of the English, is much more observable in words from the Hebrew. Greek and Latin words are fixed in their pronunciation, by a 15. It is remarkable, that all words ending in ias and iah have the accent on the i, with out any foundation in the analogy of Greek and Latin pronunciation, except the very thousand books written expressly upon the vague reason that the Greek word places the accent on this syllable. I call this reason vague, because the Greek accent has no influence on words in ael, iel, ial, &c., as Ισραήλ, Αβδιήλ, Βελιάλ, κ. τ. λ. Hence we may conclude the impropriety of pronouncing Messias with the accent on the first syllable, according to Labbe, who says we must pronounce it in this manner, if we wish to pronounce it like the French with the os rotundum et facundum: and, indeed, if the i were to be pronounced in the French manner like e, placing the accent on the first syllable seems to have the bolder sound. This may serve as an answer to the learned critic, the editor of Labbe, who says, "the Greeks, but not the French, pronounce ore rotundo:" for though the Greeks might place the accent on the i in Mɛooías, yet as they certainly pronounced this vowel as the French do, it must have the same slender sound, and the accent on the first syllable must, in that respect, be preferable to it; for the Greek i, like the same letter in Latin, was the slenderest of all the vowel sounds. It is the broad diphthongal sound of the English i, with the accent on it, which makes this word sound so much better in English than it does in French, or even in the true ancient Greek pronunciation. 16. The termination aim seems to attract the accent on the a, only in words of more than three syllables, as Ephraim and Mix ra-im have the accent on the antepenultimate; but Ho-ro-na'im, Ram-a-tha'im, &c., on the penultimate syllable. This is a general rule: but if the Greek word has the penultimate long, the accent ought to be on that syllable, as Phar-va'im, Papoviμ, &c. 17. Kemuel, Jemuel, Nemuel, and other words of the same form, having the same number of syllables as the Greek word into which they are translated, ought to have the accent on the penultimate, as that syllable is long in Greek; but Emanuel, Samuel, and Lemuel,* are irrecoverably fixed in the antepenultimate accentuation, and shew the true analogy of the accentuation of our own language. 18. Thus we see what has been observed of the tendency of Greek and Latin words to desert their original accent, and to adopt that [Not Lemuel; which is frequently pronounced with the penultimate accent. Emarnel and Samuel are so completely anglicised as to render the Hebrew and Greek pronunciation intolerable to an English ear.-Edit.] subject, and ten thousand occasions of using them; but Hebrew words, from the remote antiquity of the language, from the paucity of books in it, from its being originally written without points, and the very different style of its poetry from that of other languages, afford us scarcely any criterion to recur to for settling their pronunciation, which must therefore often be irregular and desultory. The Septuagint, indeed, gives us some light, and is the only star by which we can steer; but this is so frequently obscured, as to leave us in the dark, and to force us to pronounce according to the analogy of our own language. It were to be wished, indeed, that this were to be entirely adopted in Hebrew words, where we have so little to determine us; and that those words which we have wom into our own pronunciation were to be a rule for all others of the same form and termination; but it is easier to bring about a revolution in kingdoms than in languages. Men of learning will always form a sort of literary aristocracy; they will be proud of the distinction which a knowledge of languages gives them above the vulgar, and will be fond of shewing this knowledge, which the vulgar will never fail to admire and imitate. The best we can do, therefore, is to make a sort of compromise between this ancient language and our own; to form a kind of compound ratio of Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and English, and to let each of these prevail as usage has permitted them. Thus Emanuel, Samuel, Lemuel, which, according to the Latin analogy and our own, have the accent on the antepenultimate syllable, ought to remain in quiet possession of their present pronunciation, notwithstanding the Greek Eupavový, Σaμovýλ, Aεμovýλ; but Elishua, Esdrelon, Gederah, may have the accent on the penultimate, because the Greek words into which they are translated, Eλiσovè, Eodpyλwv, radnpa, have the penultimate long. If this should not appear a satisfactory method of settling the pronunciation of these words, I must entreat those who dissent from it to point out a better: a work of this kind was wanted for general use; it is addressed neither to the learned nor the illiterate, but to that large and most respectable part of society who have a tincture of letters, but whose avocations deny them the opportunity of cultiVating them. To these a work of this kind cannot fail of being useful; and by its utility to these, the author wishes to stand or fall. PRONUNCIATION OF SCRIPTURE PROPER NAMES. INITIAL VOCABULARY. ++ The figure annexed to the words refer to the rules prefixed to the Vocabulary. Thus the figure (3) after Ab'di refers to Rule the 3d, for the pronunciation of the final i: and the figure (5) after A-bis'a-i refers to Rule the 5th, for the pronunciation of the unaccented ai; and so of the rest. For the quantity of the vowels indicated by the syllabication, see Nos. 18 and 19 of the Rules for Greek and Latin Proper Names. Aaron.-This is a word of three syllables in Labbe, who says it is used to be pronounced with the accent on the penultimate but the general pronunciation of this word in English is in two syllables, with the accent on the first, and as if written A'ron. Milton uniformly gives it this syllabication and accent: Abram or Abraham-The first name of two syllables was the patriarch's original name, but God increased it to the second, of three syllables, as a pledge of an increase in blessing. The latter name, however, from the feebleness of the h in our pronunciation of it, and from the absence of the accent, is liable to such an hiatus, from the proximity of two similar vowels, that in the most solemn pronunciation we seldom hear this name extended to three syllables. Milton has but once pronounced it in this manner, but has six times made it only two syllables: and this may be looked upon as the general pronunciation. T Adonai.-Labbe, says his Editor, makes this a word of three syllables only: which, if once admitted, why, says he, should he dissolve the Hebrew diphthong in Sadai, Sinai, Tolmai, &c. and at the same time make two syllables of the diphthong in Casleu, which are commonly united into one? In this, says he, he is inconsistent with himself.-See Sinai. Amen.-The only simple word in the language which has necessarily two successive accents.-See Critical Pronouncing Dictionary under the word. * Anathema-Those who are not acquainted with the profound researches of verbal critics, would be astonished to observe what waste of learning has been bestowed on this word by Labbe, in order to shew that it ought to be accented on the antepenultimate syilable. This pronunciation has been adopted by English scholars; though some divines have been heard from the pulpit to give it the penultimate accent, which so readily unites it in a trochaic pronunciation with Maranatha, in the first Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians: "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema-maranatha." Areopagus.-There is a strong propensity in English readers of the New Testament to pronounce this word with the accent on the penultimate syllable, and even some foreign scholars have contended that it ought to be so pronounced, from its derivation from "Apsos mayar, the Doric dialect for any, the fountain of Mars, which was on a hill in Athens, rather than from "Apsos rayos, the hill of Mars. But Labbe very justly despises this derivation, and says, that of all the ancient writers none have said that the Areopagus was derived from a fountain, or from a country near to a fountain; but all have confessed that it came from a hill, or the summit of a rock, on which this famous court of judicature was built. Vossius tells us, that St. Augustine, De Civ, Dei, 1. x. cap. 10, calls this word pagum Martis, the village of Mars, and that he fell into this error because the Latin word pagus signifies a village or street; but, says he, the Greek word signifies a hill, which, perhaps, was so called from mayà or any, (that is, fountain,) because fountains usually take their rise on hills. Wrong, however, as this derivation may be, he tells us it is adopted by no less scholars than Beza, Budæus, and Sigonius. And this may show as the uncertainty of etymology in language, and the security of general usage: but in the present case both etymology and usage conspire to place the accent on the antepenultimate syllable. Agreeably to this usage, we find the prologue to a play, observe, that The critics are assembled in the pit, + Asmadai.-Mr. Oliver has not inserted this word, but we have it in Milton: On each wing Uriel and Raphaël his vaunting foe, Par. Lost, b. vi. v. 265. whence we may guess the poet's pronunciation of it in three syllables; the diphthong sounding like the ai in daily. See Rule 5, and the words Sinai and Adonai. * Azazel.-This word is not in Mr. Oliver's Lexicon: but Milton makes use of it, and places the accent on the second syllable: that proud honour claim'd Bar'sa-bas Bar'ta-cus Bar-thol'o-mew Bar-ti-me'us Ba'ruch (6) Bar-zil'la-i (5) Bas'ca-ma Bas'lith Bas'math Par. Lost. b. i. v. 534. Azazel as his right; a cherub tall. See Canaan, Aaron, aud Israel. |