fimple vowels, and lofe much of their peculiar beauty.

Having confidered the nature of our fimple founds and diphthongs, I fhall now proceed to make fome obfervations upon fyllables.

As a letter is a fimple found, which cannot be divided into other fimple founds; fo a fyllable is an articulate found, which cannot be divided into other articulate founds, excepting when formed by a diph thong. Every vowel is an articulate found, and can of itself form a fyllable; but the firft, or short vowels, feldom form fyllables of themselves, except the particle a, as a man, a house. The fecond and third, or the long vowels, and diphthongs, form fyllables without the conjunction of confonants. A fyllable can have but one vowel, or diphthong, by its definition; but it may con

tain four, or even five confonants, whose founds may be distinctly perceived.

In fyllables, as in letters, two things are chiefly to be confidered; quality, and quan tity. The quality is to be confidered in a twofold manner; either with regard to sweetness and harshness; or ftrength and weakness. With regard to sweetness, the union of the long vowels and diphthongs, with the femivowels, forms the most pleas ing founds; and their different value, with respect to each other, may be estimated by the rank of their component letters, which has already been fettled. Whilst the union of the fhort vowels with the mutes, and the liquid r, form the harsher and less pleafing fyllables. The different intermixture of these, that is, of the long vowels and diphthongs with mutes; or of short vowels with femivowels, compofe an infinite variety of founds of different degrees of F 2 fweet

sweetness, according to the nature and predominance of the letters which form them.

Their ftrength and weakness also depend upon the fame principle, only with a reverfal of the rule. Those which contribute moft to fweetnefs, are inferiour to their oppofites in ftrength. Thus the short vowels in union with the mutes, and afpirated femivowels, and the liquid r, form the most forcible founds; whilft thofe compofed of the long vowels, and femivowels, are inferiour in strength, though fuperiour in sweetness. Their ftrength depends upon a fudden and more forcible impetus of the breath and voice, which is the cafe of the short vowels preceding the mutes, and afpirated femivowels. Their sweetness, which takes off from their ftrength, upon the more equable flow of the voice, which is the cafe of the long vowels and diph

thongs,

thongs, either feparately founded, or in their union with femivowels.

As the blending of vowels in diphthongs gives the greatest sweetness to fyllables, fo the union of two or more confonants in one fyllable gives the greatest strength. And the union of those founds is at the same time more grateful to the ear, when the confonants mix eafily, than fimple founds, in the fame manner as diphthongs are more pleafing than fimple vowels. This gives a greater value to fyllables, in the fame way as gold is estimated above filver, because the weight is fo much greater in the fame folid contents.

Perhaps there is no language in the world fo happy in this refpect as the English; as I fhall have occafion to fhew when I come to treat of words. The Greeks began many fyllables with two, and fometimes three confonants, but fel

dom concluded any with more than one. The Romans began few of their native fyllables with more than a single confonant, and feldom concluded them otherwife. The advantage, which a contrary conduct has given our's over those two celebrated languages, shall be pointed out hereafter.

As to the other property of fyllables, that of quantity, I fhall defer fpeaking of it till I come to the article of poetic numbers.

In teaching fyllables the prefent method of taking the letters as they lie in alphabe tical order, should by no means be followed; but children should be taught according to the natural order of the confonants, as they have been divided into their refpective claffes, beginning with the labial, thence proceeding through the dental to the palatine. Great care fhould be taken to make them complete the founds of the