they tread,
As _impulse blind_ and wild distraction lead."
--_Rowe cor._
"But Fate reserv'd _him_ to perform its doom,
And be the minister of wrath to Rome."
--_Rowe cor._
"Thus spoke the youth. When Cato thus _express'd_
The sacred counsels of his inmost breast."
--_Rowe cor._
"These were the _rigid_ manners of the man,
This _was_ the stubborn course in which they ran;
The golden mean unchanging to pursue,
Constant to keep the _purpos'd_ end in view."
--_Rowe cor._
"What greater grief can _on_ a Roman seize,
Than to be forced to live on terms like these!"
--_Rowe cor._
"He views the naked town with joyful eyes,
While from his rage an _arm~ed_ people flies."
--_Rowe cor._
"For planks and beams, he ravages the wood,
And the tough _oak_ extends across the flood."
--_Rowe cor._
"A narrow pass the horn~ed mole divides.
Narrow as that where _strong Euripus_' tides
Beat on Euboean Chalcis' rocky sides."
--_Rowe cor._
"No force, no fears their hands _unarm~ed_ bear,"--or,
"No force, no fears their hands unarm'd _now_ bear,
But looks of peace and gentleness they wear."
--_Rowe cor._
"The ready warriors all aboard them ride,
And wait return of the retiring tide."
--_Rowe cor._
"He saw those troops that long had faithful stood,
Friends to his cause, and enemies to good,
Grown weary of their chief, and _satiate_ with blood."
--_Rowe cor._
END OF THE KEY.
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.