among the best speakers, no middle sound ought to be admitted, as good orators will ever incline to definite and absolute sounds, rather than such as may be called non-descripts in language.
164. The third sound of this letter, as was marked in the first observation, may be called its long slender sound, corresponding to the double o. The words where this sound of o occurs are so few, that it will be easy to give a catalogue of them: Prove, move, behove, and their compounds, lose, do, ado, Rome, poltron, ponton, sponton, who, whom, womb, tomb. Sponton is not in Johnston; and this and the two preceding words ought rather to be written with oo in the last syllable. Gold is pronounced like goold in familiar conversation; but in verse and solemn language, especially that of the Scripture, ought always to rhyme with old, fold, etc. See Encore, Gold, and Wind.
165. The fourth sound of this vowel is that which is found in love, dove, etc. and the long sound, which seems the nearest relation to it, is the first sound of o in note, tone, rove, etc. This sound of o is generally heard when it is shortened by the succeeding liquids n, m, r, and the semi-vowels v, z, th: and as Mr. Nares has given a catalogue of those words, I shall avail myself of his labour. Above, affront, allonge, among, amongst, attorney, bomb, bombard, borage, borough, brother, cochineal, colour, come, comely, comfit, comfort, company, compass, comrade, combat, conduit, coney, conjure, constable, covenant, cover, covert, covet, covey, cozen, discomfit, done, doth, dost, dove, dozen, dromedary, front, glove, govern, honey, hover, love, Monday, money, mongrel, monk, monkey, month, mother, none, nothing, one, onion, other, oven, plover, pomegranate, pommel, pother, romage, shove, shovel, sloven, smother, some, Somerset, son, sovereign, sponge, stomach, thorough, ton, tongue, word, work, wonder, world, worry, worse, worship, wort, worth: to which we may add, rhomb, once, comfrey, and colander.
166. In these words the accent is on the o in every word, except pomegranate; but with very few exceptions, this letter has the same sound in the unaccented terminations, oc, ock, od, ol, om, on, op, or, ot, and some, as mammock, cassock, method, carol, kingdom, union, amazon, gallop, tutor, turbot, troublesome, etc. all which are pronounced as if written mammuck, cassuck, methud, etc. The o in the adjunct monger, as cheesemonger, etc. has always this sound. The exceptions to this rule are technical terms from the Greek or Latin, as Achor, a species of the herpes; and proper names, as Calor, a river in Italy.
167. The fifth sound of o, is the long sound produced by r final, or followed by another consonant, as for, former. This sound is perfectly equivalent to the diphthong au; and for and former might, on account of sound only, be written faur and faurmer. There are many exceptions to this rule, as borne, corps, corse, force, forge, form, (a seat) fort, horde, porch, port, sport, etc. which have the first sound of this letter.
168. O, like A, is lengthened before r, when terminating a monosyllable, or followed by another consonant; and, like a too, is shortened by a duplication of the liquid, as we may hear by comparing the conjunction or with the same letters in torrid, florid, etc. for though the r is not doubled to the eye, in florid, yet as the accent is on it, it is as effectually doubled to the ear as if written florrid; so if a consonant of another kind succeed the r in this situation, we find the o as long as in a monosyllable; thus the o in orchard, is as long as in the conjunction or, and that in formal, as in the word for: but in orifice and forage, where the r is followed by a vowel, the o is as short as if the r were double, and the words written orrifice and forrage. See No. 81.
169. There is a sixth sound of o exactly corresponding to the u in bull, full, pull, etc. which, from its existing only in the following words, may be called its irregular sound. These words are, woman, bosom, worsted, wolf, and the proper names, Wolsey, Worcester, and Wolverhampton.
Irregular and unaccented Sounds.
170. What was observed of the a, when followed by a liquid and a mute, may be observed of the o with equal justness. This letter, like a, has a tendency to lengthen, when followed by a liquid and another consonant, or by s, ss, or s and a mute. But this length of o, in this situation, seems every day growing more and more vulgar: and, as it would be gross, to a degree, to sound the a in castle, mask, and plant, like the a in palm, psalm, etc. so it would be equally exceptionable to pronounce the o in moss, dross, and frost, as if written mauwse, drawse, and frawst. (78) (79) The o in the compounds of solve, as dissolve, absolve, resolve, seem the only words where a somewhat longer sound of the o is agreeable to polite pronunciation: on the contrary, when the o ends a syllable, immediately before or after the accent, as in po-lite, im-po-tent, etc. there is an elegance in giving it the open sound nearly as long as in po-lar, and po-tent, etc. See Domestick, Collect, and Command. It may likewise be observed, that the o, like the e, (102) is suppressed in a final unaccented syllable when preceded by c or k, and followed by n, as bacon, beacon, deacon, beckon, reckon, pronounced, bak'n, beak'n, deak'n, beck'n, reck'n; and when c is preceded by another consonant, as falcon, pronounced fawk'n. The o is likewise mute in the same situation, when preceded by d in pardon, pronounced pard'n, but not in Guerdon: it is mute when preceded by p in weapon, capon, etc. pronounced weap'n, cap'n, etc. and when preceded by s in reason, season, treason, oraison, herrison, denison, unison, foison, poison, prison, damson, crimson, advowson, pronounced reaz'n, treaz'n, etc. and mason, bason, garrison, lesson, caparison, comparison, disinherison, parson, and person, pronounced mas'n, bas'n, etc. Unison, diapason, and cargason, seem, particularly in solemn speaking, to preserve the
