in the eastern states; and it is general in the middle and southern;
tho some have adopted the English pronunciation, _def_. The latter is
evidently a corruption; for the word is in analogy with _leaf_ and
_sheaf_, and has been from time immemorial. So in Sir William Temple's
works, Virg. Ecl.
----"We sing not to the deaf,
An answer comes from every trembling leaf."
_Leaf_ and _deaf_, with a different orthography, are repeatedly made to
rhime in Chaucer's works; as in the Wife of Bath's Prologue, L. 6217,
"For that I rent out of his book a lefe,
That of the stroke myn ere wex al _defe_."
So also line 6249.
This was the orthography of his time, and an almost conclusive evidence
that _deaf_ was pronounced _deef_.[60] This pronunciation is generally
retained in America, and analogy requires it.
This dissertation will be closed with one observation, which the reader
may have made upon the foregoing criticisms: That in many instances
the Americans still adhere to the analogies of the language, where
the English have infringed them. So far therefore as the regularity
of construction is concerned, we ought to retain our own practice
and be our own standards. The English practice is an authority; but
considering the force of custom and the caprice of fashion, their
practice must be as liable to changes and to errors, as the practice
of a well educated yeomanry, who are governed by habits and not easily
led astray by novelty. In the instances where we have adhered to
analogy, no consideration can warrant us in resigning our practice
to the authority of a foreign court, which, thro mere affectation,
may have embraced many obvious errors. In doubtful cases, to pay a
suitable deference to the opinions of others, is wise and prudent;
but to renounce an obvious principle of propriety because others have
renounced it, is to carry our complaisance for the faults of the great,
much farther than we can justify, and in a _nation_, it is an act of
servility that wants a name.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
FOOTNOTES:
[38] Dr. Sheridan has coined a word for these combinations; he calls
them _digraphs_, that is, _double written_.
[39] Vocal and aspirate.
[40] On the stage, it is sometimes pronounced with _i_ long, either for
the sake of rhime, or in order to be heard. Mr. Sheridan marks it both
ways; yet in common discourse he pronounces it with _i_ short, as do
the nation in general.
[41] The most significant words, and consequently the most important,
are nouns and verbs; then follow adjectives, pronouns, auxiliary verbs
and participles.--Particles are the least important.
[42] I consider these terminations as single syllables.
[43] Such is the tendency of people to uniformity, that the
_commonalty_, for the most part, form the word regularly, and pronounce
it _commonality_. Analogy requires that both these words should end in
_ity_; but custom has established them as exceptions.
[44] From this remark we must except some derivatives from the Greek;
as geography, philology, antithesis, hypothesis, &c. which have but
one accent. Etymology requires these words to be accented on the first
and third syllables; but the genius of the language, or the analogy of
termination has prevailed over etymological reasons. Etymology however
resumes her rights in the derivatives, _geographical_, _philological_,
&c. where each radical syllable is distinguished by an accent.
[45] To prove the utility of accent in marking the signification of
words, it is only necessary to advert to the two words _omission_ and
_commission_. These words have the accent on the second syllable;
but when we use them by way of contrast, we lay a strong accent on
the first syllable of each, by which the opposition of sense is
distinguished. "Sins of o'mission and com'mission." Thus when we use
the word _regain_, we often lay an accent on _re_ almost equal to
that on _gain_; because the sense of the word depends much, or rather
wholly, on the particle.
[46] In the following passage, alliteration or the similarity of
the weak syllables, has a very bad effect. "We tread, as with_in an
en_chanted circle, where nothing appears as it truly is."----Blair
Serm. 9.
A difficulty of pronunciation is obvious in the following sentence,
"This caution while it _admirably_ protects the public liberty, can
never bear hard upon individuals." Change the accent from the first to
the second syllable of _admirably_, and the difficulty vanishes.
"And yet the labyrinth is more _admirable than the_
Pyramids."----Trans. of Herodotus, Euterpe.
[47] Except compounds, as _earthquake_, _bookcase_.
[48] The final _e_ must be considered as the cause of this vulgar
dialect. It is wished that some bold genius would dare to be right,
and spell this class of words without _e_, _motiv_. By reason of an
embarrassing orthography, one half the trouble of learning English, is
bestowed in acquiring errors, and correcting them after they are formed
into habits. To prevent the continuance of this erroneous practice, I
have, in the first part of the Institute, distinguished the silent _e_,
by an Italic character.
[49] To remedy the evil, in some degree, this letter is named _er_, in
the Institute. In a few instances this pronunciation is become general
among polite speakers, as clerks, sergeant, &c.
[50] Hence the surprising similarity between the idioms of the New
England people and those of Chaucer, Shakespear, Congreve, &c. who
wrote in the true English stile. It is remarked by a certain author,
that the inhabitants of islands best preserve their native tongue. New
England has been in the situation of an island; during 160 years, the
people except in a few commercial towns, have not been exposed to any
of the causes which effect great changes in language and manners.
[51] I have once met with the word in Chaucer's Plowman's Tale 2014.
"The other side ben pore and pale,
And peple yput out of prese,
And semin caitiffs sore a cale,
And er in one without encrease;
Iclepid Lollers and Londlese;
Who _toteth_ on 'hem thei ben untall;
They ben arayid all for pece,
But falshed foule mote it befall."
[52] I am at a loss to determine, why this practice should prevail in
Boston and not in Connecticut. The first and principal settlers in
Hartford came from the vicinity of Boston. Vast numbers of people in
Boston and the neighborhood use _w_ for _v_; yet I never once heard
this pronunciation in Connecticut.
[53] By standard writers, I mean, Kenrick, Sheridan, Burn, Perry and
Scott.
[54] The distinction in the pronunciation of _a_ in _quality_, when it
signifies the property of some body, and when it is used for high rank,
appears to me without foundation in rule or practice.
[55] _Hymenean_ and _hymeneal_ are, by some writers, accented on the
last syllable but one; but erroneously. Other authorities preserve the
analogy.
[56] This is the sound which the rhime requires in the following verses:
"Give eare to me that ten years fought for Rome,
Yet reapt all grace at my returning home."
Rel. An. Poet. p. 204.
[57] Particularly _Perry_. I am surprized that his pronunciation
has found so many advocates in this country, as there is none more
erroneous.
I would just remark here that many writers use _an_ before _h_
aspirate, instead of _a_; which practice seems not well founded. The
rapid sound of the article _a_ is indistinct, but opens the mouth to
a proper position to pronounce _h_; whereas _n_ places the end of the
tongue under the upper teeth, and the mouth assumes a new position,
before the aspiration can be formed. _A_ hundred, _a_ house, &c. are
therefore much more easily articulated, than _an_ hundred, _an_ house.
Thus _a_ should always be used before _y_ consonant, and consequently
before _u_ when it has the same sound, as in _union_, _universal_, &c.
Indeed I cannot account for the use of _an_ before _y_, on any other
principle than this, that the persons who use it do not pronounce _y_
at all. If they make _y_ the same as _ee_, it is consistent to write
_an_ before it; but this is an error.
[58] See Canterbury Tales and Prologue. L. 221, 955, 1599, 15382.
[59] To prove that the Americans have a corrupt pronunciation, we
are often told that our ancestors came from the western counties of
England. This is but partially true.
The company that purchased New England, was indeed called the _Plymouth
Company_, being composed principally of persons belonging to the county
of Devon. But many of the principal settlers in these states came from
London and its vicinity; some from the middle counties, the ancient
kingdom of Mercia; and a few from the northern counties. To show the
falsehood of the charge, with respect to the language, it may be
asserted with truth, that there is not the least affinity between the
language of the New England people and the specimens of the Devonshire
dialect, given in the English Magazines.
[60] The digraph _ea_ seems not to have been much used in that age; for
_speak_ authors wrote _speke_; for _dear_, _dere_; for _leaf_, _lefe_.
[Illustration]
DISSERTATION III.
_Examination of controverted Points, continued._--_Of modern
Corruptions in the English Pronunciation._
[Illustration]
EXAMINATION _of_ CONTROVERTED POINTS, _continued_.
[Illustration]
In the preceding dissertation I have endeavored to settle a number of
controverted points and local differences in pronunciation, on the most
satisfactory principles hitherto discovered. I now proceed to some
other differences of consequence to the language, and particularly in
America.
_Gold_ is differently pronounced by good speakers, and differently
marked by the standard writers. Two of them give us _goold_, as
the standard, and three, _gold_ or _goold_. But we may find better
principles than the opinions or practice of individuals, to direct our
judgement in this particular. The word indeed has the pronunciation,
_goold_, in some of the collateral branches of the Teutonic, as in the
Danish, where it is spelt _guld_. But in the Saxon, it was written
_gold_, and has been uniformly written so in English. Besides, we have
good reason to believe that it was, in early times, pronounced _gold_,
with the first sound of _o_, for the poets invariably make it rhime
with _old_, _behold_, and other words of similar sound. Thus in Chaucer:
"With nayles yelwe, and bright as any _gold_,
He hadde a bere's skin, cole blake for old."
Knight's Tale, L. 2143.
IN Pope:
"Now Europe's laurels on their brows behold,
But stain'd with blood, or ill exchang'd for _gold_."
Essay on Man, Book 4.
The rhime is here a presumptive proof that the poets pronounced this
word with the first sound of _o_, and it is a substantial reason why
that pronunciation should be preferred. But analogy is a still stronger
reason; for bold, told, fold, and I presume every similar word in the
language, has the first sound of _o_. These are good reasons why _gold_
should have that sound; reasons which are permanent, and superior to
any private opinions.
Similar reasons, and equally forceable, are opposed to the modern
pronunciation of _wound_. I say _modern_; for in America _woond_ is a
recent innovation. It was perhaps an ancient dialect; for the old Saxon
and modern Danish orthography warrant this conjecture.
But in English the spelling has uniformly corresponded with _bound_,
_sound_, and if we may judge from the rhimes of our poets, the
pronunciation has also been analogous. Thus in Skelton's Elegy on
Henry, Earl of Northumberland, 1489, we have the following lines:
"Most noble erle! O foul mysurd[61] ground
Whereon he gat his finall deadly _wounde_."
Rel. An. Eng. Poet. vol. 1. page 113.
So in a song which seems to have been written in the reign of Henry
VIII.
"Where griping grefes the hart would _wounde_
And doleful dumps the mynde oppresse,
There musicke with her silver sound,
With speed is wont to send redresse."
Ibm. page 165.
Similar rhimes occur in almost every page of modern poetry.
"Warriors she fires with animated sounds,
Pours balm into the bleeding lover's _wounds_."
Pope.
The fashionable pronunciation of _wound_ destroys the rhime and
infringes the rule of analogy; two objections to it which can be
removed only by universal practice. Does this practice exist? By no
means. One good authority[62] at least, directs to the analogous
pronunciation; and another compiler directs to both--the regular and
the fashionable. But were _woond_ the universal practice in Great
Britain, this should not induce us to lay aside our own practice
for a foreign one. There is but a small part, even of the well bred
people in this country, who have yet adopted the English mode; and the
great body of the people uniformly pursue analogy. The authority of
practice therefore, is, in this country, opposed to the innovation.
Shall we then relinquish what every man must acknowlege to be _right_,
to embrace the corruptions of a foreign court and stage? Will not the
Atlantic ocean, the total separation of America from Great Britain,
the pride of an independent nation, the rules of the language, the
melody of English poetry, restrain our rage for imitating the errors of
foreigners?
But it is said that _woond_ is softer than _wound_, and therefore more
agreeable. Suppose the assertion to be true, will it follow that the
softest pronunciation should be preferred?
It is acknowleged on all hands, that a correspondence between sound
and sense is a beauty in language, and there are many words in
our language, the sounds of which were borrowed from the sensible
objects, the ideas of which they are designed to express. Such are
the _dashing_ of waters, the _crackling_ of burning faggots, the
_hissing_ of serpents, the _lisping_ of infants, and the _stuttering_
of a _stammerer_. These are considered as beauties in a language.
But there are other words, the sounds of which are not adopted in
imitating audible noises, which are either soft or harsh, and by the
help of association are particularly calculated to express ideas, which
are either agreeable or disagreeable to the mind. Of this kind are
_soft_ and _harsh_, _sweet_ and _sour_, and a multitude of others. On
the supposition therefore, that _woond_ is the softer pronunciation,
this is a good reason why it should _not_ be adopted; for the idea it
conveys is extremely disagreeable, and much better represented by a
harsh word.[63]
_Skeptic_ for _sceptic_ is mere pedantry; a modern change that has no
advantage for its object. The Greek derivation will be pleaded as an
authority; but this will not warrant the innovation, without extending
it to _scene_, _scepter_, and many others. Will the advocates write
and pronounce the latter _skene_, _skepter_? If not, they should
be satisfied with analogy and former practice. It is remarkable
however, that notwithstanding the authority of almost all the modern
dictionaries is in favor of skeptic, no writer of reputation, whose
works I have seen, has followed the spelling. The old orthography,
_sceptic_, still maintains its ground.
_Sauce_ with the fourth sound of _a_ is accounted vulgar; yet this
is the ancient, the correct, and the most general pronunciation. The
_aw_ of the North Britons is much affected of late; _sawce_, _hawnt_,
_vawnt_; yet the true sound is that of _aunt_, _jaunt_, and a change
can produce no possible advantage.
The words _advertisement_ and _chastisement_ are differently accented
by the standard authors, and by people on both sides of the Atlantic.
Let us find the analogy. The original words, _advertise_ and
_chastise_, are verbs, accented uniformly on the last syllable. Let us
search thro the language for verbs of this description, and I presume
we shall not find another instance, where, in nouns formed from such
verbs, by the addition of _ment_, the seat of the accent is changed.
We find amusement, refinement, refreshment, reconcilement, and many,
perhaps all others, preserve the accent of their primitives; and in
this analogy we find the reason why _chastisement_ and _advertisement_
should be accented on the last syllable but one. This analogy is a
substantial and permanent rule, that will forever be superior to local
customs.[64]
Similar remarks may be made respecting _acceptable_, _admirable_,
_disputable_, _comparable_, which our polite speakers accent on the
first syllable. The first is indeed accented on the second syllable,
by most authors, except Sheridan, who still retains the accent on the
first.
It was an old rule of grammarians, that the genius of our language
requires the accent to be carried as far as possible towards the
beginning of the word. This is seldom or never true; on the contrary,
the rule is directly opposed to the melody, both of poetry and prose.
Under the influence, however, of this rule, a long catalogue of words
lost their true pronunciation, and among the rest, a great number of
adjectives derived from verbs by an addition of the termination _able_.
Some of these are restored to their analogy; others retain the accent
on the first syllable.
Notwithstanding the authority of Sheridan, I presume few people will
contend for the privilege of accenting _acceptable_ on the first
syllable. How the organs of any man can be brought to articulate so
many consonants in the weak syllables, or how the ear can relish such
an unnatural pronunciation, is almost inconceiveable. In spite of the
pedantry of scholars, the ease and melody of speaking, have almost
wholly banished the absurd practice, by restoring the accent to the
second syllable.
But with respect to _admirable_, _comparable_ and _disputable_, the
authors who are deemed authorities are divided; some are in favor of
the accent on the first syllable, and others adhere to analogy.
Setting aside custom, every reason for accenting these words on
the first syllable, will apply with equal force to _adviseable_,
_inclineable_, _requireable_, and a hundred others. They are all formed
from verbs accented on the last syllable, by annexing the _same_
termination to the verb, and they are all of the _same_ part of speech.
Let us examin them by the rules for accentuation, laid down in the
preceding dissertation.
The primitive verbs of this class of words are usually compounded of
a particle and principal part of speech; as _ad-mi-ro_, _com-paro_,
_re-quæro_, &c. The last syllable, derived from a verb, is the most
important, and in the primitives, is invariably accented. This is
agreeable to the first rule. In nine tenths of the derivatives, the
same syllable retains the accent; as, _perceiveable_, _available_,
_deploreable_. In these therefore both rules are observed. The third
rule, or that which arises from the terminating syllable, is also
preserved in most of this class of words. It is therefore much to be
regretted, that a false rule should have introduced an irregularity
into the language, by excepting a few words from an analogy, which
unites in itself every principle of propriety.
But the practice, with respect to the three words under consideration,
is by no means general. I have taken particular notice of the
pronunciation of people in every part of America, and can testify that,
in point of numbers, the practice is in favor of analogy. The people at
large say _admi'reable_, _dispu'teable_, _compa'reable_; and it would
be difficult to lead them from this easy and natural pronunciation,
to embrace that forced one of _ad'mirable_, &c. The people are right,
and, in this particular, will ever have it to boast of, that among the
unlearned is found the purity of English pronunciation.
Of this class of words, there are a few which seem to be corrupted in
universal practice; as _reputable_. The reason why the accent in this
word is more generally confirmed on the first syllable, may be this;
there is but a single consonant between the first and second syllable,
and another between the second and third; so that the pronunciation of
the three weak syllables is by no means difficult. This word therefore,
in which all authors, and as far as I know, all men, agree to lay the
accent on the first syllable, and the orthography of which renders the
pronunciation easy, must perhaps be admitted as an exception to the
general rule.[65]
_Accessary_ or _accessory_, are differently accented by the best
writers and speakers. But the ease of speaking requires that they
should follow the rule of derivation, and retain the accent of the
primitive, _access'ary_.
The fashionable pronunciation of such words as _immediate_,
_ministerial_, _commodious_, is liable to particular exceptions. That
_i_ has a liquid sound, like _y_, in many words in our language, is not
disputed; but the classes of words which will admit this sound, ought
to be ascertained. It appears to me that common practice has determined
this point. If we attend to the pronunciation of the body of people,
who are led by their own ease rather than by a nice regard to fashion,
we shall find that they make _i_ liquid, or give it the sound of _y_
consonant, after those consonants only, which admit that sound without
any change of their own powers. These consonants are _l_, _n_, _v_,
and the double consonant _x_; as _valiant_, _companion_, _behavior_,
_flexion_. Here _y_ might be substituted for _i_, without any change,
or any tendency to a change, of the preceding consonant; except perhaps
the change of _si_ in _flexion_ into _sh_, which is a general rule in
the language, as it is to change _ti_ and _ci_ into the same sound.[66]
But when _i_ is preceded by _d_, change it into _y_, and we cannot
pronounce it with our usual rapidity, without blending the two letters
into the sound of _j_, which is a compound of _dzh_; at least it cannot
be effected without a violent exertion of the speaker. _Immedyate_ is
so difficult, that every person who attempts to pronounce it in that
manner, will fall into _immejate_. Thus _commodious_, _comedian_,
_tragedian_, are very politely pronounced _commojus_, _comejan_,
_trajejan_. Such a pronunciation, changing the true powers of the
letters, and introducing a harsh union of consonants, _dxh_, in the
place of the smooth sound of _dia_, must be considered as a palpable
corruption.
With respect to the terminations _ial_, _ian_, &c. after _r_, I must
believe it impossible to blend these letters in one syllable. In the
word _ministerial_, for example, I cannot conceive how _ial_ can be
pronounced _yal_, without a pause after the syllables, _minister-_.
Sheridan's manner of pronouncing the letters _ryan_, _ryal_, in a
syllable, appears to be a gross absurdity: Even allowing _y_ to have
the sound of _e_, we must of necessity articulate two syllables.
But supposing the modern pronunciation of _immediate_ to be liable to
none of these exceptions, there is another objection to it, arising
from the construction of our poetry. To the short syllables of such
words as _every_, _glorious_, _different_, _bowery_, _commodious_,
_harmonious_, _happier_, _ethereal_, _immediate_, _experience_,
our poetry is in a great measure indebted for the _Dactyl_, the
_Amphibrach_, and the _Anapæst_, feet which are necessary to give
variety to versification, and the last of which is the most flowing,
melodious and forceable foot in the language. By blending the two short
syllables into one, we make the foot an Iambic; and as our poetry
consists principally of iambics, we thus reduce our heroic verse to a
dull uniformity. Take for example the following line of Pope.
"THAT sees immediate good by present sense"--
If we pronounce it thus:
THAT sees | imme|jate good | by pres|ent sense;
the line will be composed entirely of Iambics. But read it thus:
THAT sees | imme|di-ate good | by pres|ent sense;
and the third foot, becoming an anapæst, gives variety to the verse.
In the following line:
"SOME happier island in the watery waste:"
If we read _happier_ and _watry_, as words of two syllables, the feet
will all be Iambics, except the third, which is a _Pyrrhic_. But if
we read _happier_ and _watery_,[67] in three syllables, as we ought,
we introduce two anapæsts, and give variety and flowing melody to the
verse.