XVI. In giving the pronunciation of this class of geographical names, to represent the accent correctly, is the principal difficulty to be encountered. Those acquainted with French, are aware that this language has no accent in the sense in which we employ the term. The same may be said of the Hungarian, and perhaps also of the Arabic, Turkish, and Persian. At all events, those best acquainted with these languages, are not unfrequently at a loss, when they wish to represent accurately in English, the accentuation of Arabic, Turkish, and Persian words. Nevertheless it will be found that here, as in the French and Hungarian, there is something analogous to our accent, which will generally serve to guide us in marking in English, the accentuation of names in these languages. The different syllables of oriental names, however, like those of French words, are not unfrequently pronounced with a stress of voice so nearly equal, that it has been deemed proper in a number of instances, to use the secondary accents in order to indicate more precisely the true pronunciation. (See Remarks on the French accent, Section XIX.)

OBS. 1. It may not be improper here to remind the reader, that the accents which we often see upon oriental names, are by no means to be understood as always indicating the manner in which an Englishman should accentuate these names in pronunciation, as they are often employed to denote some particular sound in the vowels over which they are placed. Thus some authors place an accent upon ɑ, when they wish merely to signify that this letter has the clear full sound of a in far. In the same manner an accent is placed upon u, in order to show that it has the Italian or German sound, or in other words, is to be pronounced like oo.

OBS. 2. The sound of a in several of the oriental languages is often very broad, approaching nearly to that of au, in English. Hence we often see AFGHAUN instead of AFGHAN, CAUVERY instead of CAVERY, sultaun instead of sultan, &c. In writing NEPAUL and BHOPAUL, the improper diphthong au appears to be almost universally employed by the English. The French indicate the same sound, by using a with a circumflex, e. g., NEPAL, BHOPAL, &c. This method is, perhaps, preferable to ours, the sound of â being intermediate between that in the English word far and that in fall.

OBS. 3. The Arabic article al or el, is often changed in pronunciation, so as to correspond with the initial consonant of the word to which it is prefixed, thus, EL-RASHEED (Rashid), EL-SHAM, (the Arabic name of Syria), and EL-SIOOT, are pronounced and should be written in English, Er-Rasheed, Esh-Sham, Es-Sioot. The vowel sound of the article also varies considerably, sometimes approaching that of oo, thus the "Country of Dates," is usually pronounced Beled'ŏŏl Jer-eed'. So ES-SIOOT (or ŠIOOT, without the article,) is sometimes written As syout and Osioot.

OBS. 4. Gh in the Arabic and some other oriental tongues, is not merely a hard g, as in the Italian, nor an aspirate like the German ch, as in the Irish language, but a harsh guttural, bearing the same relation to the German ch that g bears to k. As it has no equivalent in any European language, we have not attempted to distinguish it in pronunciation, having represented it merely by a hard g.

Kh is equivalent to ch in German, and accordingly has been represented by K, distinguished as a small capital.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF PRONUNCIATION OF THE MORE IMPORTANT EUROPEAN LANGUAGES.

Ir may perhaps be proper to remark that this brief exposition of the peculiar sounds of the different European languages, has been prepared solely with reference to the work before us. The object has been twofold: first, to enable the reader more fully to understand the system of geographical pronunciation adopted in this gazetteer: secondly, to furnish some general hints for the proper pronunciation of those European names which are not found in the present work. Some explanation of the kind has been deemed indispensable; and imperfect as this may be, it is hoped that it will be found to answer, in a great measure, the particular object proposed.

BOHEMIAN.

[See OBSERVATION at the end of Section XXV.]

DANISH.

XVII.

1. A is pronounced generally as in the English word far, though it frequently approaches the sound of a in fat.

2. E at the end of an accented syllable usually has a sound like that of i in pin; in other cases it is sometimes like e in met, and sometimes like e in battery.

11. The consonants b, c, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, q, s, t, x, z, are like the English.

12. D, between two vowels, or at the end of a syllable in which it follows a vowel, sounds like th in this; in other situations it is usually the same as in English.

13. G is always hard; at the end of a word it is sounded very slightly so as to resemble h; e. g. AALBORG is pronounced nearly ol'-bor'h.

14. J is like the English y (consonant).

15. R is similar to the German.

16. V is usually like the English, but it sometimes appears to have a vowel sound; thus, havn is pronounced almost houn.

17. W has a sound similar to the German.

DUTCH.
XVIII.

1. The vowels a, e, i, o, and u, are similar to the French.

2. Y is like long i in English, as in nigh.

OBS. Ij is sometimes made use of instead of y: thus, OVERYSSEL is not unfrequently written Overijssel.

o long.

6. 00 66

7. Ui or uy is similar to oi in English, or eu in German.

8. The consonants b, c, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, x, z, are similar to the English.

9. D, at the end of a word, is like t; in other cases it is the same as in English.

10. G resembles in sound a strongly aspirated h, or the German ch 11. J is equivalent to the English y (consonant).

12. W is like "he German.

13. Ch is similar to the German ch. (14.) Sch, however, has not, as in German, the sound of the English sh, but the pure sound of s, followed by the guttural ch, resembling sk in English.

OBS. The FLEMISH is so closely allied to the Dutch, that it may be regarded as essentially the same language.

FRENCH.

XIX.

1. A, in French, is generally considered to have two sounds; the first long, as in the English word far, e. g. in pas; the second short, almost like a in fat, e. g. in bal. A, circumflexed (â), however, has a sound broader than the a in pas, being intermediate between that in far and that in fall. In giving the pronunciation of French names containing an â, we have used the same letter, as we have no equivalent in English.

OBS. The French a would frequently seem to be intermediate between its second English sound and that of short u.* However this may be, the French writers often employ a in spelling oriental names when the English make use of u, e. g. in CUTCH (Fr. Catch); FUR RUCKABAD (Fr. Farrakâbâd); MUSKAT (Fr. Mascate).

2. E has three sounds: (1.) close, like a in fate, e. g. in été; (2.) open, nearly as in met, but more prolonged, e. g. in procès and tête;† (3.) obscure, as in battery, e. g. in retour, devrait.‡

3. I has two sounds; the first nearly as in the English word fig, e. g. in il, ami; the second like ie in field or ee, e. g. in gîte.

4. O has three sounds: (1.) nearly as in robe, e. g. in trône; (2.) as in rob, e. g. in parole; (3.) as in lord, e. g. corps.

in

OBS. O circumflexed, in French, has a deeper and fuller sound than o long in English: in giving the pronunciation of French names containing this letter, we have used the same, as no English vowel or

*The late Mr. Du Ponceau, who, though a native Frenchman, was an accompiished and thorough English scholar, in giving in English the French pronunciation PARIS, wrote it pur-ree. He remarked, however, that it might be written par-ree.

† In pronouncing this sound, the mouth must be freely opened, whence the

name.

‡ The e in these and similar cases is often scarcely sounded at all, and appears to pass imperceptibly into e mute: retour and devrait may be pronounced r'toor and d'vray.

vowels could accurately indicate its sound, e. g. PUY DE DÔME, pwe d'dôme.

5. The sound of the French u has no equivalent in English. It may be said to be intermediate between ee and oo; but it can be learned from an oral instructor only. In the present work it is represented by the German ü (or ue).

OBS. U, before n, nasal, has its second English sound nearly, un being pronounced almost ung.

6. Y is similar to the French i.

7. Ai is like è or e open.

8. Au " 66 ó.

9. Ei "

10. Eu is similar to the English u in tub, but the sound is more prolonged, nearly resembling u in fur.

OBS. Eu in the different parts of the verb avoir, "to have,” always has the sound of simple u.

11. Ie is like ee in English, or î.

12. Oi usually sounds like wå, e. g. moi is pronounced mwå or mwŏh.

Ops. Oi was formerly used in the termination of the French verbs, e. g. avois, avoit, avoient; also, in the final syllable of a number of adjectives, as Polonois, "Polish," and Lyonnois, "belonging to Lyons." The oi in these words,-which are now usually written avais, avait, avaient, Polonais, Lyonnais,-sounds like ai (or è).

13. Ou sounds like oo in English.

14. B, c,* d, f, k, p, t, v, and z, are the same as in English.

15. G, before a, o, and u, is hard, as in the English word gap; before e, i, and y, it is soft, having the sound of zh, or of s in pleasure. Gu sounds like g hard; thus, gue', guide, are pronounced gå, gheed.

16. H is never pronounced in French so forcibly as in English. Some orthoepists say that h has no sound in French.†

17. J sounds like soft g in French, or zh in English.

18. L has usually the same sound as in English; but when it ends a word, being preceded by i, or when I follows i, in any situation, it usually has what is called its liquid sound. This may be said to

* C, with a cedilla (g), before a, o, and u, sounds like s; thus, ça, ço, çu, are pronounced sa, so, su.

† See Bolmar's Fables-Remark on the letter h, page 4.