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I Promised thee, gentle Reader, to set downe the difficulties of the French pronounciation: because it may seeme that the method which I haue dilated in my booke is some∣what obscure, and had need of more ample demonstra∣tion. I will therefore giue thee here a few Rules which although they be not perfect and sure, yet shall they be as Mercuries finger to direct thee in thy progresse of learning: See here then the A∣tomes of the French tongue, the which to obserue well, thou hadst need haue an hundred eyes as Argus had. Looke whether thou hast any skill or not,* if thou hast not, learne to sound these vowels: after our English maner é long,1 as l'aymant, lé-mant, the Adamant.

Before gn sound a a• chastaigne, shata-nheh, A Chestnut.

Before l sound a as caillou, ca-lhoo, A Peeble.

A Termination of the Preterperfectense, sound ee as ie parlay, ^zie parlee, I haue spoken.

ein. as Vilain, vee-lein, a Villaine.

éneh. as Romaine, Roméneh, Romish.

Before a vowell in the midst of a word, sound Liquid, as Payen, Pa-y-an, A Pagan. Ayeulx, a-y-ewz, Ancestors.

awm, de profundo nare, as chambre, shaumber, A chamber.

aun, de profundo nare, as santé, saunté, Health.

ó. long. as Austruche, otrusheh, An Estridge 2 They differ in Fraunce much in the pronouncing thereof, for they sound in many places plaine aw in most words, and in others ó long altogether.

a-lh•h. as Caille, escaille Cá-lheh, éka-lheh, A Quaile, a shell.

oo or ŏ Greeke, as Aoust, O ot, August.

Masculine is marked with an Accent thus é, sound é very long, as bonté, beauté, boonté, beaw•é, Bountie, Beautie.

Neuter, or e before r, sound ea, as terre, tearreh, Earth.

Neuter, or e, bef•re s, sound ea, as feste, feateh, A Feast.

Feminine eh, as halfe an English e very short or a breath only, as Pere, Péreh. Poire, Poe'reh, Father. Peare.

a. as lean, ^zlean, Iohn.

Termination of a Preterperfectense, ee, as Mangeay, man^ziee, Na∣geay, na^ziee, I haue eaten, Swimmed.

é Masc. as Seiche, sésheh, Drie.3

Double, é-eh, as leuée, levé-eh, A cawsie.

Treble, e-é-eh. as Creée, cre-é-eh, Created.

e-lheh. as Treille, tre lheh, A Portall.

o. George, ^zIor-^zIeh, George.

Marked thus with two pricks, diuides it selfe from the vowels following or going before, as queuë, kew-ëh, A Taile.

ew. Whiningly, as feu, few, Fire.

eaw. Sound all three vowels, as veau, veaw, A Calfe.

Sometime it looseth his first vowell, as beaucoup, sound bawcoop, or bo-coop, Much.

Page  [unnumbered]*oe' as Veoir, voer, To see.

e-leh. as Rondelle, roondéleh, belle, béleh, A Target, Faire.

êneh. as Veine, véneh, A vayne.

am. as Embusche, ambusheh, An Ambuscado.

an. as Encre, anker, Inke 4. Except, if it follow i in words of two siilables, then it sounds as en doth in English.

Signifiyng and é Masculine.

A Termination of the verbe plurall, et short, as ils parlérent, ee par∣léret, They spake.

ee. English, as Idiot, ee-dee or, An Idiot.

Sound both the vowels one after another swiftly, as miel, siel, mee-el, fee-el, Hony, Gall.

With two prickes, as ë before, &c.

Sound the first two vowels, as vieille, vee-é-lheh, An old trot.

eew. as Dieu, Deew, God.

ee-lheh 5 as Fille, fee-lheh, Castille, Castee-lheh, A daughter, Castilia.

These sillables sound as if they had a z prefix∣ed ouer them to make them hizze, and so you shall find them written with a z ouer them in my booke, thus:

• ^zIa. Ialousié, ^zialoozee-eh, Ielosie.
• ^zIe. Ienisse, ^zieneesseh, a Heighfare
• ^zIo. My-iour, mee-ioor, Noonday.
• ^zIu. Iuif, ^zIewif, A Iew.
• ^zIeu. Ieudy, ^zIewdee, Thursday.
• ^zIou. Iourneé, ^zioor-ne-eh, a iournie.
• ^zIoy. Ioyaulx, ^zIo-y-auz, Iewels.

oe'. as Miroir, meeroe'r, A looking glasse. Loy, loe', Roy, roe' Law, King: except a vowell follow, then sound the vowels apart, as Boyaulx, bo-y-awz, guttes.

oe'neh. as Moyne, moe'neh, A Moonk 6

oo or ŏ Greeke, as Coucou, Coo-koo, Hibou, Hee-boo, Cuc∣kow, Owle.

ew. as Soeur, sewr, Coeur, kewr, Sister, Heart.

oo-ee. as Ouïr, oo-eer, To heare. Ouy, oo-wee, or ŏ-wee, Yea.

De profundo nare, as Ombre, nomb're, montaigne, fontaine, oomber, noomber, moonta-nheh, foonténeh, shadow, number, mountaine, fountaine.

ŏ-lheh, or oo-lheh. as Grenouille, grenoo-lheh, Andouille, andoo-lheh, Frog, Chitterling.

ew. as Tu, Tew, Thou: sound it whiningly with a pewling voice.

u leh. as Nulle, newleh, None.

With two prickes as ë end ï before, &c.

ei. as Cueillir, kei-lheer, To gather 7.

ee. My-nuict, meenuit, My-mars, meemarz, Midnight, Midst of March.

eew. as Yeulx, eewz, Eyes.

Altereth his sound to g, in becasse, second, secondement, secret, secretaire, secretement, &c. sound Begásseh, segoont, &c. Page  [unnumbered] Woodcocke: second, secondly: secret, secretary, secretly, &c.

With a taile, sound double ss, as Garçon, garssoon, Maçon, mas∣soon, Boy, Masen.

se sce. as Cedule, sedûleh, Ciron, seeroon, A scroll, a worme in the hand. Except Cercher, shersher: Rechercher, reshersher, To seeke, To find out, and their deriuatiues.

sh. as Cheual, sheual: Chauue, shoueh, Horse, bald 8.

Finall, that is, at the end of a word before a vowell, sound t, as Quand à moy, Kanta moe', As for me.

Almost ^zie ^ziee. as Gemeau, ^ziemeaw, A Twinne. Vn Gibet, ^zieebet, A Gallowes. Gibbier, ^zi•ebbee-er, Wildfoule.

nnh or nni. as Mignon, mee-nhoon: oingnon, oin-nhoon, A Darling, an Onion 9.

ga. as Language, langa-^zieh, A Language.

ge. as Muguette, mugéteh, A Nutmeg.

gee. as Guiterne, geeterneh: Guydon, geedoon, A Gittarne, an Ensigne.

One l single, as Salle, sáleh, A Hall.

Finall, n, as Dam, dan: nom, noon: renom, renoon: Losse, Name, Fame.

Before these labiall letters, b, f, m, p, v, cons. is sounded doubtfully be∣tweene m and n, as Mon frere, mon pere, sound Moom fréreh, moom péreh, &c.

f. as Phiole, fee óleh, A Violl.

ka. as Quadran, kadran, qua drin, ka dreen, A diall, a farthing.

ke. as Quen ouille ke-noo-lheh, A Distaffe.

kee. as Quinaud, keenawt, A Monkie.

koe'. as Pourquoy, poorkoe': dequoy, dekoe', Why, Of what.

Single betweene two vowels, z, as cerise, seree-zeh, A Cherrie 10. And in the end of a word, a vowell or dipthong following, as Allon• à Romme, sound Alloonza Rommeh, Let vs go to Rome.

In the middest of a word is a monster in the French tongue.

sh. as Mousche, moosheh, A Flie.

Sound c, as Fesse, féceh: fosse, sóceh: fusse, fúceh, A Butlocke, a Graue, Were.

t. as Theatre, teáter: atheiste, ateesteh, a Theatre, an Atheist.

see-oon, as Caution, cosee-oon, Bale.

Finall s, as Deux, doux: dews, doos, Two, Sweet. Before a vowell or a dipthong,11 z, as Ioyeux à dire, io-y-ew-zà deereh, Glad to tell.

Finall, retaine their sounds for the most part, and sound as though an h sounded with them, which makes the tongue to hang in the midst of the mouth, as o•il, conseil: eilh, coonseilh, an Eye, Counsell, &c. Yet sometimes in talke the French speake so thicke, that they eclipse them. So the rule is vncertaine.

When they are finall sillables, haue their vowell e silent, or else sound it very short between the mute & the consonāt, as for example, Membre, Page  [unnumbered] mamber, A Member. Cancre, kánker, a Canker. As it were mambr' cancr', &c.

*Or the rule of two vowels, is, when one vowell is excluded by another, and it is alwaies in some of these particles, ce, de, ie, le, la, me, ne, que sy, grande, as c'est à vous, Tis yours, &c.

*Is an Elision of e Feminine, or of one of these particles, son, ton, before an open vowell or dithongue, as for example:

Another, La belle Helaine aime Antoine amoureusement, Say, La Belélenemantoe' namoorewzemant. Faire Helen loueth Antonie amorously.

*Is when a sillable or word endeth ín one or two Consonants, and the next sillable or word beginneth with a diuerse consonant, the first of the two or both, for the smooth and glib pronounciation of the French are to be suppressed, as Deux petits chiens iappans font grand bruit, pronounce, Dew petee shee-en ^ziappan foon gran bruit, Two little dogs barking, make great noise.