The Art of Writing & Speaking the English Language Part 2

_Ow_ and _oi_ are called proper diphthongs, as the two vowels combine to produce a sound different from either, while such combinations as _ei, ea, ai,_ etc., are called improper diphthongs (or digraphs), because they have the sound of one or other of the simple vowels.

3. In the preceding paragraphs we have given all the distinct vowel sounds of the language, though many of them are slightly modified in certain combinations. But in many cases one vowel will be given the sound of another vowel, and two or more vowels will combine with a variety of sounds. These irregularities occur chiefly in a few hundred common words, and cause the main difficulties of spelling the English language. The following are the leading subst.i.tutes:

ew with the sound of _u_ long, as in _few, chew,_ etc. (perhaps this may be considered a proper diphthong);

e (_e, e_) with the sound of _a_ long, as in _fete, abbe,_ and all foreign words written with an accent, especially French words;

i with the sound of _e_ long, as in _machine,_ and nearly all French and other foreign words;

o has the sound of double _o_ long in _tomb, womb, prove, move,_ etc., and of double _o_ short in _wolf, women,_ etc.;

o also has the sound of _u_ short in _above, love, some, done,_ etc.;

u has the sound of double _o_ long after _r,_ as in _rude, rule_;

it also has the sound of double _o_ short in _put, pull, bull, sure,_ etc.;

ea has the sound of _a_ long, as in _great_; of _e_ long, as in _heat_; of _e_ short, as in _head_; of _a_ Italian (ah), as in _heart, hearth,_ etc.;

ei has the sound of _e_ long, as in _receive_; of _a_ long, as in _freight, weight_; sometimes of _i_ long, as in _either_ and _neither,_ p.r.o.nounced with either the sound of _e_ long or _i_ long, the latter being the English usage;

ie has the sound of _i_ long, as in _lie,_ and of _e_ long, as in _belief,_ and of _i_ short, as in _sieve_;

ai has the sound of _a_ long, as in _laid, bail, train,_ etc., and of _a_ short, as in _plaid;_

ay has the sound of _a_ long, as in _play, betray, say,_ etc.;

oa has the sound of _o_ long, as in _moan, foam, coa.r.s.e,_ etc.

There are also many peculiar and occasional subst.i.tutions of sounds as in _any_ and _many_ (a as e), _women_ (o as i), _busy_ (u as i), _said_ (ai as e), _people_ (eo as e), _build_ (u as i), _gauge_ (au as a), _what_ (a as o), etc.

When any of these combinations are to be p.r.o.nounced as separate vowels, in two syllables, two dots should be placed over the second, as in _nave_.

4. The chief modifications of the elementary sounds are the following:

before _r_ each of the vowels _e, i, o, u,_ and _y_ has almost the same sound (marked like the Spanish n) as in _her, birth, honor, burr,_ and _myrtle; o_ before _r_ sometimes has the sound of _aw,_ as in _or, for,_ etc.;

in unaccented syllables, each of the long vowels has a slightly shortened sound, as in f_a_tality, n_e_gotiate, int_o_nation, ref_u_tation, indicated by a dot above the sign for the long sound; (in a few words, such as d_i_gress, the sound is not shortened, however);

long _a_ (a) is slightly modified in such words as _care, fare, bare,_ etc., while _e_ has the same sound in words like _there, their,_ and _where_; (New Englan{d}? people give _a_ the short sound in such words as _care,_ etc., and p.r.o.nounce _there_ and _where_ with the short sound of _a,_ while _their_ is p.r.o.nounced with the short sound of _e_: this is not the best usage, however);

in _pa.s.s, cla.s.s, command, laugh,_ etc., we have a sound of _a_ between Italian _a_ and short _a_ (indicated by a single dot over the _a_), though most Americans p.r.o.nounce it as short, and most English give the Italian sound: the correct p.r.o.nunciation is between these two.

The Sounds of the Consonants. We have already seen that there are two cla.s.ses of consonant sounds, those which have a voice sound, as _b,_ called _sonant,_ and those which are mere breath sounds, like _p,_ called _surds_ or aspirates. The chief difference between _b_ and _p_ is that one has the voice sound and the other has not. Most of the other consonants also stand in pairs. We may say that the sonant consonant and its corresponding surd are the hard and soft forms of the same sound. The following table contains also simple consonant sounds represented by two letters: _Sonant Surd_ b p d t v f g (hard) k j ch z s th (in _thine_) th (in _thin_) zh (or z as in _azure_) sh w y l m n r h

If we go down this list from the top to the bottom, we see that _b_ is the most closed sound, while _h_ is the most slight and open, and the others are graded in between (though not precisely as arranged above). These distinctions are important, because in making combinations of consonants in the same syllable or in successive syllables we cannot pa.s.s abruptly from a closed sound to an open sound, or the reverse, nor from a surd sound to a sonant, or the reverse. _L, m, n,_ and _r_ are called liquids, and easily combine with other consonants; and so do the sibilants (_s, z,_ etc.).

In the growth of the language, many changes have been made in letters to secure harmony of sound (as changing _b_ to _p_ in _sub-port--support,_ and _s,_ to _f_ in _differ_?from _dis_ and _fero_). Some combinations are not possible of p.r.o.nunciation, others are not natural or easy; and hence the alterations. The student of the language must know how words are built; and then when he comes to a strange word he can reconstruct it for himself. While the short, common words may be irregular, the long, strange words are almost always formed quite regularly.

Most of the sonants have but one sound, and none of them has more than three sounds. The most important variations are as follows:

C and G have each a soft sound and a hard sound. The soft sound of _c_ is the same as _s,_ and the hard sound the same as _k_. The soft sound of _g_ is the same as _j,_ and the hard sound is the true sound of _g_ as heard in _gone, bug, struggle_.

Important Rule. _C_ and _G_ are soft before _e, i,_ and _y,_ and hard before all the other vowels, before all the other consonants, and at the end of words.

The chief exceptions to this rule are a few common words in which _g_ is hard before _e_ or _i_. They include?_give, get, gill, gimlet, girl, gibberish, gelding, gerrymander, gewgaw, geyser, giddy, gibbon, gift, gig, giggle, gild, gimp, gingham, gird, girt, girth, eager,_ and _begin_. G is soft before a consonant in _judgment{,} lodgment, acknowledgment,_ etc. Also in a few words from foreign languages _c_ is soft before other vowels, though in such cases it should always be written with a cedilla (c).

N when marked n in words from the Spanish language is p.r.o.nounced _n-y_ (canon like _canyon_).

Ng has a peculiar nasal sound of its own, as heard in the syllable _ing_.

N alone also has the sound of _ng_ sometimes before _g_ and _k,_ as in _angle, ankle, single,_ etc. (p.r.o.nounced _ang-gle, ang-kle, sing-gle_).

Ph has the sound of _f,_ as in prophet.

Th has two sounds, a hard sound as in _the, than, bathe, scythe,_ etc., and a soft sound as in _thin, kith, bath, Smith,_ etc. Contrast _breathe_ and _breath, lath_ and _lathe_; and _bath_ and _baths, lath_ and _laths,_ etc.

S has two sounds, one its own sound, as in _sin, kiss, fist_ (the same as _c_ in _lace, rice,_ etc.), and the sound of _z,_ as in _rise_ (contrast with _rice_), _is, baths, men's,_ etc.

X has two common sounds, one that of _ks_ as in _box, six,_ etc., and the other the sound of _gs,_ as in _exact, exaggerate_ (by the way, the first _g_ in this word is silent). At the beginning of a word _x_ has the sound of _z_ as in _Xerxes_.

Ch has three sounds, as heard first in _child,_ second in _machine,_ and third in _character_. The first is peculiar to itself, the second is that of _sh,_ and the third that of _k_.

The sound of _sh_ is variously represented:

by _sh{,}_ as in _share, s.h.i.+ft, s.h.i.+rt,_ etc.

by _ti,_ as in _condition, mention, sanction,_ etc.

by _si,_ as in _tension, suspension, extension,_ etc.

by _ci,_ as in _suspicion_. (Also, _crucifixion_.)

The kindred sound of _zh_ is represented by _z_ as in _azure,_ and _s_ as in _pleasure,_ and by some combinations.

Y is always a consonant at the beginning of a word when followed by a vowel, as in _yet, year, yell,_ etc.; but if followed by a consonant it is a vowel, as in _Ypsilanti_. At the end of a word it is {al}ways a vowel, as in all words ending in the syllable _ly_.

Exercises. It is very important that the student should master the sounds of the language and the symbols for them, or the diacritical marks, for several reasons:

First, because it is impossible to find out the true p.r.o.nunciation of a word from the dictionary unless one clearly understands the meaning of the princ.i.p.al marks;

Second, because one of the essentials in accurate p.r.o.nunciation and good spelling is the habit of a.n.a.lyzing the sounds which compose words, and training the ear to detect slight variations;

Third, because a thorough knowledge of the sounds and their natural symbols is the first step toward a study of the principles governing word formation, or spelling and p.r.o.nunciation.

For purposes of instruction through correspondence or by means of a textbook, the diacritical marks representing distinct sounds of the language afford a subst.i.tute for the voice in dictation and similar exercises, and hence such work requires a mastery of what might at first sight seem a purely mechanical and useless system.

One of the best exercises for the mastery of this system is to open the unabridged dictionary at any point and copy out lists of words, writing the words as they ordinarily appear in one column, and in an adjoining column the phonetic form of the word. When the list is complete, cover one column and reproduce the other from an application of the principles that have been learned. After a few days, reproduce the phonetic forms from the words as ordinarily written, and again the ordinary word from the phonetic form. Avoid memorizing as much as possible, but work solely by the application of principles. Never write down a phonetic form without fully understanding its meaning in every detail. A key to the various marks will be found at the bottom of every page of the dictionary, and the student should refer to this frequently. In the front part of the dictionary there will also be found an explanation of all possible sounds that any letter may have; and every sound that any letter may have may be indicated by a peculiar mark, so that since several letters may represent the same sound there are a variety of symbols for the same sound. For the purposes of this book it has seemed best to offer only one symbol for each sound, and that symbol the one most frequently used. For that reason the following example will not correspond precisely with the forms given in the dictionary, but a study of the differences will afford a valuable exercise.