94 NAMES OF PLANTS. 



Passing by these doubtful instances, there are a few 

 general rules that may be laid down to govern the great 

 majority of cases. 



It is well to keep continually in mind that we pronounce 

 Latin in the same way as we should English, in giving the 

 same value to the vowels. True, we are not at all consistent 

 in our own language, talking as we do about iodine and 

 chloreen, instead of chlorine ; then we have maritime pov/ers 

 and a mercantile mareen, not marine. But anyone is most 

 likely to be correct who uniformly pronounces the vowels of 

 scientific words according to their ordinary English value : 

 thus, vulga'ris, not vulgah'ris ; marit'imum, not maritee'mum. 

 If you must place the accent wrong, say mariti'mum. If this 

 course is taken the pronunciation will be uniform, and not 

 incorrect; and though the tendency at present is towards 

 the continental system of pronunciation, any person who 

 undertakes that method must be prepared to study the 

 whole matter, that is to say, three or four languages, — 

 otherwise, to use a familar expression, he will "make a 

 mess of it." The Greek u is ahvays changed into y ; as 

 'polu, many, into 'poly. Then the Greeks had a letter called 

 chij which represented cli ; and it has been disputed whether 

 it should be pronounced gutturally, as in our word loch, or 

 hard like loch. Some cannot pronounce the guttural if they 

 try, and it is a matter of no great consequence. 



As to the pronunciation of the two consonants c and g, 

 there is rather more difficulty. First, in respect to our 

 letter c, which may be called a useless letter, possessing the 

 sounds of others without having any peculiar to itself.* It 

 has the sound of s, as in celery, and of k, as in cabbage ; 

 and it is often mute, as in science. In Keltic it is equivalent 

 to k) the Cimri (AVelsh) are Kimrl, not Simri. In Greek 



* The general rule is that in English or Latin c has the sound of k, 

 before a, o,u; and of s, before e, ?, y. 



