Page:Critical Pronouncing Dictionary (Walker, 4th edition, London, 1806).pdf/39

Rh ter syllables of convivial, participial, etc. are extremely prone to unite into one, they may, however, be separated, provided the separation be not too distant. The same observations hold good of e, as malleable, pronounced mal-ya-ble.

. But the sound of the i, the most difficult to reduce to rule is when it ends a syllable immediately before the accent. When either the primary or secondary accent is on this letter, it is invariably pronounced either as the long i in title, the short i in tittle, or the French i in magazine; and when it ends a syllable after the accent, it is always sounded like e, as sen-si-ble, ra-ti-fy, etc. But when it ends a syllabic, immediately before the accent, it is sometimes pronounced long, as in vi-ta-li-ty, where the first syllable is exactly like the first of vi-al; and sometimes short, as in di-gest where the i is pronounced as if the word were written de-gest. The sound of the i, in this situation, is so little reducible to rule, that none of our writers on the subject have attempted it; and the only method to give some idea of it, seems to be the very laborious one of classing such words together as have the i pronounced in the same manner, and observing the different combinations of other letters that may possibly be the cause of the different sounds of this.

. In the first place, where the i is the only letter in the first syllable, and the accent is on the second, beginning with a consonant, the vowel has its long diphthongal sound, as in idea, identity, idolatry, idoneous, irascible, ironical, isosceles, itinerant, itinerary. Imaginary and its compounds seem the only exceptions. But to give the inspector some idea of general usage, I have subjoined examples of these words as they stand in our different pronouncing Dictionaries:

. When i ends the first syllable, and the accent is on the second, commencing with a vowel, it generally preserves its long open diphthongal sound. Thus in di-ameter, di-urnal, etc. the first syllable is equivalent to the verb to die. A corrupt, foreign manner of pronouncing these words may sometimes mince the i into e, as if the words were written de-ametur, de-urnal, etc. but this is disgusting to every just English ear, and contrary to the whole current of analogy. Besides, the vowel that ends and the vowel that begins a syllable are, by pronouncing the i long, kept more distinct, and not suffered to coalesce, as they are apt to do if i has its slender sound. This proneness of the e, which is exactly the slender sound of i, to coalesce with the succeeding vowel, has produced such monsters in pronunciation as joggraphy and jommetry for geography and geometry, and jorgics for georgics. The latter of these words is fixed in this absurd pronunciation without remedy; but the two former seem recovering their right to four syllables; though Mr. Sheridan has endeavoured to deprive them of it, by spelling them with three. Hence we may observe, that those who wish to pronounce correctly, and according to analogy, ought to pronounce the first syllable of biography, as the verb to buy, and not as if written beography.

. When i ends an initial syllable without the accent, and the succeeding syllable begins with a consonant, the i is generally slender, as if written e. But the exceptions to this rule are so numerous, that nothing but a catalogue will give a tolerable idea of the state of pronunciation in this point.

. When the prepositive bi, derived from bis, (twice) ends a syllable immediately before the accent, the i is long and broad, in order to convey more precisely the specific meaning of the syllable. Thus bi-capsular, bi-cipital, bicipitous, bi-cornous, bicorporal, bi-dental, bi-farious, bi-furcated, bi-lingous, bi-nocular, bi-pennated, bi-petalous, bi-quadrate, have the i long. But the first syllable of the words Bitumen, and Bitumenous having no such signification, ought to be pronounced with the i short. This is the sound Buchanan has given it; but Sheridan, Kenrick, and W. Johnston, make the i long, as in Bible.

. The same may be observed of words beginning with tri, having the accent on the second syllable. Thus tri-bunal, tri-corporal, tri-chotomy, tri-gintals, have the i ending the first syllable long, as in tri-al. To this class ought to be added, di-petalous and di-lemma, though the i in the first syllable of the last word is pronounced like e, and as if written de-lemma, by Mr. Scott and Mr. Perry, but long by Mr. Sheridan, Dr. Kenrick, and Buchanan; and both ways by W. Johnston, but placing the short first. And hence we may conclude, that the verb to bisect, and the noun bi-section, ought to have the i at the end of the first syllable pronounced like buy, as Mr. Scott and Dr. Kenrick have marked it, though otherwise marked by Mr. Sheridan, Mr. Perry, and Buchanan.

. When the first syllable is chi, with the accent on the second, the i is generally long, as chi-ragrical, chi-rurgic, chi-rurgeon, chi-rographist, chi-rographer, chi-rography. Chi-mera and chi-merical have the i most frequently short, as pronounced by Buchanan and Perry; though otherwise marked by Sheridan, Scott. W. Johnston, and Kenrick; and, indeed, the short sound seems now established.