archives, archangel, Archipelago, etc., except in archer, arched, arch-enemy, etc.

Ch coming before a consonant has uniformly the sound of tch; as in arch-bishop, arch-duke, etc.

D

D in every position, has the same sound except in hopped, puffed, passed, etc., where it sounds like t.

E

E has three different sounds. 1. A long sound; as in me, glebe, complete, etc. 2. A short sound; as in bed, men, etc. 3. An obscure sound; as in ebony, merry. At the end of words, e is silent except in monosyllables; as me, he, she, or in words of Greek origin; as catastrophe, Penelope, etc., or in cre, gre, tre, in which it sounds like close u, as in acre, meagre, centre. It sometimes softens the preceding consonants; as in grace, face, oblige, since, etc. Also the preceding consonant is lengthened by it; as in man, mane; can, cane; pin, pine, etc.

F

F has a uniform sound in every position except in of, in which it takes the sound of v. But when it is compounded with another word; as in whereof, thereof, the ƒ has its usual sound.

G

G has two sounds; one hard and guttural, the other soft like j. Before e, i and y, g is soft; as in genius, gesture, ginger, Egypt, except in get, gew-gaw, finger, craggy, and some others. G is always hard at the end of words; as in bag, snug, gig. Before a, o, u, l and r, it is hard; as in gave, gone, gale, glory, great. G before n is silent; as in gnash, sign, etc. Gn at the end of words protracts the preceding vowel; as in condign, malign, resign, impugn, etc. At the beginning of words gh has the sound of g hard; as in ghost, ghostly. In the middle of words, it is silent; as in night, right, might, etc. At the end of words it is often silent; as in plough. It often has the sound of f at the end of words; as in cough, laugh, rough, tough. Sometimes the g only is sounded, as in burgh, burgher.

SECOND COURSE.

What sounds have d? e? ƒ? g?

H

H has an articulate sound; as in hay, hat, house. After r, it is always silent; as in rhyme, rhetoric, rheumatism. At the beginning of words it is always sounded; except in heir, herb, honest, honor, hour. A final h preceded by a vowel, is always silent; as in hah! ah! oh!

I

I has two sounds—a long sound; as in fine, pine-short; as in pin, tin. It often sounds like short u; as in thirty, first —like short e; as in virtue, birth. It has the sound of long e; in machine, magazine, bombazine.

J

Jhas the exact sound of soft g; except in hallelujah, where it is sounded like y.

K

K has the sound of c hard. Before e and i, where c is soft, k has a hard sound; as in king, kept, skirmish. It is silent before n; as in knight, knock, knave. It is never double except in Habakkuk. When c is used before k, it has a double sound, and the vowel is shortened; as in pickle.

L

I has a soft liquid sound; as in blame, lose, willow, barrel. It is sometimes silent; as in walk, talk, half. L is usually doubled at the end of monosyllables; as in bill, fill, hall. Where it is preceded by a diphthong, the 7 only is used; as hail, mail, toil. At the end of words le is sounded like weak el, in which the e is almost silent; as in marble, rattle, table.

M

M has uniformly one sound; as in man, mountain, mill, mast. It is never silent. Comptroller is pronounced Controller.

N

N has two sounds-one pure; as in man, not, noble; the other a ringing sound like ng; as in thank. Final n, preceded by m, is silent; as in hymn, autumn, solemn. "The participal termination ing must always have its ringing sound; as in writing, making, speaking."

SECOND COURSE.

What sounds have h? i? j? k? l? m? n?

Sometimes it has the sound
Sometimes, also, it takes the

O has a long and a short sound-long; as in note, mote— short; as in lot, not, sot, mock. of u; as in son, come, attorney. sound of oo; as in prove, move.

Р

P has one sound; as in put, pen, pint; except in cupboard, in which it is sounded like b. It is sometimes silent; as in psalter, psalm, Ptolemy; also between m and t; as in empty, tempt. Ph is generally sounded like f; as in philosophy, Philip. "It has the sound of vin Stephen, nephew." Both letters are entirely dropped in phthisic, phthisical."

Q

66

Qis always followed by u; as in quadrant, question, queen. Sometimes q is sounded like k; as in conquer, liquor, picturesque. In some words of French origin, the u is silent; as in coquette, liquorice.

Ꭱ

R has a guttural sound at the beginning of words; as in run, Rome, rise; in other positions, a smoother sound; as in narrow, barber, proud. At the end of words re sounds like ur; as in lustre, massacre.

S

S has a soft sound like z; as in rose, dismal. It has a hissing sound; as in sing, sister, same. It has also the sound of zh; as in treasure, measure, pleasure, crosier. At the beginning of words it has always a hissing sound, and at the end it has a soft sound; "except in this, thus, as, yes, surplus, etc.; and in words terminating in ous; as in tremendous. Before ion, preceded by a vowel, it has the sound of z; as in intrusion, illusion. When preceded by a consonant, it has the hissing sound of sh; as in mansion, conversion. Before e mute, it has the sound of z; as in diffuse, amuse; and before y final; as in posy; also in the words bosom, desire, wisdom, etc. In the words isle, island, demesne, and viscount, s is silent. S, when preceded by the accent and a vowel, and followed by a diphthong or long u, is sounded like zh; as in brazier, osier.

SECOND COURSE.

What sounds have o? p? q? r? s?

T

Th has two sounds; heathen; the other Th initial is short,

Tis sounded in tin, tame. Always before u, and generally before eou when the accent precedes, t has the sound of tch; as in virtue, nature, righteous. "Tbefore a vowel preceded by the accent, has the sound of sh; as in propitiation,” salvation; except in such words as tierce, tiara, etc., and unless an s precedes; as in question, and excepting also derivatives from words ending in ty; as in weightiest, mightiest. the one soft and flat; as in thus, weather, hard and sharp; as in thin, thick, breath. as in thank, thick, thunder, except in that, then, thus, thither, and some others. Th final of words is also sharp; as in death, breath, mouth. Th medial is sharp; as in panther, orthodox, misanthrope; except in worthy, farthing, brethren, etc. Between two vowels, th is flat in pure English words; as in gather, neither, whether; and sharp in words from the learned languages; as in athirst, method.

Thin Thames, Thomas, thyme, phthisic, asthma and their compounds, is pronounced like t.

U has three sounds.

U

"U forming a

1. The long sound; as in cubic, tune, tube. 2. The short; as in tub, butter, justice. 3. The middle; as in artful, pulpit, pull. syllable by itself, is nearly equivalent to you, and requires the article a and not an before it; as unite, union." Ú in bury, sounds like short e; in busy, like short i; as berry, bizzy. After r and rh open u; as rude, and the diphthong ue and ai take the sound of oo; as in rue, fruit, fruitful.

V

V always sounds like flattened ƒ; as in live, love, voice, vulture.

W

"W, when a consonant, has the sound heard in wine, win, being a sound less vocal than oo, and depending more upon the lips."

W before h is pronounced as if it succeeded it; as in when, why, what. It is silent before r, as in wrench, wrist, etc.

SECOND COURSE.

What sounds have t? u? v? w?

W is never used as a vowel alone, except in some Welsh names in which it sounds like oo, as in cwm. When w is heard in a diphthong, it is sounded like u; as in now, brow, etc.; but it is often silent when joined with o at the end of a syllable; as in know, blow, stow, etc.

X

I has three sounds, viz. ; a sharp sound like ks; as in oxflat, like gz in example. Initial x is sounded like z in Greek proper names; as in Xantippe, Xenophon, Xanthus, Xerxes.

When x ends an unaccented syllable, it has a sharp sound; as in excellence, exit, and also when it precedes an accented syllable; as in expose, expound, expunge, expand.

Y

Y, when a consonant, is heard in yard, youth, the sound being less vocal than that of feeble i or y, serving only to modify the following sound with which it quickly unites. Y, when a vowel, is sounded like i, as:

1. The open long sound; as in cry, chyle, thyme, cycle. 2. The close short sound; as in system.

3. "The feeble (like open e feeble); as in cycloidal, mercy. In the same positions, i and y are generally sounded alike, and in the formation of derivatives, the one is often changed for the other; as in duty, duties; lie, lying; city, cities ; tie, tying. No diphthong or triphthongs commence with this letter, it being a consonant before a vowel heard in the same syllable.

Ꮓ

Z is always sounded like flat s; as in freeze, breeze.

DIPHTHONGS AND TRIPHTHONGS.

§ 5. A diphthong is the union of two vowels in the same syllable; as oi in soil; ou in sound; ai in mail. § 6. A proper diphthong is that in which both vowels are sounded; as ou in round; oi in soil.

FIRST COURSE.

What is a diphthong? What a proper diphthong?

SECOND COURSE.

What sounds have x? y? z?