A critical pronouncing dictionary and expositor of the English language

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G.G. and J. Robinson, T. Cadell junior, and W. Davies, 1797 - English language - 567 pages
 

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Page 40 - The rough r is formed by jarring the tip of the tongue against the roof of the mouth near the fore teeth: the smooth r is a vibration of the lower part of the tongue, near the root, against the inward region of the palate, near the entrance of the throat. This latter r is that which marks the pronunciation of England, and the former that of Ireland.
Page xiii - London have this manifest advantage over all the other inhabitants of the island, they have the disadvantage of being more disgraced by their peculiarities than any other people. The grand difference between the metropolis and the provinces is, that people of education in London are generally free from the vices of the vulgar; but the best educated people in the provinces, if constantly resident there, are sure to be strongly tinctured with the dialect of the country in which they live. Hence it...
Page 19 - When vowels are under the accent, the prince, and the lowest of the people in the metropolis, with very few exceptions, pronounce them in the same manner ; but the unaccented vowels in the mouth of the former have a distinct, open, and specific sound, while the latter often totally sink them, or change them into some other sound.
Page 1 - A vowel is a simple sound formed by a continued effusion of the breath, and a certain conformation of the mouth, without any alteration in the position, or any motion of 'the organs of speech, from the moment the vocal sound commences till it ends. A consonant may be defined to be an interruption of the effusion of vocal sound, arising from the application of the organs of speech to each other.
Page 40 - But if this letter is too forcibly pronounced in Ireland, it is often too feebly sounded in England, and particularly in London, where it is sometimes entirely sunk...
Page 142 - HAGGLE, hag'gl. vn To be tedious in a bargain, to be long in coming to the price. HAGGLER, hag'gl-ur.
Page iii - To him succeeded Mr. Sheridan, who not only divided the words into syllables, and placed figures over the vowels as Dr. Kenrick had done, but, by spelling these syllables as they are pronounced, seemed to complete the idea of a Pronouncing Dictionary, and to leave but little expectation of future improvement.
Page i - Syllable distinctly shown, but, where Words are subject to different Pronunciations, the Authorities of our best Pronouncing Dictionaries are fully exhibited, the reasons for each are at large displayed, and the preferable Pronunciation is pointed out.
Page 167 - Any lands, or other profits, that fall to a lord within his manor by forfeiture, or the death of his tenant, dying without heir general or especial. C3...
Page iii - ... sound of words, by spelling them as they are pronounced, is highly rational and useful. — But here sincerity obliges me to stop. The. numerous instances I have given of impropriety, inconsistency, and want of acquaintance with the analogies of the Language, sufficiently show how imperfect* I think his Dictionary is upon the whole, and what ample room was left for attempting another that might better answer the purpose of a Guide to Pronunciation.

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