Page:Critical Pronouncing Dictionary (Walker, 4th edition, London, 1806).pdf/17



rapid sale of the Third Edition of this Dictionary called upon me for a Fourth, at a time of life, and in a state of health, little compatible with the drudgery and attention necessary for the execution of it: but as I expected such a call, was not unmindful of whatever might tend to render it still more worthy of the acceptance of the Public, and therefore collected many words, which, though not found in Dictionaries, were constantly to be met with in polite and literary conversation, and which were well deserving of a place in the language, as soon as written authorities could be produced for them. Some of these authorities I have produced, and have left others to the attention of those who have more leisure and better health. In the midst of the impression of the present work, I met with Mason's Supplement to Johnson, and found several words worthy of insertion, but have carefully acknowledged the obligation; and take this opportunity of thanking that gentleman for the benefit I have derived from his Supplement, which I think, if continued, admirably calculated for the improvement and stability of the language.

But as the great object of the present Dictionary was pronunciation, I was very solicitous to be as accurate as possible on this point, and therefore neglected no opportunity of informing myself where I was in the least doubtful, and of correcting myself where there was the least shadow of an error. These occasions, however, were not very numerous. To a man born, as I was, within a few miles of the Capital, living in the Capital almost my whole life, and exercising myself there in publick speaking for many years; to such a person, if to any one, the true pronunciation of the language must be very familiar: and to this familiarity I am indebted for the security I have felt in deciding upon the sounds of several syllables, which nothing but an infantine pronunciation could determine. If I may borrow an allusion from music, I might observe, that there is a certain tune in every language to which the ear of a native is set, and which often decides on the preferable pronunciation, though entirely ignorant of the reasons for it.

But this vernacular instinct, as it may be called, has been seconded by a careful investigation of the analogies of the language. Accent and Quantity, the great efficients of pronunciation, are seldom mistaken by people of education in the Capital; but the great bulk of the nation, and those who form the most important part in it, are without these advantages, and therefore want such a guide to direct them as is here offered. Even polite and literary people, who speak only from the ear, will find that this organ will, in a thousand instances, prove but a very uncertain guide, without a knowledge of those principles by which the ear itself is insensibly directed, and which, having their origin in the nature of language, operate with steadiness and regularity in the midst of the ficklest affectation and caprice. It can scarcely be supposed that the most experienced speaker has heard every word in the language, and the whole circle of sciences pronounced exactly as it ought to be; and if this be the case, he must sometimes have recourse to the principles of pronunciation when his ear is either uninformed or unfaithful. These principles are those general laws of articulation which determine the character, and fix the boundaries of every language; as in every system of speaking, however irregular, the organs must necessarily fall into some common mode of enunciation, or the purpose of Providence in the gift of speech would be absolutely defeated. These laws, like every other object of philosophical inquiry, are only to be traced by an attentive observation and enumeration of particulars; and when these particulars are sufficiently numerous to form a general rule, an axiom in pronunciation is acquired. By an accumulation of these axioms, and an analogical comparison of them with each other, we discover the deviations of language where custom has varied, arid the only clew to guide us where custom is either indeterminate or obscure.

Thus, by a view of the words ending in ity or ety, I find the accent invariably placed on the preceding syllable, as in diver′sity, congru′ity, etc. On a closer inspection, I find every vowel in this antepenultimate syllable, when no consonant intervenes, pronounced long, as pe′ity, pi′ety, etc. a nearer observation shows me, that if a consonant intervene, every vowel in this syllable but u contracts itself, and is pronounced short, as sever′ity, curios′ity,