trifling, and I shall therefore consider ee as equivalent to the long open e.
247. This diphthong is irregular only in the word breeches, pronounced as if written britches. Cheesecake, sometimes pronounced chizcake, and breech, britch, I look upon as vulgarisms. Beelzebub, indeed, in prose, has generally the short sound of e in bell: and when these two letters form but one syllable, in the poetical contraction of e'er and ne'er, for ever and never, they are pronounced as if written air and nair.
EI.
248. The general sound of this diphthong seems to be the same as ey, when under the accent, which is like long slender a; but the other sounds are so numerous as to require a catalogue of them all.
249. Ei has the sound of long slender a, in deign, vein, rein, reign, feign, feint, veil, heinous, heir, heiress, inveigh, weigh, neigh, skein, reins, their, theirs, eight, freight, weight, neighbour, and their compounds. When gh comes after this diphthong, though there is not the least remnant of the Saxon guttural sound, yet it has not exactly the simple vowel sound as when followed by other consonants; ei, followed by gh, sounds both vowels like a e; or if we could interpose the y consonant between the a and t in eight, weight, etc. it might perhaps, convey the sound better. The difference, however, is so delicate as to render this distinction of no great importance. The same observations are applicable to the words straight, straighten, etc. See the word Eight.
250. Ei has the sound of long open e, in here, in the following words and their compounds: To ceil, ceiling, conceit, deceipt, receipt, conceive, perceive, deceive, receive, inveigle, seize, seisin, seignior, seigniory, seine, plebeian. Obeisance ought to be in the preceding class. See the word.
251. Leisure is sometimes pronounced as rhyming with pleasure; but, in my opinion, very improperly; for if it be allowed that custom is equally divided, we ought, in this case, to pronounce the diphthong long, as more expressive of the idea annexed to it. (241)
252. Either and neither are so often pronounced eye-ther and nigh-ther, that it is hard to say to which class they belong. Analogy, however, without hesitation, gives the diphthong the sound of long open e, rather than that of i, and rhymes them with breather, one who breathes. This is the pronunciation Mr. Garrick always gave to these words; but the true analogical sound of the diphthong in these words is that of the slender a, as if written ay-ther and nay-ther. This pronunciation is adopted in Ireland, but is not favoured by one of our orthöepists; for Mr. Sheridan, Mr. Scott, Mr. Elphinston, Mr. Perry, Mr. Smith, Steele's Grammar, and Dr. Jones, all pronounce these words with the diphthong like long e. W. Johnston alone adopts the sound of long i exclusively; Dr. Kenrick gives both ēther and īther, but prefers the first, but gives neither the sound of long e exclusively; Mr. Coote says these words are generally pronounced with the ei like the i in mine. Mr. Barclay gives no description of the sound of ei in either, but says neither is sometimes pronounced nīther, and by others nēther; and Mr. Nares says, "either and neither are spoken by some with the sound of long i; I have heard even that of long a given to them; but as the regular way is also in use, I think it is preferable. These differences seem to have arisen from ignorance of the regular sound of ei." If by the regular way and the regular sound of this diphthong Mr. Nares mean the long sound of e, we need only inspect No. 249 and 250 to see that the sound of a is the more general sound, and therefore ought to be called the regular; but where there are so many instances of words where this diphthong has the long sound of e, and custom is so uniform in these words, there can be no doubt which it is the safest to follow.
253. Ei has the sound of long open i, in height and sleight, rhyming with white and right. Height is, indeed, often heard rhyming with eight and weight, and that among very respectable speakers; but custom seems to decide in favour of the other pronunciation, that it may better tally with the adjective high, of which it is the abstract.
254. Ei has the sound of short e, in the two words heifer and nonpareil, pronounced heffer and nonparell.
255. This diphthong, when unaccented, like ai, (208) drops the former vowel, and is pronounced like short i, in foreign, foreigner, forfeit, forfeiture, sovereign, sovereignty, surfeit, counterfeit.
EO.
256. This diphthong is pronounced like e long in people, as if written peeple: and like e short, in leopard and jeopardy, as if written leppard and jeppardy; and in the law terms feoffee, feoffer, and feoffment, as if written feffee, feffer, and feffment.
257. We frequently hear these vowels contracted into short o in geography and geometry, as if written joggraphy and jommetry; but this gross pronunciation seems daily wearing away, and giving place to that which separates the vowels into two distinct syllables, as it is always heard in geographical, geometer, geometrical, and geometrician. Georgic is always heard as if written jorgic, and must be given up as incorrigible. (116)
258. Eo is heard like u in feod, feodal, feodatory, which are sometimes written as they are pronounced, feud, feudal, feudatory.
259. Eo, when unaccented, has the sound of u short in surgeon, sturgeon, dudgeon, gudgeon, bludgeon, curmudgeon, dungeon, luncheon, puncheon, truncheon, burgeon, habergeon; but in scutcheon, escutcheon, pigeon, and widgeon, the eo sounds like short i.
260. Eo sounds like long o in yeoman and yeomanry; the
