HARD WORDS MADE EASY BULKS FOB ACCENTING AND PRONOUNCING ENGLISH 5 WITH INSTRUCTIONS HOW TO PRONOUNCE FRENCH, ITALIAN, GERMAN, DANISH, DUTCH, SWEDISH, NORWEGIAN, AND OTHER FOREIGN NAMES. NEW l T ORK : DICK & FITZGERALD, PUBLISHERS NO. IS ANN STREET. ■VM & * P H&t HARD WORDS MADE EASY. COMMON ERRORS IN THE USE OF VOWELS. \Ve shall presume that the reader knows the uses of vowels suf- ficiently to require no list of vowel sounds. Some common errors, however, prevail, even among persons of tolerable education, as to the uses of vowels, and especially of vowel combinations. Broad sounds of vowels should be avoided as vulgar, and contracted sounds as affected. For instance, it is common to hear such words as cof- fee, coffer, and God, pronounced as though they were written corfee, corfer, Gord, &c. ; a little attention to the distinction between the* long, broad sound of corf, and the short one of cof, would remedy such decided vulgarisms. Again; grass, glass, pass, distaff, and many other words having a in the same sound as in man, accept, chapman, &.c., get pronounced as if they were spelt grahss, glahss, pahss, and so on ; the a having too broad a sound, and hence a vul- gar effect There is no necessity to refine till the opposite extreme is reached, and say grayse, glayse, and payse, but the medium be- tween a and ah is easily attainable. Londoners have the. best possible opportunity for acquiring a cor rectness of pronunciation, having constantly before them the models of modern, elegant English ; yet they have peculiarities quite as in- correct as any provincialism. The letter a at the end of a word is constantly perverted into er ; as Marier for Maria ; ideer for idea. Wo hear also such sounds as woold, coold, and shoold, instead of would, could, and should, in each of which we lose the l , but do not gain [ 3 ] HARD WORDS MADE EASY. in return an excessive prolongation of the ou as oo in good society. The compound oi is terribly handled by many who really know bet- ter. We hear that the kettle is blling, or that Mr. So-and-so has died ofplson. Such a disfigurement of our mother tongue may do with the comic gentleman who sings “ Villikins and his Dinah, ” but •is a, common and lamentable vulgarism. Again : we hear a person complain of the headache, which he says is owing to the boil ; an- other complains by bewailing the grievance of a bile on his gums. Both these parties are wrong ; and as the error is very common, we give here the several words and their meanings from “ Walker.” Bile , a bitter liquor, separated in the liver, and collected in the gall bladder. Boil, a sore angry tumor, terminating in a pustule. The word bile, as the equivalent of boil, a pustule, has been used, but is now obsolete. Oi, except as a diagraph, in English has only one sound, which is the same as oy in boy. Spoil and soil are words sub- ject to a similar distortion into spile and site, pronunciations which bespeak vulgarity. The compounds eu and ew, are frequently con- verted into oo, and we hear of Toosday, dooty, J00, brooing, &c. ; while the simple u, when combined with consonants, suffers all man- ners of vocal transformations. Thus we hear the word impure pro- nounced as if it were spelt impjjor, censure becomes ccnsyor, and jointure, juncture, and other similar words suffer the same indignity. Yet the sound impure cannot be difficult to any one ; nor indeed are there many of those who murder our mother tongue in this w r ay but know 7 better while they do it. Ow is sometimes abused, mid. fellow becomes feller ; pillow, pillar, fyc. ERRORS IN THE USE OF CONSONANTS. The abuse of consonants is quite as great. Syllables w T hich ter- minate words are frequently converted into brief nasal sounds, as if the person speaking had a cold, and could not articulate l, n, or ng , upon any account. The guttural sound of r gets annihilated in board, form, cord, ford, &c., so that w r e hear instead, baud, fawm, caud; Ac. ; while law, saw, paw, and claw get converted into lor, eor, por, and clor. % PRINCIPLES OF PRONUNCIATION. On the other hand, a pedantic affectation is equally annoying, and certainly more reprehensible. Vulgarisms may arise from igno- rance, but those who indulge in that excess of refinement which leads them to say quality instead of quality , and many other of the like eccentricities, deserve the severest censure, because usually they know better. Some of our public speakers, who push accura- cy of utterance beyond a wholesome limit, get the habit of trilling the r so much that one would think that they washed to be thought unlettered Irish peasants. A slight trill of the r, wdiere it is not mute, is both necessary and pleasing, but to say star-r-rs, kindr-r- red, afah-r-r, in place of star, kindred, and afar, is almost as bad as that custom of minor theatricals, who think the acme of elocution to consist in the practice of introducing y or u between certain syl- lables, so as to render kind, kyind ; card, kyard ; girl, gyurl ; com- pensate, kyompensate, and so on. But affectation, though more blameable than vulgarity, because more capable of absolute correct- ness, is yet the less obnoxious of the two. We would rather hear the excesses of refined pronunciation, than the vulgarisms that too frequently assail us ; though a medium accuracy is that which dis- tinguishes the man of equal good sense and culture, regardful of the rights of letters and syllables, yet avoiding that elaboration which gives the stamp of pettiness to pedantry. PRINCIPLES OF PRONUNCIATION. The Aspirate . — The aspirate is never heard in English except at the beginning of syllables ; where it occurs neglect of it marks the speaker as unfit for good society. In the following words it is mute ; and when the indefinite article precedes the noun, it should, for each of the following words, be an— humble, honest, heir, honor, hostler, humor, and hour. The aspirate usually begins a word ; but wlien preceded by a w , it is a common English error to drop the h. Thus wheat is pronounced weat ; whig , wig. In these, and all sim- ilar words, the h should be clearly aspirated. Where h begins a syllable not at the commencement of a word, it must nevertheless 6 HARD WORDS MADE EASY. be sounded, but when it does not begin a syllable it is always mute, as in Brahma, Dahlia, and others of a similar character. With re- gard to the last word, it may be useful here to note that it is pronounced daylia, not darlia, but the ah in Brahma, have the same sound as in the interjection ah ! In regard to the placing of the article an before words which commence with vowels, Mr. Smart* insists on its disuse before words which begin with u ; and for this reason, that the true sound of the vowel u, ue, or ui, is the same as the syllable yoo, and w'e might as well say, “ an youthful face/' as say, “an useful book.” Many modern writers, however, keep to the letter of the law ; and, inas- much as u is certainly a vowel, continue to write “ an universal law” — “an Utopian scheme” — “an ubiquitous man,” &c., «fcc. But before all words commencing with h not aspirated, an must be used as the indefinite article, as, an honest man — an hour after, &c. Before words commencing with h aspirated, the article a, as, a hope, a hunter, &c. The article is the same in both cases, the form only being changed to accommodate the h that follows. Sh. — When the sound sh occurs before the sound of y in such words as sure , shyure, it is usual, in polite society, to say shoor, because of the difficulty we experience in giving the consonant y its vowel sound after sh. Hence, in the termination tion , it is absurd to attempt to preserve the full y sound, and make shyon of it ; we must suffer the y to be absorbed, though a very slight tone of the y should be preserved in such words as social. Where the absorp- tion of y is not insisted on in Dictionaries, it adds a grace and polish to the tongue to suffer t to slide in. Zh never commences a word in English, but its sound is met -with in French in those words which commence with the consonant j, as je, jambe, &c. Use of Consonant g. — This is one of the difficulties of conversa- tion and reading with those whose education has been somewdiat scanty. It is usually soft before e or i, but hard before a , o , m, or a consonant. For instance, ge and gi , soft like j — genus, gerand, gen- erous, gentian, gentleman, geography, &c. — gilliflower, gin, gingle, * Smart’s English Plition of Walker. PI INCIPLES OF PRONUNCIATION. 7 &c. — ga, go, and gu hard, like g in gammon, gabardine, gabion, gallinaceous, gomphosis, gordian, guillotine, grunsel, guttural, &c. The sound of g is irregular in such words as judgment, abridgment, &c., but when these words are spelt correctly, the e, following the g, gives the necessary hint for sounding the g softly. It is an inno- vation very injurious to write these words without the e in the mid- dle; as judgement and abridgement — it is incorrect and prejudicial to pronunciation. Mr. Smart says, “ In the parent language of modern English, g seems to have been regularly hard before e, i, and y, and, it is still so in geek, geese, geld, and its relations ; get, as a verb, and its compounds and relations ; and also as a common termination, as in drugget , if not preceded by d ; in gewgaic, finger, monger , and generally in the termination ger in old Saxon words and others not related to words in which g is soft, or in which the g is not preceded by d, in gib , gibout , gibber, gibberish , gibbous , giddy , gig , giggle, giglot, gild, gill, gimblct, gimmal, gird , and its relations. Generally it is a rule that g is hard in any common ter- mination affixed to a word in which it was previously hard, as in ragged, dragger, drugger, dagger, craggy, &c. On the same prin- ciple the g may be hard in laryngeal or laryngean, from their rela- tionship to larynx (lar-ingks). G is hard in gingham and gingly- moid, but soft in gymnasium, gymnosophist, gypsum, gypsey, gyve, and gyre. Before n, g usually becomes mute, as gnome (nome), gnomiometricai (the measurement of angles in crystals) pronounced no’-meo-met-re-kl. In gnostic the g is also mute, and we say nos ? -tic. The sound of ng requires delicate management. In Lancashire they add another g to w 7 ords ending ng, and instead of saying king, they say king-g. Yet where ng finishes a syllable not at the end of a word, it is necessary to discriminate where to break the w r ord asunder in uttering it, and whether to add another g. In pronouncing singer, for instance, it is correct to say sing er , but finger must be pronounced finger. Ch , sch, h, ek. — The first sound of eh is soft, as in church, and is really a compound of tch . With this form there is no difficulty. The second form, sch, is somewhat more puzzling. In schism the s gives its own sound to the word sizm, but in scheme and its rela- d HARD WORDS MADE EASY. tions we have the sound of sk, as we have also in sceptic, which is correctly pronounced skeptic, though all other English words com- mencing see have the soft sound of scene. All English words com- mencing sea have the harsher sound approaching to sk, as in scavenger. It is an important point i i words commencing with ch soft to note whether we are to use the sound of tch or sh. As no definite rule can be given, we here present the reader with a list of all words commencing with ch which take the sound of sh. SH. Chabasito — shab’-a-cite — a variety of zeolite. Chad — shad — a fish. Chagreen— sha-green’ — rough-grained leather. Chagrin — sha-grin’ — ill-temper, vexation. Chaise — shaiz — a light carriage. Chamade — sha-mahd’ — the beat of a drum denoting a surrender. Chamois — sham’- wall— a species of goat. Champagne — sham-pane’— a wine produced at Champagne in France. Champaign — sham-pane’— an open country. %* This word often occasious a difficulty. It is sometimes, and indeed more commonly, spelt campaign — an open country, a plain — and then must be pronounced kam-pane, but when spelled with ch pronounced sham-pane, as described. Some persons read cham- paign kam-pane, which is incorrect. Champerty— sham-per’-ty — a division of land. Champertor — sliam-per’tor — one who moves suits and pursues them, in order to share in the proceeds. Champignon — sham-pin’ -yon — a small kind of mushroom. Chancre — shang-cur’ — an ulcer. Chandelier— shan’ -de-leer’ — a suspended branching apparatus for candles or other lights. Chanson — slmung’-song — a song. Chaperon — shap’-er-ong — the hood of a knight. PRINCIPLES OF PRONUNCIATION. 9 Charade — sha-rade’ — a riddle formed of the numerical division of words. Charlatan — shar’-la-tan — a quack. Chasseias — slias’-se-las— a kind of grape. Chateau— shah-to’ — a country-house. Chatoyant — sha-toy’-ant — having a changeable lustre. Chauinontelle — sho,-mcn-ter — a kind of pear. Chemise— shem-eez’ — a shift ; in military phrase a wall that lines a bastion. Cheval — shev-val’ — a horse, in the plural. Chevaux — shev-vo — horses ; whence ehevaux de-fiize — shev-vo- der-freez — a piece of timber or stone traversed with spikes ; liter- ally frizzled horses. Chevalier — shev-a-leer’ — a horseman, a knight. Chivalry — shiv’-al-ry — the system of knighthood. Chivalrous — shiv’-al-rus ) t, i • , i Chivalric — sliiv-nl’-ric [ Eelatm S to clllvalr > ' * * Note the difference of accent in these two words. Chevisaiice — shev’-e-zance — enterprise. Chevron— shev’-ron— an heraldic figure. Chicane — she’-cane — a trick, a piece of cunning. Chiminage — sliim’-e-nage — a toll for passage through a forest. We have omitted, in the. above list, those words which spring from the roots contained in the list, such as chicanery, from chicane, &c., because their pronunciation follows the same rule as their roots. We now give a complete list of those words wherein the sound of k is given to the initial ch, some of the derivations being omitted. K. Chalcedony — kal-sed’-o-ney — a precious stone of the agate kind. C haloography — kal-cog’ -ra-fey — eng raving on brass. Chaldaic — kal-da’-ick — relating to Chaldea. Chalybeate — ka-iib’ -e-ate — applied to springs of water containing iron. 10 HARD WORDS MADE EASY. Cham — kam — a governor, as for instance, the Cham of Tartary, usually, but incorrectly, pronounced the Tcham of Tartary. Chambrelj — kam’-brell — the hind leg of a horse, a drover's stick Chamlet— kam’-let — a woolen stuff. Chameleon — ka-me’-le-on — a species of lizard. Chamomile — kam’-o-inile — a medical plant. Chaos — ka’-oss — the confused elements which preceded creation. Character — kar’-ac-ter — mark, stamp, quality. Charta — kar’-ta — a charter, a paper, or parchment. The word chart, a map, is properly pronounced tchart, but charta, a document, karta ; hence it is correct to say mag’-na kar’- ta, the ordinary usage, mag’-na tchar’-ta, being wrong. Chasm — kasm — a breach, a cleft, a vacuity. Ghelonian — ke-lo’-ne-an — pertaining to the tortoise. Chely — ke’-ley — the claw of a shell fish. Chemistry — kem’-is-trey — the science of which examines the constitution and properties of bodies. Chersonese — ker-so-neee — a peninsula. The term was applied by the Greeks to the peninsula between the Hellespont and the Gulf of Melas; now applied to the Crimea, which was known to the Greeks as the Taurica Chersonesus. The pronunciation of the word tcher'-so-neez is just now very common, but incorrect. Chiaro-osCuro — ke-ar’-o-os-coo’-ro — lights and shades in painting. *** This is another word just now very much abused. Chiliad — kil-e-ad — a thousand. Chilifactive — kil’-e-fac’-tive — making chyle. Chimera — ke-mere’-a — an idle fancy. Chiragra — ki-ra’-gra — gout in the hand. Chirology — ki-rol’-o-gy — the art of conversing with the hands. Chirography — ki-rog’-ro-phy — hand-writing. Chiromancy — ki’-ro- man ’ey— divination by the lines of the hand. Chiropodist — ki-rop’-o-dist — a corn-cutter* Chirurgeon— ki-rur’-ge-on — an operator by the hand, a surgeon. Chlamys — kiam’-iss — a cloak, a tunic. Chlorous-^klore’ -us— green, or pertaining to chlorine. PRINCIPLES OF PRONUNCIATION. 11 Chloris — klo’-ris — the greenfinch. Chlorine — klo’-rin (not, as usually pronounced, klo’ -rine) — a pecu- 2iar gas.. Chlorophyl — klo’ro-phil — the green colouring matter of plants. Chlorosis — klo’ro’-sis — the green sickness. Choir — kwire— a band of singers, part of a church where the choral service is performed. Choler — kol’-er — the bile, irritability. Choliambic — ko-le-am’-bic — an ill-wrote scazon on iambic. Chondrodite — kon’-dro-dite — a mineral. Choral — kore’-al — belonging to a chorus. Choragus — ko-ra’-gus— the leader of a chorus. Chord — kawd — the string of a musical instrument, an accord or harmony. Choreus — ko-re’-us — a poetic foot, otherwise called a trochee. Chorion — kore’-e-on — the membrane which invests the foetus. Chorography — ko-rog’-ra-phy — description of places. Chorepiscopal — k o’ -re-pis’ co-pal — pertaining to a local bishop. Chrism — krism — a consecrated oil or unguent. Chrismatory — kris’-ma-tor-y — a vessel used for chrism. Christ — krist — the Messiah. Christendom — kris’-ten-dom — the body of Christians. Chromatic — khro-mat’-ic — relating to colours. C hronical— iron^e-kl j lon S Oration, periodical. Chronography — kro-nog’-ra-phy — description of past time. Chrysalis — kris’-a-lis — the form which insects take in passing from the worm to the fly. Chyle— kile— a milky material formed from the food in the stomach by digestion. Chyme — kime — a further modification of food by digestion. In all other words commencing with ch the pronunciation is tch, as chance, change, &c., &c. Ck, as a termination, will always indicate its proper sound ; but ch frequently has the same sound, or c alone has oftentimes the sound of k, and in places where the unlearned reader would be £2 HARD WORDS MADE EASY. puzzled to determine for himself. For instance, cachexy, an evil habit, is pronounced ka-keck’-sey, and its derivatives, cachectic and cachectical, ka-kek’-tic and ka kek’-te-cal. 01 ACCENT. One half the blunders in pronunciation arise from the difficulty of placing the accent correctly in words of many syllables. In dissyl- lables the ordinary rule in English is to place the accent on the penultimate, that is, the last syllable but one ; but in words of many syllables the accent usually fails on the antepenultimate, or the last last syllable but two. But there is a tendency in English speech to distinguish nouns from verbs, and to place the accent earlier in nouns than in verbs ; for instance, the noun a tor'ment we accent on the first syllable, but the verb to torment ’ we accent on the last; and this rule holds good with a large number of dissyllables, which serve both as nouns and verbs. Several words which our forefathers accented on the last syllable, or on the penultimate, have their accent now pushed forward to the antepenultimate, as advertise , which used to be accented ad-ver-tise 1 , is now accented ad’-vcr-tise. Balc’ony follows the same rule ; and Mr. Smart expresses his belief that anchovy is not far behind, the accent being now in process of removal from the second to the first syllable. Among the vulgar we often hear the accent placed in a low seat, which gives a most illiterate tone to their conversation. Thus we hear admirable in- stead of admirable, advertisement instead of advertisement , indica- tive instead of indie ativc, and so on. Where the speaker is in doubt, it is always a safer practice to throw the accent forward than to place it on a low seat, except in the case of verbs, where the accent tends towards the penultimate. And where custom does not interpose to render the practice barbarous, it is better in verbs to place the accent on the penultimate, or last syllable but one, than on the syllable preceding it, as contem plate, conjis cate, com- pensate, demon str ate, &c., &c. Prepositions and adjectives both tend to accentuation in a low seat. But there is a rale which ere- ON ACCENT. 13 ates some exceptions ; and it is that where a word is a derivative, or derived from another, it retains, if it be possible, the accent of the parent w r ord. For instance, return’ and retort’, as nouns, are accented on the second syllable instead of the first ; whereas the adjective imp’ish is accented on the first instead of the second. A little consideration, however, renders this matter very simple. If we look for the roots of these words, we find that the first two return ’ and retort' both spring from verbs, and hence the accent is the same as the parent words ; whilst imp'isli , as an adjective , should have the accent in a low seat, were it not that it springs from imp, a noun, and preserves the accent of its original, and in the former instance. The exceptions to the rule here given are not numerous, but there are a few requiring special mention, because, as they refer to words in very frequent use, errors in accent are more likely to creep in to the injury of the word, and creep out again to the injury of the speaker. These words are, contrary, chastisement, blasphemous, penurious. The first springs from contra, a Latin preposition, and follows the accent of its parent contrary. To hear a person say contra' ry would mark him at once as unlettered in the extreme. But there is a word from the same root which few, even of the skil- ful in accent, would utter correctly — it is the word contranitcncy. Ninety-nine of every hundred persons, of moderate education, would make contrail' itency of it, but it should be contranitcncy, throwing" the accent in a secondary manner on the first syllable, and in a primary manner on the third. But chastisement, blasphemous, and penurious do not follow the rule of chast’ise, blasphe’me, and pen'ury ; they shift it thus, elms' tisement, blas'pkemous, and penu rious. In words of a compound character, having syllables which aro common to many other words, the accent is never placed on such common syllables, but on the preceding distinguishing syllables. Thus, lily, ity, tion , case (in bookcase, &c.), ly, al, &c., have no accent ; and in like manner most common prefixes are without accent, such as ad, be, con, &c., &c. A double accent occurs in words which are too long to be altered 14 HARD WORDS MADE EASY. with a single one. The seat of the second accent is never a matter of difficulty when once the primary has been determined ; and in- deed in most Dictionaries the primary only is used. Where there are two accents it is important to know which is the chief; that de- termined, the other will indicate itself, as in accenting allegorize. If we follow the vulgar tendency of placing th* accent at a low seat, we shall say allego’rise, but a more refined method places one chief accent on the first syllable, and another secondary one on the last — al legorise \ This same rule is seen in words of similar struc- ture as to syllables, as caricature 1 , animadvert. If the secondary accent be neglected, the effect is to destroy all harmony of utter- ance ; and the person who should neglect the secondary accent would never read poetry in a way to please, or indeed, literature of any kind. The principal accent inclines to the earlier syllable in words end- ing in er or or; as for instance, counter-jumper, while it always falls on the latter syllable in words ending in tion, in accordance with the rule which places the accent on the penultimate in w^ords which have a common termination. For exampie, benefaction, effemination , dispensation ; and by the same rule as to the com- mon termination, incompatibility, efficacious, excitability, &c., This rule, as to words having a common termination, holds good in words derived from the Greek and Latin, though words of Greek and Latin origin do not, as a rule, adapt themselves to the genius of our language. Thus we say, geology, theoc'racy, orthography , cacopllony, logom'achy , geog'ony, and geognostic, because the termination logy, cracy, graphy, strophe, gnosy, machy, metry, phony, trophy, &c., are common to many such words, and hence, giv- ing no distinct meaning, have no accents. But, unfortunately, when we deal with words of classical origin, we find that our usage does not compel them, to fall in with 'the rules of English ; while at the same time, they have been allowed to escape' from their origi- nal accent in the Greek. Unquestionably the best w T ay to get out of this difficulty is to follow the rules of our own language when- ever we dare, even to the annoyance of the classic ear. There are some words, however, which insist on their own peculiarities of ON ACCENT. 15 accent Thus European, Antipodean, Atlantean, and other words ending in can , should, according to the rules of English, be accented on the antepenultimate, as European , Antipo'dean , Atlantcan ; whereas the custom of scholars has long been to evade the rules of our own language, and accent them Europe’an, Antipodean, Atlan- te’an, and so on, except with Herculean, which, having been Latin- ised, is allowed to follow our own rule, and hence it is correct to say Hercu’lean. The reader may make use of these rules to great advantage, when meeting with words of which he has not previous acquaintance. Thus any word ending in tion will, without exception, be accented on the penultimate ; and if any of the vowels, a, e, o , or u , come before tion, then the vowels will be sounded long with the accents ; but if i come before tion, then the t of the tion leaves its place, and joins i with an accent, and forms with it the accented penultimate. Thus of a, e, o, u , affectation has a long sound on the accented a, and locomotion a long sound on the accented vowel o ; but of the junction of i with t we may quote as an instance recognition, wherein the t of the tion forms a part of the third syllable, and w*e say recognish-un. If words in tion consist of more than three syl- lables, reckoning tion as one, they should have a secondary accent. With regard to ean there is nothing but classical custom to pre- vent a similar rule of accent. Our own language demands that they should be accented on the antepenultimate (or penultimate, as in tion, if we consider lean, or rean as but one syllable), as ceru’- lean, marmo’rean, hyperbo’rean, Cerbe’rean, Hercu’lean, &c. : and we may hope that some day the rule will prevail in European, Anti- podean, and others, which have taken law unto themselves. Words ending in ic may be regarded as properly accented on the syllable preceding ic, though custom has decided otherwise as to a few words, such as arith’metic, rhet’oric, politic, and others; the exceptions are, however, few, and when the reader meets a word in ic, the accent of which he does not know, he may very safely place it on the syllable preceding ic, as in pathet’ic, Satan’ic, and harmon’ic. Where the concluding syllables of a word flow so liquidly into JG HARD WORDS MADE EASY. each other, that we are in a difficulty to decide to which syllable a consonant between two vowels shall be assigned, it is a safe rule to place the consonant at the commencement of the latter syllable, and hence make the vowel long, unless that vowel be i. For instance a reader may be in doubt how to pronounce such a word as cassitc ria, whether to say casset-eria or cassi terea; or in Jluostlicic , whe- ther to divide it flu-o-sil-iss-ick or flu-o-si-liss-ick, Ac. The rule wo give would lead him to the latter mode, which would be correct. As there are exceptions to all rules, so there are to this, but they occur in well-known words, and will occasion no perplexity. The Digraphs . — The digraphs ai , ay, ei, ea, ee , ao, and au , occur frequently in words compounded from the classical languages, ae and oe being especially conspicuous in Greek and Latin derivatives. The last two, se and ce, we shall consider presently ; the sound of all the former, with very few exceptions, is the same as the alpha- betical sound of a. The most common exception is one which, as it mostly occurs in words of French origin, is usually sounded like o, as in Chaumontelle (a sort of pear), the pronunciation is Sho- mon-tel. The digraphs ee, ea, ei, ce, ce, eo, ey, ay, are more in use than those just referred to ; and all these latter have the alphabeti- cal sound of e, as Phoenix, fee-nix, Caesar, Cee-sar, cedile, edile. Many very hard words occur with these compound vowels ; and the reader, bearing in mind the rules of accent, and the rule now given for the digraph, will find no difficulty in accomplishing a cor- rect pronunciation. The digraphs ic, ye, ei, ui, uy, ai, ay, ey, eye, and oi, take the alphabetical sound of the vowel i. The first of these, ei, is fre- quently sounded e, as in neither and either, but the correct sound of the digraph in these words is ni-ther, i-ther ; so also, in height , heigh-lio, sleight, &c., the pronunciation should be kite (vulgarly pronounced hithth), high-ho, and slit a. Oi is frequently incorrectly sounded like oy in boy. Even in the word choir the correct sound is quire. The digraph io occurs very frequently as a termination, as in ions. In this case the i usually separates itself from o, and takes the sound of e, but very much shortened, as in litigious, pro ON ACCENT. 17 nonneed le-tig-e-us. A very slight sound of c after the second syl- lable always adds a grace to the pronunciation of such words, though care must be exercised in introducing it, and it must never be heard in the ordinary termination, tion. The slight e sound may be introduced in such words as elusinian, el-u-sin-e-an ; excrementi- tious, ecks-cre-men-tish-e-us, and others where the sound its would extinguish the i preceding ous ; didynamian , di’-de-na’-me-an ; but in elocution, embarcation, and all words having the regular termin- ation, tion, the e sound would appear pedantic and affected. The use of o as a digraph oo , is not common in our language, but it sometimes has the short sound of u , and in such cases it is impor- tant for the speaker to be correct. Rome , dome , and gold used to be pronounced as if written room , doom, and goold, but they are now pronounced with the legitimate sound of o, Rome, &c. The oo sound of o is, however, preserved in a few words, and will continue to be, as whom is pronounced as if written hoom. The use of o as a short u is an important matter as to correct pronunciation ; and Crumwell for Cromwell, cumrade for comrade, cumpany for com- pany, give us the sound of o in come or some ; and while such a pronunciation prevails in good society, it must be followed by those who desire to “ flow with the stream. 7 ’ The compounds oa , oe, ou , ow, eo , ew , eau, au, oo, have o for their regular sound. The oa is used in boat, as if the word were written bote, the oe in doe and foe ; but when oe, the diphthong, occurs in words of classic origin, it must be sounded e. The compound eau occurs frequently in words of French origin, and always has the sound of o. We do now and then hear of Bu-mont, bu-ru, bu-mond, and bu-i-deal for Beaumont, bureau, beau-monde, and beau-ideal, all of which should be pronounced bo-inont, buro, bo-mond, and bo- i-deal. Beauty and its derivatives afford the only example of the sound of u in eau which the English language affords. Eti and ew sometimes- afford exceptions to the sound of c In the word sewer, a drain, the sound should be soor not su-er ; and in sewer, one who sews, the sound should be so’-cr. The first is fre- quently pronounced eKor*, and the second, su-er , but both the latter nltfdes are wrong. 2 18 HARD WORDS MADE EAST. The compounds ue, ui, cu , ew, and now and then iew, ieu , and co have the alphabetical sound of u. The first four are used as u almost without exception, but the remaining three are very irregu- lar. Frequently ue is useless in a word, as in pedagogue , pronoun- ced ped-a-gog, monopolylogue — mon’-o-pol’ -e-log — a performance in which one person sustains the dialogue of many. Extinction of Vowel Sounds. Where custom sanctions a pro- nunciation it is affectation only which can attempt to set custom at defiance. There are some, however, who persevere in giving the extinguished vowel — when it occurs before d, 1, n, &c., its full syllabic sound. Such persons may be assured that, though a few elderly ladies indulge in prai-sed, smoo-thed, fa-bled, and baff-l-ed all modernised tongues drop the vowel in such last syllables, and say prais’d, smooth’d, fabl’d, baffl’d, &c. Hearing a parent teach a child to read in this style the other day, reminded us that the old custom of sounding ed was not yet extinct, and therefore the correction is worth the space it occupies here. How far this con- formity (namely, to custom) is desirable to the public reading of the Scriptures, or of set forms of prayer, couched in language ven- erable from its antiquity, is another question ; though even here, it is presumed, few judicious readers would go so far as to say buri-ed , stray-ed, justiji-ed , set-tl-ed , and assem-bled. There are, however, a few words in whieh the sound of ed is preserved distinctly, such as nak-ed, wick-ed, rag-ged , wretcli-ed ; but an observer perceives, in an instant, that were the e in ed extinguished in such words the words themselves would be scarcely utterable, or at least most unmusical. The short sounds of u puzzle many, and in this matter it is diffi- cult to reduce the sound to rule. Put, to put, sounded in the same way as butt is vulgar *, it is properly sounded poot, similarly to foot. Most other words beginning with ul, as bullace, bulwark, Fulham, &c., have the oo gound of u ; but w T ords of classic origin must have the sound of short u, as in mutton , such as fulsome and fulminate, which it would be ridiculous to pronouuce foolsomc and foolminatc. The au has its peculiarities ; with the uninitiated it usually has too broad a sound, and we advise the reader, if he has been in the ON ACCENT. 19 habit of sounding this compound broadly, like aw, to shorten it henceforth, and approach to the sound of a in all , papa, k c. Thus, aunt, flaunt, vaunt, laundress, &c. &c., should not be pronounced as if written, awnt, flawnt, vawr.t, and lawndress, but as if written % ahnt, flarnt, &c., the a being regarded as the vowel of chief sound the u showing that that sound should be broad, but not so broad as to be vulgar. And here let me add a note as to those abbreviated forms of speech which we use every day, and find so economical in colloquial » discourse. I call them economical, because, in their abridged form, they require less breath, and are more readily uttered by the tongue. These are slid* nt, can't, wouldn’ t, shouldn't, didn't , havn't, and a few others. These are, of course, illegitimate forms of shall not, cannot , &c., but custom so sanctions them, that it is no longer objectionable to use them. X should scarcely have referred to these abbreviated compounds had I not observed that many persons, who desire to speak accurately, are led away by the supposition that the first step to an accurate pronunciation is to discard these compounds of uni- ! versal utility, and to give each its full written form. This is a mis- take, and, unfortunately for those who adopt the full pronunciation, they seldom get beyond it, and if any word of three or four syllables encounters them, they usually break down, but rise up again, and go on with did not, shall not, &.C., as bravely as before. What fashionable society sanctions may be regarded as correct, for it is the aim of fashion to attain to accuracy, but not to the sacrifice of ease ; and all abbreviated negative words, with the exception of ain't for am not, are used by persons who can be charged with neither want of wisdom or want of polish. Ain't is abominable, and must linger among laundresses and charwomen to the end ot time ; no well-taught tongue will adopt the ugly bantling. The combinations are, ere and ire, are all liable to be pronounced like cr, as in satire, which vulgarly gets pronounced sa-tire, but, cor- rectly, sat-er. Ore, ure and oor, are usually sounded like or or oor. In door the oo has the sound of or, and in moor the oo is frequently used in the game manner. But the latter mode is vulgar ; moor should be pro i 20 HARD WORDS MADE EASY. nounced moo-er as nearly as possible. Words having the combina- tions ore , oor and urc are however, too well understood k require further notice here. The most important of this class of compounds is oir, which is found in no word purely English, except in choir, already treated of. As it occurs usually in words of French origin, it has the sound of wor as nearly as possible ; and though such words get more and more anglicised, and hence come within the rules of our own pro- nunciation, we should advise the reader not to hurry them to such a pronunciation, but to give them their original sound of wor — as memoir , devoir , &c. pronounced raem-war, dev-war, though avoirdupoise has been in use so long that we may safely say av-er-duyoise. Some consonant compounds occasion a good deal of trouble to those who have not had the advantages of education. Such words as apoph- thegm and phthisical, for instance, cause many a pause and look of per- plexity, and yet such words, which, perhaps, may be regarded as the hardest of hard words, are wonderfully simple in their pronunciation. As, however, these words have a terrifying look, we give the reader a list of the most difficult of them with the pronunciation of each. The derivations are in many cases omitted, they having the same pronunciation as the roots, terminations excepted : — Phagedena — fag’-e-de’na — an ulcer that eats away the flesh. Phcenomena — fe-nom-en-a (the plural of phenomenon, fe-nom’- e-non) remarkable appearances. Phaeton — fa J -e-ton — a kind of chaise ; the name of the youth who drove the chariot of the sun. Phalangious — fa-lan’-ge-us — pertaining to spiders. Phalanx — fal-angks — a compact body of men. Phantasmagoria — fan-tas-ma-gor’-e-a — an optical instrument used for illusive amusements. Pharmaceutical — far-ma-su-te-kl — relating to medicines. Phenicopter — fe-ne-kop’-ter — a red-winged bird mentioned by classic poets. Phenogamian — fe-no-ga’-me-an— with visible organs of reproduc- tion. ON ACCENT. 21 Philanthropy — fi-lan’-thro-py — love of mankind. Philanthropic— fidan-throp’ -ic — loving mankind. *** These words are inserted here to show the shifting of accent. They are words that sometimes occasion difficulty as to their cor- rect accentuation. Phlegmatic — fleg-mat'-ic — dull, cold, frigid. Phoenix — fe J -nicks — a fabulous bird. Phthisis — ti’cis — consumption. i Pneumatic — nu-mat’-ick — relating to the air. Pneumatology — nu’-ma-tor-ogy — the doctrine of spiritual substan- ces. Pneumatocele — nu-mat’ -o-ceel — a tumor filled with air. Polynomial — pol-e-no’-me-al — consisting of many terms. Polyonomous — pol-e-on’-o-mus — many titled. Polyphy Ileus — pol-if ’-il-us — many leaved. Polysyllabical — pol' e-sil-lab’-e-cl— pertaining to polysyllables. Pompholyx— pom’-fo-ltcks — the spark which flies up to the roof in trying brass. * # * There are no words in^r to occasion difficulty. Psalm — salmi — a sacred song. Psalmody — saTmo-dey — the practice of singing psalms. Psalmograpliy — sahlm-mog' ra-fe — the practice of writing psalms. Psammite — sam’-mite— a kind of sandstone. Pseudo — su’-do— a Greek prefix meaning false. Pseudochina — su’-dou-ki-na — the false China root. Pseudonymous — su-don’-e-mus— having a false signature. " Other uses of this prefix need not be cited, since the pronun ciation is so plain. ' Psittacious — sit-ta’-shus — of the parrot kind. Psoas — so’*as — name of a muscle in the loins. Psora — sore’ -a— the itch. Psychology — si-kol’-o-ge — the doctrine of the soul. Psychomancy — si ko-man’-cy — a mode of divination. Ptarmigan— tai’-me-gan— a game bird. 22 HARD WORDS MADE EASY. Ptisan — tiz’-an (first syllable short sound of vowel) — a decoo tion of barley and other ingredients. Ptolemaic — tol-e-ma’-ick — the system of Ptolemy (tol’-e-me.) Ptyalism — ti’-a-lizm — excess of spitting. Ptysmagogue — tis’-ma-gog — a medicine which discharges spittle It may here be remarked that the genius of our language inclines always to ease of utterance. We find it easier to say ap-o-them for apophthegm, than to preserve the sound of the first ph and say ap- of-them. Hence the first pronunciation is correct. So also the easy mode becomes the rule when two consonants, such as ct , cn. bd, gn, mn , ts, and, as just illustrated, pt, ps, &c. occur together in such a way as to give the tongue unusual difficulty to pronounce them properly. Hence, the first consonant is dropped in such words as Czar, Ctesilas, Ctesiphon, bdellium, gnostic, and others of similar structure, so that we pronounce them as if written Zar, Tesilas, Tesifon, dellium and nostic. Wherever a vowel assumes a consonant sound it is a mark of vulgarity to neglect it, though such neglect is indeed very common. Thus u in buoy has the sound of to ; and though sailors always say boy , the correct pronunciation is buoy. Thus also u in suasive should have the w sound, as also in quibble , cuirass , languid , and many oth- ers of similar structure. Proper Names. — No rules can be given for the pronunciation of proper names. Usage of persons and places alone determines their accuracy ; and although we may look foolish for pronouncing the name of a person or place incorrectly, yet accurate knowledge is only to be gained of each individual word. Rules cannot be made applicable so as to guide the reader to their pronunciation without the help of a knowledge of usage. Greek, Latin, and Scripture Proper Names. — There are no diffi- culties as to the pronunciation of these, since they are, most of them, so much used in modern speech, as to have long ago adapted them- selves to the ordinary rules of English pronunciation. The forego- ing rules, therefore, when applicable to this class of words, are U ON ACCENT. 23 have full force ; and the only particular which requires notice here is as to their division into syllables. It is evident, that unless we divide words properly we must mar the pronunciation. Thus Ca-to may, by improper division, be pronounced Cat-o ; and a similar er- ror may convert Mi-das into Mid-as, So-lon into Sol-on, and so on, * to the destruction of all that is sacred in the mechanism of ancient literature. Reference to “Webster” will give the accent of all classic names, and likewise the proper mode of dividing them for purposes of pronunciation. Usually the vowels have a full sound. The accent generally falls late in the w r ord, and i, e, and o, espe- * cially, are used as long vowels. The diphthongs se and oe, which are found only in classic words, are o have the sound of e , as described in connection with the di- graphs : ai is to be sounded as our alphabetical a, and ei , unlike the sound of it in ordinary English c, must in classic words have the sound of i. • C and g before c, i, y, ce, ae, must have their soft sounds like s and j ; but ch in Greek words is always sounded K, and in Scrip- ture names also, though with one or two exceptions. Ph has the same sound as in English, namely f ; while cn, ct 1 gn , raw, pn, ps , ])t, phth, tm , and other similar combinations, when they occur at the commencement of words, drop their first letter in the pronunciation. In all classic names the seat of accent is the important matter ; this, with a few exceptions, is always on the last syllable but one, or on the last but two. The termination es, in Greek proper names, should have a dis- tinct utterance, and by giving it this, the accent will indicate itself to both ear and tongue. For instance, we once heard an incipient orator pronounce Hippocrates, Hip’-po-crah’-tes, and Socrates, So- kraytes. Had the learned gentleman ever struggled for a scholar- ship, or passed through the tortures of matriculation, he would have known that es was not to be so trifled with, but would have given the termination its importance, thus — Hip-pook-ra-tees, Sock-ra-tecs. I should not have called attention to this subject, from a belief that the veriest tyro in book knowledge wnuld be well aware of the necessity of giving es its due in classic proper names, had I not observed the v> 24 HARD WORDS MADE EASY. deficiency even in public speakers. The following instances will suffice to place the reader on his guard, and serve as keys to the pronunciation of names having this termination — Pericles , Perry- klees; Socrates , Sock’-ra-tees’ ; Thucydides, Thu-sid’-i-dees’ ; Prax - itilcs, Pracks-it’-i-lees ; Harmonides, Har-mon’-i-dees’ ; Simonides, Sigh-mon’-i-dees’. Foreign Names of Persons and Places. — Continental languages have an almost uniform alphabet, and the sounds of the vowels are as nearly as possible identical in each separate tongue. A is usually sounded like our a in ah, or the second a in afar . It has however, its sound of u as in may in all continental languages, but the sound occurs very seldom. E has the sound usually of a in way, and some- times a shortened sound approaching to er, made by curling over and pressing the tongue against the lower palate, at the same time breathing outward. The vowel i lias almost invariably the sound of e ; o maintains its English sound of o as in so, but has occasionally the sound of oo ; in Italian it has the distinct sounds of o as in so, and aw in saw. The u in French has a delicate sound, the lips be- ing compressed : but in Italian it invariably bears the full sound of oo , as Luisa, pronounced Loo-e-zah. With respect to the consonants, their sound (generally speaking) is the same m all European languages, and little hazard will be in- curred by adhering in tins respect to English custom. Among the exceptions is th, which on the Continent is usually sounded as t simply. Thus the French name Bert ho l let is sounded Bare’-i ol-lay\ X is often sounded as s or ce, as in Aix la-chapelle, Ace’-la-sha-pel. The French nasal sound of n it is sometimes proper to retain, as in Nantes, Nongt; the Simplon, Sang’-plong; and sometimes to sink the nasal sound, as in Lyons, Orleans, which two words, and many others, easily receive a purely English pronunciation. It must be confessed that this point is very doubtful, as in the word Ghent, which some call Gongt, and others Ghent. Similar re- marks apply to Caen (the place in Normandy), which some call Gang, and others Cn-en. The last syllable in Etb&uf has its diph- thong sounded with a medium between the English u in buff and ON ACCENT. 25 the oo in roof. If the reader will curl up the tongue against the lower palate, and the inner side of the lower front teeth, and breathe outward, this sound may easily be produced. “ In La Saone, the ao have the sound of long o, and so have the cauz in Bordeaux > while in Bruxelles the x is sounded as s. “ In Boulogne the concluding sounds are oin with a sound as of y consonant added. With regard to Italian, the c always has the sound of tch before e and i ; and of k before a, o, u, or any other letter. G is soft before e and i, and hard before all other letters, except l or ?«. J always has the sound of ii or y , Ajaccio is pro- nounced A-yat-chc-o. G before 1 or n takes the sound of y after it, as in Bentivoglio, Benti-vo-le-yo. In Spanish, the y is sounded as in Italian. Double consonants in Italian must always be both sounded : as Maehiavelli, Ma-kee-a-vel-lee. When two gs or two cs come to- gether, the first always alters the sound of the second : thus Guic- ciardini is pronounced Gwitch-tche-ar-de-ne. In this beautiful language there are no diphthongs. Every vowel has its own clear sound, however many may occur together, as calzolaio is eal-tzo- lah-eo. The only approach to a diphthong which this language con- tains is in cio and gia. French Names. — In regard to French names, they occur so often in newspaper reading, they mingle so much in our every-day con- versation, that we feel it a duty to offer a few plain instructions on this head. There are some few sounds so common to the French, that every one not acquainted with the language should at least know the cor- rect utterance of these few. The article h (the) is pronounced for ; the article la (the) lah ; and the indefinite articles im and une, as nearly as possible as they are written. The plural les is pronounced lay before a consonant and lays before a vowel. Dc (of) is pro- nounced der ; and des , day before a consonant and days before a vowel. We have already given, in the above quotations, a sufficiently clear account of the sound of the French vowels. There are, how- 26 HARD WORDS MADE EASY. ever, a few combinations that require notice. The most important of these is oi, as in moi, me, pronounced mwor ; mouchoir , handker- chief, mouschwor ; Vive Ic Roi , Veev ler Rwor, Long live the King. Another important compound is au , which has the sound of o ; or when united to x, and followed by a vowel, ose. The e having the sound of our a, and m and n having a nasal twang, causes the pro- nunciation of some words to be very difficult to a novice; for instance, the M. Druon de L’huys will be pronounced Mongsenur Droo-ong der Lwees. In addressing titled personages the French say Monseigneur, instead of the ordinary Monsieur; the latter is pronounced short Mongsur , and so much abbreviated by the tongue and rapidity of utterance, that it is almost impossible to place the sound on paper. The nasal sound must, however, not pass through the nose, but rest in it ; and the g must not be fully uttered. In verbs of the third person plural, the ent with which they usu- ally terminate is always mute. The consonant r must be trilled freely at all times. In sounding u or cu , the mouth should be contracted as if for whistling, so as to accomplish a sound between our u and oo. Thus Moniteur is pronounced, as nearly as possible, mon-e-tur, amateur . generally pronounced am-a-tew-er, should be am-a-tur. Where ai occurs as a compound vowel, i has the sound of our a, with a minute dash of i in it — so minute, however, as to be but scarcely perceptible Terminal consonants are usually mute ; as for instance, St. A maud is pronounced Sarntarno — C/tamgamier , Shangarneay — Anglais, Aunglay — Canrohert , Kangrobare — Pellissicr, Pel-leecc-ce-ay, &c. When the article le or la is abbreviated, as it always is before a vowel or silent h, it combines with the word to which it is attached thus V Empereur — the emperor — is pronounced laungp'rer. French words have no decided accent ; and wffiere the reader is at a loss, he must give the accent as if it were an English word. Italian Names . — The Italian language is the most musical of any in the w r orld. It is like the song of the nightingale rendered into syllables. Hence it is easy of utterance ; there are no harsh gut- turals, such as perplex us in German and Dutch, and which have ON ACCENT. 27 been humorously described as compounded of a cough, a sneeze, a hiccough, and a husk of barley in the throat. The vowel a has two sounds, one of which, at the end of words, is sharp, and the vowel i the full sound of the English e. The Italian vowels are said to represent the seven notes in music, a, a, e, i, o, 6, u, having the graduations of do, re, mi, fa, mil, Id, ci. The consonant-compounds are not difficult ; zz has the sound of tz, and serves to break the syllables, as in Mazzini, pronounced Mat-zee-ne ; Pestalozzi, Pes’- ta-lot-ze. In a general sense, the correct pronunciation of Italian names is very easy, the great point being to give the syllables, vowels, and double consonants their full music and distinctness. German Names . — The pronunciation of German is exceedingly simple. “ The rule is,” says Mr. Lebahn, “ to speak it as it is written, and to write as it is spoken.” The sounds are mostly the same as the French, though their uses and combinations vary. The fre- quent occurrence of the long vowel, as a, 6, ii, is a striking peculi- arity. When a occurs long, with the diersesis, its sound is the same as our a in hay. Otherwise the sound of a in German is broad, like our a in cart. The 6 when so made long, has just the same sound as our u in purse ; hence Carl Theodor Korner is pronounced Carl Ta-o-dor Kur-ner ; th, as before explained, being equivalent to t in English. How many thousand blunders have been made over those well-known names, Schiller, and Goethe, names, of all others, most easily pronounced when the rule is once made plain. We have heard the first converted into S killer, and the second into Gurthey, Go-e-the, and Goat. The oe is equivalent to 6, and hence, if we proceed in the same way as in the Korner, we shall have Gur-e-tay, a very slight trill of the r giving it the roughness with which a German utters such words. Schiller is pronounced exactly as it is written, and sch has always a soft sound, exactly the same as in English. Ng has the sound of nk, and u generally that of oo. The consonant v is equivalent to f, and w to v, while j is used pre- cisely as w 7 e use y when a consonant. The great terror o£ il Americans, however, is the German eh. This is described by A r. Smart as being sounded in the same way 28 HARD WORDS MADE EASY. as the English k. This is an error ; for although those who cannot easily accomplish it, may fall back on k, yet the German sound of ch has but little resemblance to k in English. Mr. Lebahn proposes not to consider ch “ as a letter at all, but merely as a loud breath- ing.” However bold this assertion may appear, still, frequent trials have proved its accuracy. “ For instance, if you are to pro- nounce ich, pronounce the i with the short sound of ee, then push a loud breath through the upper teeth, but be not confounded by the c or the ch, which is not to be considered at all, nor is the breath to be interrupted, but joined to the ee, and ich will be correctly pronounced.’ ’ We advise the reader to practice this, as ch occurs so frequently in German names and in ordinary newspaper reading, that to slur it over, or halt before the word, has an illiterate appear- ance, and greatly reduces the pleasure of reading and conversation. The vowel compounds ie and ei are sounded respectively like e in bee, and like y in my. The second vow r ei of the two has its full English sound, the other remaining mute. The vowel combina- nation eu or aeu has the sound of oi in oil , and of a broad, has a slight sound, but scarcely so much as to give it the character of a syllable. An has always the sound of ow. Remembering these particulars, and the general rule that German is written as it is pronounced, the reader will find no difficulty in pro- nouncing German words correctly. For instance, the German paper, Alhgemeine Zeitung,h pronounced Al-ge-mi-ne-zi-toonk ; Voder - land, Far-ter-lant (d being like English t) ; Oesterrissche Corres- pondens, Urs-ter-is-sher Kor-res-pon-dens. The Fremden Blatt is frequently pronounced Fremden Blah , but the correct mode is as it is spelt, Frem-den-blat. Kreuz Zeitung must be pronounced Krois Zi-toonk. The follow- ing example will show how easy is the acquisition cl a correct pronunciation of German , JVas is das Deutchse Vaderland. Vos is das doitcher Fahterlant. Wicland, Velaud; Mosheim , Mosh-ime; Gesner , Gues-ner* Sckwartzenburg , Schvart-’zen-burg ; Lichtenstein, Lick’-ten-stine Souderhausen Sou’-der-how-sen; Stahl, Stahl; IJohenlohe , Ho'-hen LATIN PHRASES 29 io-he ; jager , yay-ger ; Schlegel , Schlay’-gl; Kiclmeicr , Keel’-mi- er; Fitchtc , Fick-ta; Tiec/c, Teek ; Mo tier, Meel’-ler; Muller , Meel’-ler; Grundtwig , Grunt’ -vig; Niebuhr, Neeb’-ur-r; Gmelin , G-may’-lin; Gottingen, Geat-tin-gen — the g in each syllable hard ; Jellachic, Yel-iak-ik ; Metternich , Met-ter-nick. Dutch Names come within the scope of what has been said as to German names, though with a few exceptions : uy has the sound of oo, as Zuy-der-zee, pronounced Zoo-der-zee; the consonant t be- comes d in sound, and ch is the same guttural aspirate as in the German. Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian come within the rules first laid down. Examples. — Sclileiermacher , Schli-er-mah-ker, the last syllable following the rule already given for ch ; Oehlenschldger, Air-len- schlay-ger, the g in the last syllable hard ; Oersted, Air-sted, Lan - geland, Lahn-ger-lahnt ; Welt Chronich, Yelt-kron-ik ; Schonbein, Schean-bine; Neuc Beitrage zu dem Geist in der Naiur , Noi-er Bi- trah-ger zoo dem Gist in der Nah-tur (Contributions to the Soul in Nature). PHRASES USED IN CONVERSATION, PUBLIC SPEAKING, AND NEWSPAPER ARTICLES. LATIN. %* The final e makes a separate syllable, as Ex-par-tc. Ab initio — from the beginning. Ad captandum vulgus — to catch the rabble. Ad infinitum — to infinity. A fortiori — with stronger reason. Alias — otherwise. Alibi — elsewhere. A posteriori — from the effect to the cause. A priori — from the cause to the effect. Argumentum ad hominem — an argument to the man. Audi ulterum partem — hear the other side. Causus belli — the cause or reason of war. Caput mortuum — the worthless remains. 30 HARD WORDS MADE EASY. Cedant arma togce — let arms yield to eloquence. Compos mentis — in a state of sanity. Contra bonos mores — against good morals. Cui bono ? — to what good ? Dc facto — de jure — from the fact ; from the law. Diilce et decorum est pro p atria mori — £4 is sweet and glorious to 4 die for one’s country. Dum vivimus vivamus — let us live wh’ie we live. x Est modus in rebus — there is a medium in all things. Ex cathedra — from the chair ; based on authority. * Ex nihilo nihil jit — nothing produces nothing. Ex officio — by virtue of his office. Ex parte — on one part; on one side only. Fas est et ab hostc doceri — it is allowable to derive instruction even from an enemy. Fruges consumere nati — men born only to consume. In Jorma pauperis — in the form of a poor man. In propria persona — in person. In re — in the matter of. Ipse dixit — He himself said it ; a dogmatic. Locum tenens — a deputy, or substitute. Magna est veritas, et preevalibit — the truth is great, and in the end will prevail. Mirabile dictu — Wonderful to relate. Ne quid nimis— too much of one thing is good for nothing. Nisi Dominus frustrae — unless God help you you fail. Onus probandi — the weight of proof ; the burden of proving. O tempora , 0 mores ! — oh, the times ! oh, the manners ! how aie the times changed ! how are the manneis debased ! Otium cum dignitate — ease with dignity. Pari passu — by a similar gradation. Passim — everywhere. Pocta nascitur non jit — nature, not study, must form a poet. Prima facie — on the first view or appearance. Primum mobile — the main spring ; the principal impulse. Pro tempore — Pro tern. — for the time ; for the present. 4 * FRENCH PHRASES. 31 Reductio ad absurdum — a reducing to an absurdity. Requiescat in pace — may be rest in peace. Rcspicc jinem — look to the end. Sic passim — so everywhere. Sine die — to an indefinite time ; to some future day ; indefinitely. Suavitur in modo , fortiter in re — gentle in manner, but vigorous in deed. Svmmum bonum — the chief good. Vis inertia — force or property of inanimate matter. Vice versa — the terms or cases being reversed. Vox et prater ea nihil — A voice and nothing more. Voxpopuli, vox Dei — the voice of the people is the voice of God. FRENCH. * # * The abbreviated article or preposition forms part of the word tchich follows , as Affair d' honneur , pronounced Af-fare don-nur. Action proces — Action at law. Affaire d ’ honneur — a business of honor. Affranchir une lettre — to frank a letter. Ada-mode — in the fashion. Allez vous coucher — go you to bed. Avancer de V argent — to advance money. Avec le temps — in process of time. Autant de tetes , autant d ’ opinions — so man p men, so many minds. Beaux esprits — men of wit. Bonne louche — a delicate morsel. Carte blanche — unlimited powers. Chacun d son gout — every man to his taste. Chef d 1 oeuvre — a master-piece. Comme il faut — as it should be. Coup -de-main — a sudden or bold enterprise. Coup-d'ail — a quick glance of the eye. Coup-de-grdce — a death blow. Coup-de-etat — piece of great policy. De mal en pis — from bad to worse. De ffeat mon caur — with all my he&rt. 32 HARD WORDS MADE EAST. En bon point — in good condition. En passant — in passing. Entre nous — between ourselves. Faire V amener — honorable to apologise. Faire mon devoir — to do my duty. Fete champetre — a rural, open air festival. Fille de chambre — a chambermaid. Gardez — take care. Guerre d mort — war till death. Guerre d outrance — war to extermination. «/’ ai bonne cause — I have a good cause. Je pcnse—rl think. Je vous remercie — I thank you. Jeu de mots — a play on words ; a pun. Jen d' esprit— a witticism. Le malheur — bad fortune. Les savans — the learned. Maintenir le droit — maintain the right. Maitre d ’ hotel — a house steward. Mots d’ usage — phrases in common use. Ni plus ni moins — neither more nor less. On dit — it is said. Pardonnezmoi — Pcrmettez moi — pardon me — permit me. Prenez garde — take care. Qui vive — who goes there ? — on the qui vine — on the look out. Ruse de guerre — a stratagem. Sang froid — cold blood, indifference. Sans doute — without doubt. Soi-disant — self-called, self-elected. Sur ma vie — on my life. Tete a, tete — face to face. Toujours pret — always ready. Un bel esprit — a wit. Vis-a-vis — over against; opposite. Vive la bagatelle — Success to trifling. Vous avez bien rencontre — You hit the mht nail on the lioiuk