fancy, are agreeably taken up with the exercise of vision, or perhaps, more properly speaking, with learning to see." *

reasonabŭl tŭ b'lieve, that the wakin' hours of infuncy, are agree'bly taken up with the exe'cise of vizhn, or p'r'aps, more prope'ly speakin', with lunnin' tŭ see.

Errors of the above description, vary, of course, with the places, and even the schools, in which they exist; and the above, or any similar example, must be considered as thus limited, and not as meant to be of universal application. It should farther be observed, that, in exhibiting a specimen of prevailing faults, it becomes necessary to the usefulness of the exercise, to include in the notation of a passage, all the errors usually made by a class, although the number might be much smaller for an individual.

Every person who fails of articulating distinctly, has an habitual fault, in the pronunciation of one or more classes of words or syllables, and sometimes, perhaps, of letters. These should be selected and thrown into the form of sentential exercises, for daily practice, in the manner exemplified in this lesson.

'Natural impediments,' or,-as they should rather be called, faults of early habit, must be removed by means adapted to particular cases. But there are few

students who do not need, in one form or other, the full benefit of careful practice in this department of elocution. The very general neglect of this branch of elementary instruction, leaves much to be done, in the way of correction and reformation, at later stages. The faults acquired through early negligence, and confirmed into habit by subsequent practice, need rigorous and thorough measures of cure; and the student who is desirous of cultivating a classical accuracy of taste, in the enunciation of his native language, must be willing to go back to the careful study and practice of its elementary sounds, and discipline his organs

The above extract should be read aloud, from the incorrect articulation; the errors being rectified, when necessary, by reference to the extract as correctly given.

upon these, in all their various combinations, till an accurate and easy articulation is perfectly acquired. The 'exercises in articulation and pronunciation,' are arranged with a view to this object.

PRONUNCIATION.

THIS department of elocution is sometimes termed orthoepy (correct speech.) It is properly but an extension and application of the subject of the preceding lesson. Articulation regards the functions of the organs of speech; and pronunciation, the sound produced by these functions, as conforming to, or deviating from, the modes of good usage. Speech being merely a collection of arbitrary sounds, used as signs of thought or feeling, it is indispensable to intelligible communication, that there be a general agreement about the signification assigned to given sounds; as otherwise. there could be no common language. It is equally important that there be a common consent and established custom, to regulate and fix the sounds used in speech, that these may have a definite character and signification, and become the current expression of thought. Hence the necessity that individuals conform, in their habits of speech, to the rules prescribed by general usage, or, more properly speaking, to the custom of the educated and intellectual classes of society, which is, by courtesy, generally acknowledged as the law of pronunciation. Individual opinion, when it is at variance with this important and useful principle of accommodation, gives rise to eccentricities, which neither the authority of profound learning, nor that of strict accuracy and system, can redeem from the charge of pedantry.

It is a matter of great importance, to recognise the rule of authorized custom, and neither yield to the influence of those errors which, through inadvertency,

will creep into occasional or local use, nor, on the other hand, be induced to follow innovations, or changes adopted without sufficient sanction. A cultivated taste is always perceptible in pronunciation, as in every other expression of mind; and errors in pronouncing are unavoidably associated with a deficiency in the rudiments of good education.

An

To obtain an undeviating standard of spoken language is impossible. The continual progress of refinement, and, perhaps, sometimes, an affectation of refinement,—and at all events irresistible custom,—are perpetually producing changes in speech, which no individual and no body of men can completely check. Neither Walker, therefore, nor any other orthoepist, can be held up as permanent authority in every case. Still, there is seldom or never an individual so happily situated, as to be necessarily exempt from local peculiarities which are at variance with general use. occasional appeal to the dictionary, must therefore be useful to the majority of persons; and, of the various dictionaries in common use, Walker's may be taken as, on the whole, the safest guide to good usage in pronunciation. A few allowances must, of course, be made for those cases in which a sound is noted, that cannot be exactly expressed to the eye, by any combination of English letters. The chief of these instances are explained in the exercises in articulation and pronunciation.

Persons who are desirous of perfecting their pronunciation would do well to read aloud, daily, a few columns of Walker's* dictionary, and mark with a pencil those words which they find they have been accustomed to mispronounce, themselves, or to hear mispronounced by others. This exercise, however, must be

The author would refer to Mr. J. E. Worcester's edition of Todd's combination of Johnson and Walker's Dictionaries, as, perhaps, the fullest and most accurate work of its kind. Mr. W.'s Comprehensive Dictionary presents the same matter, in a form adapted to schools. The same author's edition of Dr. Webster's Dictionary, is a book of great practical value, in the department of orthoepy, from the distinct and satisfactory manner in which it indicates those words which are liable to various modes of pronunciation, and those in which Dr. Webster's style is peculiar.

performed on the column which contains the orthoepy, and not on that which contains the orthography, as errors would otherwise escape unnoticed. The following will be found an easy way of committing to memory the words which are marked as above mentioned. Let the student compose a sentence comprising all the words which he has marked in one reading; and by repeating such a sentence several times daily, the correct pronunciation of the words will soon be permanently impressed on his mind. A steady course of such application will, in a few months, enable him to pronounce correctly every word in the English language, and save him from embarrassment and errors in reading or speaking in public.

Errors in pronunciation may regard either the quality of sound in letters, or the placing of accent on syllables. The former may be classed alphabetically, for the convenience of referring easily to particular letters.

VOWELS.

The letter A.

The errors committed in obscuring the sound of this and other letters, have been already pointed out, under the head of articulation. The following errors do not necessarily imply any indistinctness in articulating, but rather a mistake regarding the particular sound to be given to this letter, in different circumstances.

Errors. The indefinite article is often pronounced with the sound of a in fate for that of a in fat; thus, I saw a man, for I saw ǎ man. This is merely a childish error, continued from the elementary schools, and should be avoided, as rendering pronunciation formal, precise, and mechanical.

A in unaccented initial syllables, is mispronounced in the same way; thus abate for ăbate;-so is a final, as in Cuba for Cubă; and, generally, a unaccented, in the following and similar syllables: honorary, obdurācy, peaceably, for honorăry, obduracy, peaceably.

RULE. The letter a, constituting an unaccented syllable, or occurring at the end of an unaccented syllable, has the sound of a in that, as in the words, Atone, lunacy, habitual, algebra, &c., which must not be pronounced Aytone, lunacy, habitual, &c.; but ǎtone, lunăcy, hăbitual, &c.

Examples for Practice.

Abash* abandon abed abet abettor ability above about abode aboard abolish abominate abortion abreast abyss acclamation acute adamant adept admirable adore adorn adoption adult adrift afar afresh afloat again agree agreeable alarm alas alert alike amass amaze amend amid amuse apart apace apology are araneous aright arise arcana Asia atone Athens atrocious avail avenge avert aver avow awake aware away bade canal cadaverous calamity cadet caliginous calumniate canine canonical canorous caparison capitulate caress catarrh cathedral censurable chimera commendable conversable convalescent contumacy comfortable conformable constable contrary corollary creditable curvature customary decalogue declaration demagogue despicable dictatorial dilatory dilemma diploma drama Persia privacy.

In one class of words, the opposite error of giving the sound of a in fat instead of a in fate, is prevalent, as in Mătron for matron.

The same error is often heard in the pronunciation of words of Hebrew, Greek or Latin origin, as in Drăma for drāma, Achăia for Achaia, Isiah for Isaiah.†

* Where two As occur in the same word, the one which is mispronounced is in Italic type.

† Wherever local usage sanctions the broad A, in pronouncing the ancient languages, that sound may, of course, be adopted, without positive error, in reading such words, when embodied in an English sentence. But where, as in both Old and New England, the classical orthoepy is anglicised, the flat sound of A should be heard.