Page:Critical Pronouncing Dictionary (Walker, 4th edition, London, 1806).pdf/85

Rh not the smallest doubt that the penultimate accent has a lengthening power: that is, if our own words, and words borrowed from other languages, of two syllables, with but one consonant in the middle, had been left to the general ear, the accent on the first syllable would have infallibly lengthened the first vowel. A strong presumption of this arises from our pronunciation of all Latin dissyllables in this manner, without any regard to the quantity of the original, (see ) and the ancient practice of doubling the consonant when preceded by a single vowel in the participial terminations, as to begin, beginning, to regret, regretted: and I believe it may be confidently affirmed, that words of two syllables from the Latin, with but one consonant in the middle, would always have had the first vowel long, if a pedantic imitation of Latin quantity had not prevented it. (see ) Let an Englishman, with only an English education, be put to pronounce zephyr, and he will, without hesitation, pronounce the e long, as in zenith: if you tell him the e is pronounced short in the Latin zephyrus, which makes it short in English, and he should happen to ask you the Latin quantity of the first syllable of comic, mimic, solace, etc. your answer would be a contradiction to your rule.—What irrefragably proves this to be the genuine analogy of English quantity, is the different quantity we give a Latin word of two syllables when in the nominative, and when in an oblique case: thus in the first syllable of sidus and nomen, which ought to be long; and of miser and onus, which ought to be short, we equally use the common long sound of the vowels: but in the oblique cases, sideris, nominis, miseri, oneris, etc. we use quite another sound, and that a short one: and this analogy runs through the whole English pronunciation of the learned languages. (533) (535)

. But the small dependance of the English quantity on that of the Latin, will be best seen by a selection of words of two syllables, with the accent on the first, and but one consonant in the middle, and comparing them with the Latin words from which they are derived.