these vowels often coalesce into one syllable; as in precious, factious, noxious. J Jis pronounced exactly like soft g; except in hallelujah, where it is pronounced like y. K K has the sound of c hard, and is used before e and i, where, according to English analogy, c would be soft; as, kept, king, skirts. It is not sounded before n; as in knife, knell, knocker. It is never doubled; except in Habakkuk; but c is used before it, to shorten the vowel by a double consonant; as, cockle, pickle, sucker. L L has always a soft liquid sound; as, in love, billow, quarrel. It is sometimes mute; as in half, talk, psalm. The custom is to double the 7 at the end of monosyllables; as, mill, will, fall; except where a diphthong precedes it; as, hail, toil, soil. Le, at the end of words, is pronounced like a weak el; in which the e is almost mute; as, table, shuttle. M M has always the same sound; as, murmur, monumental, except in comptroller, which is pronounced controller. N N has two sounds: the one pure; as in man, net, noble; the other a ringing sound like ng; as in thank, banquet, &c. N is mute when it ends a syllable, and is preceded by m; as, hymn, solemn, autumn The participial ing must always have its ringing sound; as, writing, reading, speaking. Some writers have supposed that when ing is preceded by ing, it should be pronounced in; as, singing, bringing, should be sounded singin, bringin: but as it is a good rule, with respect to pronunciation, to adhere to the written words, unless custom has clearly decided otherwise, it does not seem proper to adopt this innovation. O has a long sound; as in note, bone, obedient, over; and a short one; as in not, got, lot, trot. It has sometimes the short sound of u; as, son, come, attorney. And in some words it is sounded like oo; as in prove, move; and often like au; as in nor, for, lord. The diphthong oa is regularly pronounced as the long sound of o; as in boat, oat, coal; except in broad, abroad, groat, where it takes the sound of broad a; as, abrawd, &c. Oe has the sound of single e. It is sometimes long; as in fœtus, Antœci: and sometimes short; as in œconomics, œcumenical. In doe, foe, sloe, toe, throe, hoe, and bilboes, it is sounded exactly like long o. Oi has almost universally the double sound of a broad and e long united, as in boy; as boil, toil, spoil, joint, point, anoint: which should never be pronounced as if written bile, spile, tile, &c. Oo almost always preserves its regular sound; as in moon, soon, food. It has a shorter sound in wool, good, foot, and a few others. In blood and flood it sounds like short u. Door and floor should always be pronounced as if written dore and flore. The diphthong ou has six different sounds. The first and proper sound is equivalent to ow in down; as in bound, found, surround. The second is that of short u; as in enough, trouble, journey. The third is that of oo; as in soup, youth, tournament. The fourth is that of long o; as in though, mourn, poul tice. The fifth is that of short o, as in cough, trough. The sixth is that of awe; as in ought, brought, thought. Ow is generally sounded like ou in thou; as in brown, dowry, shower. It has also the sound of long o; as in snow, grown, bestow. The diphthong oy is but another form for oi, and is pronounced exactly like it. P P has always the same sound, except, perhaps, in cupboard, where it sounds like b. It is sometimeş mute; as in psalm, psalter, Ptolemy: and between m and t; as, tempt, empty, presumptuous. Ph is generally pronounced like ƒ; as in philosophy, philanthropy, Philip. In nephew and Stephen, it has the sound of v. In apophthegm, phthisis, phthisic, and phthisical, both letters are entirely dropped. Q 2 is always followed by u; as, quadrant, queen, quire. Quis sometimes sounded like k; as, conquer, liquor, risque. R R has a rough sound; as in Rome, river, rage: and a smooth one; as in bard, card, regard. Re at the end of many words, is pronounced like a weak er; as in theatre, sepulchre, massacre. S has two different sounds. S A soft and flat sound like z; as, besom, nasal, dismal. Shas also the sound of zh: as in pleasure, measure, treasure. At the end of words it takes the soft sound; as, his, was, trees, eyes; except in the words this, thus, us, yes, rebus, surplus, &c.; and in words terminating with ous. It sounds like z before ion, if a vowel goes before; as, intrusion; but like s sharp, if it follows a consonant; as conversion. It also sounds like z before e mute; as, amuse; and before y final; as rosy; and in the words bosom, desire, wisdom, &c. S is mute in isle, island, demesne, viscount. T T generally sounds, as in take, tempter. T before u, when the accent precedes, sounds like tch: as, nature, virtue, are pronounced, natchure, virtchue. Ti before a vowel has the sound of sh; as in. salvation: except in such words as tierce, tiara, &c. and unless an s goes before; as, question; and excepting also derivatives from words ending in ty; as, mighty, mightier. Th has two sounds: the one soft and flat; as, thus, whether, heathen: the other hard and sharp; as, thing, think, breath. Th, at the beginning of words, is sharp; as, in thank, thick, thunder: except in that, then, thus, thither, and some others. Th, at the end of words, is also sharp; as, death, breath, mouth: except in with, booth, beneath, &c. Th, in the middle of words, is sharp; as, panther, ortho dox, misanthrope: except worthy, farthing, brethren, and a few others. Th, between two vowels, is generally flat in words purely English; as, father, heathen, together, neither, mother. Th, between two vowels, in words from the learned languages, is generally sharp; as, apathy, sympathy, Athens, apothecary. Th is sometimes pronounced like simple t; as, Thomas, thyme, Thames, asthma. U has three sounds, viz. U A long sound; as in mule, tube, cubic. A short sound; as in dull, gull, custard. An obtuse sound, like oo; as in bull, full, bushel. The strangest deviation of this letter from its natural sound, is in the words busy, business, bury, and burial; which are pronounced bizzy, bizness, berry, and berrial. A is now often used before words beginning with u long, and an always before those that begin with u short; as, a union, a university, a useful book; an uproar, an usher, an umbrella. The diphthong ua, has sometimes the sound of wa; as in assuage, persuade, antiquary. It has also the sound of middle a; as in guard, guardian, guarantee. Ue is often sounded like we; as in quench, querist, con quest. It has also the sound of long u; as in cue, hue, ague. In a few words, it is pronounced like e short; as in guest, guess. In some words it is entirely sunk; as in antique, oblique, prorogue, catalogue, dialogue, &c. Ui is frequently pronounced wi; as in languid, anguish, extinguish. It has sometimes the sound of i long; as in guide, guile, disguise: and sometimes that of i short; as in guilt, guinea, guildhall. In some words it is sounded like long u; as in juice, suit, pursuit: and after r, like 00; as in bruise, fruit, recruit. Uo is pronounced like wo; as in quote, quorum, quondam. Uy has the sound of long e; as in obloquy, soliloquy; pronounced obloquee, &c. except, buy, and its derivatives, Γ V has the sound of flat ƒ, and bears the same relation to it, as b does top, d to t, hard g to k, and z to s. It has also one uniform sound; as vain, vanity, love. W W, when a consonant, has nearly the sound of oo; as water resembles the sound of ooater; but that it has a stronger and quicker sound than oo, and has a formation essentially different, will appear to any person who pronounces, with attention, the words wo, woo, beware; and who reflects that it will not admit the article an before it; which oo would admit. In some words it is not sounded; as in answer, sword, wholesome: it is always silent before r; as in wrap, wreck, wrinkle, wrist, wrong, wry, bewray, &c. W before h is pronounced as if it were after the h; as, why, hwy; when, hwen; what, hwat. W is often joined to o at the end of a syllable, without affecting the sound of that vowel; as in crow, blow, grow, know, row, flow, &c. When is a vowel, and is distinguished in the pronunciation, it has exactly the same sound as u would have in the same situation; as, draw, crew, view, now, sawyer, vowel, outlaw. X has three sounds, viz. X It is sounded like z at the beginning of proper names of Greek original; as in Xanthus, Xenophon, Xerxes. |