controller: for as ll is a mark of the deep broad sound of a in ball, tall, all, etc. (84) so the same letters are the sign of the long open sound of o in boll, (a round stalk of a plant) to joll, noll, (the head) knoll, (a little hill) poll, clodpoll, roll, scroll, droll, troll, stroll, toll: for which reason, leaving out one l in bethral, catcal, miscal, overfal, forestal, reinstal, downfal, withal, control, and unrol, as we find them in Johnson's Dictionary, is an omission of the utmost importance to the sound of the words; for as the prounciation sometimes alters the spelling, so the spelling sometimes alters the pronunciation.[1] Accordingly we find some speakers, chiefly the natives of Ireland, inclined to give the a its middle sound, to words commencing with al, followed by another consonant, because they do not see the ll in the all with which these words are compounded: thus we sometimes hear Almighty, albeit, so pronounced as to make their first syllable rhyme with the first of al-ley, val-ley; and extol is pronounced by the Scotch so as to rhyme with coal; and with just as much reason as we pronounce control in the same manner. For though compounds may, in some cases, be allowed to drop such letters of their simples, as either are not necessary to the sound, as in Christmas; or might possibly lead to a wrong one, as in Reconcileable; (which see) yet where, by omitting a letter, the sound may be altered, the omission is pernicious and absurd. (84) The same observations might be extended to the numerous termination full, where, in compounds, one l is omitted, though nothing can be more certain, than that ful, with a single l, has not the same sound as when this letter is doubled; for who could suppose, without being used to the absurdity, that fulfil should stand for fulfill: but this abbreviation is too inveterate and extensive to afford any hope, that the great arbiters of orthography, the printers, will ever submit to the additional trouble of putting another l.
M.
407. M preserves its sound in every word, except comptroller; compt and accompt are now universally written as they are pronounced, count and account; and though m and p are preserved to the eye in the officer called a comptroller, the word is pronounced exactly like the noun controller, one who controls.
N.
408. N has two sounds; the one simple and pure, as in man, net, etc. the other compounded and mixed, as in hang, thank, etc. The latter sound is heard when it is followed by the sharp or flat guttural mutes, g hard, or k; or its representatives, c hard, qu or x: but it may be observed, that so prone is our language to the flat mutes, that when n is followed by k, or its representatives, the flat mute g seems interposed between them: thus thank, banquet, anxious, are pronounced as if written, not than-k, ban-quet, an-xious, but thangk, bangkquet, angkshus. But this coalition of the sound of n and g, or hard c, is only when the accent is on them; for when the g or hard c articulates the accented syllable, the n becomes pure: thus, though congress and congregate, are pronounced as if written cong-gress and cong-gregate, yet the first syllable of congratulate and congressive, ought to be pronounced without the ringing sound of n, and exactly like the same syllable in contrary. The same difference may be observed in the words concourse and concur; the first word, which has the accent on the first syllable, is pronounced as if written cong-course; and the last, which lias the accent on the second syllable, with n pure. It must, however, be carefully observed, that the secondary accent has the same power of melting the n into the succeeding hard g or c, as the primary: (522) thus congregation and concremation have the first syllable pronounced as if written cong.
409. It may, perhaps, be worthy of notice, that when n is followed by k, the k has a finished or complete sound, as in link, think, etc. but when n is followed by hard g, the g has an unfinished or imperfect sound, as in hang, bang, etc. where we may observe the tongue to rest upon the palate in the sound of g; but when this letter is carried off to articulate another syllable, its sound is completed, as in anger and Bangor, (the name of a town) where the sound of g may be perceived to be very different from the noun hanger, (a sword) and banger (one who beats or bangs.) This perfect sound of g is heard in all simples, as anger, angle, finger, linger, conger, anguish, languish, distinguish, extinguish, unguent: but in words derived from verbs or adjectives, ending in ng, the g continues imperfect, as it was in the theme. Thus a singer, (one who sings) does not finish the g like finger, but is merely er added to sing: the same may be observed of sing-ing, bring-ing, and hang-ing. So adjectives, formed by the addition of y, have the imperfect sound of g, as in the original word: thus springy, stringy, dungy, and wingy, are only the sound of e added to spring, string, dung, and wing; but the comparative and superlative adjectives, longer, stronger, and younger; longest, strongest, and youngest, have the g hard and perfectly sounded, as if written long-ger, strong-ger, young-ger, etc, where the g is hard, as in finger, linger, etc. And it may be looked upon as a general rule, that nouns, adjectives, or verbs, do not alter their original sound upon taking an additional syllable. In these three words, therefore, the Irish pronounce more agreeably to analogy than the English; for, if I mistake not, they do not articulate the g. (381)
- ↑ This omission of the letter L, I see, has been rectified in the last quarto edition of Johnson's Dictionary; and it would have been well if the Editors had acknowledged their obligations and extended their emendations to the word Codle, and several others.
