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*Words in which the current pronunciation of the United States, deviates from that of England.

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* Peculiarities of pronunciation, whether they characterize the usage of Ireland, Scotland, or the United States, fall under the denomination of errors, as regards the appropriate use of the English language. They are on the same footing with the faults of provincial dialect, in England itself. The English language, spoken out of England, claims, justly, the same law of observance with that of the French language, spoken out of France,-to be regulated by the custom of the country in which it originated.

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NOTE. Some of the peculiarities noted, in the preceding list, as Americanisms, are not exclusively so. Several are common to the style of elderly persons, or of negligent usage, in England. Walker's orthoepy, though unquestionable, in most instances, is, in a few words, now become obsolete; as the usage of the most cultivated English society daily evinces.

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MODE OF ENUNCIATION REQUIRED FOR PUBLIC READING AND SPEAKING.

A correct enunciation is the fundamental quality of a distinct and impressive elocution. It is an attainment of great value, for the ordinary purposes of communication; but it becomes doubly important, in the act of reading or speaking in public, whether we advert to the larger space which must be traversed by the voice, or the greater moment of the topics of disourse which are usual on such occasions. The appro›riate style of modern eloquence, is that of intellectual, more than of impassioned, expression; and enunciation being, of all the functions of the voice, that which is most important, to the conveyance of thought and meaning, it justly requires, in the course of education, more attention and practice than any other branch of elocution.

A distinct articulation, regarded as a matter of taste, or the result of a well-disciplined mind, possesses, like the quality of perspicuity or clearness in writing, something more than a mere negative merit: it imparts to speech a positive propriety and gracefulness, for the want of which nothing can compensate. In the English language, especially, it is an invaluable accomplishment; as our frequent consonants, and difficult. combinations of sound, while they render an accurate enunciation essential to intelligible expression and natural fluency of speech, tend to betray the organs into a defective and inarticulate mode of utterance,a result which may be observed in the habits of the illiterate and the uncultivated, wherever the English language is spoken. Nor is erroneous habit, in this particular, confined to the uneducated: it extends, in consequence of defective initiation in the English language, to the business of the professions, and the exercises of literary institutions; and until a change, in this respect, is effected in the modes of early instruction, a good enunciation must remain to be the fruit of individual exertion and of self-cultivation.

To aid such efforts is the object, in part, of this manual; and the lessons and exercises prescribed in the preceding pages, although primarily designed for

the elementary discipline of young learners, will also, it is hoped, serve the purposes of preparatory practice for public reading and speaking, if attention is given to the following explanations and suggestions.

Distinct enunciation depends, as already mentioned, on the true and forcible action of the organs of speech. Regarded in connexion with the exercise of reading or speaking in public, it requires, 1st, the preparatory act of drawing a full supply of breath, that the lungs may be freely expanded, and a sufficient volume of air obtained for the production of strong and clear sound;* 2d, a vigorous emission, or expulsion, of the breath, to give force and distinctness to the action of those organs which render sound articulate; 3d, an energetic, deliberate, and exact execution, in the functions of the tongue and the lips. It is from the combination of all these qualities of articulation, that the ear receives the true and perfect sound of every letter and syllable; and the mind, the exact form and meaning of every word; while a failure in any of these points, is attended by a weak and inefficient voice, or a defective and indistinct utterance.

The qualities requisite to distinct enunciation, naturally belong to all human beings in the possession of health, and under an adequate impulse of the mind: they are especially characteristic of the activity and elasticity of youth, when not perverted or depressed by arbitrary modes of education, or when uncorrupted by bad example and neglect. Instruction and practice, however, are requisite to develope and confirm these natural good tendencies; but such aids become indispensable when the habits of enunciation have, through unfavourable influences, been stamped with error, or when individuals have commenced a course of study, preparatory to a profession which requires correctness and fluency in public address.

* This act is naturally and unconsciously performed by persons whose organization is happily adapted to vigorous exercise of voice. It easily becomes a habit, even with the infirm, if due attention is devoted to it. It facilitates, inexpressibly, the exertion necessary to public speaking; and the neglect of it is a great cause of internal exhaustion and injury.

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