1. Compounds of bi, as bi-capsular, bi-corporal, bi-pennate, &c. 2. Compounds of tri, as tri-corporal, tri-gintesimal, &c. 3. Words beginning with pri, as primeval, primordial,-except primer and primitive.

In most probably in all-other words either sound is allow

able.

When i is in an unaccented syllable followed by a vowel, it is doubtful whether it has the sound of i in pine, or of the ee in feet. The former sound, however, is preferable-di-urnal, diameter, &c., not de-urnal, de-amiter.

(4.) O has five sounds: that of-1, the o in note; 2, the o in not; 3, the o in prove; 4, the o in woman; 5, the o in love. Of these the third and fourth are no true sounds of o, but of u. The fifth is a peculiar and unclassed sound, i. e. that of the u in but.

When o precedes a single consonant, followed by an e mute, it has the sound of the o in note.

Except in the words prove, move, lose, where it is sounded like the oo in cool, and in others like love and glove, where it is sounded as the u in but.

O is sounded as the u in full in the following words-bosom, woman, wolf, wolsey, Wolverhampton. In worsted and Worcester the r is generally silent, and the o takes this sound.

(5.) U has four sounds-1, that of the ew in new; 2, that of the u in full; 3, that of the u in but; 4, the sound of yoo. Two other sounds are exceptional-1, that of the e in bed; 2, that of the i in pin.

The usual short sound of u is that which it has in but. The only words where it is sounded as in full are-bull, full, pull, words compounded of full, as wonderful, dreadful, &c., bullock, bully, bullet, bulwark, fuller, fullingmill, pulley, pullet, push, bush, bushel, pulpit, puss, butcher, cushion, cuckoo, pudding, sugar, huzzar, and put.

Put is only pronounced in this way when it is a verb. The game of put and the village of Putney have the u sounded as in but. So has putty.

Bullion is placed by Walker in the foregoing list. The present writer would sound the u as in but.

In the word bury the u is sounded as the e in bed. In busy, as the i in pin.

$284. Power of Y.-The sounds of y fall into two divisions -its power as a semi-vowel, and its power as a vowel.

As a semi-vowel it has one sound only-that of the y in yet. As a vowel it has three-1, that of the ee in feet; 2, that of the i in pine; 3, that of the i in pin.

When y precedes a single consonant followed by an e mute, it has the sound of the i in fine-as rhyme, thyme. However, in this position it occurs only in words of foreign (chiefly of Greek) origin.

It is only, too, in words of foreign (chiefly Greek) origin that y occurs with the sound of the i in pin-as system, syntax, pronounced sistem, sintax.

Of its two long sounds, y has that of the i in pine, when the syllable in which it occurs is accented; as cyder, tyrant, reply. It has that of the ee in feet when the syllable is un-accented ; as-liberty, fury, tenderly. The only exception is in the case of verbs ending in fy, from the Latin fi= to become, such as mólli-fy, fórti-fy, where the y, although unaccented, is sounded as the i in pine.

§ 285. Double Vowels.-(1.) AA. Double a is found only in certain proper names, chiefly of Hebrew origin, as Aaron, Baal.

(2.) EE. Double ee, without an apostrophe, has only one sound, that of the ee in feet. In e'er, and ne'er, contracted from ever and never, and with an apostrophe to indicate the loss of the v, it is pronounced as the a in fate.

Exception. In one word ee has the sound of the i in pin, i. e. in breeches, from breech, pronounced britches, from britch. Chizcake for cheesecake is exceptionable. Beelzebub, is more correctly sounded Beelzebub, though Belzebub and Beelzebub* are sufficiently English.

(3.) 00. The usual sound of oo is that of the oo in cool; which is, really, no modification of o, but the long sound of the u in full.

Besides this it has the following three

* With the ee as in feet.

1. Of the u in full; as wool, wood, good, foot, stood. 2. Of the u in but; as blood, flood, soot.

3. Of the o in grove; as door, floor.

Moora black man, is sometimes sounded more, sometimes as it is spelt. Soot, also, is sometimes pronounced as it is spelt.

I, U, and Y, are never doubled.

§ 286. Combinations of two Different Vowels.-AE has the sound of the e in bed; as Michael, Michaelmas.

AI has the sound of the a in fate; as hail, sail, tail, stain, &c.

Exception 1.-The words said, again, and against. Here the ai is pronounced as e.

Exception 2.-The word aisle. This is sounded ile.

Walker draws a distinction between said as a tense, and said as a participle; stating that in the first case it rhymes to bed, in the second to trade; as, he said (sed), but the said (sade) man. Plaid is pronounced two ways; either to rhyme with mad or with made.

When Walker wrote, raillery was considered as a rhyme to salary. So it was in Swift's time

"Where in eighteen-penny gallery

Irish wits learn Irish raillery."

It is doubtful whether such is the case now; the general sound of the ai being more probably that of the a in fate. In which case it coincides with the spelling.

When Walker wrote, raisin was sounded as reeson. It is doubtful whether this be the present pronunciation.

AO is only found in the word gaol, the obsolete mode of spelling jail.

AU, unless followed by n, succeeded by a consonant (when the pronunciation is doubtful), is sounded as aw, as taught, haul, Saul, caught, &c.

Exception 1.-Laugh, draught. Here the au is sounded like the a in father.

Exception 2.-Hautboy, sounded ho-boy.

Exception 3.-Cauliflower, laurel, laudanum, sounded colliflower, lorrel, lodnum.

Au followed by n, succeeded by a consonant, is sounded sometimes as the a in father, and sometimes as the aw in bawl.

1. As the a in father. The word in which this pronunciation is the most general and unequivocal is aunt.

2. As the aw in bawl. The words wherein this pronunciation is the most general and unequivocal are vaunt, and avaunt, maunder (to be querulous), Maunday (in Maunday Thursday), daunt, paunch, gaunt, saunter.

Between these, however, there is the following list wherein the pronunciation fluctuates.

Flaunt sometimes sounded flant,* sometimes flawnt.

Askant, askance, hanch (?), lanch (?), being more properly written without the u, do not come under this head. They more properly belong to that class of words where the simple a has the sound of father.

EA has the following sounds

1. Of the e in glebe in anneal, appeal, appear, appease, aread, arrears, beacon, beadle, beadroll, beads, beadsman, beagle, beak, beaker, beam, bean, beard, bearded, beast, beat, beaten, beaver, beleaguer, beneath, bequeath, bereave, besmear, bespeak, bleach, bleak, blear, bleat, bohea, breach, bream, to breathe, cease, cheap, cheat, clean, cleanly (adverb), clear, clearance, clean, cochineal, colleague, conceal, congeal, cream, creak, crease, creature, deacon, deal, dean, deanery, dear, decease, defeasance, defeasible, defeat, demean, demeanor, decrease, dream, drear, dreary, each, eager, eaten, eaves, entreat, endear, escheat, fear, fearful, feasible, feasibility, feast, feat, feature, flea, fleam, freak, gear, gleam, glean, to grease, grease, greaves, heal, heap, hear, heat, heath, heathen, heave, impeach, increase, interleave, knead, lea, to lead, leader, leaf, league, leak, lean, leash, leasing, least, leave, leaves, mead, meagre, meal, mean, meat, measles, neap, near, neat, pea, peace, peak, peal, pease, peat, plea, plead, please, reach, to read, ream, * Sounded throughout this column as in father.

reap, rear, rearward, reason, redstreak, release, repeal, repeat, retreat, reveal, screak, scream, seal, sea, seam, seamy, sear, searcloth, season, seat, shear, shears, sheath, sheathe, sheaf, sneak, sneaker, sneaking, speak, spear, steal, steam, streak, streamer, streamy, surcease, tea, teach, teague, teal, team, tear (substantive), tease, teat, treacle, treason, treat, treatment, treaty, tweak, veal, underneath, uneasy, unreave, uprear, weak, weaken, weal, weald, wean, weanling, weariness, wearisome, weary, weasand, weasel, weave, wheal, wheat, wheaten, wreak, wreath, wreathe, wreathy, year, yearling, yearly, zeal.

2. Of the e in bed-as abreast, ahead, &c., already, bedstead, behead, bespread, bestead, bread, breadth, breakfast, breast, breath, cleanse, cleanly (adjective), cleanlily, dead, deadly, deaf, deafen, dearth, death, earl, earldom, early, earn, earnest, earth, earthen, earthly, endeavour, feather, head, heady, health, heard, hearse, heaven, heavy, jealous, instead, lead (a metal), leaden, learnt, learning, leather, leaven, meadow, meant, measure, pearl, peasant, pheasant, pleasant, pleasantry, pleasure, read (past time and participle), readily, readiness, ready, realm, rehearsal, rehearse, research, seamstress, search, spread, stead, steadfast, steady, stealth, stealthy, sweat, sweaty, thread, threader, threat, threaten, treachery, tread, treadle, treasure, wealth, wealthy, weapon, weather, yearn, zealot, zealous, zealously.

3. Of the a in fate, as in bear, pear, swear, tear, wear, break, steak. These last two words, however, are often pronounced breek, and steek.

Read rhymes to feed in the present tense, to fed in the preterite and participle.

4. As the a in father, in heart, hearth.

EI has four sounds

1. That of the a in fate-as either (?), neither (?), leisure (?), deign, vein, rein, reign, feign, feint, veil, heinous, heir, heiress, inveigh, inveigle (?), neigh, skein, reins, their, theirs, eight, freight, weight, neighbour.

2. That of the e in glebe, as either (?), neither (?), leisure (?), ceiling, conceit, receipt, conceive, perceive, deceive, receive, inveigle (?), seize, seizen, seignior, seigniory, seine, plebeian.

3. That of the i in pine—as either (?), neither (?), height, and sleight.