Part 251 (2/2)

Grave; as in _father_ 3 Broad; as in _fall_ 4 Short; as in _man_ 5

The sound heard in _care, hare_ 6 Interrass, pass, branch_”--_School Granizes a seventh sound,--the ”_A obscure_; as in _liar, rival_”--_Univ and Crit Dict_, p ix Such a multiplication of the oral elements of our first vowel--or, indeed, any extension of them beyond four,--appears to me to be unadvisable; because it not only makes our alphabet the more defective, but is unnecessary, and not sustained by our best and most popular orthoepical [sic--KTH] authorities

The sound of _a_ in _liar_, (and in _rival_ too, ifrass, pass_, and _branch_, properly uttered, the _a_ is essentially the same as in _man_ In _care_ and _hare_, we have the first sound of _a_, made as slender as the _r_ will ad his fifth sound of _a_, Wells cites authorities thus: ”Walker, Webster, Sheridan, Fulton and Knight, Kenrick, Jones, and Nares, give _a_ in _care_ the _long_ sound of _a_, as in _late_ Page and Day give it the _short_ sound of _a_, as in _e's Normal Chart, and Day's Art of Elocution Worcester and Perry make the sound of _a_ in _care_ a separate elenized by Russell, Mandeville, and Wright See Russell's Lessons in Enunciation, Mandeville's Eleraphy”--_Wells's School Gra, primal sound, and is not properly ”a separate element,” is maintained also by Murray, Hiley, Bullions, Scott, and Cobb; and is, undoubtedly, much more prevalent than any other It accords, too, with the scheme of Johnson To count this _a_ by itself, seems too much like a distinction without a difference

OBS 6--On his sixth sound of _a_, Wells remarks as follows: ”Many persons pronounce this _a_ incorrectly, giving it either the grave or the short sound Perry, Jones, Nares, Webster, and Day, give to _a_ in _grass_ the grave sound, as in _father_; while Walker, Jaive it the short sound, as in _rass, plant_, etc, as a distinct elerave and the short sound”--_School Gram_, p 34 He also cites Worcester and Smart to the same effect; and thinks, with the latter, ”_There can be no har the extreme_ that offends the taste of each”--_Ib_, p 35 But I say, that a needless multiplication of questionable vowel powers difficult to be discri; and, where intelligent orthoepists [sic--KTH] dispute whether words have ”the _grave_ or the _short_ sound” of _a_, how can others, who condemn both parties, acceptably split the difference, and form ”a distinct element” in the interval? Words are often mispronounced, and the French or close _a_ may be mistaken for the Italian or broadish _a_, and _vice versa_; but, between the two, there does not appear to be roouishable from both Dr Johnson says, (inaccurately indeed,) ”_A_ has _three_ sounds, the slender, [the] open, and [the] broad _A_ slender is found in _most words_, as _face, mane_ _A_ open is the _a_ of the Italian, or nearly reselass_ _A_ broad resembles the _a_ of the German; as _all, wall, call_ [fist] The _short a_ approaches to the _a_ open, as _grass_”--_Johnson's Grarass_, that serves Johnson for an example of ”the _short a_”

is used by Wells and Worcester to exemplify the ”_a intermediate_;” while of the Doctor's five instances of what he calls the ”_a open_,” three, if not four, are evidently such as nearly all readers nowadays would call close or short!

OBS 7--There are several gra to our first vowel _five_ sounds, but who nevertheless oppose one an other into Hart, ”A has five sounds of its own, as in fate, fare, far, fall, fat,”--_Hart's E Gra to W

Allen, ”A has five sounds;--the long or slender, as in _cane_; the short or open, as in _can_; the middle, as in _arm_; the broad, as in _all_; and the _broad contracted_, as in _want_”--_Allen's E Gram_, p 6 P Davis has the same sounds in a different order, thus: ”a [as in] mane, mar, fall, mat, what”--_Davis's E Gram_, p xvi Mennye says, ”A has five sounds; as, 1 faar”--_Mennye's E Gram_, p 55

Here the fifth sound is the seventh of Worcester,--the ”_A obscure_”

DIPHTHONGS BEGINNING WITH A

The only proper diphthong in which _a_ is put first, is the word _ay_,_yes_: in which _a_ has its _middle_ sound, as in _ah_, and _y_ is like _open e_, or _ee_, uttered feebly--_ah-ee_ _Aa_, when pronounced as an i to two syllables, usually takes the sound of _close a_; as in _Balaam, Canaan, Isaac_ In many words, as in _Baal, Gaal, Gaash_, the diaeresis occurs In _baa_, the cry of a sheep, we hear the Italian sound of _a_; and, since we hear it but once, one _a_ or the other , co to modern orthoepists, the sound of _open e_ or _ee_; as in _Caesar, aenigma, paean_;--sometimes that of _close_ or _short e_; as in _aphaeresis, diaeresis, et caetera_ So to be needless, reject it, and write _Cesar, enigenerally has the sound of _open_ or _long a_; as in _sail, avail, vainly_ In a final unaccented syllable, it sometimes preserves the first sound of _a_; as in _chilblain, mortmain_: but oftener takes the sound of _close_ or _short i_; as in _certain, curtain, ainst_, it takes the sound of _close_ or _short e_; and in the name _Britain_, that of _close_ or _short u_

_Ao_, an iaol_, now frequently written as it is pronounced, _jail_; also in _gaoler_, which aol_: and, again, it is found in the adjective _extraordinary_, and its derivatives, in which, according to nearly all orthoepists, the _a_ is silent The name _Pharaoh_, is pronounced _F=a'r=o_

_Au_, an ienerally sounded like _broad a_; as in _cause, caught, applause_ Before _n_ and an other consonant, it usually has the sound of _grave_ or _aunt, launch, laundry_ So in _laugh, laughter_, and their derivatives _Gauge_ and _gauger_ are pronounced _gage_ and _gager_, and so, is always sounded like _broad a_; as in _draw, drawn, drawl_

_Ay_, an i, like _ai_, has usually the sound of _open_ or _long a_; as in _day, pay, delay_: in _sayst_ and _says_, it has the sound of _close_ or _short e_

TRIPHTHONGS BEGINNING WITH A

_Awe_ is sounded _au_, like _broad a_ _Aye_, an adverb signifying _always_, has the sound of _open_ or _long a_ only; being different, both in sound and in spelling, from the adverb _ay_, yes, hich it is often carelessly confounded The distinction is maintained by Johnson, Walker, Todd, Chalmers, Jones, Cobb, Maunder, Bolles, and others; but Webster and Worcester give it up, and write ”_ay_, or _aye_,” each sounded _ah-ee_, for the affirmation, and ”_aye_,” sounded _=a_, for the adverb of time: Ainsworth on the contrary has _ay_ only, for either sense, and does not note the pronunciation

II OF THE LETTER B

The consonant _B_ has but one sound; as in _boy, robber, cub_ _B_ is silent before _t_ or after _m_ in the same syllable; as in _debt, debtor, doubt, dumb, lamb, climb, tomb_ It is heard in _subtile_, fine; but not in _subtle_, cunning

III OF THE LETTER C

The consonant _C_ has two sounds, neither of them peculiar to this letter; the one _hard_, like that of _k_, and the other _soft_, or rather _hissing_, like that of _s_ _C_ before _a, o, u, l, r, t_, or when it ends a syllable, is generally hard, like _k_; as in _can, come curb, clay, crab, act, action, accent, flaccid_ _C_ before _e, i_, or _y_, is always soft, like _s_; as in _cent, civil, decency, acid_

In a feords, _c_ takes the _flat_ sound of _s_, like that of _z_; as in _discern, suffice, sacrifice, sice_ _C_ before _ea, ia, ie, io_, or _eou_, when the accent precedes, sounds like _sh_; as in _ocean, special, species, gracious, cetaceous_ _C_ is silent in _czar, czarina, victuals, indict, muscle, corpuscle_, and the second syllable of _Connecticut_