PRONUNCIATION OV

X, hi the terminations tnl and sel, when

preceded by a vowel, is pronounced like z, asnasal, ousel, housel, nousel,reprisal, proposal, re-fusal, and sharp and hissing when preceded Ly aconsonant, as mensal, universal, &c.

443. .S', in the terminations son, sen, and sin, ispronounced like z, as reason, season, treason, car-gason, diapason , orison, benison, venison, denison,foison, poison, prison, damson, crimson, chosen,resin, rosin, raisin, cousin- But the .v in mason ,bason, garrison, caparison, comparison, parson,and person, is sharp and hissing, 170.

444. S, after the inseparable prepositions preand pro, is sharp, as in presage, preside, presidial,preseance, prevention, prosecute, prosecution, pro-sody, prosopopeia, but riat like z in presence, pre-sident, presidency, presume , presumptive, pre-sumption ; but where the pre is prefixed to aword, which is significant when alone, the s isalways sharp, as prc-snppose, pre-surmise, &c.

445. .V, after the inseparable preposition re, isalmost always pronounced like 5 , as resemble, re-sent, resentment, reserve, reservation, reservoir,residue, resident , residentiary, reside, resign, rc-signment, resignation, resilience, resiliency, rest-lition, resin, resist, resistance, resolve, resolution,resolute, result, resume , resumption, resurrection.

446. S' is sharp after re in resuscitation, resupl-nation, &c and when the word added to it issignificant by itself, as research, resiege, reseat,resurvey. Thus to resign, with the s like g, sig-nifies to yield up; but to re-sign, to sign again,has the s sharp, as in sign: so to resound, to re-verberate, has the s like s ; but to re-sound, tosound again, has the ,s sharp and Hissing.

447. Thus we see, after pursuing this letter

through all its combinations, how difficult it oftenis to decide by analogy, when we are to pro-nounce it sharp and hissing, and when Hat like s.In many cases it is of no great importance : inothers, it is the distinctive mark of a vulgar ora polite pronunciation. Thus design is neverheard with the s like z but among the lowest or-der of the people ; and yet there is not the leastreason from analogy why we should not pro-nounce it in this manner, as well as in resign :the same may be observed of preside and desist,which have "the s sharp and hissing; and resideand resist, where the same letter is pronouncedlike z. It may, however, be remarked, that rehas the s like's after it more regularly than anyother of the prefixes. I

448. It may, perhaps, be worthy of observation, 1that though s becomes sharp or flat, as it is fol-lowed by a sharp or flat consonant, or a liquid,as cosmetick, dismal , disband, disturb, &e. yet if itfollows a liquid or a fiat consonant, except in thesame syllable, it is generally sliarp. Tims the sin tubs, suds, &c. is like z ; hut in subserve, sub-side, subsist, it is sharp and hissing : and, thoughit is flat in absohe, it is sharp in absolute, and ab-solution ; but if a sharp consonant precede, the sis always sharp and hissing, as tipsy, tricksy:thus in the pronunciation of the word Glasgow ,as the s is always sharp and hissing, we find theg invariably slide into its sharp sound k; andthis word is always heard as if written Glaskow .We see, therefore, that a preceding shar p con-sonant makes the succeeding s sharp, but not in-versely.

449. S is always sharp and hissing when follow-ed by c, except in the word discern .

S aspirated, or sounding like sh, or zh.

450. S, like its fellow dental t, becomes aspi-rated, and goes either into the sharp sound sh, orthe flat sound zh, when the accent is on the pre-ceding vowel, and it is followed by a semi-con-sonant diphthong, as nauseate, or a diphthongalvowel, as pleasure, pronounced nansheate andplezhure, 195.

451. S, in the termination slow, preceded l.y av owel, goes into the fiat aspir ation zh, as evasion,cohesion, decision,confusion, pronounced evazhion,«c. ; but when it is preceded bv a liquid, or an-other s, ithas the sharp aspiration .vA.as expulsion,dimension, reversion, pronounced expulshion, &c.

452. The same may be observed of .v before 11 :'^nen-a vowel precedes the s, with the accent on

• the a goes into the flat aspiration, as pleasure,insure, treasure, rasure pronounced, plezhure.

THE CONSONANT T 45

&c. ; but when preceded by a liquid, or anothers, it is sounded sh, as sensual, censure, tonsure ,pressure, pronounced svnshual, censhure, &e.

453. From the clearness of this analogy, wemay perceive the impropriety ot pronouncingAsia with the sliarp aspiration, as if writtenAshia ; when, by the foregoing rule, it ought un-doubtedly to be pronounced -\zhia, rhyming withArpasia, euthanasia, &c. with the flat aspirationof z. This is the Scotch pronunciation of Litis word, and unquestionably the true one: but if |mistake not, Persia is pronounced in Scotland with the same aspiration of s, and as if writtenPerzhia ; which is as contrary to analogy as theother is agreeable to it.

454. The tendency of the .9 to aspiration beforea diphthongal sound has produced several ano-malies in the language, which can only be de-tected by recurring to first principles: for whichpurpose it may be necessary to observe, that theaccent or stress naturally preserves the lettersin their true sound ; and as feebleness naturallysucceeds force, so the letters, immediately afterthe stress, have a tendency to slide into differentsounds, which require less exertion of the organs.Hence the omission of one of the vowels in thepronunciation of the last syllable of fountain,mountain, captain, &c. COS : hence the shortsound of i in respite, servile, &c ; hence the .»pionounced like z in disable, where the accent ison the second syllable; and like .9 sharp andhissing in disability, where there is a secondarystress on the first syllable ; and lienee the dif-ference between the x in exercise, and that inexert ; the former having the accent on it, beingpronounced cks, as if the word were writtenecksercise; and the latter without the accent,pronounced gz, as if the word were wi itten egzcrt.Tliis analogy leads us immediately to diseovetthe irregularity of sure, sugar, and their compounds, which are pronounced share and shugar,though the accent is on the first syllable, anilought to preserve the ,9 without aspiration ; anda want of attending to this analogy lias betrayedMr. Sheridan into a series of mi-<tukes in thesound ot s in the words suicide, presume, resume,&e. as if wriuon s/ioo-icidt, pre-zhoom, re-zhouni,&e. : but it this is the true pronunciation of thesewords, it may be asked, why is not suit, suitable,pursue, See. to be pronounced shoot, shoot-able’pur-shoo ? &c. If ii be answered, Custom ; l ownthis decides the question at once. Let usonly beassured, that the best speakers pronounce a likeo, and that is the true piommciation : but thosewho see analogy so openly violated, ought to beassured of the certainty of the custom beforethey break through all the laws of-language toconform to it, G9, 71.—See Superable.

455. We have seen, in a great variety of in-stances, the versatility of s, how frequently itslides into the sound of g .- but my observationgreatly fails me if it ever takes the aspiration,unless it immediately follows the accent, excep.in the words sure, sugar, and their compounds;and these irregularities are sufficient, withoutadding to the numerous catalogue we have al-ready seen under this letter.

456. The analogy we have just been observingdirects us in the pronunciation ot usury, usurer,and usurious. The two first have the accent onthe first syllable, which permits the s to go intoaspiration, as if the words were written uzhuryand uzhnrer : but the accent being on the secondu in the last word, the s is prevented from goinginto aspiration, and is pronounced usurious, 479,480.

457. Though the .9.9 in passion, mission, &c. be-long to separate syllables, as it spelt passion,mission, &c. yet the accent presse- the first intotiie same aspiration as the last, and they are bothpronounced with the sharp aspirated hiss, as ifthey were but one s.-—Sec Exaggerate.

458 . 5 is silent in isle, island, aisle, demesne,puisne, viscount, and at the end of some wordsfrom the French , as pas, sous, vis d-vis ; and in

corp .9 the two last letters are silent, and the wordpronounced core, 412.

459. T ts the sharp sound of D, 41; but thoughthe latter is often changed into the former, the