TABLE OF CONSONANT UTITIS.

This table should be treated by the class in the same manner as the table of vowel sounds. The sound of a consonant may be ascertained by pronouncing a word containing it in a slow and forcible manner.

Vocal Consonants are those uttered with a slight degree of vocality, but less than that of a vowel. They are formed with a vibration of the vocal chords. Aspirate Consonants are those in which the pure breath alone is heard They are formed without any vibration of the vocal chords.

Q has the sound of k, and is always followed by u, which, in this position, com monly has the sound of w, but is sometimes silent.

WH is an aspirated w, pronounced as if written hw.

1 Sometimes called Subvocals, or Subtonics.

2 H sounded before a vowel, is an expulsion of the breath after the organ are in a position to sound the vowel.

EXERCISES ON THE VOWEL SOUNDS.

In pronouncing the words in the following exercises, special attention should be given to the precise sound of the letters Italicized. The sounds of the let ters in Italics are the same as the sound of the vowel at the head of the paragraph.

a, long, as in fate. — Blame, sail, obey, cambric, ancient, vein, weigh, patron, lava, patriot.

a, short, as in fat.- Bad, had, can, cannon, fancy, plaid, have, scath, inhabit, companion, national.

a, Italian, as in fär. — Are, guitar, mart, alarm, father, heart, hearth, guard, daunt, haunt, gauntlet, jaundice. a, broad, as in fâll; and o, as in när.- Ball, tall, form, storm, salt, ought, fought, auger, awful, water, author, always, cause, lawyer, balsam, bauble.

a1, as in fare; and e, as in there. - Dare, rare, pair, air, share, bear, snare, where, heir, stare, pare.

a2, as in fast. — Blast, chance, trance, branch, grasp, graft,

grant, grass, class, mastiff, pasture, plaster, chancellor. e, long, as in mēte; and i, as in marîne. — Theme, scene, ravine, pique, key, fiend, grieve, treaty, Cæsar, critique, belief, receive, receipt, quay, lenient, inherent.

e, short, as in met. - Bed, bread, tepid, said, says, friend, leopard, preface, heroism, heifer, again, realm, many, any, get, yes, chest, beneficent.

i, long, as in pine; and y, as in by.-Vine, child, fly, height, type, isle, buy, satiety, guide, guile, flight, ally, apply, tiny, sinecure.

i, short, as in pin; and y, as in myth.-Prince, quince, lyric, servile, agile, busy, business, sieve, cygnet, cynic, cylinder, Italian, tribune

o, long, as in nōte.- Dome, glory, more, both, oath, foe, dough, glow, yeoman, beau, coeval, encroach.

03, short, as in not. Rob, sob, dot, got, was, wand, watch, from, prompt, prospect, fossil, docile.

o, long and close, as in move; and u, as in rule.-Prove, lose, mood, moon, root, remove, smooth, rude, rural, fruitless, truant, prudent, brutal.

u, long, as in tube; and ew, as in new.-Tune, fuse, duty, few, pew, pursuit, endure, beautiful, revolution.

u, short, as in tub; and o, as in son.-Tun, fun, such, clutch, dove, does, rough, son, ton, tongue, nothing. u, middle, as in full.-Bush, push, would, should, wolf, pulpit, cushion, cuckoo, wool, woollen, foot, book. u, short and obtuse, as in für; e, as in hër; i, as in fïr; and y, as in myrrh. - Burn, murmur, further, herd, fern, person, merge, mercy, sir, bird, virtue, dirk, dirt, mirth, myrrh, myrtle, syrtis.

oi, as in voice; and oy, as in böğ.- Coil, void, eoin, joint, joist, employ, rejoice, embroil, foible, oyster, ou, as in söûnd; and ow, as in novo.-Pound, proud, brown, town, doubt, devout, plough, trout, vowel, around.

1 The sound of a marked thus [a] is that of long a qualified by being followed by the letter r. Some orthoepists regar it as short e prolonged. The common pronunciation of this class of words, in some parts of the United States, is, to give the vowel before r the sound of short a, prolonged, but this pronunciation is not sanctioned by the dictionaries.

2 This sound is an intermediate one between that of a in fat and a in far. It is found in a class of words, mostly monosyllables, ending in aff, aft, ass, ast, ask, asp, with a few in ance and ant. Among different speakers the quality of this sound ranges through every practical shade, from a in fat to a in far.

3 There is a class of words ending in f, ft, ss, st, and th, in which o is marked, in most pronouncing dictionaries, with the short sound, though some orthoepists give it the sound of a broad in fall; as, off, often, offer, coffee, scoff, aloft, soft, cross, loss, toss, cost, frost, lost, broth, cloth, cough, trough, &c. To these may be added gone and begone, and also some words ending in ng; as, long, along, prong, song, strong, thong, wrong. A medium between short o and broad a is, perhaps, the practice of the best speakers.

VOWEL SOUNDS IN UNACCENTED SYLLABLES.

Vowels marked with a dot underneath, thus (a, e, i o, u, y), are found so marked only in syllables which are not accented, and which are slightly or hastily articulated.

This mark indicates a slight stress of voice in uttering the appropriate sound of the vowel, rather than to note any particular quality of sound. In a majority of cases this mark may be regarded as indicating an indistinct short sound, as

in mental, travel, peril, idol, forum, carry:—friar, speaker, nadir, actọn, sulphur.

In many cases, however, it indicates a slight or unaccented long sound ; as in sulphate, emerge, obey, duplicity, educate.

The difference between the long, and obscure long sound, may be readily distinguished. In the word fate, the a is long; in the word fatality, the first a is obscure long. The case is similar with the o in the words note and notorious. In the word deliberate, when a verb, as, “I will deliberate," the a is long; when an adjective, as, "A deliberate act," it is obscure long.

The common errors in the pronunciation of words of this class are, either a complete suppression of the vowel sound, or the substitution of a sound of some other vowel. This suppression or perversion of sound is much increased by the hurried manner in which many persons are accustomed to speak or read. Thus we hear reb'l for rebel ; pashunt for patient; p'rcede for precede; ev'ry for every; cuncern for concern; momunt for moment; edecate for educate; advйcate for advocate; windur for window; pop'lar or popelar for popular; awfle for awful, &c. So general is this fault, that the ear becomes accustomed to the improper sounds from infancy; hence arises the difficulty in remedying the defect, for the habit of indistinct utterance becomes firmly established.

In pronouncing words containing unaccented syllables, care should be taken to avoid a formal and fastidious prominence of sound. The two extremes which ought to be equally avoided, are, carelessness on the one hand, and extreme precision on the other, as if the sounds of the letters were constantly uppermost in the mind.

a, obscure, as in mental.-Musical, comical, critical, numerical, fatal, principal, original, criminal.

Special, beneficial, artificial, commercial, initial, credential, reverential, essential, impartial.

Ascendant, defendant, defiance, reliance, variance, countenance, performance.

Peaceable3, agreeable, sociable, amiable, detestable, abominable, respectable, tolerable, valuable.

a, obscure long, as in sulphate.-Abandon 4, ability, abolish, afloat, again, alarm, amaze, canal, caress, catarrh, cathedral, separate, carbonate, apostasy.

e, obscure, as in travel.-Chapel5, gravel, counsel, moment, confidence, dependent, silence, settlement.

Goodness, boundless, sameness, plainness, laziness, bashfulness, bitterness, manliness, steadiness.

e, obscure long, as in emerge.-Beliefs, believe, benevolent, delight, deliver, denounce, prepare, precede.

i, obscure, as in ruin. — Invincible, forcible, audible, il legible, feasible, sentinel, possibly.

4

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o, obscure, as in idol. Collect 10, commence, commission, compose, comply, concern, convert, convulse.

o, obscure long, as in obey.-Domain 11, colossal, corroborate 12, history, memory, composition 13, advocate.

Potato 14, tobacco, motto, fellow, window, meadow. u, obscure, as in sulphur. - Awful 15, fearful, playful, dutiful, graceful, fearfully, beautifully.

u, obscure long, as in educate. Articulate 16, accurate, masculine, regular, particular, emulate.

Pleasure, exposure, nature, pressure, imposture.

y, obscure, as in truly.- Lady, safety, envy, marrying.

1 Not music'l.

2 Not ascendunt..

8 Not peaçuble, or peaç'ble.

4 Not ǎbandon, or abandon.

5 Not chap'l.

6 Not momunt.

7 Not goodnis.

8 Not b'lief.

• Not invincible.

10 Not cullect.

11 Not dumain.

12 Not corrob'rate.
13 Not compĕrsition.

14 Not potatur.
15 Not awfle.

16 Not artic'late.

EXERCISES ON THE CONSONANT SOUNDS.

b, as in babe.-Bat, bear, bought, beast, stab, ebb, tube, babble, babbler, bound, bind, binder, begin, beggar. ch, as in church. Chair, chat, charm, check, churn, chirp. d, as in did. Deed, debt, mad, modest, would, should, deduce, added, wedded, dated, side, sided, deduced.

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f, as in fife. Fame, feud, fanciful, proffer, crafty, enough, rough, cough, laugh, laughter, physic, phantom. g, as in gag. Game, gag, plague, vague, ghost, guard, gone, jug, egg, guilt, gewgaw, guinea, give.

h, as in hold. — Hate, high, huge, hot-house, who, behest, hap-hazard, upholder, offhand, childhood, nuthook, with hold, ink-horn, race-horse, unhappy.

j as in joy.—Jar, jilt, genius, gentle, giant, gibbet, gypsy, edge, ledge, judge, judgment, June, July.

k, as in kirk. Kite, seek, talk, music, coil, vaccinate, flaccid, chasm, choir, chorus, coquette, etiquette, architect.