80. As the mute l in calm, psalm, calf, half, etc. seems to lengthen the sound of this letter, so the abbreviation of some words by apostrophe seems to have the same effect. Thus when, by impatience, that grand corrupter of manners as well as language, the no is cut out of the word cannot, and the two syllables reduced to one, we find the a lengthened to the Italian or middle a, as cannot, can't; have not, ha'nt; shall not, sha'n't, etc. This is no more than what the Latin language is subject to; it being a known rule in that tongue, that when, by composition or otherwise, two short syllables become one, that syllable is almost always long, as alius has the penultimate long because it comes from aliius, and the two short vowels in coago become one long vowel in cogo, etc.
81. The short sound of the middle or Italian a, which is generally confounded with the short sound of the slender a, is the sound of this vowel in man, pan, tan, mat, hat, etc. we generally find this sound before any two successive consonants (those excepted in the foregoing remarks) and even when it comes before an r, if a vowel follow, or the r be doubled; for if this consonant be doubled, in order to produce another syllable, the long sound becomes short, as mar, marry; car, carry, etc. where we find the monosyllable has the long, and the dissyllable the short sound; but if a come before r, followed by another consonant, it has its long sound, as in part, partial, etc.
82. The only exception to this rule is in adjectives derived from substantives ending in r; for in this case the a continues long, as in the primitive. Thus the a in starry, or full of stars, is as long as in star; and the a in the adjective tarry, or besmeared with tar, is as long as in the substantive tar, though short in the word tarry, (to stay.)
83. The third long sound of a is that which we more immediately derive from our maternal language the Saxon, but which at present we use less than any other: this is the a in fall, ball, gall: (33) we find a correspondent sound to this a in the diphthongs au and aw, as laud, law, saw, etc. though it must here be noted, that we have improved upon our German parent, by giving a broader sound to this letter, in these words, than the Germans themselves would do, were they to pronounce them.
84. The long sound of the deep broad German a is produced by ll after it, as in all, wall, call; or, indeed, by one l, and any other consonant, except the mute labials p, b, f, and v, as salt, bald, false, falshion, falcon, etc. The exceptions to this rule arc generally words from the Arabic and Latin languages, as Alps, Albion, asphaltic, falcated, salve, calculate, amalgamate, Alcoran, and Alfred, etc. the two last of which may be considered as ancient proper names which have been frequently latinized, and by this means have acquired a slenderer sound of a. This rule, however, must be understood of such syllables only as have the accent on them: for when al, followed by a consonant, is in the first syllable of a word, having the accent on the second, it is then pronounced as in the first syllables of al-ley, val-ley, etc. as alternate, balsamic, falcade, falcation, etc. Our modem orthography, which has done its utmost to perplex pronunciation, has made it necessary to observe, that every word compounded of a monosyllable with ll, as albeit, also, almost, downfall, etc. must be pronounced as if the two liquids were still remaining, notwithstanding our word-menders have wisely taken one away, to the destruction both of sound and etymology; for, as Mr. Elphinston shrewdly observes, "Every reader, young and old, must now be so sagacious an analyst as to discern at once not only what are compounds and what are their simples, but that al in composition is equal to all out of it; or in other words, that it is both what it is, and what it is not." Prin. Eng. Language, vol. I. page 60. See No. 406.
85. The w has a peculiar quality of broadening this letter, even when prepositive: this is always the effect, except when the vowel is closed by the sharp or flat guttural k or g, x, ng, nk, or the sharp labial f, as wax, waft, thwack, twang, twank: thus we pronounce the a broad, though short in wad, wan, want, was, what, etc, and though other letters suffer the a to alter its sound before ll, when one of these letters goes to the formation of the latter syllable, as tall, tal-low; hall, hal-low; call, cal-low, etc. yet we see w preserve the sound of this vowel before a single consonant, as wal-low, swal-low, etc.
86. The q including the sound of the w, and being no more than this letter preceded by k, ought, according to analogy, to broaden every a it goes before like the w; thus quantity ought to be pronounced as if written kwontity, and quality should rhyme with jollity; instead of which we frequently hear the w robbed of its rights in its proxy; and quality so pronounced as to rhyme with legality; while to rhyme quantity, according to this affected mode of pronouncing it, we must coin such words as plantity, and consonanity. The a in Quaver and Equater is an exception to this rule, from the preponderancy of another which requires a, ending a syllable under the accent, to have the slender sound of that letter; to which rule, father, master, and water, and, perhaps, quadrant, are the only exceptions.
87. The short sound of this broad a is heard when it is preceded by w, and succeeded by a single consonant in
generally the last to alter the common pronunciation; but that the short a in these words is now the general pronunciation of the polite and learned world, seems to be candidly acknowledged by Mr. Smith himself; and as every correct ear would be disgusted at giving the a in these words the full sound of the a in father, any middle sound ought to be discountenanced, as tending to render the pronunciation of a language obscure and indefinite. (163)
Ben Jonson, in his Grammar, classes salt, malt, balm, and calm, as having the same sound of a; and aunt, as having the same deep sound, as audience, author, law, saw, draw, etc.
