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46. It must be observed, that we use the terms long and short with reference only to sounds which are identical in quality or formation. It is a common error to speak of vowels as relatively long and short, when they are utterly unlike in every characteristic of sound. Thus i in ill is called the short sound of "I," the long sound of which is heard in isle; and u in us, the short sound of "U," the long sound being heard in use. In the more definite nomenclature by numbers, these "short" sounds are respectively the 2nd and 9th vowels.*

VI. VOWEL EXERCISES.

47. The following words exemplify each of the English vowels in the various modes of orthography. The words within brackets contain the sound in unaccented syllables.

48. FIRST VOWEL, represented by e, i, æ, ae, ay, ee, e'e, ea, ei, eo, ey, eye, ie, œ, uoi; as in eve, fatigue, minutiæ, aerie, quay, bee, e'en, eat, conceive, people, key, keyed, field, antoci, turquoise; [religion, sedate, prefer, vehement, peculiar, enough, decide, between, cetites, assuetude,] idea, aureola, sphere, shire, bier, belief, unique, priest, police, treaty, seizure, ægis, amphisbona, œdema, peevish, meagre, league, siege, scream, fiend, wean, ease, breeze, frieze, achieve, trustee, ennui, ye, thee.

49. SECOND VOWEL, represented by a, e, i, o, u, y, ai, ay, ea, ee, ei, ey, ia, ie, ui, uy; as in cabbage, pretty, ill, women, busy, hymn, mountain, Monday, guineas, breeches, forfeit, monkey, parliament, sieve, build, plaguy; [orange, England, alkali, ashy, fancies, oxygen, servile, cottage, marriage, miniature,] business, vineyard, cygnet, abyss, hyssop, citron, chintz, vivify, dizziness, invisible, miracle, spirit, livelong, vigil, give, film, bilge, finger, singer, precipice, premises, vestige, virility, vallies.

*The "long," or name sounds of the alphabetic vowels, are A(3,) E(1,) I(7-1.) O(12.) U(y-13:) and their short" sounds are A(5,) E(4.) I(2,) O(10,) U(9.) The former occur after articulations, the latter before them; as in the primary syllables a, b, ab; b.a, ba; e,b, eb; b,e, be; &c. The "long" sounds are generally heard in accented syllables when the vowel precedes a single articulation, followed by an e mute, or by another syllable; as in

50. *THIRD VOWEL, represented by a, ai, ao, au, ay, aye, ea, ei, ey, eye, oi; as in age, aim, gaol, gauge, pay, aye, steak, vein, obey, preyed, connoisseur; [aerial, archaiology, ukase, emigrate, portrait,] clayey, vacate, weigher, half-penny, phasis, plaice, complacent, obeisance, bait, great, straight, ache, quaint, able, layer, azure, hey-day, maiden, zany, gala, jailor, sago, scabrous, shame, they've, lathe, baize, chaise, rein-deer, vain, veil, bewail, vagrant, neigh, dismay, inveigh, allay, grey, gay,

yea.

51. FOURTH VOWEL, represented by a, e, u, aa, ae, ai, ay, ea, e'e, ei, eo, ey, ie, ue; as in many, fare, ever, ere, bury, Aaron, aer, Michaelmas, air, said, prayer, says, wear, health, ne'er, heir, heifer, leopard, eyre, friend, guess; [erratic, erroneous, effect, effeminate, embezzle, eccentric, except, executor, extend,] dreaded, essence, headless, segment, freshness, emptiness, jeopardy, feoff, death, etiquette, wealth, elsewhere, burial, beryl, ferret, pellet, rennet, jealous, zenith, pleasure, regiment, legend, emblem, brethren, helmet, velvet, endless; daring,† hairy, heiress, fair, chary, pear, there, mare, lair, where, Mary.

52. FIFTH VOWEL, represented by a, aa, ai; as in amber, Canaan, raillery; [atlantean, translate, vagrant, woodland, annual, actual, atlas, capital,] passion, patent, relapse, statue, tapestry, waft, wax, altitude, balcony, amaranth, annals, arid, ballad, cavalry, galaxy, gaseous, harass, paragraph, balance, adze, album, band, dandy, flag, plaid, glad, pageant, harangue, scandal, value.

53. SIXTH VOWEL, represented by a; as in ask; [abode, adapt, again, arouse, charāde, dragoon, fanatic, oasis, pagoda, idea, paralysis, saliva, saloon, syllable, sofa, drama,] bath, cast, castle, brass, fasten, master, pass, repast, sample, staff, task, vast, surpass.

54. SEVENTH VOWEL, represented by a, e, au, ea, ua; gate, paper, theme, edible, life, tripod, vote, broken. pule, puny, c. Also when the vowel sound is represented by two vowel letters, as in wait, seem, ceil, soul, suit, &c.

The "short" sounds are generally heard in accented syllables when the vowel is followed by more than one articulation, -or by a single final articulation; as in lappet, captain, better, witness, cottage, buttress, mat. set, fit, lot, nut, &c.

*See Par. 66.

† See Par. 68.

as in ardour, clerk, haunt, hearty, guardian; [artificer, barbaric, harpoon, narcotic, parhelion, sarcastic, lunar, dotard,] arch, artifice, carpet, hearth, hearken, startle, tartar, aunt, can't, draught, laugh, arm, are, barge, farm, sergeant, guardian, alms, balm, calves, malmsey, papa, qualm, salve, father.

55. EIGHTH VOWEL, represented by r, re, e[r], i[r], y[r], ea[r], ue[r], we[r]; as in par, here, her, firmness, hyrst, earnest, guerdon, answer; [pier, near, hare, star, war, ore, sure, fire, beaver, fibre, acre, cider, ephir, zephyr, martyr, satire,] chirp, earth, bird, fertile, merchant, thirty, vertex, virtue, myrtle, gherkin, irksome, kerchief, verb, firm, sirs, hers, bird, herd, verge, dirge, earn, yearn, early, pearl, sirloin, sterling, whirlwind, err, stir, myrrh, prefer.

56. NINTH VOWEL, represented by o, u, eo, eou, io, oa, oi, oo, ou, ow, wo, eou, iou, olo; as in world, done, furnace, ugly, dungeon, motion, cupboard, avoirdupoise, blood, journey, young, bellows, twopence, gorgeous, cautious, colonel; [bombast, buffoon, doubloon, sublime, umbrella, unkind, upon, seldom, bankrupt, medium, dubious, jealous, genus, courageous, collection, dudgeon. question.] bluff, chough, tough, couple, nuptial, doth. husk, joust, thus, subtle, luscious, luxury, pulp, bulk, gulf, mulct, monk, uncle, borough, brother, colour, cover, cunning, curricle, honey, money, mother, shovel, smuggle, study, thorough, tunnel, worry, colander, dull, dumb, none, buzz, love, tub, hung; burr, fur, spur, cur, surfeit, worse, work, worm, curly, worldly, urn, absurd, curdle, urge.

57. TENTH VOWEL, represented by a, o, ao, au, aw, awe, eo, oa, ou, ow; as in fall, want, order, often, extraordinary, taught, laudanum, lawful, awe, George, abroad, great, thought, hough, knowledge; [observe, occasion, oppose, quadroon, volcano,] blossom, coffee, cloth, fossil, doctor, prologue, quantity, quash, squat, topic, twattle, vocative, wash, wasp, watch, conch, frontier, monster, prompt, wampum, cauliflower, chronicle, foreign, grovel, honest, laurel, monad, nomad, olive, provost, qualify, quarrel, sovereign, squalid, volant, warrant, zoology, bond, prong, quadrant, solve, squander,

swan, was, wan; war, chord, swarthy, warm, auction, awful, balk, bought, caution, falcon, vaunt, also, balsam, halt, plaudit, lawyer, all, bald, broad, shawl, tall, yawn, faugh, pacha, spa, saw.

58. ELEVENTH VOWEL, (only before R), represented by o, ew, oa, oo, ou, wo, owa, as in ore, sewer, oar, door, four, sword, towards; [original, oriental, forebode.] glory,* sonorous, coarse, court, courtier, forth, hoarse, porch, source, portly, portę, borne, bourn, forge, gourd, mourn, torn, tournament, untoward, horde, corps, floor, o'er, restore, decorum, horal, pylorus, deportment, victorious, proportion.

59. TWELFTH VOWEL, represented by o, ao, au, ew, eau, ewe, oa, oe, oo, ou, ow, owe; as in old, Pharaoh, hauteur, shew, beau, sewed, oak, foe, brooch, soul, crow, crowed; [analogy, antelope, apotheosis, arrow, borrow, broccoli, cameo, coeval, colony, colossus, furlough, elocution, nosology, obedient, philospher, potato, rondeau, zoology,] oasis, orthoepy, blowpipe, broach, cocoa, engross, host, jocose, locomotive, narcosis, oak, oat, oath, bolster, poultry, won't, curioso, hautboy, olio, onyx, trover, zodiac, blown, boll, brogue, comb, droll, foal, knoll, mould, nones, parasol, shrove, though, bureau, dough, hoe, holloa, know, lo, owe, throe, sloe, trow,

woe.

60. THIRTEENTH VOWEL, represented by o, u, eu, ew, ewe, oe, œu, oo, ooe, ou, ue, ui, wo; as in do, wolf, rule, pull, rheumatism, grew, brewed, shoe, manœuvre, bloom, book, wooed, through, would, rue, fruit, two; [ambush, bivouac, ferula, fulfil, hurrah, into, issue, rendezvous, treasure,] book, butcher, cuckoo, cushion, push, puss, put, pulpit, bosom, bully, sugar, woman, woolen, bull, should, stood, pull; druid, poor, roué, truism, bouquet, brutal, flute, fruitage, goose, croup, recruit, ruler, whoop, youthful, remove, rhubarb, ruby, ruthless, bloom, bouse, bruise, lose, peruse, shrewd, accrue, ado, brew, halloo, ormolu, ragout, who, woo, you.

61. DIPHTHONG 7-1, represented by i, y, ai, ay, ei, ey, eye, ie, oi, ui, uy, ye; as in isle, by, naiveté, ay, height, eying, eye, lie, choir, guide, buy, dye; [diameter, iden* See Par. 67. † See Par. 65.

tify, iota, psychology.] zodiacal, viaduct, society, hierarch, bias, lyre, science, cycle, nightly, viscount, vital, icicle, island, ivy, finite, piebald, sliver, twilight, I'll, I'm, I'd, blithe, gyve, rhyme, lithesome, bye, fy, awry, thigh, rye, vie, why.

62. DIPHTHONG 7-13, represented by o, ou, ow; as in accomptant, thou, cow; [vouchsafe, foundation,] bower, coward, vowel, our, couch, cowslip, doughty, bounteous, countenance, fountain, cloudy, owlet, thousand, browse, lounge, avow, bough, plough, endow.

63. DIPHTHONG 10-1, represented by oe, oi, oy, eoi; as in oboe, coin, boy, burgeois; [envoy, rhomboid,] boyish, loyality, moiety, cloister, doit, hoist, oyster; anoint, jointure, embroider, foible, toilsome, avoid, noiseless, alloy, joy, destroy.

64. ALPHABETIC U-Y-13. [This compound, although an articulated sound and not simply a vowel, may be included here because it is so frequently represented by a single vowel letter.] Represented by u, ue, ui, eu, ew, eau, iew, yew, you; as in future, imbue, suit, neuter, few, beauty, view, yew, you; [superior, utensil, virtue, interview,] tutor, Tuesday, dupe, tune, cure, gewgaw, music, news, fugue, pursuit, mutual, suture, use, alluvial, illusive, pollute, involution.

VII. ANGLICISMS OF VOWEL Sound.*

65. It will be observed that the a and o which represent the 3rd and 12th vowels in the English scheme, (par. 42) have a small ee and oo printed after these radical letters. This indicates a peculiar Anglicism; in which, and some associated principles, lies the leading difference between the vernacular dialects north and south of the Tweed. In Scotland these vowels are monophthongs—that is, their sound is the same from beginning to end, thus a a and o o; while in England these vowels are diphthongs, being tapered from the radical point into or towards the closest formation of their respective classes, lingual or

* For a minute description of each of the English vowels, the defects to which they are liable, and the means of correction, with copious Exercises, - -see "Dictionary of English Sounds" - in the Author's "Principles of Speech and Cure of Stammering."

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