PREFACE TO THE OCTAVO EDITION. HAVING been long employ Dictionary like anos cultivation of the English lan guage, I lately published a Dictionary like those compiled by the Academies of Italy and France, for the use of such as aspire to exactness of criticism, or elegance of style. But it has been since considered, that works of that kind are by no means necessary to the greater number of readers, who, seldom intending to write, or presuming to judge, turn over books only to amuse their leisure, and to gain degrees of knowledge suitable to lower characters, or necessary to the common business of life: these know not any other use of a Dictionary than that of adjusting orthography, and explaining terms of science or words of infrequent occurrence or remote derivation. For these purposes, many Dictionaries have been written by different authors, and with different degrees of skill; but none of them have yet fallen into my hands by which even the lowest expectations could be satisfied. Some of their authors wanted industry, and others literature: some knew not their own defects, and others were too idle to supply them. For this reason, a small Dictionary appeared yet to be wanting to common readers; and as I may, without arrogance, claim to myself a longer acquaintance with the lexicography of our language than any other writer has had, I shall hope to be considered as having more experience, at least, than most of my predecessors, and as more likely to accommodate the Nation with a vocabulary of daily use. I therefore offer to the Publick an Abstract or Epitome of my former Work. In comparing this with other Dictionaries of the same kind, it will be found to have several advantages. I. It contains many words not to be found in any other. II. Many barbarous terms and phrases, by which other Dictionaries may vitiate the style, are rejected from this. III. The words are more correctly spelled, partly by attention to their etymology, and partly by observation of the practice of the best authors. IV. The etymologies and derivations, whether from foreign languages or from native roots, are more diligently traced, and more distinctly noted. V. The senses of each word are more copiously enumerated, and more clearly explained. VI. Many words occurring in the elder authors, such as Spenser, Shakespeare, and Milton, which had been hitherto omitted, are here carefully inserted: so that this book may serve as a glossary or expository index to the poetical writers. VII. To the words, and to the different senses of each word, are subjoined, from the large Dictionary, the names of those writers by whom they have been used: so that the reader who knows the different periods of the language, and the time of its authors, may judge of the elegance or prevalence of any word, or meaning of a word; and, without recurring to other books, may know what are antiquated, what are unusual, and what are recommended by the best authority. The words of this Dictionary, as opposed to others, are more diligently collected, more accurately spelled, more faithfully explained, and more authentically ascertained. Of an Abstract it is not necessary to say more; and I hope it will not be found that truth requires me to say less. A GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH TONGUE. GRAMMAR, which is the art of using words properly, comprises four parts: Orthography, Etymology, Syntax, and Prosody. In this division and order of the parts of grammar I follow the common grammarians, without inquir Vowels are five, a, e, i, o, u. Such is the number generally received; but for i it is the practice to write y in the end of words, as thy, holy; before i, as from die, dying; from beautify, beauti ing whether a fitter distribution might not be found.fying; in the words says, days, eyes; and Experience has long shown this method to be so distinct as to obviate confusion, and so compre-written originally with v, as sympathy, in words derived from the Greek, and hensive as to prevent any inconvenient omissions. I Skewise use the terms already received, and already understood, though perhaps others more proper might sometimes be invented. Sylburgius, and other innovators, whose new terms have sank their learning into neglect, have left sufficient warning against the trifling ambition of teaching arts in a new language. ORTHOGRAPHY is the art of combining letters into syllables, and syllables into words. It therefore teaches previously the form and sound of letters. The letters of the English language are, σvμжabeiα, system, ovsnμa. For u we often write w after a vowel, to make a diphthong; as, raw, grew, view, vow, flowing, lowness. The sounds of all the letters are various. In treating on the letters, I shall not, like some other grammarians, inquire into the original of their form, as an antiquarian; nor into their formation and prolation by the organs of speech, as a me chanick, anatomist, or physiologist; nor into the properties and gradation of sounds, or the elegance or harshness of particular combinations, as a writer of universal and transcendental grammar. I consider the English alphabet only as it is English; and even in this narrow disquisition I follow the example of former grammarians, perhaps with more reverence than judgment, because by writing in English 1 suppose iny reader already acquainted with the English language, and consequently able to pronounce the letters of which I teach the pronnúciation; and because of sounds in general it may be observed, that words are unable to describe them. An account, therefore, of the primitive and simple letters, is useless, almost alike to those who know their sound, and those who know it not. OF VOWELS A. A has three sounds, the slender, open, and broad. A slender is found in most words, as face, mane; and in words ending in ation, as creation, salvation, generation. The a slender is the proper English a, called very justly by Erpenius, in his Arabick Grammar, a Anglicum cum e mistum, as having a middle sound between the open a and the e. The French have a similar sound in the word pais, and in their e mas. culine. A open is the a of the Italian, or nearly resembles it; as father, rather, congratulate, fancy, glass. A broad resembles the a of the German; as all, wall, call. Many words pronounced with a broad were anciently written with au; as sault, mault; and we still say, fault, vault. This was probably the Saxon sound, for it is 'yet retained in the northern dialects, and in the rustick pronunciation; as maun for man, haund for hand, The short a approaches to the a open, as grass. The long a, if prolonged by e at the end of the word, is always slender, as graze, fame. b A forms a diphthong only with i or y, and u or w. Ai or ay, as in plain, wain, gay, clay, has only the sound of the long and slender a, and differs not in the pronunciation from plane, wane. Au or aw has the sound of the German a, as raw, naughty. Ae is sometimes found in Latin words not coin pletely naturalized or assimilated, but is no English diphthong, and is more properly expressed by single e, as Cesar, Eneas. E. E is the letter which occurs most frequently in the English language. E is long, as in scene; or short, as in cellar, separate, célebrate, mén, thến. It is always short before a double consonant, or two consonants, as in rex, pèrplexity, relént, mědlar, réptile, serpent, cellar, cessation, blessing, fell, félling, debt. E is always mute at the end of a word, except in monosyllables that have no other vowel, as the; or proper names, as Pene lope, Phebe, Derbe; being used to modify the foregoing consonants, as since, once, hedge, oblige; or to lengthen the preceding vowel, as bắn, bane; căn, cane; pin, pine; tin, tune; rub, rube; pop, pope; fir, fire; cur, cure; tub, tube. Almost all words which now terminate in con*sonants en led anciently in e, as year, yeare ; wildness, wildnesse; which e probably had the force of the French e feminine, and constituted a syllable with its associate consonant; for in old editions words are sometimes divided thus, clea-re, fel-le, knowledge. This was perhaps for a time vocal or silent in poetry as convenience required; but it has been long wholly mute. Camden in his Remains calls it the silent e. It does not always lengthen the going vowel, as glove, live, give. O is long, as bone, obedient, corrōding; or short, as block, knock, öblique, löll. Women is pronounced wimen. The short o has sometimes the sound of close u, as son, come. O coalesces into a diphthong with a, as moan, groan, approach: oa has the sound of o long. O is united to e in some words derived from Greek, as economy; but a being not an English diphthong, they are better written as they are sounded, with only e, economy. With i, as oil, soil, moil, noisome. This coalition of letters seems to unite the sounds of the two letters, as far as two sounds can be united without being destroyed, and therefore ap proaches more nearly than any combination in our fore-tongue to the notion of a diphthong. It has sometimes in the end of words a sound obscure, and scarcely perceptible, as open, shapen, shotten, thistle, participle, metre, lucre. This faintness of sound is found when e separates a mute from a liquid, as in rotten, or follows a mute and liquid, as in cattle. E forms a diphthong with a, as near; with i, as deign, receive; and with u or w, as new, stew. Eu sounds like e long, as mean; or like ee, as dear, clear, near. Ei is sounded like e long, as seize, perceiving. Eu sounds as u long and soft. E, a, u, are combined in beauty and its derivatives, but have only the sound of u. E may be said to form a diphthong by reduplication, as agree, sleeping. Eo is found in yeoman, where it is sounded as o short; and in people, where it is pronounced like ec. sound of the Italian u. With o, as boot, hoot, cooler; oo has the With u or w, as our, power, flower; but in some words has only the sound of o long, as in soul, bowl, sow, grow. These different sounds are used to distinguish different significations: as bow an instrument for shooting; how, a depression of the head; sow, the she of a boar; sow, to scatter seed; bowl, an orbicular body; bowl, a wooden vessel. Qu is sometimes pronounced like o soft, as court; sometimes like o short, as cough; sometimes like u close, as could; or u open, as rough, tough, which use only can teach. Ou is frequently used in the last syllable of words which in Latin end in or and are made English, as honour, labour, favour, from honor, labor, favor. Some late innovators have ejected the u, without considering that the last syllable gives the sound neither of or nor ur, but a sound between them, if not compounded of both; besides that they are probably derived to us from the French nouns in cur, as honeur, faveur. Y is a vowel, which, as Quintilian observes of one of the Roman letters, we might want without inconvenience, but that we have it. It supplies the place of i at the end of words, as thy; before an i, as dying; and is commonly retained in derivative words where it was part of a diphthong, in the primitive; as, destroy, destroyer; betray, betrayed, betrayer; pray, prayer; say, sayer; day, days. I being the Saxon vowel y, which was commonly used where i is now pat, occurs very frequently in all old books. GENERAL RULES. A vowel in the beginning or middle syllable, before two consonants, is commonly short, as opportunity. In monosyllables a single vowel before a single consonant is short; as stag, frog. Manty is pronounced as if it were written manny, OF CONSONANTS. B. B has one unvaried sound, such as it obtains in other languages. It is mute in debt, debtor, subtle, doubt, | lamb, limb, dumb, thumb, climb, comb, remb. It is used before I and r, as black, brown. C. C has before e and i the sound of 8; as sincerely, centrick, century, circular, eistera, city, siccity: before a, o, and u, it sounds like k, as calm, concavity, copper, incorporate, curiosity, concupiscence. C might be omitted in the language without loss, Koce one of its sonnds might be supplied by s, and the other by k, but that it preserves to the eye the etymology of words, as face from facies, captive from captivus. Ch has a sound which is analyzed into tsh, as church, chin, crutch. It is the same sound which the Italians give to the csimple before i and e, as citta, cerro. Ch is sounded like k in words derived from the Greek, as chymist, scheme, choler. Arch is commonly sounded ark before a vowel, as archangel, and with the English sound of ch before a consonant, as archbishop. Ch, in some French words not yet assimilated, sounds like sh, as machine, chaise." C, according to English orthography, never ends a word; therefore we write stick, block, which were originally, sticke, blocke. In such words e It is used before l and r, as clock, cross. is now unte. F, though having a name beginning with a vowel, is numbered by the grammarians among the seinivowels, yet has this quality of a mute, that it is commodiously sounded before a liquid, as flask, fry, freckle. It has an unvariable sound, except that of is sometimes spoken nearly as ov. G. G has two sounds; one hard, as in gay, go, gun; the other soft, as in gem, giant. At the end of a word it is always hard, as ring, snug, song, frog. Before e and i the sound is uncertain. G before e is soft, as gem, generation, except in gear, geld, geese, get, gewgaw, and derivatives from words ending in g, as singing, stronger, and generally before er at the ends of words, as finger. G is mute before n, as gnash, sign, foreign. G before i is hard, as gire, except in Giles, gill, gilliflower, gin, ginger, gingle, giant, gigantick, gibbet, gibe, giblets, to which may be added Egypt and gypsy. Gh in the beginning of a word has the sound of the hard g, as ghostly; in the middle, and sometimes at the end, it is spoken tho', rite, soute. quite silent, as though, right, sought, It has often at the end the sound of f, same sound in the middle; cough, trough, as laugh; whence laughter retains the sough, tough, enough, slough. It is not to be doubted, but that in the original pronunciation gh has the force of a consonant deeply guttural, which is still continued among the Scotch. G is used before h, l, and r. H. I is a note of aspiration, and shows that the following vowel must be pre nounced with a strong emission of breath, as hat, horse. It seldom begins any but the first syllable, in which it is always sounded with a full breath, except in heir, herb, hostler, honour, humble, honest, humour and their derivatives. It sometimes begins middle or final syllables in words compounded, as blockhead; or derived from the Latin, as comprehend. J. J consonant sounds uniformly like the soft g, and is therefore a letter useless, except in etymology, as ejaculation, jester, jocund, juice K. K has the sound of hard c, and is used before e and i, where, according to English analogy, c would be soft, as kept, king, skirt, skeptick, for so it should be written, not sceptick, because sc is sounded like s, as in scene. It is used before n, as knell, knot, but totally loses its sound in modern pronunciation. K is never doubled; but c is used before it to shorten the vowel by a double consonant, as cockle, pickle. L. Ph is used for ƒ in words derived from the Greek, as philosopher, philanthropy, Philip Q. Q, as in other languages, is always followed by u, and has a sound which our Saxon ancestors well expressed by cw, as quadrant, queen, equestrian, quilt, inquiry, quire, quotidian. Qu is never followed by u. Qu is sometimes sounded, in words derived from the French, like k, as conquer, liquor, risque, chequer. R. R has the same rough snarling sound as in the other tongues. The Saxons used often to put h before it, as before at the beginning of words. Rh is used in words derived from the Greek, as myrrh, myrrhine, catarrhous, rheum, rheu matick, rhyme. Re, at the end of some words derived from the Latin or French, is pronounced like a weak er, as theatre, sepulchre. S. S has a hissing sound, as sibilation, sister. A single s seldom ends any word, except in the L has in English the same liquid sound third person of verbs, as loves, grows; and the as in other languages. plurals of nouns, as trees, bushes, distresses; the pronouns this, his, ours, yours, us; the adverb thus; aud words derived from Latin, as rebus, surplus; the close being always either in se, as house, horse, or in ss, as grass, dress, bliss, less, anciently grasse, dresse. The custom is to donble the at the end of monosyllables, as kill, will, full. These words were originally written kille, wille, fulle; and when the ef first grew silent, and was afterward omitted, the was retained, to give force, according to the analogy of our language, to the foregoing vowel. L is sometimes mute, as in calf, half, halves, calves, could, would, should, psalm, talk, salmon, falcon. The Saxons, who delighted in guttural sounds, sometimes aspirated the l at the beginning of words, as hlaf, a loaf, or bread; hlaford, a lord; bui this pronunciation is now disused. Le at the end of words is pronounced like a weak el, in which the e is almost mute, as table, shuttle. M.. M has always the same sound, as murmur, monumental. N. N has always the same sound, as noble, manners. N is sometimes mute after m, as damn, condemn, hymn. P. P has always the same sound which the Welsh and Germans confound with b. P is sometimes mute, as in psalm, and between m and t, as tempt. S, single at the end of words, has a grosser sound, like that of z, as trees, eyes, except this, thus, us, rebus, surplus. It sounds like z before ion, if a vowel goes before it, as intrusion; and like 8, if it follows a consonant, as conversion. It sounds like z before e mute, as re those words, becom, desire, wisdom, prison, fuse, and before y final, as rosy; and in prisoner, présent, present, damsel, case ment. It is the peculiar quality of s, that it may be sounded before all consonants, except r and, in which s is comprised, a being only ks, and z a hard or gross s. This s is therefore termed by grammarians sua potestatis litera; the reason of which the learned Dr. Clarke erroneously supposed to be, that in some words it might be doubled at pleasure. Thus we find in several languages. Elimu, scatter, sdegno, sdrucciolo, sfavel lare, apy, sgombrare, sgranare, shake, slumsqueeze, shrew, step, strength, stramen, stripe, ber, smell, snipe, space, splendour, spring, sventura, swell. S is mute in isle, island, demesne, vis count. T. T has its customary sound, as take,' temptation. |