DIFFERENT SOUNDS OF THE LETTER i.

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w© may conclude that the verb to bi-scct, andthe noun bisection, ought to have the * alend of the first syllable pronounced like buy, asMr. Scott and Dr Kenriek have marked it,though otherwise marked by Mr. Sheudan, Mr.Perry, and Buchanan. ,. . . ,

120. When the first syllable is chi, with the ac-cent on the second, the i is generally long, as chi-ragrical, chi-rurgick , chi-rurgeon, chi.rographist,chi-rographer, chi-rography . Chi-mera and chi-merical have the i most frequently short, as pro-nounced by Buchanan and Perry ; though other-wise marked by Sheridan, Scott, W. Johnston,and Kenriek ; and, indeed, the short sound seemsnow established. Chicane and chicanery, -fromthe French , have the i always short; or moreproperly slender.

121. Ci before the accent has the i generallyshort, as ci-vilian, ct-vility, and, I think, ciliciousand ci-ncrutent, though otherwise marked by Mr.Sheridan. Ci-barious and ci-tation have the i long.

122. Cli before the accent has the i long, ascli-macter ; but when the accent is on the thirdsyllable, as in climacterick, the i is shortened bythe secondary accent.—See 530.

123. Cri before the accent has the i generallylong, as cri-nigerous, criterion ; though we some-times hear the latter as if written cre-terion, butI think improperly.

124. Di before the accented syllable, beginningwith a consonant, has the i almost always shoit;as digest, digestion, digress, digression, dilute,dilution, dilution, dimension, dintensive, dimidia-tion, diminish, diminutive, diploma, direct, dire c-tioJi, diversify, diversification, diversion, diversity,divert, divertisement, divertive, divest, divesture,divide, dividable, dividant, divine, divinity, divisi-ble, divisibility, divorce, divulge. To these, I think,may be added, dicacity, didactick, dilacerate, dila-ceration, dilaniate, dilapidation, dilate, dilatable,dilatability, dilection, di lucid , dilucidate, dlluci-dation, dinetical, dinumeration, diverge, divergent,divan; though Mr. Sheridan has marked thefirst i in all these words long. Some of them mayundoubtedly be pronounced either way ; but whyhe should make the i in diploma long, and W.Johnston should give it both ways, is unaccount-able ; as Mr. Scott, Buchanan, Dr. Kenriek, Mr.Perry, and the general usage, is against them.JJiaresis and dioptricks have the i long, accordingto the general rule, 116, though the last is ab-surdly made short by Dr. Kenriek, and the diph-thong is made long in the first by Mr. Sheridan,contrary to one of the most prevailing idioms inpronunciation ; which is, the shortening powerof the antepenultimate accent, 503. Let it not besaid that the diphthong must be always long, sinceCeesarea and Dadalus have the a: always short.

125. The long i, in words of this form, seemsconfined to the following : Digladiation, dijudi-cation, dinumeration, divaricate, direption, dirup•tion . Both Johnson and Sheridan, in my opi-nion, place the accent of the word diduscalick im-properly upon the second syllable ; it shouldseem more agreeable to analogy to class it withthe numerous terminations in ic, and place theaccent on the penultimate syllable, 509 ; and, inthis case, the i in the first will be shortened bythe secondary accent, and the syllable pronouncedlike did. 527. The first i in dhnissory, markedtong l;y Mr. Sheridan, and with the accent on'ne second syllable, contrary Ui Dr. Johnson, isequally eironeous. The accent ought to be on^ie first syllable, and the i short, as on the adjec-' dim —See Possessory.

126. Pi before the accent ought always to beshort: this is the sound we generally give to the* in the first syllable of fi-delUy ; and why weshould give the long sound to the i in fiducialana fiduciary, as marked by Mr. Sheridan, Iknow not: he is certainly erroneous in markingthe first i i n frigidity long, and equally so inplacing the accent upon the last syllable of finite.Finance has the i short universally.

127. Giganticlc has the i in the first syllable al-ways long.

n,a*“* e «ret syllable always short. Thesamemart.!! ? bst ; r f ve l. 1 , ' f Mutinous, though otherwiseby Mr. Sheridan.

129. Mi lias the 1 generally short, as in minority,militia, monographer, minacious, minacity, mira-culous ; though the four last are marked with thelong i by Mr. Sheridan ; and, what is still morestrange, he marks the i which has the accent onit long in minatory; though the same word, inthe compound comminatory , where the * is al-ways short, might have shown him his errour.The word mimetick, which, though in very gooduse, is neither in Johnson nor Sheridan, ought tobe pronounced with the first i short, as if writtenmim-et-ick. The i is generally long in micrometer,micrography, and migration.

130. iVi has the i long in nigrescent. The first iin nigrification, though marked long by Mr. She-ridan, is shortened by the secondary accent, 527,and ought to be pronounced as if divided intonig-rifi-cation,

131. Phi lias the i generally short, as in philan-thropy, philippick, philosopher, philosophy, philoso-phize ; to which we may certainly add philoloeer,philologist , philology, philological, notwithstandingMr. Sheridan has marked the i in these last word#long.

132. Pi and pit hare the * generally short, a*ipilaster, pituitous,pilosity,plication. Piaster anapiazza, being Italian words, have the i short be-fore the vowel, contrary to the analogy of wordsof this form, 116, where the * is long, as in pi-uvu-lar, pri-ority, &c. Piratical has the i markedlong by Mr. Sheridan, and short by Dr. Kenriek.The former is, in my opinion, more agreeableboth to custom and analogy, as the sound of thei before the accent is often determined by thesound of that letter in the primitive word.

133. Pri has the i generally long, as in primeval,primevous, primitiul, primero, primordial, privado,privation, privative , but always short in primitiveand primer.

134. 1U has the i short, as in ridiculous. Higi-dity is marked with the i long by Mr. Sheridan,and short by Dr. Kenriek : the latter is undoubt-edly right. Rivality has the i long in the firstsyllable, in compliment to rival, as piratical hasthe i long, because derived from pirate. Rhino­ ceros has the i long in Sheridan, Scott, Kenriek,W. Johnston, and Buchanan; and short in Perry.

135. Si has the i generally short, as similitude ,siriasis, and ought certainly to be short in silicious(better written cilicious), though marked long byMr. Sheridan. Simultaneous, having the second-ary accent on the first syllable, does not comeunder this head, but retains the i long, notwith-standing the shortening power of the accent it isunder, 527.

130. Ti has the i short, as in timidity .

137. Tri lias the i long, lor the same reason ashi, which see 118, 119.

138. Vi has the i so unsettled as to puzzle thecorrectest speakers. The i is generally long invicarious, notwithstanding the short i in vicar.It is long in vibration , from its relation to vibrate.Vitality has the i long, like vital. In vivifick,vivificate , and viviparous, the first i is long, toavoid too great a sameness with the second. H-vaciotis and vivacity have the i almost as oftenJong as short; Mr. Sheridan, Mr. Scott, and Dr.Kenriek, make the i in vivacious long, and Mr.Perry and Buchanan short; Mr. Sheridan, Mr.Scott, and W. Johnston, make the i in the first ofvivacity long, and Perry and Buchanan short:but the short sound seems less formal, and mostagreeable to polite usage. Vicinity, vicinal, vi-cissitude, vituperate, vimineous, and virago, seemto prefer the short i. though Mr. Sheridan ha’marked the three last words with the first vowelong. But the diversity will be best seen bjgiving the authorities for all these words:Vicinity . Dr. Kenriek.

Vicinity. Mr. Sheridan, Mv. Scott, Buchanan,W. Johnston, and Perry.

Vicinal. Mr. Sheridan.

Vicissitude. Mr. Sheridan, Dr. Kenriek,W. John-ston, Buchanan, and Pern .Vituperate. Mr. Sheridan, Dr. Kenriek, W. Johnston.

Vituperate . Mr. Perry.

Vimineous. Mr. Sheridan.

Virago. Mr. Sheridan and W. Johnston.Virago. Dr. Kenriek, Mr. Scott, Buchanan,and Perry.

I have classed vicinal here as a word with the