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CRITICAL
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PRONOUNCING DICTIONARY
AKD
EXPOSITOR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE;
TOWHICHAKE PUBFIXED
IPrhrdpIcs 0f dpn^TrsIj ^rommdation:
THEWHOLEIXTERSPBRSEDWITH
OBSERVATIONS, ETYMOLOGICAL, CRITICAL, AND GRA^IMATICAL.
By JOHN WALKER,
AUTHOKOP "ELEIIEKTSOPELpCOTION," "KHTMINGEICIIONAEr,"ETO.
WITH A SUPPLEMENT,
CONSISTING OF UPWARDS OF FIVE THOUSAND NEW AVOBDS AND SCIENTIFIC
TEEMS RECENTLY INCORPORATED WITH THE LANGUAGE.
By EDWARD SMITH,
FELLOWOFTHEEDDCATIOMALINSTITUTEOFSCOTLAND.
LONDON:
T. NELSON AND SONS, PATERNOSTER ROW^
EDINBURGH; AND NEW YORE:,
JUDCCCLXVI.
PREFACE.
1"*EWsubjects have of lateyearsmoreemployed the pensof everyclassof critics, than theim-
provementof the Englisli Language. The greatestabilities in the nation have been exerted in
cultivatingandreformingit; norhaveathousand minorcritics been wantingto add their mite
of amendment totheir nativetongue. Johnson, whose largemind and justtastemadehim ca-
pableofenrichingand adorningtheLanguage with original composition, hascondescendedtothe
drudgery of disentangling, explaining, and arrangingit, and left alasting monumentof his abi-
lity, labour, and patience; and Dr. Lowth,the politest scholarof theage,hasveiledhissuperi-
orityin hisshort Introduction to English Grammar. Theponderousfoliohas gravelyvindicat-
ed therights of analogy; and thelightephemera! sheetofnews has corrected errors in Gram-
mar, aswellas in Politics, by slyly markingthem in Italics.
Norhastheimprovementstoppedhere. WhileJohnson and Lowthhavebeeninsensiblyope-
ratingon the orthography and construction ofourLanguage, its pronunciation has not been ne-
glected. Theimportance of aconsistentandregularpronunciation wastooobviousto be over-
looked; and thewantof thisconsistency and regularity has induced several ingenious men to
endeavourat reformation; who, byexhibiting the regularities of pronunciation, and pointing
outitsanalogies, have reclaimed some words thatwere notirrecoverablyfixed ina wrongsound
andprevented others from beingperverted by ignoranceorcaprice.
Amongthosewriters who deservethefirst praiseon thissubject,isMr.Elphinston; who,inhis
PrinciplesoftheEnglishLanguage, hasreduced thechaos toa system; and, byadeepinvestiga-
tionoftheanalogiesofour tongue, has laid the foundation of a justandregular pronunciation.
Afterhim.Dr.Kenrick contributed aportion ofimprovementby his RhetoricalDictionary• in
which the words are divided into syllables as they are pronounced, and figures placed over
thevowels,toindicate theirdifferent sounds. But thisgentlemanhasrenderedhisDictionaryex
tremely—imperfect,by entirelyomittingagreatnumberofwordsofdoubtful and diflUcultpronun-
ciation thosevery words for which a Dictionary of thiskind would be mostconsulted.
Tohim succeeded Mr. Sheridan, who notonly divided the wordsintosyllables, and placed fi-
guresoverthevowelsas Dr. Kenrick had done, but, by spellingthesesyllablesas theyare pro-
nounced,seemed tocompletetheidea ofaPronouncing Dictionary, and to leavebutlittleexpec-
tation of futureimprovement. It must, indeed, be confessed, that Mr. Sheridan's Dictionary
isgreatlysuperior to every otherthat preceded it; and his method of convey—ing the sound of
words, by spellingthem as theyare pronounced, ishighlyrational and useful. Buthere since-
rityobliges metostop. Thenumerous instances I havegivenofimpropriety, inconsistency, and
wantofacquaintancewiththeanalogiesoftheLanguage,sufficientlyshow howimperfect* Ithink
his Dictionary is upon the whole, andwhatampleroomwasleftforattemptinganotherthatmio'ht
betteranswerthe purpose ofa Guide to Pronunciation.
Thelast writer on this subject is Mr. Nares, who, inhis ElementsofOrthiJepy, has showna
clearness of method and an extent of observation which deserve the highest encomiums. His
Prefacealoneproves himan elegantwriter, aswell asa philosophical observerofLanguage• and
ahisneAwlpahanbdetuisceaflulImndeetxh,odreoffertrrienagtinnegarthfeivseubtjheocuts;anbdutwohredsseteomst,heonrulmeasnfyorocpcraosinoonusn,citonghatvheemmisi-s
takenthebestusage, and tohave paid too littleattention to thefirstprinciplesofpronunciation.
Thus I haveventured togive my opinion of my rivals and competitors, and I hope without
envyor self-conceit. Perhapsit would havebeen policy in metohave been silent on this head
forfearofputting the Publicin mind that othershave written on the subjectas well as myself'
bouurtsetlhivsesisatatnhaerirroewxppeonlsiec.y, wAhicwhr,ituerndwehrothiesccoolnosucriooufstehnededrenseesrsvetsotohteheartst,einsticoanlcouflattehdetPoubrlaiisce
(andunless he is thus consciousheoughtnot to write)mustnotonly wish to be compared with
those whohavegone before him, butwill promotethe comparison, byinforminghisreaderswhat
othershavedone, and on what he foundshispretensions to a preference; and if this be done
vdth fairnessand withoutacrimony, itcanbe no moreinconsistent with modesty, than it iswith
honestyand plain dealing.
notThonelywoerxhkibIithsavteheofplr'ienrceiaploenstohfepsruobnjuencctihaatsi,onIohnopae,moardedeedxtseonmseivtehipnlgantothtahnepotuhbelrisckhasvteocdkon:eit
divides thewordsintosyllables, and marks thesoundsofthe vowels like Dr. Kennck, spellsChe
wordsastheyare pronounced likeMr.Sheridan, and directs theinspector to the rulebythe word
likeMr Nares; but, where wordsaresubject to difierent pronunciations, it shows the reasons
fromanalogyforeach, producesauthorities forone side and the other, and points outthepronun-
ciationwhich is preferable. In short, Ihave endeavouredto unite thescienceofMr. Elphinston,
themethod of Mr. Nares, and thegeneral utilityof Mr. Sheridan; and, toadd to theseadvan*
tages, have given critical observationson such wordsasare subject toa diversity of pronuncia-
tion, and haveinvited the inspectorto decideaccording toanalogy and the bestusage.
But toall works of this kind there lies a formidableobjection; which is, thatthe pronuncLa-
V^v*t,^SSp.hftm"e'r"'a',P'S?a't.u^t?y-,^&Ze^.'a^n^d?'tPhe^'in^s^e^p'ara*b^l*e-p*r^e-p'os^i'^t'io^n8"..Cfj5.30; andthewords A>,um€. CoUect,Ci.ouv<«d;o«uui,M..Di>ovnnaa--
'1 PKEFAOE.
tion of a Laneuat^e is necessarily indefinite and fugitive, and that all endeavours to deline-
ate or settle it are viiin. Dr. Johnson, in his Grammar, prefixed to his Dictionary, says:
" Mostof thewriters of English Grammarhavegiven long tablesof words pronounced other-
wise than they are written; and seem not sufficiently to haveconsidered, that, ofEnglish, as of
allliving tongues, thereir,adouble pronunciation; one, cursory andcolloquial; theother, regu-
larand solemn. Thecursorypronunciation isalwaysvagueand uncertain, beingmadedifi'erent,
in different mouths, by negligence, unskilfulness, or affectation. The solemn pronunciation,
though by no meansimmutableand permanent, is yet alwaysles3remote from the orthography,
and lessliable tocapricious innovation. Theyhave, however, generally formed their tablesac-
cordingtothecursory speech of thosewith whon-i theyhappened to converse, and, concluding
thatthewholenation combinestovitiatelanguage in onemanner, haveoften established thejar-
gon ofthelowestofthepeopleas the modelofspeech. For pronunciation thebestgeneralrule
is, toconsiderthoseas themostelegantspeakerswlio deviate leastfrom the writtenwords."
Withoutany derogation from the character of Dr. Johnson, itmay beasserted, thatin these
observationswedonot perceive thatjustness and accuracyofthinkingfor which he is soremark-
able. It would bedoing great injustice tohim, to suppose thathemeanttoexcludeallpossibi-
lityof conveyingtheactual pronunciation of many wordsthatdepartmanifestly from their or-
thography, or of thosethatare written alike, and pronounced differently: and inversely. He
hasmarked thesedifferenceswith greatpropriety himself,in many placesofhis Dictionary; and
itis toberegretted that hedid notextend theseremarks farther. It isimpossible, therefore, he
could suppose, that,becausethealmostimperceptibleglancesofcolloquialpronunciationwerenot
tobecaughtand described by the pi-n, thatthevery perceptible differencebetween theinitial ac-
cented syllablesofmoneyand wionifor, or the final unaccented syllable oifiniteandinfinite, could
notbesufficiently marked upon paper. Cannotweshow thatcellar, avault, andseller, onewho
sells, haveexactly the samesound; or thatthe monosyllableyiitt, and thefirst syllableoffulmin-
ate, are sounded differently, becausethereare some words in which solemnity will authorizea
different shade ofpronunciation from familiarity? Besides, that colloquial pronunciationwhich
is perfect, issomuch the languageofsolemn speaking, that,perhaps, thereis nomoredifference
than between thesame picturepainted tobeviewed near and at a distance. The symmetry in
both isexactlythe same; andthedistinction liesonlyin thecolouring. TlieEnglishLanguage,
inthisrespect, seemstohavea greatsuperiority overthe French, which pronouncesmanyletters
in the poeticand solemn style, that are whollysilent in theprosaic and famliar. Butif a so-
lemn and familiar pronunciation really existsin ourlanguage, isitnotthebusinessof agram-
rasrian to markboth? Andifhecannotpointouttheprecisesound ofunaccentedsyllableB,(for
theseonlyare liabletoobscurity,)he niay, atleast, givethosesounds which approachthenearest,
and by this means become a little more usefulthan thosewhosoliberallyleave every thing to
theearand tasteofthespeaker.
Thetruth is. Dr.Johnson seemsto havehad aconfused ideaofthedistinctnessandindistinct-
ness with which, on solemn orfamiliaroccasions, wesometimespronouncethe unaccentedvow-
els; and with respectto these, itmustbeowned, thathisremarksarenotentirely without foun-
dation. The EnglishLanguage, with respecttoits pronunciation, isevidently divisibleinto ac-
cented and unaccented sounds. The accented syllables, bybeingpronounced withgreater force
than the unaccented, havetheir vowelsas clearly and distinctlysounded as anygiven note in
music; while theunaccented vowels, forwantof thestress, areapt toslide intoan obscurity of
sound, which, though sufficientlydistinguishabletotheear, cannotbesodefinitelymarked outto
the eyebyother soundsasthosevowels thatarc under the accent. Thus some of thevowels,
when neither undertheaccent, norclosed by aconsonant, havealongerorashorter, an opener
oraclosersound,accordingtothe solemnity orfamiliarity, thedeliberation errapidityofourde-
livery. This will beperceived in the sound oftheeinemotion,* oftiiooinobedience, and ofthe
u in monument. In the hastypronunciation of commo.'i speaking, the e in emotion is often
shortened, asifspeltim-mo-tio?i; theoinobedienceshortened andobscured, as ifwrittenub-be-di-
ence;and theu in m.onumctit changed intoe, asifwrittenmon-ne-m^nti while thedeliberateand
elegantsound of these vowelsis the longopen sound theyhave, when theaccentison them, in
equal, over, and unit: buta, when unaccented, .seems to iiave no such diversity; ithasgenerally
a short obscuresound, whetherendingasyllable, orclosed byaconsonant. Thus thea inab'e
has itsdefiniteanddistinctsound; but the same letterin tolerablef goesintoan obscure indefi-
nite sound approaching theshortu; nor can any solemnity ordeliberationgive it thelongopen
sound it hasin the first word. Thus, bydistinguishingvowels intotheiraccentedand unaccent-
ed sounds, weareenabled tosee clearly what Dr. Johnson sawbutobscurely; and by this dis-
tinction entirely toanswerthe objection.
Equallyindefiniteand uncertain is hisgeneral rule, tliai those are tobeconsidered asthemost
elegantspeakers who deviateleast from thewritten words. Itis certain, where custom isequal,
thisought to take place; and if thewhole body of respectable English speakers wereequallydi-
vided in theirpronunciation of the word busy, one half pronouncing it bew-xc,\ and the other
halfbix-Ke,that the formerought tobeaccounted the mostelegantspeakers; buttill this be tli£
• SwthewonisCollect,Commend,Dtspatch,VornffUck,Kffiice,Occarion.
tI'lSucyj:!*,No.88,Hit. t Principles,No.17b.
