Part 254 (1/2)

OBS 2--Dr Johnson, in his ”Grah snarling sound_ as in other tongues”--P 3 Again, in his Quarto Dictionary, under this letter, he says, ”_R_ is called the _canine letter_, because it is uttered _with sorowl or snarl of a cur_: it has _one constant sound_ in English, such as it has in other languages; as, _red, rose, reater reputation as an orthoepist [sic--KTH], teaches that, ”There is a distinction in the sound of this letter, which is,” says he, ”in my opinion, _of no sh and [the] smooth _r_ Ben Jonson,” continues he, ”in his Gra of words, and more liquid in the middle and ends, as in _rarer, riper_; and so in the Latin' The rough _r_ is forainst the roof of the mouth near the fore teeth: the sue, near the root, against the inward region of the palate, near the entrance of the throat”--_Walker's Principles_, No 419; _Octavo Dict_, p 48

OBS 3--Wells, with his characteristic indecision, forbears all recognition of this difference, and all intih; saying, in his own text, only this: ”_R_ has the sound heard in _rare_”--_School Gra the student to sundry authorities, he adds in a footnote certain ”quotations,” that are said to ”present a general view of the different opinions which exist a this letter” And so admirably are these authorities or opinions balanced and offset, one class against an other, that it is hard to tell which has the odds First, though it is not at all probable that Wells's utterance of ”_rare_” exhibits twice over the _rough snarl_ of Johnson's _r_, the ”general view” see above, thus: ”'_R_ has one constant sound in English'--_Johnson_ The same view is adopted by Webster, Perry, Kendrick, Sheridan, Jones, Jameson, Knowles, and others”--_School Grammar_, p 40 In counterpoise of these, Wells next cites about as e, Russell, Walker, Rush, Barber, Co that _r_ has soh sound, and sometimes a smoother one

XIX OF THE LETTER S

The consonant _S_ has a sharp, hissing, or hard sound; as in _sad, sister, thus_: and a flat, buzzing, or soft sound, like that of _z_; as in _rose, dis of words, or after any of the sharp consonants, is always sharp; as in _see, steps, cliffs, sits, stocks, smiths_ _S_, after any of the flat mutes, or at the end of words when not preceded by a sharp consonant, is generally flat; as in _eyes, trees, beds, bags, calves_ But in the English termination _ous_, or in the Latin _us_, it is sharp; as _joyous, vigorous, hiatus_

_Ss_ is generally sharp; as in _pass, kiss, harass, assuage, basset, cassock, remissness_ But the first two Esses in _possess_, or any of its regular derivatives, as well as the two in _dissolve_, or its proximate kin, sound like two Zees; and the soft or flat sound is coiven to each _s_ in _hyssop, hussy, and hussar_ In _scissel, scissible_, and _scissile_, all the Esses hiss;--in _scissors_, the last three of the four are flat, like _z_;--but in the middle of _scissure_ and _scission_ we hear the sound of _zh_

_S_, in the termination _sion_, takes the sound of _sh_, after a consonant; as in _aspersion, session, passion, mission, compulsion_: and that of _zh_, after a vowel; as in _evasion, elision, confusion_

In the verb _assure_, and each of its derivatives, also in the nouns _pressure_ and _fissure_, with their derivatives, we hear, according to Walker, the sound of _sh_ for each _s_, or twice in each word; but, according to the orthoepy of Worcester, that sound is heard only in the accented syllable of each word, and the vowel in each unaccented syllable is _obscure_

_S_ is silent or mute in the words, _isle, island, aisle, demesne, corps_, and _viscount_

XX OF THE LETTER T

The general sound of the consonant _T_, is heard in _time, letter, set_

_T_, immediately after the accent, takes the sound of _tch_, before _u_, and generally also before _eou_; as in _nature, feature, virtue, righteous, courteous_: when _s_ or _x_ precedes, it takes this sound before _ia_ or _io_; as in _fustian, bastion, eneral or most usual sound of _t_ after the accent, when followed by _i_ and an other vowel, is that of _sh_; as in _creation, patient, cautious_

In English, _t_ is seldom, if ever, silent or powerless In _depot_, however, a word borrowed from the French, we do not sound it; and in _chestnut_, which is a compound of our own, it is much oftener written than heard In _often_ and _soften_, some think it silent; but it seems rather to take here the sound of _f_ In _chasten, hasten, fasten, castle, nestle, whistle, apostle, epistle, bustle_, and similar words, with their sundry derivatives, the _t_ is said by some to be mute; but here it see to the best authorities, this sound is beard twice in such words _Th_, written in Greek by the character called _Theta_, ([Greek: th] or O capital, [Greek: th] or [Greek: th] small,) represents an elementary sound; or, rather, two distinct elelo-Saxons had different characters, supposed by Dr

Bosworth to have been applied with accurate discrimination of ”the _hard_ or _sharp_ sound of _th_,” from ”the _soft_ or _flat_ sound”--(See _Bosworth's Colish _th_ is either sharp, as in _thing, ethical, thinketh_; or flat, as in _this, whither, thither_

”_Th initial_ is sharp; as in _thought_: except in _than, that, the, thee, their, them, then, thence, there, these, they, thine, this, thither, those, thou, thus, thy_, and their compounds”--_W Allen's Grammar_, p 22

_Th final_ is also sharp; as in _south_: except in _beneath, booth, with_, and several verbs formerly with _th_ last, but now frequently (and more properly) written with final _e_; as _loathe, mouthe, seethe, soothe, smoothe, clothe, wreathe, bequeathe, unclothe_

_Th medial_ is sharp, too, when preceded or followed by a consonant; as in _Arthur, ethnic, swarthy, athwart_: except in _brethren, burthen, farther, farthing, enerally flat in words purely English; as in _gather, neither, whither_: and sharp in words froes; as in _atheist, ether, method_”--See _W Allen's Gram_, p 22

”_Th_, in _Thames, Thomas, thyme, asthma, phthisis_, and their compounds, is pronounced like _t_”--_Ib_

XXI OF THE LETTER U

The vowel _U_ has three sounds which may be considered to be properly its own:--

1 The open, long, full, prial _u_; as in _tube, cubic, juvenile_

2 The close, curt, short, or stopped _u_; as in _tub, butter, justice, unhung_

3 Thea short or quick _oo_; as in _pull, pulpit, artful_

_U_ for itself is nearly equivalent in sound to _you_, and requires the article _a_, and not _an_, before it; as, _a U, a union_