CHINESE.

II.

nations. In support of our position, we may cite, as a practical argument of great force, the fact that when an Arabic word ending in a consonant, preceded by a long As it would be out of the question in a work like the vowel, is adopted into any European language, it takes present to attempt to give a minute and systematic exthe accent on the final syllable: thus, Wâdy-al-Kebir be- position of the principles of Chinese pronunciation, varycomes in Spanish Guadalquivír, Al-Mansoor becomes Al- ing greatly as they do in different provinces and among mansor, and so on. Nor can it be said that this ultimate different classes of the community, we shall content accent is due to the tendency of the Spanish language ourselves with merely offering a few brief observations, to throw the accent on the last syllable; for Almodovar, for the purpose of explaining the more obvious differ. derived from the Arabic Al-Modhofer, (which, like Al-ences in the mode of representing Chinese names among Mansoor, signifies "the Victorious,") is in its Spanish the nations of the West. form accentuated precisely as in the Arabic,—that is, on the penultima. If an Englishman who should hear a native Arab pronounce the word kebir, "great," or kethir, “much," should be told, by one who had any knowledge of the subject, that the first and not the last syllable was accentuated, he could come to no other conclusion than that in the mind of the speaker accent had a totally different meaning from what it has in English and in most other European tongues. In HammerPurgstall's great work on the literature of the Arabs, he translates into German verse many thousand lines from the Arabian poets, and he invariably, if we are not mistaken, places the accent on a long final syllable ending in a consonant. In illustration and support of this statement, we may select, from a multitude of the same general character, the following passage. A witty Arabian poet had been found half drunk by one of the caliph's police-officers in a tippling-house. The officer questioned the offender, as he had been instructed to do,-"Who art thou, and what is thy religion ?" The poet's answer, rendered into German, is as follows:

"Ich glaube was glauben die Beni Abbás

Und was ist besiegelt mit Thon auf Papier;
Wenn ich getrunken ein fröliches Glas,
Und wenn es im Kopfe rumóret bei mir,
So sei die geringste der Sorgen dir das."

See "Literaturgeschichte der Araber," vol. iii. p. 462.

verse.

If there were any Arabic words, ending in a long final syllable, that might be considered doubtful, it would be those which, like Abbâs, have a double consonant in the penultima; and yet nothing can be clearer than that the accent is placed on the final syllable only, in the foregoing Mansur, (Mansoor,) though having also two consonants after the penultimate vowel, is pronounced by Hammer-Purgstall in the same manner. The reader, by referring to the above work, will find a multitude of similar examples, among others BAGDAD, with the accent on the last syllable, (see vol. iii. p. 440,) to which testimony we may add that of one of the most learned and accurate of our English poets. Southey in his "Thalaba" says,

"The old man answered, To BAGDAD I go,"
"Stands not BAGDAD
Near to the site of ancient Babylon?”

"At length BAGDAD appeared,

The city of his search."

1. One of the remarkable peculiarities of the Chinese tongue is the perpetual occurrence of nasal sounds. It was through the Portuguese, who, among all the nations of Europe, were the first to become intimately acquainted with China and the Chinese, that the forms of celebrated Chinese names first became familiar to Europeans. It so happened that the Portuguese language abounded in the same class of nasal sounds; and intrepresenting these sounds in Chinese names according to the principles of their own language the Portuguese missionaries adopted a spelling which would necessarily convey an erroneous idea of the pronunciation to the great majority of Europeans. Thus, they wrote for the name of the great northern capital of China, Pequim or Pequin, and for that of the southern capital, Nanquim or Nanquin, the Portuguese pronunciation of which would be nearly på'keen' or på'keeng, and nån ́keen' or nång′keeng'. The Spaniards, then the leading nation in the world, having conquered Macao and the other Portuguese pos sessions in the far East, adopted, with little or no change, the Portuguese spellings, giving to them their own pro. nunciation, which they introduced among the other na tions of Europe. The result was that, until very recently, PEKING was often written Pekin, and was generally pronounced in Europe på-keen' or pe-kin'; and NANKING, commonly written Nankin, was called nan'keen'.t TONQUIN (pronounced almost tong'king' by the Chinese) still retains its Spanish pronunciation, ton-keen'; and CANTON (in Chinese Quantong) has in English and in most other European tongues completely dropped the nasal termi nation and taken the sound of n pure. In like manner we are to explain the fact that the names CONFUCIUS and MENCIUS, by which the two great Chinese philoso. phers (KONG-FOO-TSE and MENG-TSE) are generally known in Europe, have no trace of that nasal sound which is so distinct an element in those names as spoken by

the Chinese.

2. Several consonant sounds which are found in all, or nearly all, European tongues, are wanting in most of the Chinese dialects, viz., b, d, g, (hard,) r, v, and %. It being a principle or law of this language that every individual word must be a monosyllable, ending either in a pure vowel or a nasal, it often causes strange transformations when an attempt is made to introduce words or names from other nations: thus, the Hindoo Booddha is changed into Fo, the initial B being necessarily replaced by a Chinese consonant, and the monosyllable which is substituted for the original dissyllable drops the terminal

•The following is a nearly literal translation: "I believe what-consonant, according to the usage of the language.

ever the Beni Abbâs [then the reigning family of caliphs] believe, and whatever is sealed with wax upon paper, [that is, whatever is generally recognized and established.] If I have drunk a cheerful glass, and if it causes some confusion in my head, let that be the least of thy cares."

On account of the difficulty and uncertainty attending the pronunciation of Chinese names, resulting from the

↑ As is shown by the common English name of a kind of cloth manufactured there.

great diversity of dialects in that country, to attempt any great exactness or nicety in representing that pronunciation would clearly be a work of supererogation. We have deemed it sufficient to give the names according to the usage of the best European writers, taking care only, when there is occasion to do so, to render the French, Portuguese, or German spellings into their nearest English equivalents. Respecting the diversity of forms caused by writing Oriental names in dif ferent languages, see Preface, (pp. vi.‐viii.,) and Section XIII, on the Oriental Languages, in this Introduction.

DANISH.
III.

1. A usually has a sound between that in the English word far and that in fat. It may be represented by a. When it ends a syllable it is usually longer than when followed by a vowel in the same syllable: thus, fader ("father") is pronounced få'Der, nearly like the English father. Aa is commonly pronounced nearly like our aw, (or au.)

2. E, at the end of an accented syllable, usually has a sound like that of i in pin, (see XX., 3 ;) in other cases it is sometimes like e in met, and sometimes like e in battery. 3. I is like ee, or like i in pin. Ii is like our ee. 4. O is like the English o.

5. U is like oo.

6. Y is equivalent to the French u or i.

7. Ae sounds like a in fate.

8. Je sounds like ee in English.

9. Oe or ö is the same as in German.

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

11. D, at the beginning of a word, is like the English d; between two vowels, or at the end of a syllable in which it follows a vowel, it sounds nearly like th in this, (th.) When preceded by 1, n, or r, more particularly when it occurs at the end of a word, it is almost or quite silent, as in Abildgard.

12. G is always hard; at the end of a word it is sounded very slightly, so as to resemble h: eg. AALBORG is pronounced nearly ol'bor'h.

13. is like the English y, (consonant.) 14. R is similar to the German.

10. Ui or uy is similar to oi in English, or eu in German. It appears, however, that formerly the Dutch wi had a different sound, somewhat resembling a lengthened . (See H. FRIJLINK, "Woordenboek voor vreemde Eigennamen,” p. 31, Amsterdam, 1858.)

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

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

13. G resembles in sound a strongly aspirated h, or the German ch.

14. is equivalent to the English y, (consonant.)

15. V, at the beginning of a word or name, usually sounds nearly like ƒ; or, to speak more exactly, it has a sound intermediate between that of the German vand

our v.

16. W is somewhat like the German, but softer; in other words, it has a sound between that of our w and the German w. In the word Nieuw, ("new,") followed by a consonant, as NIEUWPOORT, (written also NIEU. POORT,) it is silent.

17. Ch is similar to the German ch.

18. 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.

The FLEMISH is so closely allied to the Dutch that it may be regarded as essentially the same language. It differs, however, somewhat in the spelling of words. According to the modern Dutch orthography, aa is generally substituted for ae, and ij for y. In Flemish both of these old forms are still retained.

FRENCH.
V.

1. A, in French, has two sounds: the short, as in ami, la bal, etc., is intermediate between å (as in the English word far) and â, (as in fat:) this sound in the present work is represented by . The second or long sound is like that in our word far; it occurs in the a circumflexed (â) and a followed by a silent s, as in pas, which should be pronounced as if written pâ. This sound is repre. sented by a

2. E has four sounds: (1) close, like a in the English word | fate, e.g. in été, (represented in this work by à ;) (2 and 3) open, the second è, nearly as in met, but more pro15. Vis usually like the English; but av sounds like longed, e.g. in procès, (represented by or ;) the third ow, (or ou in our:) plov (a “plough") is pronouncedê (e circumflexed) is like the preceding, but still more plow. open and more prolonged, e.g. in tête; it is represented

16. W has a sound similar to that of our v or the Ger- by ; (4) obscure, as in battery, e.g. in retour, devrait.↑ man w. It is sometimes interchangeable with v.

DUTCH.
IV.

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 git, pie, etc.

4. O has three sounds: (1) nearly as in robe, e.g. in

1. The vowels a, e, i, o, and u are similar to the trône, (represented by ō;) (2) as in rob, e.g. in parole; French.

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

Ons. Ij is often made use of instead of y: thus, OVERYSSEL (the old spelling) is now commonly written Overijssel.

3. Aa is à long, (à.)

4. Ae is equivalent to åå orà

5. Ee (equivalent to e long) sounds like our a in fate. 6. Ei or ey is like the German ei, or our long i, (I.) 7. Je sounds like ee in English.

8. Oe sounds like oo.

(3) as in lord, e.g. in corps. The second and third are both represented by o without any mark.

5. The sound of the French has no equivalent in English. It may be said to be intermediate between e

• In pronouncing this sound the mouth must be freely opened, whence the name.

↑ Thee 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'vRd. It should, however, be ob served that in reading poetry, as well as in the graver style of public speaking, the unaccented e, even when it forms the terminal letter of

9. Oo is always pronounced like long in English, such words as tête, parle, etc., nearly always makes a distinct and

and oo. This is one of the most difficult sounds in the language, but may readily be produced if the speaker after placing his lips in the position proper for sounding our oo, attempts, without moving his lips, to utter the sound of ee. In the present work it is represented by the German ü.

OBS. U, before w nasal, has its second English sound nearly, un being pronounced almost like йN.

6. Y is similar to the French. In the middle of a word y is usually equivalent to ii, as in fuyard, fü-e'yaR', (pronounced in French, fui-iar.)

as Polonois, "Polish," and Lyonnois, "belonging to Lyons" The
of in these words-which are now usually written avais, avail
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 the English word pleasure. Gu sounds like g hard: thus, gué, guide, are pronounced gå, gèd or geed.

7. Ai and ay are like 2, (represented by 3.) 16. His never pronounced in French so forcibly as in OBS. When ai forms the termination of verbs, as in jai, ("I English. Some of the best French authorities, indeed, have,”) je parlai, (“I spoke,”) je parlerai, (" I shall speak,”) it has say that the h should never be sounded at all in French the sound of é, or a in fate. Some authorities say that while aie, ais, words or names; the only difference they would make aye are to be sounded as è, ai, ay, ei, and ey terminal (that is, between the (so-called) aspirated and unaspirated initial when not followed by e or s mute) should be pronounced as é, (à ;) is, that before the latter the a or unaccented e in such but to this general rule there appear to be many exceptions.

and

8. Au is like ō.

9. Ei and ey are like 2, (see 7 of this Section; Ob

servation.)

10. Eu is nearly similar to the English u in tub, but the sound is somewhat closer and more prolonged, nearly resembling that of u in fur. It is similar to the German ö, but is rather more open.

particles as la, le, etc. is dropped, as l'herbe, (pronounced before the former it is retained, as la halle, (pronounced laRb,) "the grass;" l'homme, (lom,) "the man;" while la al,) “the market;" le hamac, (lçh â′mâk',) “the ham mock," etc.

17.

sounds like soft g in French, or zh in English. 18. Z has usually the same sound as in English; but when it ends a word, being preceded by i, or when I

OBS. Eu, in the different parts of the verb avoir, “to have," follows i in any situation, it usually has what is called always has the sound of simple .

11. Je is like ee in English, or f.

12. Oi usually sounds like wå: eg. moi is pronounced

mwa or mwŏh.

OBS. Oi was formerly used in the termination of the French verbs, e.g. avois, avoit, avoient; also in the final syllable of many adjectives,

There is not only considerable diversity among the different French authorities in regard to the pronunciation of words or names with these terminations, but scarcely any one writer appears to be consistent with himself in this respect. In Boyer's "French Dictionary," with the pronunciation according to the Abbé Tardy, (Boston, 1822,) Bey (a Turkish governor) is pronounced bå, (or bé;) but all words ending in ai, as balai, délai, essai, gai, geai, lai, Mai, quai, vrai, are pronounced with the open sound of e, (è or ;) the ai of balai, gai, geai, lai, Mai, and quai is sounded like the English e in met, but in délai, essai, and vrai, like e in there. In the Dictionary of Fleming and Tibbins, (American edition, Philadelphia, 1843,) ai in gai, Mai, and quai has the sound of e, close à, (or é,) but balai, délai, essai, lai, and vrai are pronounced in precisely the same manner as in the preceding work. In Spiers and Surenne's Dictionary (American edition, 1852) gai has the sound of e close, (A or é;) but balai, Mai, and all other words (not verbs) of this termination are pronounced with the sound of open e. Bey, as in Boyer and Fleming and Tibbins, is pronounced bå, (or bé ;) but dey, a word similar in its origin and general character, has the open sound of e, (dè.) Ay and ey, when forming the termination of proper names, are in Spiers and Surenne's Dictionary invariably represented in pronunciation by è, with the single exception of Solway. See, also, "Surenne's French Pronouncing Dictionary,"(American edition, from the Edinburgh edition of 1840,) in which is given the pronunciation of a great many proper names ending in ay and ey, and never with the sound of e close, (é,) except in the solitary instance of Solway, just noticed. Mr. Bescherelle, perhaps the highest modern authority in regard to the pronunciation as well as the definition of French words, does not speak very definitely in regard to the sound of ai or ay terminal; but, under the letter E, he says ey has its middle sound (“son moyen ou demi-ouvert") in bey, dey, Hervey, Ney, Volney, etc., (see "Dictionnaire National," vol. i., pp. 1049 and 1050.) In consideration of the general tendency of the preceding writers, and supported by the high authority last named, we have adopted the general rule to make the e open in the final syllables of all names of this class. At the same time, those who are anxious to be accurate in their pronunciation should take care to make the sound of ai, ay, and ey, terminal, less open and less full than in the final syllables aie, aye, ais, eys, etc.

its liquid sound. This may be said to answer nearly to the sound of lli in million, the sound of 7 in such cases

being blended with that of y, (consonant :) e.g. papillon It should, however, be observed that at present, accord. is pronounced på'pèl'ydn'; CHANTILLY, shôn'tèl'ye', etc. ing to the general practice of the more polite French speakers, the sound of 7 in such words is in ordinary conversation scarcely heard at all, so that their pronunciation may rather be indicated thus,—pa′pe'yỒN′, ShỏN'te'ye'; but in the higher style of speaking, and in public discourses, the in such cases is, according to the best usage, distinctly pronounced.

19. M and n, when followed by a vowel, or when double, have the same sound as in English; but when at the end of a word, (not immediately followed by another word beginning with a vowel,) or when followed by another consonant in the middle of a word, they have what is termed the nasal sound, which somewhat resembles that of ng in long, pang, etc., but is softer: thus, m and n are nasal in such words as comparer, coNtente, but have their natural sound in such as commune, connu. Bon, ("good,") before a consonant or standing by itself, would be pronounced bon; but if followed immediately by a vowel, as in the phrase bon ami, ("good friend,") the final n is sounded distinctly, as nn would be in the same position. The pronoun sien, when not followed by a vowel, is pronounced nearly se-ân'; but when it takes the feminine termination then, being doubled, has the same sound as in English, so that sienne is pronounced se-ên'.

20. M or " nasal, when preceded by e, causes this vowel to assume the broad sound of a: thus, dents, sens, are pronounced like the French words dans and sans, almost as if written in English don and sôN.

↑ C with a cedilla, (c) before a, o, and , sounds like s: thus, ça, ço, çu are pronounced like sa, so, su.

In uttering this sound, care should be taken not to press the back part of the tongue against the palate, as is done in pronouncing the English ng.

INTRODUCTION.

21. In, im, ain, aim, ein, oin, and en, preceded imme- | marks, called accents, that are placed over the different diately by i, when nasal, have a sound nearly resembling that of ang in the English word pang. In such cases, in, im, ain, aim, ein, and en are pronounced alike ân; the o in oin has the sound of our w, so that loin and soin are pronounced almost lwan, swân.

22. In om and on nasal, the o has nearly the sound first French sound, and at the same time distinguishes of d as in won't.

30. The French consonants, when occurring at the end of a word, are generally not pronounced, unless they are immediately followed by a word beginning with a vowel: e.g. in content, (pronounced côn′tôn',) and dents, (doN.) If, however, they are followed by a mute e or any other vowel, they must always be articulated : eg. in con-like e in met; frequently, however, it has an obscure Lente, denté, etc. sound, like in bitter, paper, etc. It should have this obscure sound whenever it ends an unaccented syllable, (as in Goethe,) or when it precedes 1, n, or r in an un. accented syllable, (as in Schlegel, Bunsen, Schiller.) 3. I long sounds like i in marine, (or ee in English ;)

foreign and classical names: e.g. in AMSTERDAM, (m not nasal,) i short, like i in pit.

guage nearest to it is that of e in her, or u in fur: the should be pronounced almost as if written bairG, (not bürg ;) Wertk German poets often rhyme it with with e, (ẻ or ā.) as wairt, (not würt,) but somewhat shorter

10. Ue, or ü, is like the French u.

24. S, at the beginning of a word, or between two

11. Ai is similar in sound to ei, but somewhat broader. vowels, is like z; in other cases it is sharp, as in this. Ss (See 14 of this section.) is always sharp.

oil.

12. Au is equivalent to the English ou in our.

13. äu and eu resemble in sound the English oi, as in

14. Ei and ey have the sound of our i in mine, as pronounced by the Americans, (the English draw the corners of the mouth farther back.)

OBS. It may be observed that ai and au, in German, as well as in several other languages, are proper diphthongs, the vowels preserving their distinct and proper sound: thus, ai is equivalent to å'e, and au to d'oo, in English.

15. The consonants f, k, l, m, n, p, q, t, and x are pronounced as in English.

16. B and d, at the beginning of a word, have the same sound as in English; at the end of a word, b is pronounced like p, and d like t

17. C, before a, o, and u, sounds like ; before e, i, and y, like ts.

18. Ch has a sound unknown to our language, which can be learned from an oral instructor only. It somewhat resembles that of our h, with a strong aspiration: after a, o, and u, it is guttural; for example, in the word ach. When it follows e, i, ä, ö, ü, äu, or eu, it seems to be sounded more in the palate or roof of the mouth, as in ich, euch, etc: We have represented this sound in the present work by K, distinguished as a small capital. OBS. Ch, before s radical, (i.e. forming a part of the root of the word,) has the sound of k: e.g. Ochs is pronounced oks; Sachsen,

såk'sen, etc.

25. Sch sounds like the English sh; sz, like ss.

26. This pronounced like, as in most other lan guages.

27. V sounds like ƒ in English, except when between two vowels; it is then pronounced somewhat softer, ap. proximating in sound our v

28. W resembles our v, but in pronouncing it the upper teeth should not be allowed to touch the lower lip, as is done in uttering the English v. This sound is indicated by a w marked thus, ŵ. 29. Z and tz sound like ts.

REMARKS ON THE GERMAN ACCENT AND PRO.
NUNCIATION.

No general rule can be given for the accent of German words or names: it may be remarked, however, that the penultimate accent occurs much less frequently than in the Spanish or the Italian language. The German accent is in all respects very similar to the English, differing widely from the Spanish and entirely from the French. It is proper to observe, however, that the secondary accent on compound German words or names is more distinctly marked than it would be in English in the scarcely any appreciable accent on the last syllable, same situation: thus, the English say Peʼters-burg, with while the Germans say Pe'ters-burg', (pā'ters-booRG',) the last accent being distinctly marked, though decidedly

19. G, at the beginning of a word, sounds as in the English word get. In other situations it is usually pronounced nearly like the German ch, in which cases it is a represented by G small capital. In some German dialects, however, it is sounded in all cases nearly like hard in English: gg is usually sounded nearly like k. 20. His pronounced only when it begins a word. OBS. 1. When gandh occur in the middle of a compound word, they have the same sound as when they are initial, provided they begin any part which is a complete word in itself: thus, in the participle gegeben, (“given,") the latter g has the same sound as the former, because it begins the verb geben, (to “give,”) from which that participle is derived. It is sounded in like manner in aufgeben, (to "give up,") vergeben, (to “forgive,") etc. H, in similar instances, is pronounced: e.g. in gehabt, aufhalten, etc.

OBS. 2. G and h, occurring after a vowel, lengthen its sound: e.g. In Tag, Zahl, Floh, pronounced tååg, tsåål, flō, etc. A silent has the same effect though occurring before a vowel, as Thal, (pronounced tåål,) That, (tååt,) and so on. (See Remarks on the German Pronunciation, at the end of this section.)

21. has the sound of the English y, (consonant.) 22. Q is only used before u, and sounds as in the English word quit.

23. R is pronounced like in the English word terror, but somewhat more strongly. (See V., 24.)

OBS. Care should be taken to pronounce the in German distinctly and forcibly. In such words as Berg and Werth, the learner should be particularly on his guard against allowing the e to become like short, as in similar words in English. The e, in such cases, should have the same sound as in our word merit, so that Berg

• Those who have no opportunity of acquiring this sound from a German might perhaps learn it from a Scotchman, as the Scottish ch is essentially the same with the German, though pronounced somewhat more strongly.

less than the first.

It is a rule in German that an accented vowel ending syllable is long, as in a'ber, (3′ber,) "but," gëlben, (gā′bẹn,) to “give,” Va'ter, (fa'ter,) "father," lo'ben, (to when followed by a single consonant in the middle of a "praise.") The vowel is considered to end the syllable word, in which case the consonant always goes to the following vowel, as in the instances above cited; but, is the vowel is followed by a consonant in the same syllable, it is generally short, as in fallen, (to "fall,”)_Mutter, ("mother,") etc. But to this last remark there are several exceptions. In declinable words ending in a single consonant, whether monosyllables or dissyllables, with the accent on the ultima, the syllable on which the stress of the voice is laid is long, as Blut, ("blood,") gūt, ("good,") Graf, (“count,”) Eugèn, (“Eugene,”) and so on. This exception may be said to follow almost as a matter of course from the first part of the foregoing rule; for if the vowel in such words as Graf was short, then in the genitive and dative (Grafes, Grafe) it must also be short, thus violating the rule referred to, or else be the cause of a very objectionable and inconvenient irregu larity, by making in the same word the nominative and accusative short and the genitive and dative long. The letters g and 1⁄2 have the effect of making long the vowel which precedes them. (See 20 of this section, Observation 2.)

GREEK, (MODERN.)

VII.

1. A a (alpha) is like a in far.
2. E & (epsilon) is like a in fate.
3. Hn (ēta) is like ee in English,