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1. B is mute before t, or after m, in the same syllable, as Debt, Lamb, &c.
2. C sounds soft, like s, when followed by e, i, or an apostrophe (denoting the absence of e) as Cedar, City, Danc′d, &c.
C sounds like sh, when followed by ea, ia, ie, or io, making different syllables, as Ocean, Ancient, Precious, Social, &c. except So∣ciety.
CC when followed by e or i, sounds like x, as Accept, Accident, &c.
C is mute in Indict, Victuals, Scene, Scent, Science, Sciatica, Scissors, Scission, Scymiter, Scythe, and the proper names Scyros, Scylla, and Scythia.
In all other cases C sounds hard like k.
3. Ch, when properly English, has the same sound with the Italian c, before e or i. Examp. Child, Chain, &c.
It sounds also like sh, in words derived from the French, as Chaise, Champaigne, &c. and like k in words of Greek ex∣traction, as Christ, School, Stomach, Arch∣angel, &c. pronounced Ark-angel. But if Arch comes before a consonant, ch has then its proper English sound, as in Arch∣bishop.
Ch in Loch sounds like f.
Ch is mute in Drachm, Schedule, and Schism.
4. D is mute before ge, as in Judge, Bridge, &c. also in Soldier.
5. F in Of sounds like v.
6. G sounds soft like j before e, i, or an apostro∣phe, and hard (like the Greek y) in all other cases.
Examp. Angel, Rage, Rag′d, Giant, Ginger, &c.
Exceptions to G′s sounding soft.
1. In the participles passive of words ending in g hard (and also where-ever g is dou∣bled) it continues hard, notwithstanding the vowels e or i, or an apostrophe, as in Dragg′d, Begging, Digging, &c.
2. In the termination ger, where-ever it makes a distinct syllable, g sounds hard, as in An″-ger, Fin″ger, Lon″ger, Stron″ger, &c. in which kind of words it may be ob∣served that the g sounds double, so as to belong to both syllables.
3. Derivatives in er, ed, or ing from primi∣tives in ng, retain the g hard, as Sing∣ing, Sing-er, from Sing; Hang-ing, Hang-er, from Hang; Winged or Wing′d from Wing, &c. In which kind of words it
may be observed, that g sounds single, and belongs to the first syllable only.
4. In the following words G is hard, not∣withstanding it comes before e or i; viz. Geese, Gewgaw, Geld, Gelt, Gertrude, Get (with its compounds) Gibberish, Gibbous, Giddy, Gift, Gig, Giggle, Gild, Girl, Give, Forgive, Gilt, Gimblet, Gimp, Gird, Girt, Girdle, Begin, Gizzard, Gideon, Gibbons, Gilbert, and Gilpin.
G is mute before n in the same syllable, as Gnash, Sign, Sovereign, &c. also in Phlegm, Seraglio, and Bagnio.
7. Gh sounds like G hard in Ghost, and like ff in Cough, Lough, Laugh, Laughter, Rough, Slough, Tough, Trough, and Enough. In other words it is mute.
8. H is mute in Hour, Honour, Honest, Heir, Herb, Humour, Hostler, Thyme, John, Tho∣mas, Thomasin, and Thames. Also in Greek words, when preceded by R, as Rheum, Rhyme, Rhetoric, Myrrh, &c. and lastly at the end of words, as ah, hah, Isaiah, Sa∣rah, &c.
9. K is mute before n in the same syllable, as Knave, Know, Knight, &c.
10. L is mute in Balk, Talk, Walk, Stalk, Balm, Calm, Calf, Calves, Falcon, Half, Halves, Holme (an island) and Holmes (a surname) Psalm, Qualm, Salmon, Could, Should, and Would.
11. N is mute after m in the same syllable, as Hymn, Autumn, Solemn, &c.
12. P is mute before s, and between m and t, as Psalm, Tempt, &c.
13. Ph is always sounded like f, except in Ste∣phen, Nephew, and Phial, where it sounds like v.
Ph is mute in Phthisic, and is pronounced Tizzic.
14. Q is always followed by u, and, when it begins a syllable, sounds like cw, by which (as Mr. Johnson observes) our Saxon ancestors well expressed it. But in terminations from the Latin -quus, and also in words of French extraction, it sounds like k. Examp. Oblique, Antique, Quoif, Conquer, Risque, Traffique, &c. some of which words
are now more commonly spelt with c or k, as Coif, Risk, Traffic, &c.
15. S sounds like z.
1st, In the third persons singular of all verbs, and the plural number of all nouns, as in Has, Was, Tries, Bees, Times, &c.
2dly, In pronouns possessive, as His, Hers, Theirs, and also when preceded by the comma denoting possession, as Father′s, Mother′s, Tom′s, Will′s, &c. (also in the particle as.)
Exception to the two last Sections.
S has its proper sound when preceded by c, k, ck, f, p, q, or t, which admit not the sound of z so easily after them, as Speaks, Beats, Rocks, Jack′s, Dick′s, Gilbert′s, Cock′s-spur, Cat′s-paw, &c.
3dly, S sounds like z preceded by a liquid in the same syllable, as Dam-sel, Crim∣son, Thames, Jer-sey, Guern-sey, &c. And also,
4thly, S between two vowels most com∣monly sounds like z, as Daisy, Reprisal, Peasant, Please, Rosin, &c.
Except House, Mouse, Louse, Goose, Geese, Sausage, Purchase, Promise, Case, Mason, Bason, Basis, Phasis, and Thesis. Except also substantives in use, derived from La∣tin verbs, as U′se, Abu′se, Disu′se, Re′fuse, Excu′se, &c. and adjectives derived from the participles passive of some Latin verbs, as Reclu′se, Profu′se, Abstru′se, &c.
Lastly, Except also the words contained in the next section but one, where s sounds like zh.
S and ss sound like sh in Sure (with its com∣pounds) Issue, Tissue, Fissure, Pressure, Rus∣sian, &c. also in the terminations -assion, -ession, -ission, -ussion, as in Passion, Impres∣sion, Mission, Concussion, &c.
S, when preceded by a vowel and followed by ion or ian, sounds like zh, as Invasion, Ephesian, Vision, Delusion, &c. But if it
be preceded by a consonant, it sounds like sh, as in Conversion, Persian, &c.
S sounds also like zh before -ier, as Osier, Hosier, Glasier, Brasier, &c. and in the words Leisure, Measure, Pleasure, and Trea∣sure.
S is mute in Isle, Lisle, Carlisle, Island, Viscount, and Demesne.
16. T before io or ia (making part of the same syllable with i) sounds like sh, as Na-tion, Cau-tious, Egyp-tian, Sa-ti-ate, &c. But if t belong to the former syllable, it re∣tains its proper Sound, as Quest-ion, Fust∣ian, Combust-ion, &c.
T is mute in words ending with -stle, as Castle, Thistle, Bristle, &c.
17. Th has two sounds, the one soft, as in Thy, the other hard (like the Greek 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉) as in Thigh.
I. Th sounds soft,
1st, In Thence, There (with their com∣pounds) Then, That, The, Thee, These, This, Those, Thus, Thou, Thy, Thine, Their, Theirs, Them, Though, Although, Beneath, Bequeath, Betroth, Mouths, Tythe, Scythe, Wreath, Booth, and in
the verbs Bathe, Mouth, Seeth, Loathe, Soothe, and Breathe.
2dly, Where-ever it occurs between two vowels, as Father, Mother, &c. Except words of Greek extraction, and also derivatives from words ending with th hard, as Earthen from Earth, &c.
3dly, Th sounds soft when placed between r and a vowel, as Burthen, Murther, &c. though in such words d is often written and pronounced instead of th, as Mur∣der, Burden. In other cases th sounds hard.
Th is mute in Asthma, with its derivatives.
8. W is mute before r in the same syllable, as Write, Wrath, &c. also in Sword, Swoon, and Answer, with their compounds and de∣rivatives.
The other consonants have the same powers as in other languages.