(fire-), candel candle, cat, crabbe crab, fann fan (vannus), gader gather, gang wæg gang-way, ganra gander, garleac garlic, galga gallow, halgian hallow, hand, lamb, land, malwe mallow, man, panne pan, plant, ramm ram, sadol saddle, sand, span (subst.), stand, swalewe swallow, tan, wann wan (colour).

Words in which the character is preserved but the sound altered to ae:-apa ape, cara care, cran crane, cafer chafer, capun capon, cradel cradle, faran fare, hara hare, nihtscada nightshade, raca rake, sala sale, scamu shame, spada spade, sam same, tam tame, wacian wake.

Words in which 'a' has become o:-camb comb, clað cloth, fald fold, gast ghost, halig holy, lang long, maþu moth, rap rope, sang song, strang strong, tacen token, tange tongs.

Words in which it has become o with subscript e:ban bone, dran drone, ham home, lar lore, mara more, rah roe, rap rope, sar sore, sla sloe, stan stone, spaca spoke (of a wheel). The Saxon ma (more) became mo and moe.

Words in which the Saxon 'a' has become oa:-âc oak, âð oath, âr oar, bât boat, brâd broad, gâd goad, gât goat, hâr hoar, hlaf loaf, lâd load, lâm loam, râd road, wad woad. The original ‘a' in all these cases was long; but the Saxon long 'a' did not always produce English oa, thus bân bone, stân stone.

In one instance this oa has drawn in a cockney r, namely hâs hoarse. In Devonshire the true analogy is preserved, and this word is pronounced hoase or hoaze.

112. As we have thus seen that the Saxon 'a' has broken and dissipated itself into a variety of modifications, so now on the other hand we must see what compensation there has been that this chief vowel should not perish out of the language. We shall find that many words which in Saxon had not 'a,' but some weaker and softer vowel, have now by

some means acquired it. Change from a to 'a':—æcern acorn (according to a rare pronunciation), æfter after, æsc ash, ælmesse alms, æx axe, bæð bath, dræg net drag-net, fæt fat or vat, fæder father, fæþm fathom, fæst fast, glæs glass, gærs grass, gnæt gnat, hæfde had, hlædder ladder, lætta lattice, mæddre madder, mæst mast, rædic radish, ræfter rafter, tæppere tapster.

Other words with a have acquired the character but not the sound of 'a' central:-æcern acorn (according to the common pronunciation), bæcere baker, blæd blade, hæsel hazel, hwæl whale, smæl small, wæter water, wæsp wasp.

There are many instances in which ea became 'a or a: as, beag badge, ceaf chaff, fealu fallow, fleax flax, gealla gall, geard yard, heall hall, heard hard, hearp harp, pearruc park, sealt salt, sceaft shaft, scearp sharp, steal stall, weal wall, wearp warp. This was for the most part a reversion to the older form.

Miscellaneous examples of the present use of 'a' where the Saxon had some inferior vowel are-breml bramble, steorra star, steort start, as in red-start and Start Point.

113. In the transition period the Saxon character a was dropped, and a was often written in its place. Sometimes this gives an appearance of the recovery of 'a,' which is not real; because under the guise of a it is the Saxon æ that is heard. Thus the Mosogothic akr is the archaic Saxon acer, the classic Saxon acer, and the English acre: but the pronunciation of the two latter is substantially identical. There is, however, a considerable number of cases of the undoubted recovery in English of an 'a' that in classic Saxon had fallen into an inferior sound. The following are instances of words which had possessed this sound, in the earlier Saxon period, had lost it in the classic

stage, and recovered it again in the transition to modern

114. The same may be shewn of some other weakenings of a,' which occurred in the literary Saxon period, and were corrected in English:

If in one or two of these latter instances the sound of the English vowel is not 'a,' but rather au, it still indicates more or less a return towards the original and too often supplanted 'a.' As far then as regards the incidence of this chief of vowel-sounds, there was a great redistribution, and while some words lost it, others acquired or recovered the 'a' vowel.

If from the Saxon words we now turn to those of French and Latin origin, we soon perceive that the Romanesque contact was favourable to the restoration of this vowel to something like a proportionate place among the vowelsounds. It is not necessary to transcribe examples: the student can easily furnish himself with them by the help of the list at 75.

115. When we attribute to any word the possession of a true ‘a,' we mean that if the word be adequately pronounced, that sound is heard. In average conversation or reading

this vowel is too often slurred or squeezed up between the consonants. Indeed, it is a great fault in our utterance that our vowels are so skipped, till our whole speech seems to the foreign ear what Welsh looks to the foreign eye-a mass of consonants. Our language might be improved, if it were made an aim in education that boys should not only articulate the consonants, but also give due expression to the vowels. If men have not time to say their words any more fully than is absolutely necessary for the transaction of business, we may at least hope that boys have and as the importance of musical instruction is now appreciated, the moment seems favourable for winning attention to the culture of our vowel-pronunciation.

I.

116. The statement is advanced with some diffidence, and commended to further observation; but it seems to me that the vowels are not always most satisfactorily uttered by those who have had the benefit of a careful education. When I seek a standard of pronunciation for any particular vowel, it seems to present itself to me in some specimen of rustic diction. This is the case as regards the 'I.' While there are many words in cultured English that have the true 'i,' there are not many that strike the ear as models of that incisive sound. But if it ever happened to any reader to be standing by when two boys ran a race in Devonshire, he may have heard their several favourers encouraging them to 'rinn' in so clear a note that the vowel might thenceforward live in his ear as a sample of the true 'i.'‘Rinn, Jack! rinn, Joe! rinn, rinn, rinn!'

117. Words in which Saxon 'i' is fully retained :—biddan bid, cicen chicken, cin chin, disc dish, fill, finc finch, finger, fifta fifth, fiftig fifty, flint, gift, begin, grist, hit it, hricg ridge,

hring ring, king, lifer liver, litel little, micg midge, mid, midl middle, mist, ribb rib, sicol sickle, scip ship, sið sith, smith, spin, spit, stirap stirrup, swift, þistl thistle, thing, wincian wink, wind, winter.

Words in which the character is retained but with the sound altered to igh or eye-blind, bridle, briht bright, cild child, dicere diker, fif five, grind, hid hide (skin), hind (cerva), hrind rind, ive ivy, lif life, liht light, lim lime, miht might, mil mile, min mine, niht night, riht right, ridan ride, scir shire, scric shrike, scrin shrine, swin swine, þin thine, wif wife, wiht wight, wild, wis wise (adj.), wise (subst.), win wine.

In is gicel icicle, the first i is altered, the second has remained true.

The Saxon 'i' has sometimes turned to ee or ie; as flis fleece, slife sleeve, scir sheer, sife sieve.

The instances in which we have acquired 'i' in the stead of some less characteristic vocalism are few:-seolc silk, weoce wick of candle, spreot sprit (bowsprit), meole milk.

U.

118. The 'U' is best pronounced in the rustic speech of the north of England. The northerners are weak in the 'i,' which is apt to run into a dull u, as hull for hill: and in the 'a' also-man is apt to sound in North Britain as mon or тип. But their 'u' is often perfect; and when I travel northward, I consider myself to be then among people of the northern tongue, when I hear the frequent exhortation 'Cum, cum!' uttered with such a genuine 'u' that he who has once heard and heeded it, will not stand to ask what was the ancient pronunciation of the verb cuman.

This letter now represents the long 'u' sound in very few words: bull, bush, full, pull, push, puss. The word put has this vocalism in some mouths, and the word punish had