Page images
PDF
EPUB

swollen, &c., used as adjectives. The exceptions arehyphen, hymen, aspen, sloven, sudden, where en is heard. In kitchen, chicken, patten and mitten, the en is pronounced in.

8. In a final unaccented syllable il and in must be pronounced distinctly-pencil, vigil, pupil, griffin, urchin, resin, germin, and Latin. The only exceptions are evil, devil, raisin, cousin, and basin, where the i is suppressed.

The following is an arrangement of all the chief vowel sounds used in English

TABLE OF THE PRINCIPAL VOWEL SOUNDS.

[blocks in formation]

From this table it will be noticed that I a, I i, and I o are diphthongal in their formation; and that 2 a, 3 e, 3 0, and 2 u are affected by R following. Thus the words fare, her, fore, urn, are pronounced with the R sound so mingled with the vowel sound as to form

almost a diphthong. To illustrate—I a is never heard before R in the same syllable, but a more open sound of a is always substituted, as in air, Mary, fairy, heir, &c., pronounced with the vowel sound 2 a.

In Mr. Melville Bell's Scheme, vowel sounds are arranged according to their formation by the tongue or lips, beginning with the lingual vowel produced by the closest approximation of the tongue to the palate, No. 1, and ending with No. 7, where the tongue is lowest in the mouth and in the labial vowels, beginning with the widest aperture, No. 8, and ending with the closest, No. 13.

The articulations are also arranged in the order of their formation, beginning with those furthest back in the mouth.

[blocks in formation]
[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][subsumed][merged small][subsumed][merged small][subsumed][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][subsumed][ocr errors][merged small][subsumed][merged small][subsumed][subsumed][merged small][subsumed][merged small][merged small][merged small]

The following list of words liable to mispronunciation is arranged on the above Scheme, and forms a good exercise for the attainment of a correct pronunciation. A few words are given under each element, and it is here strongly urged that the pupil, after ascertaining the exact pronunciation of any word of which he is in doubt, ought to write it under the vowel or articulation which gives the correct sound. As this arrangement contains all the elements used in English, he will thus acquire a

tolerably full list of those words in which he is defective. Great care must be taken in inserting any words to place them in the proper column.

VOWELS.

No. 1.-Fierce, fiend, eked, quay, pique, critique, antique, fatigue, profile, invalid (n), chagrin, shagreen, discrete, unique, meagre, inebriate, fetish, valise, manes, fakir, acme, artiste, minutiae, palanquin, turquoise (kees), bombasin, blaspheme, antipodes, abstemious, teal, theme, liege, weird, impregn, police, aerie, bier, cere, mien, mete, knead, quean, suite, tier, weald, disme, frieze, aegis, idea, shire, clique, elite, glebe, leisure, beagles, precept, demesne, breviary, antoeci, aureola, oedema, ennui, marine, inveigle, caprice, cuirass, intrigue, nankin, oblique, routine, specious, species, zebra, abele, děscent, ělapse, žmagine, ělation, ělicit, ĕruption, enumerate, emission, ĕmaculate, ělect, ěleven, ělope, enough, religion, věhěment, peculiar, between, chimera.

No. 2.-Pretty, busy, sieve, cygnet, abyss, citron, vigil, pupil, pencil, visor, clef, lyric, guild, teint, gist, idyl, childe (or i), cabbage, women, guineas, breeches, forfeit, orange, servile, fertile, agile, reptile, mobile, facile, docile, missile, ductile, futile, hostile, puerile, hyssop, germin, surfeit, circuit, conduit, mountain, fountain, captain, villain, monkey, England, marriage, carriage, miracle, livelong, valleys, analysis, synod, whither, village, Britain, certain, foreign, duties, parliament, miniature, invisible, virility, provision,

capricious, Florentine, simony, maritime, discipline, Sunday, Monday, &c., alkali, vineyard, precipice, premises, surplice, phthisic, cowardice, destined, tortoise, ridicule.

No. 3.-Steak, deign, feign, gaol, aye, plaice, ache, zany, lathe, vase, chafe, Bey, Dey, feint, trey, Hades, baize, guage, aviary, phasis, azure, gala, chaise, neigh, ague, waive, alien, apron, cradle, freight, matron, skein, char (to job), cate, dace, manes, chamber, inveigh, placable, bravado, hey-day, scabrous, chasten, cambric, clamant, caitiff, caliph, heinous, portrait, obeisance, neighbour, halfpenny, connoisseur, dedicate, estimate, emigrate, gayer, layer, mayor, payer, pupilage, orphanage, vassalage, complacent.

No. 4-Ebony, tepid, said, says, saith, threat, phlegm, ate, red, read, leaped, Abel, effect, travel, preface, again, against, foetid, guess, pedant, bury, echo, except, whether, engine, many,any, epoch, felon, tenet, bestial, sesame, palette, special, heifer, feoff, legend, pellet, zenith, velvet, zephyr, recipe, elocution, leopard, wainscot, breakfast. jeopardy, etiquette, meadow, effulgent, effeminate, tetrarch, nonpareil, Michaelmas, Thames, Pall-Mall, e'er, eyre, ne'er, Aaron, Mary, prayer, mare, stair, &c.

« PreviousContinue »