THE POPULAR EDUCATOR. 



detail. Our school has widened in numbers and in styles till 

 we now reckon probably more great living painters tha.n any 

 other country in Europe, France alone excepted. Our national 

 faults and excellences in art are those which spring from our 

 national character ; and while we are doing our best to pre- 

 serve and increase the latter, it is hoped that by watchfulness 

 and intercourse with the wider world of art we are gradually 

 overcoming the former as well. 



LESSON'S IN ITALIAN. VII. 



V. PRONUNCIATION OF THE LETTERS C, G, S, IN COM- 

 BINATION WITH OTHER LETTERS (continued). 



7. Gna, One, Gni, Gno, Gnu. 



Chi is a combination almost as important as gl. G before n 

 must never be omitted to be sounded, as in the English words 

 gnaw, gnat, etc. ; but Englishmen are apt to forget this, and to 

 sound the combination gn in several foreign languages as if no 

 g was before the n. The combination gn must, likewise, never 

 be sounded as gn in the English words signify, malignity, assig- 

 nation, physiognomy, cognisance, and so on. Those who know 

 French will be able to sound gn at once by bearing in mind the 

 correct pronunciation of gn in the French words mignon. mig- 

 nard, peigner, oignon, etc., with which the Italian pronunciation 

 of gn exactly agrees. Those who do not understand French 

 may form a notion of the sound by the same operation pointed 

 out in my explanation of the sound of gl. They must, as it 

 were, sound the n before the g, and change the latter into y; 

 only taking care that the voice should glide rapidly from n to y, 

 and squeeze, as it were, these two letters into one very mild 

 enunciation. Indeed, this very mild enunciation of the squeezed 

 sound gn is a peculiarity of the Italian language, and among 

 foreigners, Germans, who have no corresponding sound, rarely 

 arrive at a correct pronunciation of the gn. The English have 

 words, the pronunciation of which may be said to be an ap- 

 proximation to the Italian sound; as, for example, bagnio, 

 seignior, poignant, champignon, Spaniard, and, perhaps, most 

 of all, in the word cognac; and therefore Englishmen may, 

 without much difficulty, arrive at a correct pronunciation, never 

 losing sight of the peculiar squeezed and mild sound of the 

 Italian gn. 



I shall try to imitate the sound gn by the letters nny in a 

 similar way to that in which I have imitated the sound g I before 

 i and another vowel by the letters lly ; 'and where in Italian 

 words the gn occurs in the middle and at the end, the first n 

 must go in some respect to one syllable, and the second n along 

 with the y to the next ; the voice rapidly gliding from one of 

 those syllables to the other in the way I have already stated. 

 For example, campagna (pronounced kahm-pahn-nyah), country; 

 vegnente (ven-nyen-tai), future, next ; Giugno (joon-nyo), June ; 

 gnocchi (ny6k-kee), small dumplings, clowns ; scrigno (skrin- 

 nyno), bunch, a coffer ; Spagnuolo (Spahn-nyooo-lo), a Spaniard. 

 I must not omit the remark that foreigners, in Italian pronun- 

 ciation, are apt to confound the two combinations gn and ng as 

 though they were the same. This is not the case. In uttering 

 gn, the g must be converted into y and sounded after n ; while 

 in uttering ng, the g retains the natural sound depending on the 

 vowel that follows. In uttering gn, the n, which is heard before 

 the g, has its natural sound ; while in uttering ng, n has a kind 

 of nasal sound. Further, the combination gn always retains its 

 peculiar sound irrespective of the vowels that may follow, which 

 is illustrated in the pronouncing table below ; while in the com- 

 bination ng, g has the sound of the English g in get before the 

 vowels a, o, and u, and the sound of the English j before the 

 vowels e and i. For example : Giugno (joon-nyo), June, and 

 giwngo ( jodn-go), I arrive, I join ; agnolo (ahn-nyo-lo), angel, and 

 angelo (ahn-jai-lo), angel ; pugno (podn-nyo), fist, cuff, I fight, 

 and pungo (poon-go), I sting. As a last remark on the gn, I 

 have to note that when gn is followed by the letter i, it is a sign 

 that gni is to form a syllable by itself ; and the i in such cases 

 is never a mere auxiliary letter never a mere soundless written 

 sign to indicate that gn is to have a squeezed sound, because, as 

 I have stated, gn has naturally, and without any exception, a 

 squeezed sound. This is quite different in the combination gl, 

 and makes the essential difference between the combinations gl 

 and gn. The reader will not have forgotten my remarks in the 

 preceding lesson, that when gl is followed by the vowela a, e, o, 



and u, ard the letter i is interposed between these vowels and 

 the gl, i is & mere auxiliary letter, and denotes the squeezed 

 Round of '.il, somewhat similar to that of gl in the English 

 word sefagtio. For example, compagnia (pronounced kom-pahn- 

 nyee-ah), company, certainly differing from the word com- 

 pagna already stated. 



Italian. Pronounced. English. 



Gnao nyah-o Mewing of cats. 



Gneo nye-o Gnejus. 



Gnido nyde-do Gnidus, a town of Caria. 



Gnome nyo-mai A gnome. 



Gnuno nyoo-no Nobody, not one. 



Bagno bahn-nyo Bathing-place. 



Segno se'n-nyo Sign. 



Cigno tchm-nyo Swan, cygnet. 



Sogr.o son-nyo Dream. 



Pugno poon-nyo Fist, cuff, I fight. 



Cognoto kon-nyah-to Brother-in-law. 



Pignere pin-nyai-rai To push. 



Cognito kon-nyee-to Known. 



Signore sin-nyo-rai Sir. 



Ognuno on-nyoo-no Everybody. 



8. Sea, See, Sci, Sco, Scu. 

 Italian. Pronounced. English. 



Scabro skah-bro Rough. 



Pesca pai-skah Fishing, fishery. 



Pesca pe"-skah Peach. [minish. 



Scemo shai-ino Diminution, diminished, I di- 



.Bisce be"e-shai Snakes. 



Scipa she'e-pah An ignorant man. 



Fasti fah-shee Bundles, fasces. 



Sccglio skol-lyo Shell, rock, danger. 



Bosco bo-sko Forest, wood. 



Sc-ucio skoo-tcho I undo something sewn, I rip. 



Scuro ek6o-ro Obscure. 



9. Sch, Scia, Scie, Scio, Sciu, Scr, Sg, Sgh, Sq. 

 Italian. Pronounced. English. 



Schiatta skeeaht-tab. Issue, progeny, generation, 



race. 



Schietto skeee't-to Pure, unmixed, candid, sin- 



cere, ingenuous. 



Whistles. 



Gun. 



Froth, scum. 



Swarm of bees. 



Science. 



Stupid, a fool. 



He wastes, spoils. 



Camp-stool, folding-chair. 



Discord, quarrel. 



Bunch, coffer. 



A sow. 



I scrutinise. 



Error. 



A hector, bully. 



I sneer. 



Spot of ink. 



I get tired of. 



I shell. 



A square (instrument), squadron. 



fee'-skee 



skeeop-po 



Bkceoo-mah 



shiih-mai 



ehen-tsah 



shok-ko 



shoo-pali 



skrahn-nah 



skre-tseeo 



skrin-nyo 



skro-fah 



skroo-to 



zgahrr-ro 



zghi?rr-ro 



zghin-nyo 



zgorr-beeo 



zgoo-sto 



zgoo-sho 



skwah-drah 



Fischi 



Scliioppo 



Schiuma 



Sciamc 



Scienza 



Sciocco 



Sciupa 



Scrannct 



Screzio 



Scrigno 



Scrofa 



Scruto 



Sgarro 



Sgherro 



Sghigno 



Sgorbio 



Sgvsto 



Sgiiscio 



Sqiiadra 



I have repeatedly in these lessons marked the combinations 

 gua, gue, gui, guo, and the combinations qua, que, qui, quo, with 

 " gwah . . ." and " qwah ..." I must, however, warn the 

 reader not to give to the w in these cases the full and legitimate 

 sound of the English w, which is peculiar to the English lan- 

 guage. I might have marked these combinations " gvah . . ." 

 and " qvah . . . ," and so they are marked by the distinguished 

 grammarian, Abate Flario Casarotti, and other writers on Italian 

 grammar ; but the Italian v is a softer sound than the English 

 a kind of medium sound between the w and the English v. 

 On this account I have thought it more advisable to mark these 

 combinations with w instead of v, and if the reader will avoid 

 the peculiarity of the pronunciation of the English iv (pro- 

 nounced with a forward motion and instant withdrawal of the 

 lips), pronouncing it more like a softer v, he will approach the 

 true sound. 



Squtllo skwil-lo Sound, gimlet. 



Squoja skwo-yah He flays. 



Pasquale pah-skwah-lai Paschal. 



Risqwto ree-skwo-to I exact, I redeem, I shudder. 



Inclito in-klee-to Renowned. % 



