Page images
PDF
EPUB
[ocr errors]

18. C, before a, o, and u, sounds like k; before e, i, and y, like ts. 19. Ch has a sound unknown in our language, and which, consequently, can be learned from an oral instructer 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, as in ich.* We have represented this sound in the present work by x, 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, &c.

20. G, at the beginning of a word, sounds as in the English word get. In other situations, it should be pronounced like the German ch. In some German dialects, however, it is sounded, in all cases, nearly like g hard, in English.

21. H is pronounced only when it begins a word.

OBS. 1. When g and h 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), and vergeben, (to forgive), &c. H, in similar instances, is pronounced; e. g. in gehabt, aufhalten, &c.

OBS. 2. G and h, occurring after a vowel, lengthen its sound; e.g. in Tag, Zähl, Flōh, &c.

22. J has the sound of the English y (consonant).

23. Q is only used before u, and sounds as in the English word quit. 24. R is pronounced like rr in the English word terror, but somewhat more strongly. (See XIX, 24.)

OBS. Care should be taken to pronounce the r, 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 u, as in similar words in English. The e, in such cases, should have the same sound as in our word merit, so that berg should be pronounced almost as if written bairg (not burg); werth, as Wairt (not Wurt), but somewhat shorter.

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

25. S, at the beginning of a word, or between two vowels, is like z; in other cases it is sharp, as in this. Ss is always sharp.

26. Sch sounds like the English sh; sz like ss.

27. Th is pronounced like t.

28. V sounds like ƒ in English, except when between two vowels; it is then usually pronounced like our v.

29. 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 EngThis sound is indicated by a capital w.

lish v.

[blocks in formation]

6. rv (upsilon) is nearly like the French u (or ü).

7. w (ōměga) is like o in English, there being no difference between this and omicron in prose; in poetry is longer.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small]

21. II (pi) is usually like the English p; but after μ (m), it is like b; e. g. žμropos is pronounced em'-bo-ros.

22. P p (rho) is similar to the German r.

[blocks in formation]

24. T ☛ (tau) is usually like the English t; after (n), however, it is sounded like d; e. g. ivròs is pronounced en-dos'.

25. Tv (consonant) when before a vowel, or the liquids l, m, n, r, is like our v; e. g. avɛpów is pronounced åv-à-rü ́-o, aixòs, åv-los', aűpiov, av'-re-on: in other cases it is likeƒ; e. g. Aɛvxadía (Leucadia) is pronounced lef-kå-THe ́-å.

[blocks in formation]

OBS. Recently it has become the practice to give to all, or nearly all, the islands, towns, &c., of modern Greece, their ancient names, and it is probable that, at no distant period, such modern corruptions as Theaki for Ithaca, Scio for Chios, may be regarded as obsolete. But, as the modern names are employed in nearly all our books on geography, and in the writings of the English travellers and poets, it has been thought proper in a work like the present, which is intended for popular use, to assign to them their accustomed place.

HUNGARIAN.

XXII.

* 1. A, unaccented, is like o in not; with an accent (á), it has the sound of a in far, and is always long; thus, Aba Uj-vár, the name of a town, is pronounced ōb-oh oo-e våår.

2. E, unaccented, is like e in met; with an accent (é),* it has a sound intermediate between e in met and i in pit, but more prolonged. 3. I, and y when a vowel, are similar to e in me, or i in fig.

4. O, without an accent, is the same as in English; when accented (ó), it has a longer and deeper sound.

5. U, without an accent is like oo in English, with the accent (ú,)* its sound is fuller and deeper.

The peculiarity of these sounds cannot be indicated by English letters; in giving the pronunciation of Hungarian names, we have merely distinguished them as being long.

6. Oe or ö, and ü, are the same as in German.

7. The consonants b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, t, v, z, are like the English. 8. C is not used without being joined with some other consonantcs is sounded like ch in English; cz like ts.

9. G, except when followed by j or y, is always hard, as in the Eng lish word get. Gh sounds like a simple g.

10. J is usually like e in English; uj is pronounced oo-e. Dj and gj are equivalent to dy and gy, and tj to ty. (See 16, 17, and 20, of this Section.)

11. R is like the German; in other words, is to be trilled more strongly than the English.

12. S is like the English sh.

13. Sz is like s sharp, or ss.

14. Ts is equivalent to cs, or ch in English.

15. Tz is like cz, or ts in English.

16. Y, in Hungarian, is nearly always a consonant.

When it fol

lows d, g, l, n, and t, it seems to be blended with these letters, so as to form but one consonant sound.

17. Dy and gy are alike. Magyar is pronounced mod-yŎR.

18. Ly is like I in Spanish, or li in the English word million. Vásárhely is pronounced in three syllables-våå-shåån-hêĩ.

19. Ny is like the Spanish ñ, or ni in minion. Mártony is pronounced in two syllables-måår-ton.

20. Ty approximates the sound of our ch, bearing the same relation to t, that dy does to d.

21. Zs sounds like the French j, or zh in English.

OBS. The Hungarian language cannot be said to have any accent, in the sense in which we employ this term: the syllables of words, however, are distinguished from each other by quantity As quantity in Latin and Greek is converted into accent by the usage of English pronunciation, so, in giving Hungarian names which are ordinarily used in geographical works, we have placed the accent according to the quantity; e. g. Csongrád, chon-grååd'; but when the name is not in common use, but is merely given in a parenthesis, the quantity only of the vowel has been indicated, as this mode of marking the pronunciation is more strictly accurate; e. g. HUNGARY (Hung. Magyar Ország, mod-yŎR OR-sååg).

ITALIAN.

XXIII.

1. A, in Italian, is like the English a in far, though its sound varies somewhat in different situations.*

2. E has two sounds: (1.) close, as a in fate; (2.) open, like e in

mnet.

3. I is like e in me, or i in fig.

4. O has two sounds; (1.) close, as in note; (2.) open, similar to o in not, but rather broader.

5. U is like oo in English.

6. Ai and au, in Italian, are proper diphthongs. (See XX., 13, Obs.) Accordingly, CAIRO is to be pronounced ki ́-ro, and Ausa, ou ́-så,

&c.

7. The consonants b, d, f, l, m, n, p, q, s, t, and v, are similar to the English.

OBS. K, 20, x, and y, are not used by the Italians, except in spelling foreign names.

8. C and cc, before a, o, and u, are sounded like k; before e, i, and y, like ch or tsh.

OBS. Cc should be pronounced more strongly than a single c. This remark will apply to all double letters, in Italian, as well as in most other languages.

9. As c, when immediately before a, o, or u, is never pronounced like ch, in order to express this sound in such cases, the vowel i is inserted; thus, cia, cio, ciu, are pronounced chả, cho, choo. (See table at the end of this Section.)

10. Ch is employed to express the sound of k before e and i.

11. G, before a, o, and u, is hard, as in the English word get; before e, i, and y, it sounds like the English j; gia, gio, giu, are pronounced ja, jo, joo. (See table at the end of this Section.)

*Of all the European tongues, the Italian has, probably, been brought to the greatest degree of perfection. There are, however, a number of niceties in this language, which, however interesting to a thorough linguist, cannot properly be noticed in a work like the present. The difficulty of giving a brief, and, at the same time, a satisfactory exposition of the principles of Italian pronunciation, is increased by the existence of different dialects in different parts of Italy. It has been deemed sufficient, in this synopsis, merely to explain those principles of pronunciation which appear to be recognized by the Italians generally.

« ՆախորդըՇարունակել »