TafeT.] 354 [October. 



is not tbe only mode by which w and 1/ may be generated from the 

 vowels 00 and ce. If we pronounce 00 quickly before ai/, as for in- 

 stance, in the geographical name Douai/', this sounds just as if it was 

 spelled Dwai/ ; so too-aiifj, when pronounced quickly, sounds like 

 twaTig, suavlti/ like swavitt/y jyei'suade like pei^sicade, (juava like 

 gicava, language like langwage. So also by sounding i in machine 

 quickly before any other vowel, as in siesta, Diego, Tierra, Sierra, 

 piano, it passes over into the sound of y in year ; and iest in siesta 

 sounds like yest in yesterday, ierr in Sierra and Tierra as if it was 

 spelt ^err, and iano in piano, as if it was spelt ya?2-o. IF and Y, 

 however, are not only produced by the hardening of vowels, but also 

 by the softening of consonants, so Ags. geard hecomes yard, Ags. 

 gearn, yarn; geonan, yawn; gealpan, yelp; gestrandaeg, yesterday; 

 daeg, day; saegau, say; Germ. scJdugen, slay; and also Ags. gnagan, 

 gnaw; maga, msiW ; hugen, hovf ; Germ, scpg en, saw. 



§ 28. The vowel-consonants iv and y by the very nature of their 

 formation, can only be sounded after consonants or semi-vowels, and 

 never before them ; thus, vj in wring, lureck, write, &c., is quiescent, 

 and also before h, as in w-Jio, whole, ichoop. The German words, 

 ^Yrack, Wrange, wrieken, are pronounced vrach, vrang-e, vricken ; 

 so the Russian name Wladimir is pronounced Vladimir, and the 

 Swedish names, Wrangel, Wrede, Vrang-el Vred-e. Y before con- 

 sonants becomes i, as in ycleped, yclad, yttrium, and also in the 

 middle and at the end of words, as in cJiyst, tyrant, symbol, sylvan, 

 try, why, &c. 



With preceding consonants, vj enters into the following combina- 

 tions : hw in ivhite, whet, wliile, where the order of the consonants is 

 inverted in spelling; in the Anglo-Saxon, these words were spelled 

 hioit, hivettan, hwil. Pw and bw do not occur in the language ; they 

 are of too difficult pronunciation. l\c is found in twang, dw in 

 dwarf, kw in quart, question, gw in guavGj language. The com- 

 bination fw is out of question, because these two sounds are too 

 nearly related. Thw we find in thwart, sw in sweet. With the 

 semi-vowels, w refuses to enter into any combinations whatever. 



§ 29. The combinations of the vowel-consonant y, and the conso- 

 nants and semi-vowels, are a little difficult to trace in the English 

 language, as this sound is represented by y only in the beginning of 

 words, as in yarn, yawn, &c., and in the middle of words, is either 

 not expressed at all, as in the long sound of u, or else is given by tbe 

 signs of the vowels i and e. Again, some orthoepists think they can 

 distinguish y where others only see / in in; as for instance, in the 



