LESSON XXIV.

In the formation of the consonants, the tube or passage of the voice is closed at three different stations; at the lips, at the anterior part of the hard palate (or roof), and at its posterior part. Consonants formed at the first station are called labials; those formed at the second station, dentals or linguo-dentals; and those at the third, gutturals or palatals.

Utter the list of consonants in Lesson XIX., and tell at which station each is formed. To which station will you assign v? y? hw? 1? r?

While uttering the sounds b, d, and g, the pupil has been cautioned against allowing a resonance in the nasal cavity. When this is allowed while the lips are in contact as for forming b, m is sounded and not b. M is properly called nasal; it is also labial. Each other station also furnishes a nasal. The second, closed as for d, gives n; and the third, closed as for g, gives n. In what respect does m differ from b? n from d? n from g?

With one closure of the first station we can form the combination, mb; with one of the second, nd; and with one of the third, ng. In pronouncing cabman, amber, candy, goodness, younger, the stations are not opened between b and m, n and d, n and g; but the former consonant is left without being articulated, that is, it is not disjoined from the succeeding consonant element. So of double consonants: though in chilly we give less time to the I than in coolly, in felly (a felloe) less than in felly (fiercely), and less to the nn in pennon than in penknife, yet even in the latter we do not articulate two Ï's or two n's. We dwell upon the former consonant for a moment, and then, without opening the station, give a new impulse, thus forming the latter perfectly.

It is well in representing penknife, coolly, &c., phonetically, to write the consonant twice, distinguishing the utterance from that of the duplicate consonants in banner, folly, &c., which are strictly simple in power.

Few persons need be cautioned lest they form the habit of over-exactness in enunciation. It would be a violation of good usage, however, fully to enunciate the closing element of the adjective in uttering the phrase small larch, or the k in the phrases dark green and black cobbler.

Pronounce the following expressions with due regard to smoothness on the one hand, and freedom from ambi

guity on the other: this sail; his tears; his precepts are recorded; last still night; lasts till night; from more than nine; all left this city; God's commands.

Represent and Analyze stagger, phlegmatic, unnatural, accent, soulless, missile, misspell, mission, breadths, hundredths, allotted, appetite, acquiesce, currency, wheyey, rapine (not ē), sacrilege, sacrilegious (ē), ordinance, ordnance.

LESSON XXV.

There are certain syllables, mostly terminal, which contain no vowel-sound. These usually, perhaps always, contain the letter or n; thus, table, given, mantle, deacon,-pronounced ta-bl, giv-n (not giv-en), man-tl,

dē-kn.

Pronounce bl, dl, fl, gl, kl, pl, sl, tl, vl, zl.

Pronounce, with the vowel, bel, del, fel, gel, kel, pel, sel, tel, vel, zel. Now, alternately with and without, bl, bel, dl, del, fl, fel, gl, gel, kl, kel, pl, pel, sl, sel, tl, tel, vl, vel, zl, zel. Do this until you can readily omit or insert the vowel at will.

Most words ending in el have the e sounded. Indeed, the following list contains all the common words ending in el in which the e is silent. Memorize the list, carefully avoiding the utterance of either "short e" or "short u before the 7. Remember that in all other words ending in el the e is sounded.

E before 7 is silent in chattel, drivel, easel, grovel, hazel, mantel, navel, ravel, shekel, shovel, shrivel, snivel, swingel (g), swivel, teazel, weazel, and their derivatives.

Pronounce vl, vil, zn.

zin.

I before terminal 7 or n is commonly sounded; but it is suppressed in the words devil, evil, weevil, basin, cousin, raisin.

O is sounded (as "short u") in Briton, cordon, diapason (z), ebon, horizon, piston, ribbon, sexton, tendon, wanton; also (as o) in pentagon, hexagon, heptagon, octagon, &c. When terminal on is preceded by c or k, as in deacon, bacon, beckon, the o is suppressed; also in many other words.

Represent and Analyze sword, sward, slough, stanchion, sovereignty, audacious, audacity, rapacious,

civil, matin, doughty, compromise, indict, tunnel, presentiments, courte-sy, quarrelsome, exordium (sonant x).

LESSON XXVI.

Pronounce vn, ven, tn, ten, dn, den, shn, shen, ln, len, pn, pen, fu, fen. The termination en, unlike el, usually drops the e. E before n is sounded in aspen, chicken, hyphen, gluten (ū), kitchen, lichen (īk), linden, marten, mitten, rowen, sudden, and in any word not a participle, in which terminal en is preceded by l, m, n or r—as pollen, women, woolen, omen, cognomen, linen, siren.

All participles in en (except, possibly, bounden), all verbs of this ending in which the en means "to make," and all adjectives in which the terminal en signifies "made of," suppress the e; thus, given, gladden, wooden. The adjective yewen, made of yew, is a necessary exception, as to make the e silent would reduce the word to a monosyllable. Find three words to illustrate each of these three classes.

Represent and Analyze spirit, tortoise, Palestine, Niagara, isolate, widen, patent, pretty (not e), amenably, soften, barrel, legible, linguist, Xenophon, suffice, sacrifice, discern, tournament (e), joust, pommel (not o).

LESSON XXVII.

C, s, and t are often equivalent to the sound of sh, and are then said to be "aspirated," as in dimension, censure, ocean, negotiation. This takes place only when the consonant is immediately followed by e, i, or ū—vowels intimately related to the vowel-consonant y. [If the pupil would know why the element y should have this effect, let him attempt to pronounce in quick succession pres-yus, kō-ers-yun, lez-yur, e-vāz-yun.]

Of the three elements, s, y, and sh, which is formed with an intermediate position of the tongue?

S is also said to be "aspirated" when it has the sound of zh. This occurs in the termination sion when preceded by a vowel, as in collision, evasion; also in many words in which terminal sure or sier is preceded by an accented

vowel, as in treasure, leisure, osier, and in ambrosia, elysium, scission, and their derivatives.

The changing of t or ti to ç, thus kwes-chun for kwestyun, is authorized, as is also the substitution of j for d or di, as in sōljer for sold-yer. In oral drill, however, it is well to aim at a pronunciation not less rigorous and labored than that employed in dignified discourse. Our leading orthoëpists, while countenancing the pronunciation indicated in the second column below, more heartily approve that of the first.

Say kwest-yun rather than kwes-çun.

söld-yer
fer-nit-yür
krist-yan

66

sōl-jer.
fer-ni-çur.

For kuv-e-çus and te-jus there is no defense: say kuvet-us, tēd-yus.

Pronounce without the "aspirate," calceated, caseous, osseous, roseate, enthusiast, odious; with the "aspirate," issue, conscientious, nausea, pronunciation, denunciation, enunciation, facial (in two syllables), oceanic, tissue, visual; also prescious (pre-shi-us), prescience (pre-shi-ens).

Represent and Analyze covetous, tedious, tremendous, satiate, sumac, sugar, officiate, partiality, plenteous, onerous, beauteous, licorice, osseous, noxious, mensuration, issue, mechanician, manufactory, usury, figure.

LESSON XXVIII.

In

In sceptic and schirrous, c has the sound k. In discern, sice (six), suffice, and sacrifice, it has the force of z. all other English words, when followed by e, i, or y, and not" aspirated," it has the sound s, as in reciprocity, and is called " c soft."

G, when followed by e, i, or y, has the sound j, and is said to be soft. Fortunately for the learner, the exceptions to this rule, though many, are chiefly words which he hears every day, such as geese, longer, gift, foggy. The following exceptions may be less familiar: gelding, gewgaw, conger, gibber, gibberish, gibbous, gimbals, geest, gerrymander, geyser.

When h intervenes between e, i, or y and a preceding g, the g is hard, as in ghee, burgher, gherkin.

Blamable is from blame, the final e of the primitive

being dropped; so, too, in reversible, receivable. Why not from change, manage, peace, and trace, write changable, peacable, &c.?

Ch has three values in English, as exemplified in the three lists below:

1. Child, chaff, chalk, chap, char, check, cherry, chest, chicken, church, churl, charm [from the Anglo-Saxon]; chance, chair, chalice, challenge, chamber, champion, chain, chancel, chancery [from the French, but modified].

2. Chaise, chagrin, challis (s silent), chamois, (s silent), champagne, charade, chenille, chevalier, chicanery, chute [from the French, and still retaining the French sound of ch].

3. Character, chameleon, chalybeate, chaos, parochial, archetype, bronchitis, chirography, magna charta, choral, chronicle, chyle [from the Greek or Latin].

Represent and Analyze dost, tertiary, apothegm, apothegmatic, February, conjuror, sacrament, chasten, portentous, sagacious, nether, giaour, cosmetic, elongate, humor, humble, hospital, herb, hostage, geyser.