&c

In clough and slough, gh is sometimes silent, and sometimes has the sound of f.

72. The letter h is properly a mark of breathing or aspiration, such as may be heard in hat, horse, &c. At the beginning of some words it is silent, as in heir, heiress, honor, honesty, honorable, hour, &c. In hospital, humble, humor, humorous, herb, herbage, exhibit, exhaust, exhilarate, &c., the h, according to some authorities, is sounded. It is very slightly sounded after r, as in rhetoric, rhapsody. 73. In the word hallelujah, j has the sound of y. K has the same sound as c hard, and is always silent before n, as in knee, knock. L is silent in many words, as in chalk, would, could, falcon (pronounced faucon), salmon (pronounced sammon). M preserves its sound, except in accompt and comptroller, more commonly written, as pronounced, account, controller. In mnemonics, the initial m is silent.

74. N assumes the sound of ng when followed in the same syllable by k, c, ch, q, x, as in thank, cincture, anchor, banquet, anxious. After 7 and m in the same syllable, it is silent; as in kiln, condemn, hymn.

75. P is silent before s and t at the beginning of words; as in psalm, ptisan. Ph has generally the sound of f, as in physic. In nephew and Stephen, it has the sound of v. In diphthong and triphthong, it has, according to Webster, the sound of f; according to Walker, the sound of p. In naphtha, it has the sound of p.

76. Q is always followed by u, and has usually the sound of kw, as in queen. In many words derived from the French qu has the sound of k, as in coquet, masquerade.

77. R is always more or less sounded. It has a jarring or trilled effect when it begins a syllable or word, with or without a consonant; as in run, wrestle, shrill. It has its smooth sound when it is the last consonant in a syllable or word, as in armor, are (rhyming with far), err (rhyming with her). But when the next syllable begins with a vowel, it often commences with the sound of trilled r; as in arid, spirit, caravan, &c. In some few words the sound of the r has a tendency to transposition; as in apron, iron, pronounced apurn, iurn.

78. The common or regular sound of s is its hissing sound, like c soft, in son, this. It has also a vocal sound, like that of z, in wise, his, &c. It has the sound of sh, as in sure, in words ending in sion preceded by a consonant; of zh, as in pleasure, in sion preceded by a vowel; and it is sometimes silent, as in island, viscount. Shas always its hissing sound at the beginning of words, and generally its vocal sound (that of 2) in plural terminations, where the singular

ends in a vowel, or in b, d, g, v, l, m, n, or r; as in peas, ribs, beds, &c., pronounced peaz, ribz, bedz.

79. T assumes the sound of sh (as in partial, na'tion), when it comes immediately after the accent, and is followed by the vowels ia, ie, or io. . It is sometimes silent before le and before en; as in bustle, hasten, often; is silent in billet-doux, eclat, hautboy, mortgage; and in the first syllable of chestnut.

80. Th has two sounds: one aspirate, as in thin, breath; the other vocal, as in this, smooth, breathe, &c. In some nouns th is aspirate in the singular, as in bath, path, mouth; and vocal in the plural, as in baths, paths, mouths. The h is silent in asthenic, asthma, isthmus, phthisic, phthisical, Thomas, Thames (pronounced Těmz), thyme.

81. V has but one sound, as in valve, and is nearly allied to f; but v is vocal, and ƒ aspirate. W, at the beginning of words, is a consonant. It is always silent before r; as write, wren, wrist. In English, w is always followed by another vowel, except when followed by h or r, as in when, wreck; but this case is an exception only in writing, and not in pronunciation, for h precedes w in utterance; when being pronounced hooen.

82. The sound of wh is heard in which, what, whale, &c. The w is sometimes silent, as in whole, who, whose, whom, whoop. The reader's attention should be carefully directed to the preservation of the aspirate sound in words beginning with wh, so as to mark the distinction in utterance between such words as whale, wail; which, witch; wheel, weal; whist, wist; whit, wit; whither, wither; whether, weather, &c. It is a common fault to slur the aspirate.

83. The regular sound of x is its aspirate sound, like ks, as in excellent, tax. It has a vocal sound like gz when the next syllable following begins with an accented vowel, as in exalt, example (pronounced egzalt, egzample). At the beginning of words it has the sound of z, as in Xenophon. It is silent at the end of the French compound word, billet-doux (pronounced bil'la-doo', and meaning a tender billet or love-letter), and is pronounced like s in beaux; often and better written beaus.

84. Z has the sound of vocal s, as in zone. It assumes the sound of zh when it is preceded by the accent and a vowel, and is followed by ie or long u; as in glaʼzier, a'zure, seizure.

QUESTIONS. 65. When is b silent? 66. When does c sound like ? like s ? like sh? 67. What of ch? 68. When is arch pronounced ark? When to rhyme with march? 69. What of the termination ed? In what words is the d silent? 70. What of f? g? 71. gh? 72. h? 73. j? k? l? m? 74. n? 75. p? 76 q? 77. r? 78. s? 79. t? 80. th? 81. v? w? 82. wh? 83. x? 84. z?

LESSON VI.

ACCENT, SYLLABICATION, ETC.

85. READ what is said on the subject of ac'cent in 14. All the words in the English language, of more than one syllable, have one syllable accent'ed, and some words have more than one; as, in'divis'ibility. Almost all words of more than four syllables have both a primary and a secondary accent. Many words are distinguished by the accent alone; thus we say, an in'sult, to insult'; the month of August, an august' person; half a minute, a minute' inquiry, &c. 86. A mon'osyllable is a word of one syllable; a dissyllable, a word of two syllables; a tris'yllable, a word of three syllables; and a polysyllable, a word of more than three, or of many.

ΕΙ

87. Syllabication is the proper formation of syllables. Persons often measure off their words into wrong syllables in speaking. We hear them say préface for preface; sy'nod for syn'od; troph'y for trophy; progress for progress; antipodes (making only three syllables), when the word should be pronounced an-tip'o-dēs (in four syllables); extem'pore (making only three syllables), when it should be ex-tem'po-rë, in four syllables. Good readers will study to avoid blunders like these. Consult your dictionary.

88. The following is a list of dissyllables which when used as nouns or adjectives have the accent on the first syllable, and when used as verbs on the second :

*So accented as a noun oniy: the adjective like the verb

89. In the words ally and romance, the accent is on the last syllable, whether they be nouns or verbs. The noun desert', signifying merit, has the accent on the last syllable; also dessert', signifying a service of fruit after meat. Accent the last syllable in pretence', finance', pretext', research', resource', recess, burlesque', revōlt'.

90. Some tris'yllables when nouns are accented on the first syllable, and when verbs on the third; as coun'terchange, counterchange'; coun'termand, countermand'; o'verflow, overflow'; rep'rimand, reprimand'; in'terdict, interdict'; o'vercharge, overcharge'; o'verthrow, overthrow'; &c.

EI

91. In the following tris'yllables orthoëpists I differ as to whether the accent should be on the first or second syllable. Walker, who represents the best English usage, places the accent on the second syllable, thus: contem'plate, compensate, concenʼtrate, consum'mate, constellate, demon'strate, expurgate, extirpate. Webster says con' template, &c.; and the word is frequently so accented by the poets.

92. In almost, the accent may be either on the first or second syllable. Shakspeare uses it both ways. In the word or'thoëpy, Walker and Webster place the accent on the first syllable; and this is consistent with its Greek use. In the following words, acceptable, commendable, aggrandizement, Walker places the accent on the first syllable, Webster and most other orthoëpists on the second. In legislative, legislature, both these authorities place the accent on the first syllable.

93. The usual tendency in our language has been, and is, to throw the accent further back from the end of the word; a tendency which seems to arise solely .rom an endeavor to save time and labor by rapidity of utterance. But sometimes this object is better attained by throwing the accent on some other syllable than the first. In cases of doubtful accent, the easiest is likely to prevail.

QUESTIONS. -85. What is said of accent? 86. A word of one syllable is called? of two of three? of more? 87. What is said of syllabication? 88. When the same dissyllable may be used as a noun or verb, is it generally distinguished by accent? 89. Is the accent in ally' and romance' the same, whether they be nouns or verbs? 90. Name some trisyllables that vary their accent. 91. What is said of the accent in contemplate, &c.? 92. Almost? Or'thoëpy? Acceptable, &c.? 93. What is the tendency in our language in regard to accent?

LESSON VII.

ARTICULATION, RULES FOR EXERCISES, ETC.

94. ARTICULATION is the distinct utterance of syllables or words by the human voice, by means of a proper opening and closing of the organs of speech. Without a clear, faithful articulation, there can be no good elocution: nay, it is often tedious to hear a person speak whose articulation is defective or confused.

95. Distinctness of articulation contributes more than mere loudness of sound to an audible, intelligible delivery. The quantity of sound necessary to fill even a large space is smaller than is commonly imagined; and, with distinct articulation, a man of weak voice will make it reach further than the strongest voice can reach without it. To this, therefore, every speaker ought to pay great attention. He must give every sound which he utters its due proportion, and cause every syllable in the word which he pronounces to be heard distinctly, without slurring, whispering, or suppressing any of the proper sounds.

96. A sluggish, inattentive exercise of the organs of speech, is one great cause of imperfect articulation. A reader must be in earnest, and make the proper muscles do their proper work. He must not be too eager and hurried, for precipitancy in speaking is almost as bad as sluggishness in marring articulation. He must avoid a formal, precise mode of articulation. Let him begin by articulating and reading slowly, and increase his speed, as practice makes perfect, till he shall reach the right degree of quickness.

97. In order to have a full command of the voice, the reader should stand perfectly erect, with his chest well expanded, so that the lungs may have free action: he should also take care never to exhaust his lungs, but to keep a supply of breath in reserve. The standing position will be found the least fatiguing to the voice; for in sitting the muscles of the chest cannot work so freely. In standing, beware