DIRECTIONS TO FOREIGNERS,
In order to attain a Knowledge of the Marks in this Dictionary, and to acquire a right Pronunciation of every Word in the English Language.
As the sounds of the vowels are different in different languages, it would be endless to bring parallel sounds from the various languages of Europe; but, as the French is so generally understood upon the Continent, if we can reduce the sounds of the English letters to those of the French, we shall render the pronunciation of our language very generally attainable: and this, it is presumed, will be pretty accurately accomplished by observing the following directions:
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R |
| ei | bi | ci | di | i | ef | dgi | etch | aï | djé | qué | ell | em | en | o | pi | kiou | arr |
| S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
| ess | ti | iou | vi | dobliou | ex | ouai | zedd. |
The French have all our vowel sounds, and will therefore find the pronunciation of them very easy. The only difficulty they will meet with seems to be i, which, though demonstrably composed of two successive sounds, has passed for a simple vowel with a very competent judge of English pronunciation.[1] The reason is, these two sounds are pronounced so closely together as to require some attention to discover their component parts: this attention Mr. Sheridan[2] never gave, or he would not have told us, that this diphthong is a compound of our fullest and slenderest sounds and ; the first made by the largest, and the last by the smallest aperture of the mouth. Now nothing is more certain than the inaccuracy of this definition. The third sound of a, which is perfectly equivalent to the third sound of o, when combined with the first sound of e must inevitably form the diphthong in boy, joy, etc. and not the diphthongal sound of the vowel i in idle, or the personal pronoun I; this double sound will, upon a close examination, be found to be composed of the Italian a in the last syllable of papa, and the first sound of e, pronounced as closely together as possible;[3] and for the exactness of this definition, I appeal to every just English ear in the kingdom.
The other diphthongal vowel, u, is composed of the French i, pronounced as closely as possible to their diphthong ou, or the English and , perfectly equivalent to the sound the French would give to the letters you, and which is exactly the sound the English give to the plural of the second personal pronoun.
The diphthong oi or oy is composed of the French â and i; thus toy and boy would be exactly expressed to a Frenchman by writing them tâi, bâi.
The diphthongs ou and ow, when sounded like ou, are composed of the French â and the diphthong ou; and the English sounds of thou and now may be expressed to a Frenchman by spelling them thâou and nâou.
W is no more than the French diphthong ou; thus West is equivalent to Ouest, and wall to ouâll
Y is perfectly equivalent to the French letter of that name, and may be supplied by i; thus yoke, you, etc. is expressed by ioke, iou, etc.
J, or I consonant, must be pronounced by prefixing d to the French j; thus jay, joy, etc. sound to a Frenchman as if spelled djé, djâi, etc. If any difficulty be found in forming this combination of sounds, it will be removed by pronouncing the d, ed, and spelling these words edjé, edjâi, etc.
Ch, in English words not derived from the Greek, Latin or French, is pronounced as if t were prefixed; thus the sound of chair, cheese, chain, etc. would be understood by a Frenchman if the words were written tshére, tshize, tchéne.
Sh in English is expressed by ch in French; thus shame, share, etc. would be spelled by a Frenchman chéme, chére, etc.
The ringing sound ng in long, song, etc. may be perfectly conceived by a pupil who can pronounce the French word Encore as the first syllable of this word is exactly correspondent to the sound in those English words; and for the formation of it, see Principles, No. 57; also the word Encore.
- ↑ Nares, Elements of Orthöepy, page 2.
- ↑ See Section III. of his Prosodial Grammar prefixed to his Dictionary.
- ↑ Holder, the most philosophical and accurate investigator of the formation and powers of the letters, says: "Our vulgar i, as in stile, seems to be such a diphthong, (or rather syllable, or part of a syllable) composed of a, i, or e, i, and not a simple original vowel." Elements of Speech, page 95.
Dr. Wallis speaking of the long English i, says it is sounded "eodem ferè modo quo Gallorum ai in vocibus maim, manus; pain, panis, etc. Nempe sonum habet compositum ex Gallorum è foeminino et i vel y." Grammatica Linguae Anglicanae, pag. 48.
