Rules for Pronunciation. Single Vowel Sounds.

1. A final vowel in an accented syllable has the long sound, as in bã-sis, lē-gal, trī-al, sonō'-rous, cù'-bic, tỹ-rant.

2. In monosyllables ending with silent e, preceded by a single consonant, vowels have usually the long sound, as in fāte, mete, pine, note, tube, type. Exceptions: hăve, äre, and både, the preterit of bid.

3. In monosyllables not ending with silent e, vowels generally take their short sound, as in făt, mět, pin, not, tŭb.

4. In accented syllables ending with consonants, vowels usually take their short sounds, as in abăn'don, atten'tive, exhib'it, lacon'ic, reluc'tant, lyrical.

A.

5. A, unaccented, and ending a word, or constituting an unaccented syllable at the beginning of a word, has the sound of a in father, as Amer'icä, idéä. And ah final has still more of the Italian sound, as in Jehoväh, Messiäh. Exceptions: ā-ôr'-ta, a-ē'rial, because followed by a vowel.

6. A, followed by ƒ, s, or n in the same syllable, should receive an intermediate sound between short a, as in man, and the Italian a, as in fär. It is a sound shorter than ä, as gráss, gráft,command, pást.

7. A, e, ai, and sometimes ea, when followed by r, take the sound of short e, as in fare, where, pair, bear. The sound is called by some an intermediate sound between short a, as in făt, and long a, as in ale, but is really long a modified by the succeeding r, and equal to short e.

8. A, preceded by qu, w, or wh, takes the sound of short o in not, as in quality, swallow, wad, what.

E.

E, followed by lor n in an unaccented final syllable, has in some words an indistinct short sound, and in some it is entirely suppressed. (See page 45, List for Practice.) In most words ending in el the sound of e is given, as in flannel. And in most of those ending in en the sound of e is suppressed, as in oft-en.

The sound of the letter e is generally suppressed in the preterits of verbs, and in participles ending in ed, when the e is not preceded by d or t, as fearéd, praiséd.

Adjectives ending in ed, unless they are participles as well as adjectives, commonly preserve the sound of e before d, as in rag-ged, na-ked. See Table, page 44.

I.

That class of words, mostly derived from the French and Italian, which contain i, retain the sound of long e, as in antique.

In words which terminate in ile or ine, with the accent on the penultimate syllable, the i in the final syllable is generally short, as in fertile, adamantine, etc. Exceptions: exile, Gentile, pentile, feline, confine, and a few others. Also, when the accent is on the antepenult, words ending in ile generally have the i short, as juvenile, puerile. Exceptions: chamomile, reconcile, eo'lipile.

Words ending in ity usually require the final i and y short, as ability. Also the short sound of e and y in the termination ety, as variety. When i ends an initial syllable without accent, and the succeeding syllable begins with a consonant, the i is generally short, as in civility, divine, finance. Exceptions: biography, lībrarian, etc. See List, page 42.

0.

O, in monosyllables ending in f, ft, ss, st, and th, takes its short sound somewhat prolonged, as in off, often, cross, cost, broth.

In many words ending in on the sound of o is suppressed, as in bacon, pardon, reason.

U.

U at the beginning of words, when long, has the sound of yu, as in use.

U, preceded by r (also ure by s), has the sound of o in do, as in true, sure.

Vandenhoff, in "Art of Elocution," gives a more definite rule, as follows: U has the sound of iew in view in the sylla

bles and terminations ue, uit, ude, uce, use, uke, ume, une, ure (accented), ual, ular, unar, and uble. When any of the above combinations are compounded with r, or s with ure, u has the sound of o in do. See List, page 44.

Y.

Yat the end of a word, preceded by a consonant, has the sound of short i, as in pity. The exceptions are monosyllables, as by, cry, etc.

Rules for Pronunciation. Improper Diphthongs.

Eis a Latin diphthong, and is always pronounced like e in Latin. In English it is used only in words of Latin origin or formation, as aqua-vitæ, minutiæ, æsthetics, and commonly has the long sound, as in paean, but is sometimes short, as in Daedalus.

Ai has usually the sound of long a, as in pail, pain, but has the sound of short e in said, saith, again, and against; that of short a in plăid and răillery; that of long i in aisle; and, in final unaccented syllables, it has the sound of indistinct short i, as in mountain, curtain, etc.

Ao occurs only in the word gaol, pronounced, as it is now more frequently written, jail.

Aw has the sound of broad a; bâwl and ball being pronounced exactly alike.

Ay has the sound of long a, as in pay, jay, hay, etc.; except in quay, which is pronounced ke. It has the short kē. sound of e in says, and that of short i in Sunday, Monday.

Ea has the sound of long e, as in beat, hear; of short e, as in head, lead; of short and obtuse e, as in ëarn, hëard, pëarl; of long a, as in break; of broad a, as in heärt, heärth; and, when unaccented, it has an obscure sound, as in venge

ance.

Eau is only used in words derived from the French, and its regular sound is that of long o, as in beau and bureau. It has the sound of long u in beauty.

Ee has almost invariably the sound of long e; the principal exceptions are been and breeches, having the short sound of i. The poetical contractions e'er and ne'er, for ever

C

and never, are pronounced with the short sound of e, as ĕr, něr.

Ei. This diphthong has usually the sound of long a or e, as in neighbor, ceiling, etc. (See page 7.) It has the sound of long i, as in heighten; of short e, as in heifer; and in an unaccented syllable, the indistinct sound of i, as in foreign.

Eo has the sound of long o, as in yeōman; like long e, as in people; like short e, as in jeopardy; like broad o (as in nör), as in Geörgic; like long u, as in feod (now written feud); and when unaccented, it has the indistinct sound of i or o, as in pigeon.

Eu has the sound of long u, as in feud, deuce.

Ew has the sound of long u, as in few, new; but if r precedes it, it takes the sound of o (as in dô), as in brew, drew; and the sound of long o, as in sew, shew, strew. See U, page 48.

Ey has the sound of long a in bey, grey; of long e in key, ley; and when unaccented and final, it has the sound of short i, as in valley.

Ia, in the terminations ial, ian, iard, often forms but one syllable, the being sounded like the consonant y, as in filial, Christian, poniard; pronounced as if written filyal, Christyan, etc. In some words it has the obscure sound of indistinct short i, as in carriage, marriage.

Ie, io, ieu, iew. The regular sound of ie is that of long e, as in chief. It has the sound of long i in die, lie; and the sound of short e in friend. When i, in the termination ion, is preceded by a liquid, it has the sound of yun, as in million and minion. The terminations sion and tion are pronounced shun, as in version, nation. But when the t is preceded by s or x, ion is pronounced yun, as in question and mixtion. The triphthong ieu is found only in a few words, which are derived from the French, as adieu, lieu; and it has the sound of long u. The triphthong iew occurs only in view and interview.

Oa. The regular sound of this diphthong is that of long o, as in bōat, loaf; and the sound of broad a in broad and abroad.

Oe is derived from the Latin, and it is retained in but very

few words used in English. It has the sound of short e, as in assafoět'ida; and that of long e in oēdinia, oesophagus.

Oeu. This triphthong is found only in the word manôeuvre, where it has the sound of o in dô.

Oi and oy have one and the same sound, which is the combined sound of broad a and short i or y, as in böil, töy. Oo has the sound of o in do, as in moon, stoop; and also a shorter sound, like u in full, or o in wolf, as in good, book, wood, and foot; and the sound of long o in door, floor, and that of short u in blood and flood.

Ou is the most irregular diphthong in the language. Its most common or regular sound is that in which both letters are heard, as in bound, sound, cloud, south, etc. It has the sound of short u in country, cousin, couple, rough, and young. It has the sound of o in dô, as in accoutre, group, tour, surtout, uncouth, and other words derived from the French. It has the sound of long o in court, accourt, and the sound of broad a, as in bâll, or the sound of o in nör, in bought, brought, wrought; the sound of u in full, as in could, would, should; the sound of short o in hough.

Ow. The regular sound of this diphthong is the same as the regular sound of ou, as in how, bow, now, and tower. It has the sound of long o in below, blow, glow, owe, and show, besides the following words in some of their senses: bow, lōw, mōw, mōwer, and sōw. It has the slight sound of o when it forms an unaccented syllable.

Ua. When both letters of this diphthong are sounded they have the power of wa, as in equal, language, persuade, and suavity. In some words the u is silent, as in guard, guardian, guarantee, piquant; and in victuals and victualing both letters are silent.

Ue. When these letters are united in a diphthong, and are both sounded, they have the power of we, as in conquest, consuetude, and desuetude. In some words the u is silent, as in guerdon, guess, and guest. When this diphthong is final, the e in many words is silent, as in due, hue, pursue; and in some words both letters are silent, as in league, fatigue, antique, opaque, and oblique. In the termination ogue, the o is short when preceded by g or 7, as in dema