On the Letter ' k.' 
129 
as particular, connection, where the second syllable is accented, the 
first syllable is habituallj^ pronounced by careless speakers as in per ■ 
tinent or curtailment. (I do not speak of such words as sardonic, 
largesse, tornado, which are as yet hardly ever used but by educated 
persons). But even in fully accented syllables r exercises to a con- 
siderable extent the same influence on a preceding vowel. Few 
speakers among us — not being Scotch or Ii'ish — make any distinction 
between fir and /wr, earn and urn, &c. Can any further account be 
given of this fact ? 
This at least may be stated. If we attempt to sound either the 
xibrant or the non-vibrant r without a vowel, we can scarcely, if at 
all, do so. We almost unavoidably prefix a dull short vowel sound 
much like the French e muet, or the Sanskrit a.* The mouth is 
already in just the position for this sound. If we sound ear or Erith, 
the tongue is more extended for the vowel than for the consonant, and 
must be drawn back. If we sound oar or oration, the lips are some- 
what more protruded for the vowel than the consonant demands. In 
sounding are, the mouth is opened wider for the vowel than it is for 
the r. When, however, we sound err, earnest, urge, the only change 
requisite in passing from the vowel to the r is to raise the tip of the 
tongue a little, and in some instances to vibrate it. There is thus 
shown to exist a natural afiinity between the vowel sound in question 
and the r. 
We have above discussed the insertion of r in certain cases : it 
should also be noted, that in some few instances it has disappeared. 
Thus, in Devonshire, we hear at times pretty mutilated into pootty, 
which is apparently thus to be accounted for, — it being premised that 
Bosworth (s. v. prcete) gives sufficient evidence that the r here is ra- 
dical. Now there is a strong tendency in the Devonshire dialect to 
change the places of an r and its following vowel — of which more 
anon. Thus we get^wrfy. This metathesis eflected, the r is dropped, 
simply, I suppose, because it is easier to pronounce a single conso- 
nant than two together ; just as we omit the I in calm. Pretty is the 
only word, so far as I remember, in which the Devonshire dialect 
drops the vibrant r, but the non-vibrant r is omitted in many more, 
as vusty bust, for first, burst ; cuss, wuss, for curse, worse ; vuz for 
furze ; hoce, foce, scace, cooce, for hoarse, force, scarce, course ; 
Thesday for Thursday ; aith and weth, for earth and worth, &c. 
But again we have the vibrant r omitted in Yay-w^u = fra{n)g-o, 
break, brech-en, &c. ; speech — A.S. sprcec. Germ. Sprache, &c. And 
so Livy and other Roman writers speak of the 'Vaaiva by the name 
of Eirusci or Tasci, using those forms without distinction. That the 
• In thus alluding to these foreign sounds, I do not mean to imply that they 
are the precise equivalents of our a in Rosa and beggar : the e of the French le 
renard venait verges rather (though very slightly) towards our oo, and the a of 
dharmma towards our ah. 
