204 
vowel, and the single simple sound of 
, the unsophisticated English I—é, é, ¢, 4, 
> Will be found to exhibit a second series 
of modifications of aperture and cavity } 
and eu, uo, 00, 0, ou, ow, oi, a third.* 
The last series is, perhaps, rather 
moré capable of verbal description than 
the others; and yet it is that in which 
confusion and error is most frequently 
observable in popular pronunciation. I 
* It is impracticable to eonyey, by mere 
written word, alone, a complete and satis- 
factory exposition of the gradations and dis- 
tinctions of organic action and orisonant 
effect alluded to. But to the English reader, 
the following definitions may render a lit- 
tle mofe perspicuous the distinctions in- 
tended to be ‘indicated by the accentual 
marks over the two former of these classes 
of vowels. 
. a=A long, like, ey in they=able. 
. 4=A short,—like a short cough, or mid- 
way effort between a cough and a sigh; 
accompanied of course with tune from the 
larynx; as in pit, cat, thit, absolute, &c. 
a=The Italian A:—a sort of softly as- 
ere or ejaculatory sigh, accompanied 
y tune of the larynx, and generally with a 
rising inflection ; as in father, papa, &c. It 
melts very easily into the terminative or 
guttural r ; and by cockney ears, and in 
Scottish proniniciation, is with difficulty dis- 
criminated from that faint and imperfect 
liquid, I had a very highly educated pupil 
from the north of the Tweed, a student at 
that time for the bar, and now a very emi- 
nent Barrister, whom I never could per- 
suade to comprehend or admit the distine- 
tion. Ina perfect English pronunciation, 
however, it is very perceptable to an Eng- 
lish ear. 
4—A W.—full‘and open, as in al, awful, 
&c. It has always in speech a circumflex 
accent. In song, except when trilled, it is, of 
course, like every other vowel, a monotone. 
é=E long, as in equal, thie, eve, &e. 
8—E shoft, as in thém; tht, &c, Not that 
in these two syllables, properly pronounced, 
the vowel sounds are actually identical. In 
the second it approaches the element next 
to be explained. Note, also, that in pro- 
nouncing the article the, separately, we are 
apt, though very improperly, to pronounce 
the @ long, as in the pronoun. 
é=E ejaculatory ; that is to say, with the 
same species of soft accentrial aspiration 
that accompanies the Italian d—as évery, 
ébb; &e, 
- {=I proper and simple, as in, it, if, lift, 
&c. How our writers contrive to make a 
diphthong, or tripthong, of this sort of vowel, 
I could never practically comprehend. It 
is, in fact, a sort of anomaly among vowels, 
being incapable of continued quantity. It 
differs little from the short é, in position of 
the organs, and like the ejaculatory é, is 
accompanied bya-short catch or pulsation 
in-the throat. 
Fhé Anatomy of Speech. 
[Oct. I, 
shall therefore endeavour a more ex~ 
plicit discrimination. ’ 
There ate in English pronunciation 
four distinct vowel and diphthongat 
sounds, occasionally designated by the 
letter u; all of which are oecasionally 
represented by other letters, and all of 
which have also their longer and their 
shorter quantities. The first or simple 
sound of the u, is short in biit, cit, 
tiely, and comparatively long in téndone 
[sounded andun]. It is most perfectly 
formed, by bringing the points, or front 
of the lips, near to each other, and 
making the whole of the lips, as nearly 
as possible, .form two parallel lines 
from corner to corner. The second as 
in tiimault (t&imiilt), tune (téun), pursiie, 
(pitrséz) triie (tréu) diie—the same as 
dew (dé). It is formed, of course, by 
the progress of the organs’ from the 
position in which é, oré is formed to 
that already described for the perfect u. 
A third sound, which is also a diphthong, 
and constituted of an imperfect com- 
bination of i and o, is exhibited in the 
words biitcher (bitécher), bull (bi62). The 
fourth sound, rarely occurring in cor~ 
rect pronunciation, but frequently in 
vulgar and provincial speech, is that of 
which we have a legitimate specimen in 
the word diodécimo (doo-o-deci-mo, and 
which is not unfrequently intruded 
upon us in duke (dook, instead of déik). 
The O, short or long, is ‘formed by 
rounding the aperture of the mouth as 
nearly as possible into the form of the 
letter. Sometimes, indeed, it is pro- 
nounced like z in duodecimo, and in the 
corrupt pronunciation duke ; as in the 
affected theatrical pronunciations, bustim 
or boosum, for bosum [bosome], and Rum 
for Rom (Rome): both of which, as 
well as gu/d for gold, and other corrup- 
tions from the same source, have re- 
ceived but too much sanction in more 
extended circles, 
The OI, or OY, as in boisterous, boy, 
&c., by passing from that rotundity 
through the respective organic positions 
of é and é. 
Y, when a vowel (which it always is, 
except when it is an initial, or is intro- 
duced between two complete vowels, 
for the mere purpose of preserving the 
distinctness of their enunciation) is 
either 6, or 18, or ié, or (sometimes, 
though rarely) &%.* 
*( To be continued. ) 
_. * The learned reader would do well to 
compare this account of our English vowels, 
with the definitions of the Greek vowels, 
by Dionysius Halicarnasensis: 
