syllables, have received the name of obscure. The vowels taat precede the unaccented r in friar, speaker, elixir, nadir, mayor, actor. martyr, &c., might, with respect to sound, be as well written friur, speakur, elixur, &c. The Italicized vowels in the following words, intricate, palace, countenance, minute (when a noun), abom. "ble, &c., have an obscure sound. The sound of a, when an indefinite article, is generally obscured; also that of e in the; although many orthoëpists mark the e in this word as long. 112. In obscuring a vowel sound, in words of more than one sylla. ble, we simply make it, by a few shades, less decidedly the sound which it would be if the syllable in which it occurs were accented For example, in the word tyrant, if the last syllable were accented instead of the first, we should give to the a the precise sound of a in man. But as the syllable in which a here occurs is not the accented syllable, we obscure the a, simply because we gain in ease and rapidity of utterance by so doing. 113. Let it not be supposed, however, that every unaccented sylla ble has its vowel sound obscured. There should be a proper discrim ination here. In the following words the Italicized vowel sounds in the unaccented syllables ought not to be obscured: motto, hero, thorough; sorrow, fellow, window; barrow, crocodile, profane; cohere, opposite, syllogism; domestic, apology, philosophy; philology, goodness, anthem; dividend, engraver, deputy; vigil, emulate, educate; humane, augury, statue; virtue, obsolete, council, latin; urchin, monument, genuine; decency, appetite, desolate, &c. 114. In such words as the following, the vowel which we Italicize may be obscured in the pronunciation: * abase, abound, amaze; cabal, data, comma; villa, china, umbrella; diploma, enigma; husband, verbal, compass; ribald, interval, equally; instantly, penalty, valiantly; temperance, countenance, nobleman; command, conduce, complete; parrot, blossom, cherub; nation, felon, demon; unison, myrmidon, marmalade; laudanum, skeleton, feasible; grammar, robber, nadir; martyr, author, sulphur; ac, lustre, falter; dignitary, assemblage, profligate; mănor, murmur, satyr.. 115. An attempt to avoid this obscurity in certain words, and to give to unaccented vowels a precise sound, often leads to a formal and * Most of the vowel sounds of a and o here obscured should, according to some orthoëpists, have the regular short sounds of a in man, o in cet, &o But present polite usage, both in England and in this country, is decidedly averse to any such precision in the enunciation of this class of rounds, although Walker's authority may favor it. stiff mode of utterance. But in obscuring the vowel sounds, 1 not fall into the opposite error of perverting them. For instance, in uttering the word husband, do not make the a degenerate into ur, in avoiding the stiffness of too close an adherence to the sound of a in hat. See remarks in the note on page 19. 116. The sound classed by modern orthoëpists as intermediate a lies between the short sound of a in fat and the Italian a in father. Intermediate a occurs in a class of words in frequent use, to which class belong the following: advance, after, alas, ask, basket, command, clasp, class, dance, dastard, glass, waft, mastiff, pass, &c. The a in these words should not be pronounced as broadly as the a in father; nor should it have the precise short sound of a in man, fat. 117. We have seen (33 and 34) that e is often mute or unsounded, especially at the ends of words. The final letters le, and often also el and en, are pronounced without any distinct vowel sound; as in bible, thistle, able, table, drivel, bidden, dozen, heaven, &c.; pronounced bib'l, bidd'n, &c. The same peculiarity attaches tc the le and en in the following and some similar words: peopled, bridled, saddled, trifles, christened, hastened, saddened, &c.; pronounced pee-pl'd, bri-dľ'd, tri-flz, sad-d'n, &c. It has been seen, however, (¶ 33) that there are a number of words in which the sound of e in el and en should be retained. Always, when in doubt, consult the dictionary. QUESTIONS. 106. What consonant letter modifies the short sounds of the vowels? 107. Illustrate the effect of r. 108. What effect does it have on short a and o? 109. In the case of the other short vowels, what are they called when they come under this influence of r? 110. Is the long sound of a affected when followed by r? 111, 112. What is meant by obscure vowel sounds? 113. Are vowels in unaccented syllables always bscured? 114. Mention some words in which the vowel may be obscured 115. What are ought to be taken in obscuring vowel sounds? 116. What is said of intermediate a 117. Of the final letters le and en? LESSON IX. SIMPLE CONSONANT SOUNDS, AND COMBINATIONS. 118. In the following Exercise, the consonant sounds occur in their order in the Table on page 18, and though they are given with only one vowel letter, it is intended that they should be sounded with all the vowel sounds in their order in the same Table. For example, a Is to be first sounded, throughout the entire Exercise, like the a in father ; then, like the a in fat, &c.; and after the sounds of a have been enounced, the fifth elementary sound, the sixth, seventh, eighth ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth, and the first, second, third and fourth compound vowel sounds, are to be practised in the same way 119. Should the pupil, from having only one representative vowel letter before his eye in the text, be backward in applying the various vowel sounds to the consonant combinations given in the following Exercise, let him write out on a slate the same series of consonant combinations, changing the vowel letter as may be required, and numbering its sound according to the Table on page 18. Thus, when the eleventh elementary sound is to be practised, let him substitute oo for a in the following combinations, wa, ya, ha, ah, ang, ma, am. &c., writing instead of them, woo, yoo, hoo, ooh, oong, moo, oom, &c.; and place the number 11 over the Exercise, to show which elementary vowel sound is under consideration. 120. The first elementary sound (that of a in father) should first be given to the vowel throughout the following Exercise. Where the r is Italicized, it is to be trilled, according to the rule in ¶¶77; where it is not Italicized, it is to have its smooth sound. Where th is Italicized, it is to have its vocal sound (the 20th elementary sound) as in thine. Where th is not Italicized, it is to have its aspirate sound, as in thin. Where z is Italicized, it is to have the sound it has in azure. Where z is not Italicized, it is to have the sound it has in zeal. G has the sound it has in give; ch, its sound in chest. EXERCISE V.- -Wa, ya; ha, ah; ang; ma, am, mam; na an, nan; la, al, lal; ar, ra; pa, ap, pap; ba, ab, bab: fa, af faf; va, av, vay: tha, ath, thath; tha, ath, thath: ta, at, tạt, da, ad, dad: ka, ak, kak; ga, ag, gag: sa, as, sas; za, az, zaz: sha, ash, shash; za, az, zaz: cha, ach, chach; ja, aj, jaj. 121. The preceding combinations may be practised with much advantage; and they may be so varied as to afford a great variety of exercise in articulation, by compounding them as if to form words, and then changing the arrangement of the syllables and the accents: thus, in the combination ip'-it-ik-if, the arrangement may be varied to it-if-ik-ip, &c. The black-board and the slate will be found serviceable in multiplying these exercises. Give to the following the first sound of the several vowels first; then the second, &c. EXERCISE VI. Ap-at-ak; if-ith-iss-ish; eb-ed-eg; iv-ith-iziz; il-im-in-ing; ep-et-ek; op-ot-ok; ta-ka, fa-tha, da-ga, bada-ga, pap-tat-kak pa-fa; tha-sa; pa-fa-pa; pa-fa-fa-pa; ba va-ma-pa-wa; lil-nin; lil-nin-lil; nin-lil-nin, nillin-rinnel; rillin linnel; pip-tit-kik-shish; sis-thith-fif; bib-did-gig-zig; thithviv-lil-nim; thith-ith-thith; ra-ar-rar; sha-tha-sa; sha-sa-tha; tha-sa-sha; tha-sha-sa, &c. 122. In the following Exercise on combinations of consonant sounds let the word containing the combination first be distinctly enounced, and then the combination by itself, urtil practice shall make the enunciation easy. Thus, at the beginning, let the word doom'd be enounced, and then that portion of it only which is represented by the letters md. The initial portions of the consonant combinations are here given in the order which the consonant sounds occupy in the Table on page 18. Where an apostrophe is placed in the examples, a letter that ought to be unsounded is omitted. EXERCISE VII. COMBINATIONS OF CONSONANT SOUNDS. Md, mdst, mz, mp: doom'd, doom'dst, tombs, imp. mst, mpst, mfs, mtst: com'st, thump'st, triumphs, prompt si. nts, ntst, ns, nst: taunts, taunt'st, wince, canst. nth, nths, nch, ncht, nsh: plinth, months, flinch, flinch'd, avalanche lb, lbd, lbz, ld: bulb, bulb'd, bulbs, hold. Idz, ldst, lj, ljd: holds, hold'st, bulge, bulg'd. lm, lmd, Imz, In: whelm, whelm'd, whelms, fall'n. lv, lvd, luz, lz: shelve, shelv'd, shelves, halls. lk, lks, lkt, kts: silk, silks, mulct, mulcts. l, rlst, rld, rldst: hurl, hurl'st, hurl'd, hurl'dit. rødst, 1vz, rz, rk: curvdst, curves, wares, hark. rst, rsts, rth, rths: burst, bursts, hearth, hearths pl, plst, pld, pldst :* pluck, ripple, rippl'st rippl'd, rippl`dst. plz, pr, pt, pts: ripples, prim, crypt, crypts. ps, pst, pth, pths: whips, whipp'st, depth, depths. bd, bdst, bl, blst: robb'd, daub'dst, black, trouble, troubl'st f, fist, fd, fldst: flame, trifle, trifl'st, trifl'd, trifl'dst. thn (th aspirate), thnd, thnz: strength'n, strength'n'd, strength'ns tht, thndst, ths, thr: betroth'd, length'n'dst, truths, throb. thd (th vocal), thz, thst: wreath'd, wreaths, wreath'st. tl, tlst, tld, tldst: settle, settl'st, settl'd, settl'dst. tlz, tr, ts, tst: settles, trust, combats, combat'st. dl, dlst, dlz, dn: kindle, kindl'st, kindles, hard'n. dnst, dnd, dndst, dnz: hard'n'st, hard'n'd, hard'n'dst, hard'ns. dr, dz, dst, dth, dths: dread, deeds, didst, breadth, breadths. kl, klst, kid, kidst truckle, truckl'st, truckl'd, truckl'dst. klz, kn, knst, knd : truckles, black'n, black'n'’st, black'n'd. kndst, knz, kr: black'ndst, black'ns, crime. kt, kts, ks: rocked, acts; racks, axe, six. ga, gast, gl, glst fagg'd. fagg'dst, glow, mangle, mangl'st. sl, slst, sld, sldst. slay, nestle, nestl'st, nestl'd, nestl'dst. *The Cognate Consonant Sounds commence with p and b, and are alter nately aspirate and vocal. See T 24. |