enable the well-educated natives of Ireland to pronounce their words exactly in the same way as the more polished part of the inhabitants of England do, so far as the vowels are concerned. The diphthongs they commit no fault in, except in the sound of , which has been already taken notice of in the Grammar:[1] where, likewise, the only difference in pronouncing any of the consonants has been pointed out; which is, the thickening the sound of d and t, in certain situations; and an easy method proposed of correcting this habit.[2]
In order to complete the whole, I shall now give a list of such detached words, that do not come under any of the above rules, as are pronounced differently in Ireland from what they are in England:
| Irish pron. | English pron. |
| ch′arful | chr′ful |
| f′arful | fr′ful |
| dr | dre |
| flr | flre |
| gpe | gpe |
| gth′er (gather) | gth′er |
| bard | brd |
| bll | bll |
| bsh | bsh |
| psh | psh |
| pll | pll |
| pl′pit | pl′pit |
| clf | clf |
| ktch (catch) | ctch |
| carse (coarse) | carse |
| curse (course) | corse |
| curt | curt |
| mal′cious | malsh′us |
| pdding | pdding |
| qush (quash) | qush |
| lzh′ur (leisure) | l′zhur |
| cl′mour | clm′mur |
| M′kil (Michael) | M′kel |
| drth (drought) | drout |
| srch (search) | srch |
| surce (source) | srce |
| cshion | cshion |
| strngth (strength) | strnkth |
| lnth (length) | lnkth |
| strv (strove) | strve |
| drv (drove) | drove |
| tn′ure | t′nure |
| tn′able | t′nable |
| wrth | wrth |
| wrth (wroth) | wrth |
| f′rewell | fr′wel |
| rde | rd |
| strde | strd |
| shne | shn |
| shsm (schism) | szm |
| wh′refore | whr′fore |
| th′refore | thr′fore |
| brth (breadth) | brdth |
| cowld (cold) | cld |
| bowld (bold) | bld |
| cf′fer | c′fer |
| end′avour | endv′ur |
| ft (foot) | ft |
| misch′evous | ms′chivous |
| n′ion (onion) | n′nyun |
| pt | pt |
| rtsh (reach) | rach |
| squ′dron | squd′run |
| za′lous | zl′lus |
| za′lot | zl′lut |
These, after the closest attention, are all the words, not included in the rules before laid down, that I have been able to collect, in which the well-educated natives of Ireland differ from those of England."
I shall make no observations on the accuracy of this list, but desire my reader to observe, that the strongest characteristics of the pronunciation of Ireland is the rough jarring pronunciation of the letter R, and the aspiration or rough breathing before all the accented vowels. (For the true sound of R, see that letter in the Principles, No. 419.) And for the rough breathing or aspiration of the vowels, the pupil should be told not to bring the voice, suddenly from the breast, but to speak, as it were, from the mouth only.
It may be observed to, that the natives of Ireland pronounce rm at the end of a word so distinctly as to form two separate syllables. Thus storm and farm seem sounded by them as if written staw-rum, fa-rum; while the English sound the r so soft and so close to the m, that it seems pronounced nearly as if written stawm, faam.
Nearly the same observations are applicable to lm. When these letters end a word, they are, in Ireland, pronounced at such a distance, that helm and realm sound as if written hel-um and rel-um; but in England the l and m are pronounced as close as possible, and so as to form but one syllable. To remedy this, it will be necessary for the pupil to make a collection of words terminating with these consonants, and to practise them over till a true pronunciation is acquired.
- ↑ "Vide page 11, where the true manner of pronouncing the diphthong i is pointed out; the Irish pronouncing it much in the same manner as the French."
- ↑ "The letter d has always the same sound by those who pronounce English well; but the Provincials, particularly the Irish, Scotch, and Welsh, in many words thicken the sound by a mixture of breath. Thus, though they sound the d right in the positive loud and broad, in the comparative degree they thicken it by an aspiration, and sound it as if it were written loudher, broadher. This viscious pronunciation is produced by pushing the tongue forward so as to touch the teeth in forming that sound: and the way to cure it is easy; for as they can pronounce the d properly in the word loud, let them rest a little upon that syllable, keeping the tongue in the position of forming d, and then let them separate it from the upper gum without pushing it forward, and the sound der will be produced of course: for the organ being left in the position of sounding d at the end of the syllable loud, is necessarily in the position of forming the same d in uttering the last syllable, unless it makes a new movement, as in the case of protruding it so as to touch the teeth. This letter is sometimes, though not often, quiescent, as in the words handkerchief, handsome, handsel.
In pronouncing the letter t the Irish and other Provincials thicken the sound, as was before mentioned with regard to the d; for better, they say betther; for utter, utther; and so on in all words of that structure. This faulty manner arises from the same cause that was mentioned as affecting the sound of d; I mean the protuding of the tongue so as to touch the teeth, and is curable only in the same way."
