ORGANIC FORMATION OF THE LETTERS AND VOWELS. if
vowel bo just, these two letters are so fat frombeing simple vowels, that they may more pro-perly be called semi-consonant diphthongs.
9. That y and u> are consonants when they begina word, and vowels when they end one, is gene-rally acknowledged by the best grammarians;and yet Or. Lowth has told us that w is equiva-lent to oo ; but, if this were the case, it would al-ways arimitof the particle an before it: for, thoughwe have no word in the lang« a ff® which com-mences with these letters, we plainly perceivethat, if we had such a word* it would readily ad-mit of an before it, and consequently that theseletters are not equivalent to iu. Thus we findthat the common opinion, with respect to thedouble capacity of these letters, is perfectly just.
10. Besides the vowels already mentioned, thereis another simple vowel sound found under the ooin the words woo and coo; these letters have, inthese two words, every property of a pure vowel,but when found in food, mood , &e. and in theword too, pronounced like the adjective two: herethe oo has a squeezed sound, occasioned by con-tracting the mouth, so as to make the lips nearlytouch each other; and this makes it, like the iand u, not so much a double vowel as a soundbetween a vowel and a consonant.
Classification of Vowels and Consonants.
11. Vowels and consonants being thus defined,it will be necessary, in the next place, to arrangethem into such classes as their similitudes andspecific differences seem to require.
• 12 . Letters, therefore, are naturally divisibleinto vowels and consonants.
13. The vowels are, a, e, i, o, u, and y and wwhen ending a syllable.
14. The consonants are, b, c , d,f, g, h,j, k, l, m,n, P> Q> v, s t f, x, z, and y and w when begin-ning a syllable.
15. The vowels may be subdivided into such asare simple and pure, and into such as are com-pound and impure. The simple or pure vowelsare such as require only one conformation of theorgans to form them, and no motion in the organswhile forming.
16. The compound or impure vowels are suchas require more than one conformation of theorgans to form them', and a motion in the organswhile forming. These observations premised, wemay call the following scheme
a pa-per,a fa-ther,a wa-ter,e me-tre,o no-ble,
06 COO,
1
1
simpleor purevowels.
i ti-tle, }y cy-der, fit lu-cid, fiopow-er,J
compoundor impurevowels.
Diphthongs and Triphthongs enumerated.
17. Two vowels forming but one syllable aregenerally called a diphthong, and three a triph-thong : these are the following:
an ,aw ,ay .
ea ,ee .ei ,
C®sar,
ew .
. . . jewel,
oy .
. aim,
ey .
. . . . they,
ue i
ia .
• . poniard,
taught,
ie .
. . friend,
uy .
io .
. . passion,
aye
. . say.
oa .
. . . . coat,
cau
clean,
. reed,
oe .oi ,
economy,
. . . voice,
toil
ceiling,
oo .
. . . moon,
iew
people.
on .
. . . found,
ocu
. feud,
ow .
. .. . now,
. .boj
.aetude
. . . languid
.... bu>
(for ever'. . beaut}plenteous. . . adiei... view
Consonants enumerated and distinguished intoClasses .
18. The consonants are divisible into mutesemi-vowels, and liquids.
wot a pure vowel, and constantly prefixed tarticle an before nouns beginning with this lett<as an union, an useful book. They were confirmin this opinion by finding the an always adaptto the short it, as an umpire, an umbrella, withi*ver dreaming that the short it is a pure vowan d essentially different from the long one. Imoderns, not resting in the name of a lett
19. The mutes are such as emit no sc. mid with-out a vowel, as b, p, t, d, k, and c and g hard.
20. The semi-vowels are such as emit a soundwithout the concurrence of a vowel, as f, v, s, z,x, g soft or j,
21. The liquids are such as flow into, or uniteeasily with the mates, as l, vi, v, r.
22. But, besides these, there is another classifi-cation of the consonants, of great importance toa just idea of the nature of the letters, and that is,into such as are sharp or flat, and simple or aspi-rated.
23. The sharp consonants are, p,f t It s, k, chard.
24. The flat consonants are, b, v, d, z, g hard.
25. The simple consonants arc those which havealways the sound of one letter unmixed withothers, as b, p,f, v, k, g hard, and g soft, or J.
2d. The mixed or aspirated consonants are thosewhich have sometimes a hiss or aspiration joinedwith them, which mingles with the letter, andalters its sound, as t in motion, d in soldier, s inmission, and x in azure.
27. Tlipre is another distinction of consonantsarising either from the seat of their formation, orfrom those organs which are chiefly employed informing them. The best distinction of this kindseems to be that which divides them into labials,dentals, gutturals, and nasals.
28. The labials are, b, p,f, v. The dentals are,t, d, s , z, and soft g or j. The gutturals are, k, q,c hard, and g hard. The nasals are, m, n , and ug.
29. These several properties of th'e consonantsmay be exhibited at one view in the followingtable, which may be called
Mu.c dental. }|{S ord iSSldl"’
Hii.ing dental, "» jlf&'ESJSSKV.
lisping dental. {£?&£$?*•
Guttural, k ^ gag }s«tM liquid
Deoto-gutlural or nasal ng, hang.
30. Vowels and consonants being thus definedand arranged, we are the better enabled to enterupon an inquiry into their different powers, asthey are differently combined with each other.But previous to this, that nothing may be want-ing to form a just idea of the first principles ofpronunciation, it may not be improper to show theorganic formation of each letter.
Organic Formation of the Letters.
31. Though I think every mechanical accountof the organic formation of the letters rather cu-rious than useful, yet, that nothing which can bepresented to the eye may be wanting to informthe ear, I shall in this follow those who havebeen at the pains to trace every letter to its seat,and make us, as it were, touch the sounds we ar-ticulate.
Organic Formation of the Vowels.
32. It will be necessary to observe that thereare three long sounds of the letter a, which areformed by a greater or less expansion of the in-ternal parts of the mouth.
33. The German a, heard in ball, wall, &c. isformed by a strong and grave expression of thebreath through the mouth, which is open nearlyin a circular form, while the tongue, contracting
and consulting their ears rather than their eyes,have frequently placed the a instead of an beforethe long u, and we have seen a union, a univer-sity, a useful book, from some of the most respect-able pens of the present age. Nor can we doubta moment of the propriety of this orthography,when we reflect that these words actually beginto the ear with y , and might be spelled younion,youniversity, youseful, and can therefore no moreadmit of an before them than year and youth.See Remarks on the Word An in this Dictionary*h