When is the first letter of a word it is sounded as z; as Xerxes, Xenophon, pronounced Zerxes, Zenophon.

In words of Latin origin, compounded of the preposition ex, whenever the syllable that follows begins with any sound excepting that of a sharp mute, and is also accented, a is sounded as gz-exért, exámple, &c. is pronounced egzert, egzample, &c.

In the French words billet-doux and beaux, the x has the French pronunciation, i. e. in the first it is omitted altogether, in the second it is sounded as z.

§ 291. Double Consonants.-Double consonants are of two

sorts.

a. Those that do not represent a really double sound, but which are doubled in writing, in order to signify that the vowel which goes before them is short; as well, pitted, smitten, &c.

b. Those which represent a really double sound; as un-natural, soul-less, &c. These only occur in those compound words wherein the first part ends in the same letter with which the other begins.

N.B.-Words like book-case are in this class, because the is really sounded as a second k.

с

§ 292. H and the combinations of h.-H is silent at the beginning of the following words :-heir, heiress, honest, honesty, honour, honourable, hour. In herb, herbage, hospital, humble, and hostler, it is sometimes sounded, sometimes mute. In humour, and its compound, the hu- is sounded yoo.

H is silent after r; as rhetoric, rheumatism, catarrh.
H in combination has two sounds.

a. After p, t, s, and c, when it occurs in the same syllable, it gives to the combination the power of the th in thin, the th in thine, the s in shine, and the ch (tsh) in chest respectively. Here it has no sound of its own, but alters that of the preceding mute.

b. When it follows any letter whatever in a different syllable, it is sounded; as hap-hazard, nut-hook, ink-horn, fool-hardy, Am-herst, &c. This combination occurs only in compound words when the second part begins with h. In such cases care should be taken to sound it.

Ph, sounded as f, is applied to etymological purposes only.

It represents the Greek 4, and is used exclusively in words of real or supposed, direct or indirect, Greek origin.

In nephew and Stephen the ph is sounded as v.

In diphthong and triphthong, it is usual to sound the p only; as dipthong, tripthong. There is, however, no good reason for not sounding the words as difthong, trifthong. The same applies to naphtha and ophthalmia. In apophthegm both p and h are silent. In sapphire the pronunciation is saffire. Phthisis and phthisical are generally sounded thisis and thisical. Nevertheless, fthisis and fthisical are preferable.

Th has two sounds,-1. that of the th in thin,-2. that of the th in thine. At the beginning of words it has the first sound, as thank, think, &c. Except in this, that, than, their, them, then, thence, there, these, they, thine, thither, those, thou, though, thus, thy, and their compounds.

At the end of words it has generally the first sound when it is quite final; as in death, breath: and the second when it is followed by e mute; as wreathe, bathe.

Th between two vowels is sounded as in thine when the word is of Anglo-Saxon origin; as father, feather, heathen, hither, thither, whither, whether, either, neither, weather, wether, wither, gather, together, mother.

Th between two vowels is sounded as in thin, when the word is of Latin or Greek origin; as apathy, sympathy, antipathy, Athens, atheist, authentic, author, authority, athirst, cathartic, cathedral, catholic, catheter, ether, ethics, lethargy, Lethe, leviathan, litharge, lithotomy, mathesis, mathematics, method, pathetic, plethora, polymathy, anathema, amethyst, theatre, amphitheatre, apothecary, apotheosis.

In Thomas, thyme, Thames, and asthma, the th is sounded

as t.

Sh has but one power, that of the sh in shine.

§ 293. The Compound Sibilants.-J is sounded as dzh, except in the single word Hallelujah, where it is pronounced as y

Unless the word be of Greek or French origin, the combination ch has the sound of tsh; as in child, chair, rich. Except when preceded by l or n, when it is sounded as sh, as bench,

filch. It has this latter sound, too, in most words of French origin chaise, chagrin, machine, &c.; but not in charity (tsharity).

In words derived from the Greek ch has the sound of k; as chalcography, chalybeate, chamaleon, chamomile, chaos, character, chasm, Chersonese, chimera, chirography, chiromancy, chyle, and its compounds; cachexy, catechism, catechise, catechetical, catechumen, echo, echinus, epoch, epocha, echoes, machination, machinal, mechanic, mechanical, orchestra, technical, anarch, anarchy, conch, cochleary, distich, hemistich, eunuch, monarch, monarchical, hierarch, heresiarch, pentateuch, stomach, stomachic, scheme, school, scholar, schesis, mastich, and in all words where it is followed by lor r; as chlorosis, Christ, Christian, chronology, chronical, &c.

Extract from Walker.-" When arch begins a word from the Greek language, and is followed by a vowel, it is always pronounced ark; as in archangel, archipelago, architect, archetype, archiepiscopal, archidiaconal, archæology. But when we prefix arch to a word of our own, and this word begins with a consonant, we pronounce it so as to rhyme with march-archduke, archdeacon, archbishop; and sometimes, when the following word begins with a vowel, if it is a composition of our own, and the word does not come to us compounded from the Greek or Latin, as arch-enemy."

Ache is in this class; although in Shakspeare it is sounded aitsh, and, on that account, is often so pronounced on the stage at present.

In ostrich, the ch is sounded like dzh; in schedule, as if the word was written shedule; in yacht and drachm it is silent; in schism the sch is sounded s.

In the Scotch word loch, the ch is also pronounced as k.

§ 294. NG has two sounds-1, that of the ng in king; 2, that of ng-g.

a. The former is found in adjectives in y, formed from substantives in -ng, as spring-y; in participles in ing from verbs in -ng; as bring-ing; and, lastly, in substantives in er from verbs in -ng; as sing-er.

b. The latter is found in all words not formed by the addition of any inflectional or derivational syllable; as finger, anger,

anguish, unguent, sounded fing-ger, ang-ger, ung-guent: and in the comparative and superlative inflections of adjectives in ng; as long, longer, longest, young, younger, youngest, sounded long, long-ger, long-gest, young, young-ger, young-gest. Thus, a person who longs after a thing is a long-er, but a measure of six feet is long-ger than one of five.

When the g following n is sounded as j, n is pronounced as in kin; as stin-gy—stin-jy.

CHAPTER III.

ACCENT.-EMPHASIS.-QUANTITY. PERMUTATION AND

TRANSITION OF SOUNDS.

§ 295. Accent.-IN the word tyrant a certain amount of stress is laid upon the first syllable. In the word presume there is a stress on the second syllable. This stress is called accent. The circumstance of a syllable bearing an accent is sometimes expressed by a mark ('), in which case the word is said to be accentuated, i. e. to have the accent signified in writing.

Words accented on the last syllable-Brigáde, preténce, harpoón, reliéve, detér, assume, besoúght, beréft, before, abroád, abóde, abstrúse, intermix, superádd, cavalier.

Words accented on the last syllable but one-An'chor, ar'gue, hásten, fáther, fóxes, smíting, húsband, márket, vápour, bárefoot, archangel, bespátter, disáble, terrífic.

Words accented on the last syllable but two-Regular, dote, for tify, suscéptible, incontrovértible.

anti

Words accented on the last syllable but three (rare)—Réceptacle, régulating, tálkativeness, ábsolutely, lúminary, inévitable, &c.

To understand still more clearly the nature of accent, the following sentences should be read aloud, and particular attention should be directed to the words in italics, as well as to the marks over them. If this be done, it will be observed that in each pair of sentences the same word occurs, twice; but it will also be noticed that there is a difference in the pronunciation. The first time that each word occurs, the accent is on the first syllable; the second time it occurs it is on the last. Furthermore, the word that is accented on the first syllable is a noun; the word that is accented on the second is a verb. Hence it is seen