PRINCIPLES OF
OF PRONUNCIATION,

WITH EXPLANATIONS OF THE KEY.

PRINCIPLES OF PRONUNCIATION.

NOTE. This is the extreme short sound of broad a, and coincides with the sound of o in not. It differs, however, in quality as well as quantity from broad a, being a more open sound; that is to say, the aperture of the lips and the internal cavity of the mouth, though of the same shape in both cases, are somewhat larger for the former (a) than for the latter (a), while the position of the tongue remains unaltered throughout.

vii

guile, buy, thy, rye, &c.; in pint, in child, mild, wild; and in most monosyllables ending with nd, as bind, find, kind, &c.

NOTE. This sound, though represented by a single character, is not a simple element, but a diphthong. It is composed of a and è as extremes, with the a accented, but made so very brief that the ear with difficulty recognizes the precise character of the sound.

There is a sound of a, as heard in salt, al- §14. Regular short sound, marked Ĭ, Ĭ, as in though, &c., which is intermediate between that; heard also in English, beaufin, been, steve, in awe and that in what. See § 19, NOTE.

E.

§ 8. Regular long sound, marked E, e, as in ève, mēte, &c.; heard also in Cæsar, beard, feet, leisure, key, machine, field, œsophagus, &c. NOTE. In the formation of this element, the tongue is raised convexly within the dome of the palate, pressing against its sides, and leaving only the smallest possible passage through which a vowel sound can be uttered.

§ 9. Regular short sound, marked Ě, ě, as in end, mět; heard also in many, aphæresis, said, feather, heifer, friend, asafœtida, bury, guèss.

NOTE.-This is not a short sound of the long e. It has usually been considered as the shut or extreme short sound of the a in fate; but most orthoëpists at the present day, while allowing it to be a nearly related sound, regard it as distinct, it being slightly more open than the radical part of a, and lacking the vanish: both are intermediate between a and e, the tongue not being so much depressed as for the former, nor raised so high toward the palate as for the latter. See § 1.

OCCASIONAL SOUNDS OF E.

§ 10. Sound of e like a (as in care, fair, bear, &c.), marked Ê, ê, as in êre, thêre, heir, ê'er, &c. This is the same sound with that of a in care. See § 3.

§ 11. Sound of e like ā, marked E, e, as in eh, eight, prey, vein, &c. - See § 1.

§ 12. Sound of e before r, verging toward the sound of u in urge, marked E, e, as in ermine, verge, prefer; heard also in earnest, mirth, myrtle, &c.

women, busy, guinea, nymph, &c.

NOTE. This is not a short sound of long i

Many have considered it as the shut or extreme short sound of long e; but it is really a distinct, though closely allied, element. In its formation, the tongue is slightly relaxed from the position assumed for producing e; this is the only difference between the two sounds.

OCCASIONAL SOUNDS OF I.

§ 15. Sound of i like long e, marked I, ï, as See § 8. in pique, machine, caprice, &c.— NOTE. Most of the English words in which this sound is represented by this letter are from the French.

§ 16. Sound of i before r, verging toward u in urge, marked I, I, as in irksome, virgin, &c., identical with that of è in ermine.. See § 12.

O.

§ 17. Regular long sound, marked Ō, ō, as in uld; heard also in huutboy, beau, yeōman, sew, rōam, hōe, dōor, shōulder, grōw, ōwe, &c.

NOTE. This sound of o is in most cases diphthongal, having a slight "vanish" in oo annexed to the "radical " or initial sound, as in below. The radical part of the sound is a simple element, intermediate with respect to the mode of its formation, between a and oo, the tongue being less depressed than for a, and the labial aperture greater than for oo. It is essentially the same element as that described in the next section, but is of a slightly less open quality.

The

§ 18. It is exceedingly common, in some parts of the United States, to shorten the long o of certain words, as bolt, most, only, &c., by dropping the vanishing element which belongs NOTE. The vulgar universally, and many to the vowel, and giving to the radical portion cultivated speakers both in England and Amer- a somewhat more open quality; but this pracica, give the e in such words the full sound of utice is wholly opposed to English usage. in urge, as, murcy for mercy, turm for term, &c. But, in the most approved style of pronunciation, the organs are placed in a position intermediate between that requisite for sounding & and that for sounding è, thus making (as Smart observes) "a compromise between the two." In other words, this element is radically distinct from both at and è, being less guttural than the former and less palatal than the latter, from which it was doubtless originally evolved.

I.

§ 13. Regular long sound, marked I, I, as in

provincialism here pointed out obtains, more or less widely, in respect to the following words; namely, boat, bolster, bolt, bone, both, broke, broken, choke, cloak, close, a., coach, coat, coax, colt, colter, comb, dolt, folks, goad, hold, holm, holster, home, homely, hope, jolt, load, molten, most, molt, none, only, open, pole, polka, poultice, poultry, revolt, road, rode, rogue, soap, sloth, smoke, sofa, spoke, v., spoken, stone, story, swollen (or swoin), throat, toad, upholsterer, upholstery, whole, wholly, wholesome, wrote, yoke,

viii

PRINCIPLES OF PRONUNCIATION.

t, l, n, s, and th, it is peculiarly difficult to introduce the sound of y; and hence negligent speakers omit it entirely, pronouncing duty, dooty; tune, toon; lute, loot; nuisance, noos

in New England sound the o in a part or all of these words without the vanish, while some among the vulgar go further, and give to a number of them almost the sound of short u, as hum for home, &c. They should all, how-ance; suit, soot; thurible, thoorible, &c. The ever, have the full sound of the o as heard in accented syllables, though not in all cases with quite the same prolongation of the sound. §19. Regular short sound, marked Ŏ, o, as in odd, not; heard also in wander, knowledge, &c. See § 7. NOTE. This is the shut or extreme short sound of broad a, and coincides with the sound of a in what. There is a medium sound of this letter which is neither so short as in not, nor so long as in naught. This medium sound is usually given to the short o when directly followed by ss, st, and th, as in cross, cost, broth; also, in gone, cough, trough, off, and some other words.

OCCASIONAL SOUNDS OF 0.

reason is, that, in forming these consonants, the organs are in a position to pass with perfect ease to the sound of oo, while it is very difficult in doing so to touch the intermediate y; hence the y in such cases is very apt to be dropped. The practice of good society, however, is to let the y sink into a very brief sound of long e or of short i, both of which have a very close organic relationship to consonant y. Special care must be taken not only to make this sound as brief as possible, but to pronounce it in the same syllable with the oo.

It ought to be added that wherever the sound of sh, zh, or y consonant precedes the u, the y is omitted, as in sure, sounded shoor; sugar,

§ 20. Sound of o like short u, marked Ỏ, 6, shoogar; azure, azh'oor; yule, yool, &c.

as in other, dove, &c.; heard also in does, gun, flood, double, &c. - See § 28.

§ 21. Sound of o like oo long, marked 0, 0, as in prove, do, move, tomb, &c. - See § 24. $22. Sound of o like oo short, marked, o, as in bosom, wolf, woman, &c.-See § 25.

NOTE. This sound coincides with that of u in bull, which is also used for oo short. - See $30.

Ô,

§ 23. Sound of o like a (broad a), marked as in order, form, stôrk, &c. -See § 6.

NOTE. This is a compound sound, formed of the vowel oo, with a slight sound of the consonant y or of the vowel è or i before it. When the u begins a syllable, or is preceded by any one of the palatal or labial sounds k, g, p, b,ƒ, v, m, the sound of y is clearly perceived, as in the words usage, cube, gules, puny, burin, futile, mule.

§ 27. When the long u is preceded, in the

§ 28. Regular short sound, marked U, ŭ, as in but; heard also in does, blood, touch, &c. NOTE. This is not the short sound of long In its organic formation, it is essentially the same sound as u in urge, but is shorter in quantity, and of a rather more open quality.

u.

OCCASIONAL SOUNDS OF U.

$29. Sound of u preceded by r in the same syllable, marked U, y, as in rude, rumor, &c. NOTE.- -All the English orthoëpists agree that the u in this case drops the y or which is generally an element of its compound sound other consonant than r, and becomes simply oo, when preceded, in the same syllable, by any so that rue is pronounced roo; rule, rool; ruby, rooby, &c.

§ 30. Sound of u like that of short oo (oo), marked U, y, as in bull, put, push, pull, &c.. See § 25.

-

urge, burn, fùrl, concur, &c., marked Û, û; § 31. Sound of u before r in such words as

heard also in worm, journey, &c.

NOTE. This has been termed the neutral rowel, with reference to its want of any strongly-marked, distinctive character. The sound differs from that of short u (with which it has

often been identified) in length, and in a somewhat greater degree of closeness.

PRINCIPLES OF PRONUNCIATION.

ix

namely, in such words as myrrh, myrtle, in yr (as in altar, offer, tapir, mirror, zephyr), are which it has, like the e and i in similar circum-coincident with that of the second u in sulphur. stances (see § 12 and § 16), very nearly the As a general rule, a and o, in unaccented sylsound of u in urge.

II. REGULAR OR PROPER DIPHTHONGS.
OI or OY.

lables ending in a consonant, verge toward, or fall into, the sound of short u, particularly in colloquial discourse, as in ballad, bar'rack, ver/bal, bed/lam, cap'stan, jal'ap, bi'as, bal'last,

§ 35. The sound of oi or oy (unmarked), as havoc, meth'od, pis'tol, ven'om, compel', flag/on, bish'op, pilot, prov/ost. In such words, it heard in oil, join, oyster, &c. would ordinarily be pedantic or affected to give the vowel its regular short sound.

NOTE.-The elements of this diphthong are ô as in cord (the same as broad a), and as in fin (short i), with the accent on the former. Oy is always regular in English words, and oi is regular also, except in the following cases; namely, avoirdupois (av-ur-du-poiz), connoisseur (kon-is-soor'), chamois (sham/my), choir (kwire), tortoise (tor/tis), tur-quois (sometimes pronounced tur-keez').

OW.

The vowel e, in unaccented syllables ending in a consonant, is, in some words, liable to be sounded like short i (as in barrel), and, in others, like short u (as in silent); but these changes are usually avoided by good speakers.

It may here be remarked, that some of the diphthongs are similarly affected by the absence of accent. Thus ai, which, in an ac

$36. The sound of ow (unmarked), as heard cented syllable, is usually sounded like long a in owl, vowel, flower, &c.

sounds.

(1.) That of ow in words derived from the Anglo-Saxon, as in out, hound, &c.

(2.) That of oo in words derived from the French, as in soup, group, &c.

§ 38. The diphthong ou has also, in a number of words, the sound of long o, as in soul; in a few cases, the sound of the broad a, as in bought (bawt); sometimes that of short u, as in couple; sometimes that of u in urge, as in adjourn (adjurn); and, in the three words could, would, should, that of oo as in foot. These peculiarities are indicated in this Dictionary by the appropriate mark over the significant or sounded vowel, or by respelling.

(as in com-plain'), sinks into è or in an unaccented syllable, as in mountain, pronounced moun'těn or moun'tin. So ei, ey, and ie become changed in pronunciation into t (as in surfert, honey, carried), and ou is sounded as u (as in grievous).

§ 40. When the unaccented syllable does not end in a consonant, two cases arise; namely,

(1.) The syllable may consist of, or may end in, a vowel, as in the words a-bound', di-rect',

e-vent', mo-lest', &c.

§ 41. (No. 1. See § 40.) Here the a has properly a brief sound of the Italian a, as in Cuba, a-muse', A-mer'i-ca; but, in familiar speech, it is almost always so slighted and obscured as to be indistinguishable from the neutral vowel, or u in urge, murmur, &c. In some words, like ā-e'ri-al, chă-ot/ic, &c., the a

III. VOWELS IN UNACCENTED SYLLA- has its regular long or name sound, somewhat

BLES.

shortened by the omission of the "vanish." § 39. When an unaccented syllable ends in This is due to the influence of the subsequent a consonant, its vowel, if single, has, in strict vowel, which, in fluent utterance, refuses to theory, its regular short or shut sound, though take the Italian a before it without the interuttered somewhat more faintly, or with a less vention of one or more consonants. Some proportionate force, than in an accented sylla- speakers in this country give the same brief ble; as in ăs-sign', con'duct, conflict, &c. In sound of long a to this letter when it occurs in many words of this class, however, the vowel an initial unaccented syllable followed by a conis apt to suffer a change or corruption of its sonant in an accented syllable, as in a-bound', distinctive quality, passing over into some fa-tal/i-ty; but this practice is not sanctioned sound of easier utterance. Thus the vowel by the best orthoëpists. In the terminations sounds in the unaccented syllables ar, er, ix, or, | -a-ny and -a-ry, the a has usually the same

1*

X

PRINCIPLES OF PRONUNCIATION.

sound as short e unaccented, as in mis'cel-la-ny, mo'ment-a-ry, &c.

§ 42. (No. 2. See § 40.) Here the a has sometimes its long sound, particularly in verbs ending in ate; as, ded'i-cāte, ed/u-cate, &c. In other parts of speech, the sound of the a is more obscure, verging toward short e, as in ulti-mate, night/in-gale, pref'ace, &c. In some instances it is apt to verge toward short i, as in village.

E.

§ 43. (No. 1. See § 40.) Here the e has its long sound, slightly obscure or abridged, as in e-vent', c-mo'tion, so-ci'e-ty, &c.

§ 44. (No. 2. See § 40.) Here, also, the e has usually its long sound a little shortened and slighted, as in ob/so-lete.

I.

There is great diversity in the case of this letter. Hence it is difficult to lay down general rules; and, as Smart remarks, "The inquirer must be sent to the Dictionary to learn, in each particular case, the true pronunciation."

$ 45. (No. 1. See § 40.) I, when final in a syllable, has more commonly its short sound, as in phi-los/o-phy, di-rect', &c. But the i is usually long in the initial syllables i, bi, chi, cli, cri, pri, tri, as in 7-de'a, bi-ol/o-gy, cri-te'rion, pri-me/val, &c.

oo-al). (See §§ 63, 74, 89, 90, 92, and 104.)_ In the notation of words of this class in the Dictionary, the regular pronunciation is generally given instead of the irregular, in conformity with the views of Dr. Webster. When the u is preceded by r, it simply drops the y sound, and is pronounced oo, as in er-u-di'tion (er-oo-dish/un). (See § 29.)

§ 50. (No. 2. See § 40.) The u in these terminations should generally retain its regular long sound (see §§ 26, 27) slightly abridged, as in grat/i-tude, in'sti-tute, rid'i-cule, trib/ūte, &c. There are a few exceptions, as min'ute (min/it), n., and let/tuce (let/tis). If the letter r precedes the u, the initial element of the vowel is dropped, as in ce/ruse (se/roos), per/uke (pěr/ook), &c. - See § 29.

The terminations dure, ture, and sure, though sometimes pronounced with the regular sounds of the letters, are more commonly pronounced joor, choor, and shoor or zhoor, respectively, as in the words tem/per-a-ture (tem/per-a-choor), verdure (ver/joor), cy/no-sure (si'no-shoor), expo'sure (eks-po/zhoor). (See §§ 63, 74, 89, 90,

104.) When these terminations are immedispeakers change them still further into chur, ately preceded by an accented syllable, many jur, and shur, or zhur, as in na'ture (na/chur), ver'dure (ver/jur), cen'sure (sen'shur), ex-po'sure (eks-po/zhur). The Dictionary follows the § 46. (No. 2. See § 40.) In these termina- practice of Dr. Webster in giving to dure and tions, usage is greatly divided. On the whole, the ture the regular sounds of d, t, and u (pro i is more generally short, as in ac-com/plice, in-nouncing verdure, verd'yoor, creature, kreet fi-něte, fertile, mar'i-time, ad-a-man/tine, pos/iyoor, &c.) tive, &c.; but there are some important exceptions, as, cock/a-trice, ex'ile, gen/tile, con/cubine, § 51. (No. 1. See § 40.) Here y has usu archive, &c.; also, all names of minerals end-ally its short sound, as in hy-poc/ri-sy, my-thol ing in lite or ite; as chrys'o-līte, ste/a-tite, &c.

O.

§ 47. (No. 1. See § 40.) Here the o has usually its long sound slightly abbreviated, and without its "vanish" (see § 19), as in o-pinion, croc/o-dile, to-bac/co, &c. -See § 107. § 48. (No. 2. See § 40.) The o in these terminations has usually its regular long sound, as in tel'e-scope, eplūde, &c. Sometimes it has the sound of short o, as in di'a-logue: in other cases, it verges toward short u, as in purpose.

U.

$49. (No. 1. See § 40.) Here the u generally has its long sound slightly abridged, as in ac/cu-rate, e-mol/u-ment, man-u-mit', an'nual, dep'u-tize, u-til'i-ty. But when the u is preceded by d, t, or s, these combinations, du, tu, and su, are by the great majority of speakers changed into joo, choo, and shoo or zhoo, respectively, as in educate (ĕj'oo-kate), ha-bit/u-al (ha-bich'

|

Y.

O-gy, van'i-ty, mer/ri-ly, proph'e-cy, &c.; but verbs ending in fy have the y long, as in jus'ti-fÿ, mag'ni-fi, &c.; also the three verbs, oc'cu-py, multi-ply, proph'e-sy.

§ 52. (No. 2. See § 40.) The y in these terminations (which are few in number) is generally long, as in an'o-dyne, per'i-style, ne/o-phyte, pros/e-lyte, &c.

IV. SILENT VOWELS.

are not to be sounded; as the e in used, burden, § 53. Vowels which are printed in Italics the in cousin, &c. Some of these cases require a more particular consideration.

E final.

§ 54. The letter e is always mute when final, except in monosyllables containing no other vowel, in classical words, and in some words from modern foreign languages; but in a monosyllable or in an accented syllable of a word, though silent, it generally serves the purpose of indicating that a preceding single