CHAPTER VII. 35 A. The silent e at the end of a word serves two purposes : First, It makes that word a syllable long, which otherwise would be short, as can, cane, not, note, hast, hate, bath, bathe. Secondly, It softens the sound of c and g, as lac, lace, rag, rage, sing, singe. In other words it does nothing but shew the genius and custom of the English tongue, which seldom ends a word with any other of the four vowels; as lie, die, toe, foe, sloe, true, virtue, plague. 6 Q. Are there. any words wherein i is not pronounced ? A. ì is not pronounced in evil, devil, venison, marriage, carriage, business, cushion, fashion, parliament. 7 Q. Doth o ever lose its sound ? A. The sound of o is lost in many words ending in on, as mutton, crimson, bacon. 8 Q. Doth u ever lose itssound ? A. A singleu is always pronounced, bet it is often lost when another vowel follows it after g, as guard, guilty, tongue, plague; yet not always, as anguish, languish. 9 Q. Doth not u lose its sound after q? A. y is never written without u ; and there are some words wherein the u is quite silent ; as conquer, musquet, liquor, mas- querade ; and all words borrowed from other languages that end in que, as barque, risque, burlesque, oblique. CHAP. VII.-Of the Soundof Diphthongs. I QUESTION. ARE both the vowels in 4 diphthong plainly pronounced ? Answer. In some words they seem to be both pronounced, in some they are not, and in other words they have a peculiar sound by themselves. 2 Q. Give some instances of words where both vowels seem to bepronounced. A. a i are both pronounced in the word pain, o u in house, o i in point, o w in cow. 4 Q. Give some instances of diphthongs, where but on of the vowels is pronounced ? A. a only is pronounced in heart, e in bread, i in guide, o in cough, and win rough. 4 Q. Give some instances where the vowels, joined in adiph- thong, have a peculiar soundof their own. A. e e in need, o o in moon. 5 Q. What is the use of writing two vowels, where but one is pronounced. A. Custom has made it necessary, and it serves also gene.
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