Tafel.] 3]_4 [October. 



I, Dijyhthoiigs xvith the voioel-sotuid^z- II« Diphthongs ivith the vowel-soundd. 



1. Zt in file, 2ne, high, fly. 3. Am blithe, scythe, night. 



2. ao in s2)ouse, fold . 4. sU in ig'o?/^ stout. 



III. Biphthong with the voicel-sound a°. Imimre Diphthong. 



5. a°t in toil, hoy. 6. iu in cue, few, imio7i. 



In addition to these diphthongs in use in the English language, we 

 find some additional ones in the German language, with the particu- 

 lar vowel-sounds o and it as their second members. With the former 

 we obtain ao in greute, and a°u in Saume, &c., and with the latter 9U 

 in Seute. 



[Eem. — A great disagreement has heretofore prevailed among the 

 phonologists with regard both to the particular ingredients of each 

 diphthong, and the manner in which the transition from the first into 

 the second members is effected, and I hope that the present investi- 

 gation which undertakes to settle some of these difficulties will be 

 deemed satisfactory. 



Much confusion in determining the particular ingredients of each 

 of the diphthongs has been caused by the phonologists not distin- 

 guishing between the sounds of i in file and uglit., and of ow or ou 

 in howl and &tout. Walker holds that the first member of the long 

 sound of i is a in father^ while Webster contends that it is neither 

 a m father, as Walker thinks, nor, indeed, mo, as Sheridan seems to 

 suppose. He holds that it is not possible, by any characters we pos- 

 sess, to express the true sound on paper ; that it is not formed so 

 deep in the throat as aw or a in father ; that the position of the 

 organ is nearly, yet not exactly, the same ; and that its true sound 

 can be learned only by the ear. Dr. Webster is evidently trying 

 here to describe the unmodified vowel-sound, which combines all the 

 conditions he lays down. This sound had not yet been recognized 

 by the orthoepists at his time. The fact is, that Walker analyzed 

 the sound of i in file, where a in father is the first member j and Dr. 

 Webster that of i in sight, where the unmodified vowel is the first 

 member ; and then, both extending their own results, which they ob- 

 tained by analyzing a particular shade of the diphthong, to the diph- 

 thong in general, they arrived at widely different results with regard 

 to the pronunciation of the long sound of ^. Even Dr. Briicke, al- 

 though lie has a correct idea of the manner in which the transition 

 from the first member of the diphthong into the second is effected, 

 seems to confound the two diphthongs in howl and ffout, which are 

 both spelled an in German ; for he considers this diphthong really 

 composed of the sounds of a and u. 



