The sixth is that of awe; as in ought, brought, thought. Ow is generally sounded like ou in thou; as in brown, dowry, shower. It has also the sound of long o; as in snow, grown, bestow.

The diphthong oy is but another form for oi, and is pronounced exactly like it.

P.

P has always the same sound, except, perhaps, in cupboard, where it sounds like b. It is sometimes mute; as in psalm, psalter, Ptolemy: and between m and t; as, tempt, empty, presumptuous.

Ph is generally pronounced likeƒ; as in philosophy, philanthropy, Philip.

In nephew and Stephen, it has the sound of V. In apophthegm, phthisis, phthisic, and phthisical, both letters are entirely dropped.

Q.

Qis always followed by u; as, quadrant, queen, quire. Qu is sometimes sounded like k; as, conquer, liquor. risque.

R.

R has a rough sound; as in Rome, river, rage: and a smooth one; as in bard, card, regard.

Re at the end of many words, is pronounced like a weak er; as in theatre, sepulchre, massacre.

S.

S has two different sounds.

A soft and flat sound like z; as, besom, nazal, dismal. A sharp hissing sound; as, saint, sister, cyprus.

It is always sharp at the beginning of words.

At the end of words it takes the soft sound; as, his, was, trees, eyes; except in the words this, thus, us, yes, rebus, surplus, &c.; and in words terminating with ous.

It sounds like z before ion, if a vowel goes before; as, intrusion; but like s sharp, if it follows a consonant; as, conversion. It also sounds like z before e mute; as, amuse; and before y final; as, rosy and in the words bcsom, desire, wisdom, &c.

S is mute in isle, island, demesne, viscount.

T.

T generally sounds, as in take, tempter. before u, when the accent precedes, sounds like tch as, nature, virtue, are pronounced natchure, virtchue. Ti before a vowel has the sound of sh; as in salvation; except in such words as tierce, tiara, &c. and unless an s goes before; as, question; and excepting also derivatives from words ending in ty; as, mighty, mightier.

Th has two sounds: the one soft and flat; as, thus, whether, heathen: the other hard and sharp; as, thing, think, breath.

Th, at the beginning of words, is sharp; as, in thank, thick, thunder: except in that, then, thus, thither, and some others. Th, at the end of words, is also sharp; as, death, breath, mouth: except in with, booth, beneath, &c.

Th, in the middle of words, is sharp; as, panther, orthodox, misanthrope: except worthy, farthing, brethren, and a few others.

Th, between two vowels, is generally flat in words purely English; as, father, heathen, together, neither, mother. Th, between two vowels, in words from the learned languages, is generally sharp; as, apathy, sympathy, Athens, theatre, apothecary.

This sometimes pronounced like simple t; as, Thomas, thyme, Thames, asthma.

U has three sounds, viz.

U.

A long sound; as in mule, tube, cubic.

A short sound; as in dull, gull, custard.

An obtuse sound, like oo; as in bull, full, bushel. The strangest deviation of this letter from its natural sound, is in the words busy, business, bury, and burial; which are pronounced bizzy, bizness, berry, and berrial.

A is now often used before words beginning with a long, and an always before those that begin with u short; as, a union, a university, a useful book; an uproar, an usher, an umbrella.

The diphthong ua, has sometimes the sound of wa; as in assuage, persuade, antiquary. It has also the sound of middle a; as in guard, guardian, guarantee.

Ue is often sounded like we; as in quench, querist, conquest. It has also the sound of long u; as in cue, hue, ague. In a few words, it is pronounced like e short; as in guest, guess. In some words it is entirely sunk; as in antique, oblique, prorogue, catalogue, dialogue, &c."

Ui is frequently pronounced wi; as in languid, anguish, extinguish. It has sometimes the sound of i long; as in guide, guile, disguise: and sometimes that of i short, as in guilt, guinea, Guildhall. In some words it is sounded like long u; as in juice, suit, pursuit: and after r, like 00; as in bruise, fruit, recruit.

Uo is pronounced like wo; as in quote, quorum, quon

dam.

Uy has the sound of long e; as in obloquy, soliloquy'; pronounced obloquee, &c. except buy, and its derivatives.

V.

V has the sound of flat, f, and bears the same relation to it, as 6 does to p, d to t, hard g to k, and z to s. It has also one uniform sound; as, vain, vanity, love.

W.

W, when a consonant, has nearly the sound of oo; as water resembles the sound of ooater; but that it has a stronger and quicker sound than oo, and has a formation essentially different, will appear to any person who pronounces, with attention, the words wo, woo, beware; and who reflects that it will not admit the article an before it ; which oo would admit. In some words it is not sounded; as in answer, sword, wholesome: it is always silent beforer; as in wrap, wreck, wrinkle, wrist, wrong, wry, bewray, &c.

W before his pronounced as if it were after the h; as, why, hwy; when, hwen; what, hwat.

W is often joined to o at the end of a syllable, without affecting the sound of that vowel; as in crow, blow, grow, know, row, flow, &c.

When w is a vowel, and is distinguished in the pronunciation, it has exactly the same sound as u would have in the same situation; as, draw, crew, view, now, sawyer, vowel, outlaw.

X has three sounds, viz.

X.

It is sounded like z at the beginning of proper names of Greek original; as in Xanthus, Xenophon, Xerxes.

It has a sharp sound like ks, when it ends a syllable with the accent upon it; as exit, exercise, excellence; or when the accent is on the next syllable, if it begins with a consonant; as excuse, extent, expense.

It has generally a flat sound like gz, when the accent is not on it, and the following syllable begins with a vowel ; as, exert, exist, example; pronounced, egzert, egzist, egzample.

Y.

Y, when a consonant, has nearly the sound as ee; as, youth, York, resemble the sounds of ecouth, eeork: but that this is not its exact sound, will be clearly perceived by pronouncing the words ye, yes, new-year, in which its just and proper sound is ascertained. It not only requires a stronger exertion of the organs of speech to pronounce it, than is required to pronounce ee; but its formation is essentially different. It will not admit of an before it, as ee will in the following example; an cel. The opinion that y and w, when thay begin a word or syllable, take exactly the sound of ee and oo, has induced some grammarians to assert, that these letters are always vowels or diphthongs.

When y is a vowel, it has exactly the same sound as i would have in the same situation; as, rhyme, system, justify, pyramid, party, fancy, hungry.

Z.

Z has the sound of an s uttered with a closer compression of the palate by the tongue: it is the flat s; as, freeze, frozen, brazen.

It may be proper to remark that the sounds of the letters vary, as they are differently associated, and that the pronunciation of these associations depends upon the position of the accent. It may also be observed, that, in order to pronounce accurately, great attention must be paid to the vowels which are not accented. There is scarcely any thing which more distinguishes a person of a poor education, from a person of a good one, than the pronunciation

of the unaccented vowels. When vowels are under the accent, the best speakers and the lowest of the people, with very few exceptions, pronounce them in the same manner; but the unaccented vowels in the mouths of the former, have a distinct, open, and specific sound, while the latter often totally sink them, or change them into some other sound.

SECT. 3. The nature of articulation explained.

A CONCISE account of the origin and formation of the sounds emitted by the human voice, may, perhaps, not .improperly, be here introduced. It may gratify the ingenious student, and serve to explain more fully the nature of articulation, and the radical distinction between vowels and consonants.

Human voice is air sent out from the lungs, and so agitated or modified in its passage through the windpipe and larynx, as to become distinctly audible. The windpipe is that tube, which on touching the forepart of our throat externally, we feel hard and uneven. It conveys air into the lungs for the purpose of breathing and speech. The top or upper part of the windpipe is called the larynx, consisting of four or five cartilages, that may be expanded or brought together, by the action of certain muscles which operate all at the same time. In the middle of the larynx there is a small opening, called the glottis, through which the breath and voice are conveyed. This opening is not wider than one tenth of an inch; and therefore, the breath transmitted through it from the lungs, must pass with considerable velocity. The voice thus formed, is strengthened and softened by a reverberation from the palate and other hollow places in the inside of the mouth and nostrils; and as these are better or worse shaped for this reverberation, the voice is said to be more or less agreea

ble.

If we consider the many varieties of sound, which one and the same human voice is capable of uttering, together with the smallness of the diameter of the glottis; and reflect, that the same diameter must always produce the same tone, and, consequently, that to every change of tone, a correspondent change of diameter is necessary; must be filled with admiration at the mechanism of these

we