402 
Dante, Petrarca, and Boccaccio, was moft 
fingularly neglected by the learned. What 
then fhall we jay, when a profeffed critic 
is ignorant of fo ftriking a circumitance ? 
Why, that his acquaintance with literary 
history is well parallelled by the profundity 
of political knowledge which he difplays 
in gracirg the fowexcign of the Milane fe 
with the title of ¢ Emperor of Milan,’ 
It would be unreafonable, however, to 
expect all manner of accomplifhments from 
a gentleman of this critic’s fianding, who, 
at the time when he undertook to eflimate 
the character of literary productions, and 
to decide upon the comparative value of 
various branches of knowledge, had not 
completed the firft fefiion of his medical 
ftudies. In one of his juvenile years, a 
profound and accurate acquaintance with 
hirerary history would be a phenomenon 
indeed. Excufing him, theretore, for not 
bein \g aware that at the time when Poggio 
wrote, Italian compofition was out of 
fathion, I fhall take the liberty of exprefs- 
ing my hope, that he will learn, in procefs 
of time, that it is a dangerous experiment 
to intrude upon the public flourifhes upon 
fubjects which he has not duly examined. 
From the generality of men, indeed, the 
public do not demand or expect literary 
exertions. ‘Il ieur pardonne aisement 
q@avoir peu defprit, pourvu qu’ils ne 
vewillent pas lai faire accroire quwils en 
ont beaucoup.”* Frem critics by. pro- 
feflion, however, we jufly demand ma- 
trricy of judgment and a previous know- 
ledge of the fubjeéts of which they un- 
dertake to treat. When thefe requifites 
are wanting, ignorance will betray itlelf, 
and the aflumption of the lion’s {kin wiil 
be no difguile to an ignable animal. When. 
it 1s difcovered, for inflance, that this 
juvenile cenfor is the Aristarchus who 
affigns as a reafon for looking down with 
contempt upon the literature of the 15th 
century, that young men were at tbat 
period occationally invited to exercife the 
office of inttruétion, who can refrain from 
{miling to fee bis fhaft recoii upon him- 
feif ? JY thail conclude by obferving, that 
when 1 find this. gentleman fupe rcilioufly 
configning tu oblivion’ the writings .of 
thofe who adorned that period, I am 
ftrongly tempred to addrefs him in the 
words of the old proverb, and to affure 
him that ** Ariftotle is not fuch a fool as 
, thofé who never read his works take him 
to be.” i remain your fincere well-wifher, 
WiLLiam SHEPHERD. 
To the itu of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
‘fT is acknowledged that the pronuncia- 
di tion of no language is 1o vague and 
~~ 
On Fariations and Miftakes in Pronunciation 
: 
| Nov. dy 
anomalous as that of the Englith; a de- 
fe€t not only extremely inconvenient to 
foreigners in learning it, but to ourfelves, 
who are expofed to perpetual miftakes and 
variations in words of rare ufe or foreign 
e ymology. 
in particular are liable to conftant mis- 
pronunciation, on account of the different 
founds affixed to the fame letters in the 
Englith, and in emoft other languages; 
and as it is now very rightly made a rule 
to. give to proper names, as nearly as poffi- 
ble, the fame enunciation that they have in 
their native countries, a perfon little ac- 
quainted with that circumftance, is conti- 
nually fubjeét to be laughed at for his 
lunders. Nothing but a good pronours 
cing dictionary can entirely correct this 
evil, 
miftake may be ufefully pointed out. 
There is a great difference among the 
learned themfelves, refpeéting words of 
Greek origin. Thefe have ufually come 
to us through a Latin medium, and there. 
fore have followed our mode of pronoun- 
cing the Latin... Thus, the Greek & (x) 
being converted into c, has had the found 
of s before the vowels ¢ and 7, as Cebes 
for Keves. In like manner, the Greek ¢ 
(vy); which is always hard, has been - 
foftened into dj before the fame vowels. 
A friend of mine, who had taught him- 
felf Greek, was once put out of counte- 
nance ina laa company by mentioning 
Ariltode as the Stagyrite, which he pro- 
nounced as if it had been Stagyerite. He 
was very uncerimonioufly told, that he 
fhould fay Stadgerite. My friend re- 
monftrated that the word came imme~ 
diately from the Greek Zleyuge, that it 
had nothing to do with the Latin, and 
that the native Englifh and Greek cor- 
refponded in this found of the g. But his 
reafoning had no effect againft the cuftoin | 
of the public fchools ; and ‘he bas ever fince 
been afiaid to venture upon a Greek name 
before a claffical {cholar. I find, how- 
ever, that there is now a party in favour 
of giving fuch words their true pronun- 
ciaticn, and I have been edifed by hearing 
heterogheneous and Ipbighenia from a deeply. 
learned mouth. Asthe matter, however, 
is.yet fub judice, 1 can give no determin-~ 
ate rule about it. A century may pro- 
bably elaple before propriety, in this cafe, 
gets the better of cuitom. 
French words are another ftumbling- 
block. It is in vain to give any rules for 
their prorunciation to one who does not 
underitand the language, but I fhall make 
a remark or two on fome words tranfmit- 
ted through the medium of the French, 
The Eng! ith reader fhould be apprized 
that the French cb founds #2, and fhould 
never 
Proper and technical words, 
but I think a few general fources of 
mars f 
