eco 
' - yon=John), was generally pronounced Lanyén, the y being a con- 
sonant ; occasionally, always in the case of Lanyon coit, we say 
Lanyon, the y being a vowel like thezin lion. The Brétons, whose 
language is more akin to the Cornish than to the Irish, only deviate 
from this pronunciation in giving 7 the sound of e in their Lannion. 
In Ireland it was pronounced Lanyon. In Cornwall, as in the rest 
of England, in the phrase “not long ago,” for instance, the emphasis 
would be placed on the last syllable; but, by the Irish it would 
be placed on the word Jong.—Dr. BARHAM said the subject to 
which Dr. Jago adverted was one of wide application, and well 
worth attention. In Italy, for instance, the ordinary language 
in the north had a general similarity to French, both in the 
pronunciation given to vowels and in the accentuation of terminal 
syllables. And the explanation of this fact, given by Dr. 
Edwards, was that the habits of organs of speech as originally 
applied to Celtic languages, had been transferred to the more 
modern Italian. On the same principle, the ancient Cornish 
habits of speech had been transferred, in Cornwall, to the pro- 
nunciation of English. The subject was, in all respects, a very 
interesting one for inquiry. It was not confined to the county at 
- large, in comparison with other parts of England; but there were 
marked differences between the pronunciations of like words in 
different districts within the county ; distinctive habits of speech 
originating in remote antiquity having been carried on through 
succeeding generations.—The PRESIDENT said there were magis- 
trates in the Penzance district who had told him that, with their 
eyes shut, they could tell from what particular parish in that 
locality witnesses came, so great were the diversities of speech in 
that small area. He, himself, knew a farmer who said “ Buryan 
Churchtown” in two syllables.—Rev. H. S. SLicHT considered 
that much of the local corruption of speech was due to the dis- 
position to substitute easier words for those of like meaning which 
were more difficult of pronunciation. For example, the word 
farrow (a young pig) was reduced, in Cornwall, to vear ; the furrow 
end of a plough was called the vore end; and a “handful” was 
called a yaffel. 
Mr. WHITLEY made some observations concerning a portion 
of an Inscribed Stone, which he had recently discovered built into 
a hedge about half-a-mile on the Mabe side of Burnthouse. “Mr. 
Whitley presented a drawing of it, and suggested that possibly 
the other portion of the stone might be found in the neighbour- 
hood. He had not yet attempted to decipher the inscription. 
Mr. WHITLEY also presented to the Institution Five Charts of 
the surface Temperature of the Sea between Hull and Hamburgh, 
