measure

Chili, chat, chercher, violoncelle.

CONSONANTS-Continued.

joli, jujube, Jean, gingembre, gymnase.

zèle, zizanie, dixième, dix_huit, maison, les amis.

silence, ceci, cymbale, leçon, sens, nation, Bruxelles, Rhodez.

diligent, dîner, Didon, drole, David.

tillac, tarte, thé, Judith, grand_homme.

Krapack, khan, cacao, avec, Christ, rang épais qui, coq, excès.

OF VOWELS.

It has already been said that vowels, whether simple or compound, have only one sound; now this sound may be either long or short, according to the rapidity with which it is pronounced, a short vowel being pronounced in half the time necessary for the pronunciation of a long one.*

All long and short vowels are not equally long or short, but the difference is so slight that it is hardly appreciable, and I think that a mere mention of its existence is sufficient.

I would further say, that in conversation most vowels appear to be short; and that only persons who speak correctly observe the quantity of syllables.

Remark, 1st. That in French long and short vowels do not differ in sound, as they do in English; 2nd. That a single vowelform never represents a diphthong, as some do in English; and 3rd. That two vowel-forms representing only one vowel-sound, are called vowels and not diphthongs.

1st. făt, fate (English); pătte, pâte (French).

Examples { 2nd. bit, bīte do. affliger, il afflige, &c. do.

The time required for the pronunciation of vowels is not calculated with relation to any definite period, such as minutes or seconds, but with reference to the relative quickness or slowness of utterance of every speaker. Thus a person, whose pronunciation is rapid, can pronounce a long syllable in the same length of time that another, whose pronunciation is slow, will pronounce a short one; and yet both will pronounce correctly if they observe the difference that exists between long and short vowels, in reference to the duration of their relative pronunciation.

* Longam esse duorum temporum, brevem unius etiam pueri sciunt. (Quinctilian.)

† Et longis longiores, et brevibus sunt breviores syllabœ. (Quinctilian.)

THE SOUND A.

This sound appears under five different forms; namely, a, à, á, ea, eá; and is exactly the same as that of a in the English word far, or in the Italian caro.

It may be well to remark here that the unaccented e, which is found in many words between g and any one of the letters a, o, and (in a few words) u, is used merely to show that the preceding consonant has the soft articulation j; as in il songea, nous changeámes, il mangeait, nous chargeons, bourgeois, gageure, &c.

The circumflex accent (^) introduced to mark the derivation of a word, has the property of lengthening the sound of the vowel over which it is placed; but it does not affect the quantity of the vowel when the accent is a mere distinctive mark in some words otherwise spelt alike.

The grave accent (') when used over a does not affect by any means the sound of that letter, which preserves its proper sound whenever it is not combined with i, u, m, or n, so as to form with them the diphthong ai, the vowels ai, au, or the nasal syllables am, an.

A is not pronounced in Caen and its derivatives, aoriste, taon, août, aoûteron, Saone; it is also silent in the last syllable of curaçao; but this letter is pronounced in aoûter, though this word is derived from août, in which it is silent. Usage alone can account for this and many other seeming inconsistencies which we meet with in the study of the French as well as other languages.

THE LETTER E.

This letter is highly suggestive of a few observations, which, I think, will not be out of place here, as they will throw some light on the following pages.

In the first place, I must tell the reader, that in spite of its

improgrety. I have made use of the term mate, not only because I am in langer of being misunderstood, but also for want of a better word

In the seed place, I most point out one of the deficiencies of the French language, namely, the want of a distinctive mark to put over each of the different strts of unaccented e's, as this letter may, according to its place, have several different powers. Indeed, b ́w many, even French persons, would not be rather at a loss if they were asked what is the nature and sound of all the unaccented e's in the following examples:-amie, paiement, enirrer, une histoire amusante, emmenez cette femme, c'est une femmelette, je parle, je demande, je ne parle pas, je redemande, je le demande, je le redemande, je ne le demande pas, je ne le redemande pas, je ne te le redemanderai pas, jette-le que je ne te le redemande pas, &c.

It is therefore of the greatest importance to know well the value of unaccented e, not only in syllables alone, or with relation to the other syllables in the same word, but sometimes also in words with relation to each other

E appears under the several forms é, è, é, ë, e; the first of which is commonly called close, and is more or less so; the two following are known under the name of open, to which the term acute is affixed when the sound is slightly open, in opposition to that of grave, which is used when the sound is very open; the two last may, according to their position, be either open, or close, or mute. The e mute may be either altogether null, or faint mute, or mute.

The E Mute.

Of all the interesting sounds in the French language, those of e mute are perhaps the most so. It has been asserted that the most difficult sound to acquire, and therefore the most important (for English persons) in the French language, is that of u; I shall perhaps be allowed to dissent from the general opinion on

this point, and I will now proceed to state the grounds on which my conviction is founded.

At first sight it would appear that there is an equal difficulty in learning to produce e mute and u; but it will be found that it is not so, though the state and action of the vocal organs may to a careless observer have appeared to be the same in the production of those sounds. It is true that there are two sounds of e mute, just as there are two sounds of u; it is equally granted that these two sounds are for both the e mute and the u, the one long and the other short: but I deny their being equally long or equally short; indeed, the sound of e mute, even when long, never requires for its production more time than u short does. In the next place, the difference of time between u long and u short can easily be appreciated, whereas it is not so for the two sounds of e mute. Observe also that the sound of u, whether long or short, is one and the same sound, very clear, and easily distinguished from every other sound; whilst that of e mute, though when long it can easily be caught by an attentive listener, requires an experienced ear to detect it when short. And lastly, the sound of e mute, when short, cannot be produced alone, whereas that of every other vowel can. This is the reason why some Grammarians call it the obscure sound of e, to which expression I have substituted that of faint sound of

e mute.

Now if it be asked why the French have not only introduced so many mute e's in their written language, but have also rendered some of them of no value whatever in pronunciation, and have caused others to be pronounced so rapidly that their sound could not be produced alone, and some of them at the same time as if they were a part of the preceding word; the answer is, that these are some of the features of the genius of the French language, or, to speak more properly, the inevitable consequence of the character, habits, &c., of the French people, who being exceedingly fond of sweet and melodious music, have endea