A Critical Pronouncing Dictionary (4th edition)/Directions to Foreigners
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.
But the greatest difficulty every foreigner finds in pronouncing English, is the lisping consonant th. This, it may be observed, has, like the other consonants, a sharp and a flat sound; sharp as in thin, bath; flat as in that, with. To acquire the true pronunciation of this difficult combination, it may proper to begin with those words where it is initial: and first, let the pupil protrude his tongue a little way beyond the teeth, and press it between them as if going to bite the tip of it; while this is doing, if he wishes to pronounce thin, let him hiss as if to sound the letter s; and after the hiss, let him draw back his tongue within his teeth, and pronounce the preposition in, and thus will the word thin be perfectly pronounced. If he would pronounce that, let him place the tongue between the teeth as before; and while he is hissing as to sound the letter z, let him withdraw his tongue into his mouth, and immediately pronounce the preposition at. To pronounce this combination when final in bath, let him pronounce ba, and protrude the tongue beyond the teeth, pressing the tongue with them, and hissing as if to sound s; if he would pronounce with, let him first form wi, put the tongue in the same position as before, and hiss as if to sound z. It will be proper to make the pupil dwell some time with the tongue beyond the teeth in order to form a habit, and to pronounce daily some words out of a Dictionary beginning and ending with these letters.
These directions, it is presumed, if properly attended to, will be sufficient to give such Foreigners as understand French, and have not access to a master, a competent knowledge of English pronunciation; but to render the sounds of the vowels marked by figures in this Dictionary still more easily to be comprehended - with those English words which exemplify the sounds of the vowels, I have associated such French words as have vowels exactly corresponding to them, and which immediately convey the true English pronunciation. These should be committed to memory, or written down and held in his hand while the pupil is inspecting the Dictionary.
Perhaps the greatest advantage to foreigners and provincials will be derived from the classification of words of a similar sound, and drawing the line between the general rule and the exception. This has been an arduous task; but it is hoped the benefit arising from it will amply repay it. When the numerous varieties of sounds annexed to vowels, diphthongs, and consonants, lie scattered without bounds, a learner is bewildered and discouraged from attempting to distinguish them; but when they are all classed, arranged; and enumerated, the variety seems less, the number smaller, and the distinction easier. What an inextricable labyrinth do the dipthongs ea and ou form as they lie loose in the language! but classed and arranged as we find them, No. 226, etc. and 313, etc. the confusion vanishes, they become much less formidable, and a learner has it in his power, by repeating them daily, to become master of them all in a very little time.
The English accent is often an insurmountable obstacle to foreigners, as the rules for it are so various, and the exceptions so numerous; but let the inspector consult the article Accent in the Principles, particularly No. 492, 505, 506, etc. and he will soon perceive how much of our language is regularly accented, and how much that which is irregular is facilitated by an enumeration of the greater number of exceptions.
But scarcely any method will be so useful for gaining the English accent as the reading of verse. This will naturally lead the ear to the right accentuation; and though a different position of the accent is frequently to be met with in the beginning of a verse, there is a sufficient regularity to render the pronouncing of verse a powerful means of obtaining such a distinction of force and feebleness as is commonly called the accent: for it may be observed, that a foreigner is no less distinguishable by placing an accent upon certain words to which the English give no stress, than by placing the stress upon a wrong syllable. Thus if a foreigner, when he calls for bread at table, by saying, give me some bread, lays an equal stress upon every word, though every word should be pronounced with its exact sound, we immediately perceive he is not a native. An Englishman would pronounce these four words like two, with the accent on the first syllable of the first, and on the last syllable of the last, as if written gíveme somebréd; or rather gívme sumbréd; or more commonly, though vulgarly, gímme sumbréd. Verse may sometimes induce a foreigner, as it does sometimes injudicious natives, to lay the accent on a syllable in long words which ought to have none, as in a couplet of Pope's Essay on Criticism:
"False eloquence, like the prismatic glass,
Its gaudy colours spreads on every place."
Here a foreigner would be apt to place an accent on the last syllable of eloquence as well as the first, which would, be certainly wrong; but this fault is so trifling, when compared with that of laying the accent on the second syllable, that it almost vanishes from observation; and this misaccentuation, verse will generally guard him from. The reading of verse, therefore, will, if I am not mistaken, be found a powerful regulator, both of accent and emphasis.
- ↑ 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.