  A Syllable is one or more letters pronounced in one sound; and is either a word, as, a, an, ant; or a part of a word, as di in dial. In every word there are as many syllables as there are distinct sounds, or separate impulses of the voice; as, gram-ma-ri-an. A word of one syllable is called a monosyllable; a word of two syllables, a dissyllable; a word of three syllables, a trissyllable; and a word of four or more syllables, a polysyllable. Every vowel, except w, may form a syllable of itself; but the consonants belong to the vowels or diphthongs; and without a vowel no syllable can be formed. DIPHTHONGS AND TRIPHTHONGS.A diphthong is two vowels joined in one syllable; as, ea in beat, ou in sound. In oe or Æ, old or foreign, the characters often unite. A proper diphthong is a diphthong in which both the vowels are sounded; as, oi in voice, ow in vow. An improper diphthong is a diphthong in which only one of the vowels is sounded; as, oa in loaf, eo in people. A triphthong is three vowels joined in one syllable; as, eau in beau, iew in view, oeu in manoeuvre. A proper triphthong is a triphthong in which all the vowels are sounded; as, uoy in buoy. An improper triphthong is a triphthong in which only one or two of the vowels are sounded; as, eau in beauty, iou in anxious. The diphthongs in English are twenty-nine; embracing all but six of the thirty-five possible combinations of two vowels: aa, ae, ai, ao, au, aw, ay,—ea, ee, ei, eo, eu, ew, ey,—ia, ie, (ii,) io, (iu, iw, iy,)—oa, oe, oi, oo, ou, ow, oy,—ua, ue, ui, uo, (uu, uw,) uy. Ten of these diphthongs, being variously sounded, may be either proper or improper; to wit, ay,—ie,—oi, ou, ow,—ua, ue, ui, uo, uy. The proper diphthongs appear to be thirteen; ay,—ia, ie, io,—oi, ou, ow, oy,—ua, ue, ui, uo, uy: of which combinations, only three, ia, io, and oy, are invariably of this class. The improper diphthongs are twenty-six; aa, ae, ai, ao, au, aw, ay,—ea, ee, ei, eo, eu, ew, ey,—ie,—oa, oe, oi, oo, ou, ow,—ua, ue, ui, uo, uy. The only proper triphthong in English is uoy, as in buoy, buoyant, buoyancy; unless uoi in quoit may be considered a parallel instance. The improper triphthongs are sixteen; awe, aye,—eau, eou, ewe, eye,—ieu, iew, iou,—oeu, owe,—uai, uaw, uay, uea, uee. SYLLABICATION.In dividing words into syllables, we are to be directed chiefly by the ear; it may however be proper to observe, as far as practicable, the following rules. RULE I.—CONSONANTS.Consonants should generally be joined to the vowels or diphthongs which they modify in utterance; as, An-ax-ag'-o-ras, ap-os-tol'-i-cal.[110] RULE II.—VOWELS.Two vowels, coming together, if they make not a diphthong, must be parted in dividing the syllables; as, A-cka'-i-a, A-o'-ni-an, a-e'-ri-al. RULE III.—TERMINATIONS.Derivative and grammatical terminations should generally be separated from the radical words to which they have been added; as, harm-less, great-ly, connect-ed: thus count-er and coun-ter are different words. RULE IV.—PREFIXES.Prefixes, in general, form separate syllables; as, mis-place, out-ride, up-lift: but if their own primitive meaning be disregarded, the case may be otherwise; thus, re-create, and rec'-reate, re-formation, and ref-ormation, are words of different import. RULE V.—COMPOUNDS.Compounds, when divided, should be divided into the simple words which compose them; as, boat-swain, foot-hold, never-the-less. RULE VI.—LINES FULL.At the end of a line, a word may be divided, if necessary; but a syllable must never be broken. OBSERVATIONS.OBS. 1.—The doctrine of English syllabication is attended with some difficulties; because its purposes are various, and its principles, often contradictory. The old rules, borrowed chiefly from grammars of other languages, and still retained in some of our own, are liable to very strong objections.[111] By aiming to divide on the vowels, and to force the consonants, as much as possible, into the beginning of syllables, they often pervert or misrepresent our pronunciation. Thus Murray, in his Spelling-Book, has "gra-vel, fi-nish, me-lon, bro-ther, bo-dy, wi-dow, pri-son, a-va-rice, e-ve-ry, o-ran-ges, e-ne-my, me-di-cine, re-pre-sent, re-so-lu-tion," and a multitude of other words, divided upon a principle by which the young learner can scarcely fail to be led into error respecting their sounds. This method of division is therefore particularly reprehensible in such books as are designed to teach the true pronunciation of words; for which reason, it has been generally abandoned in our modern spelling-books and dictionaries: the authors of which have severally aimed at some sort of compromise between etymology and pronunciation; but they disagree so much, as to the manner of effecting it, that no two of them will be found alike, and very few, if any, entirely consistent with themselves. OBS. 2.—The object of syllabication may be any one of the following four; 1. To enable a child to read unfamiliar words by spelling them; 2. To show the derivation or composition of words; 3. To exhibit the exact pronunciation of words; 4. To divide words properly, when it is necessary to break them at the ends of lines. With respect to the first of these objects, Walker observes, "When a child has made certain advances in reading, but is ignorant of the sound of many of the longer words, it may not be improper to lay down the common general rule to him, that a consonant between two vowels must go to the latter, and that two consonants coming together must be divided. Farther than this it would be absurd to go with a child."—Walker's Principles, No. 539. Yet, as a caution be it recorded, that, in 1833, an itinerant lecturer from the South, who made it his business to teach what he calls in his title-page, "An Abridgment of Walker's Rules on the Sounds of the Letters,"—an Abridgement, which, he says in his preface, "will be found to contain, it is believed, all the important rules that are established by Walker, and to carry his principles farther than he himself has done"—befooled the Legislature of Massachusetts, the School Committee and Common Council of Boston, the professor of elocution at Harvard University, and many other equally wise men of the east, into the notion that English pronunciation could be conveniently taught to children, in "four or five days," by means of some three or four hundred rules of which the following is a specimen: "RULE 282. When a single consonant is preceded by a vowel under the preantepenultimate accent, and is followed by a vowel that is succeeded by a consonant, it belongs to the accented vowel."—Mulkey's Abridgement of Walker's Rules, p. 34. OBS. 3.—A grosser specimen of literary quackery, than is the publication which I have just quoted, can scarcely be found in the world of letters. It censures "the principles laid down and illustrated by Walker," as "so elaborate and so verbose as to be wearisome to the scholar and useless to the child;" and yet declares them to be, "for the most part, the true rules of pronunciation, according to the analogy of the language."—Mulkey's Preface, p. 3. It professes to be an abridgement and simplification of those principles, especially adapted to the wants and capacities of children; and, at the same time, imposes upon the memory of the young learner twenty-nine rules for syllabication, similar to that which I have quoted above; whereas Walker himself, with all his verbosity, expressly declares it "absurd," to offer more than one or two, and those of the very simplest character. It is to be observed that the author teaches nothing but the elements of reading; nothing but the sounds of letters and syllables; nothing but a few simple fractions of the great science of grammar: and, for this purpose, he would conduct the learner through the following particulars, and have him remember them all: 1. Fifteen distinctions respecting the "classification and organic formation of the letters." 2. Sixty-three rules for "the sounds of the vowels, according to their relative positions." 3. Sixty-four explanations of "the different sounds of the diphthongs." 4. Eighty-nine rules for "the sounds of the consonants, according to position." 5. Twenty-three heads, embracing a hundred and fifty-six principles of accent. 6. Twenty-nine "rules for dividing words into syllables." 7. Thirty-three "additional principles;" which are thrown together promiscuously, because he could not class them. 8. Fifty-two pages of "irregular Words," forming particular exceptions to the foregoing rules. 9. Twenty-eight pages of notes extracted from Walker's Dictionary, and very prettily called "The Beauties of Walker." All this is Walker simplified for children! OBS. 4.—Such is a brief sketch of Mulkey's system of orthoËpy; a work in which "he claims to have devised what has heretofore been a desideratum—a mode by which children in our common schools may be taught the rules for the pronunciation of their mother tongue."—Preface, p. 4. The faults of the book are so exceedingly numerous, that to point them out, would be more toil, than to write an accurate volume of twice the size. And is it possible, that a system like this could find patronage in the metropolis of New England, in that proud centre of arts and sciences, and in the proudest halls of learning and of legislation? Examine the gentleman's credentials, and take your choice between the adoption of his plan, as a great improvement in the management of syllables, and the certain conclusion that great men may be greatly duped respecting them. Unless the public has been imposed upon by a worse fraud than mere literary quackery, the authorities I have mentioned did extensively patronize the scheme; and the Common Council of that learned city did order, November 14th, 1833, "That the School Committee be and they are hereby authorized to employ Mr. William Mulkey to give a course of Lectures on OrthoËpy to the several instructors of the public schools, and that the sum of five hundred dollars is hereby appropriated for that purpose, and that the same amount be withdrawn from the reserved fund."—See Mulkey's Circular. OBS. 5.—Pronunciation is best taught to children by means of a good spelling-book; a book in which the words are arranged according to their analogies, and divided according to their proper sounds. Vocabularies, dictionaries, and glossaries, may also be serviceable to those who are sufficiently advanced to learn how to use them. With regard to the first of the abovenamed purposes of syllabication, I am almost ready to dissent even from the modest opinion of Walker himself; for ignorance can only guess at the pronunciation of words, till positive instruction comes in to give assurance; and it may be doubted whether even the simple rule or rules suggested by Walker would not about as often mislead the young reader as correct him. With regard to the second purpose, that of showing the derivation or composition of words, it is plain, that etymology, and not pronunciation, must here govern the division; and that it should go no further than to separate the constituent parts of each word; as, ortho-graphy, theo-logy. But when we divide for the third purpose, and intend to show what is the pronunciation of a word, we must, if possible, divide into such syllabic sounds as will exactly recompose the word, when put together again; as, or-thog-ra-phy, the-ol-o-gy. This being the most common purpose of syllabication, perhaps it would be well to give it a general preference; and adopt it whenever we can, not only in the composing of spelling-books and dictionaries, but also in the dividing of words at the ends of lines. OBS. 6.—Dr. Lowth says, "The best and easiest rule, for dividing the syllables in spelling, is, to divide them as they are naturally divided in a right pronunciation; without regard to the derivation of words, or the possible combination of consonants at the beginning of a syllable."—Lowth's Gram., p. 5. And Walker approves of the principle, with respect to the third purpose mentioned above: "This," says that celebrated orthoËpist, "is the method adopted by those who would convey the whole sound, by giving distinctly every part; and, when this is the object of syllabication, Dr. Lowth's rule is certainly to be followed."—Walker's Principles,—No. 541. But this rule, which no one can apply till he has found out the pronunciation, will not always be practicable where that is known, and perhaps not always expedient where it is practicable. For example: the words colonel, venison, transition, propitious, cannot be so divided as to exhibit their pronunciation; and, in such as acid, magic, pacify, legible, liquidate, it may not be best to follow the rule, because there is some reasonable objection to terminating the first syllables of these words with c, g, and q, especially at the end of a line. The rule for terminations may also interfere with this, called "Lowth's;" as in sizable, rising, dronish. OBS. 7.—For the dividing of words into syllables, I have given six rules, which are perhaps as many as will be useful. They are to be understood as general principles; and, as to the exceptions to be made in their application, or the settling of their conflicting claims to attention, these may be left to the judgement of each writer. The old principle of dividing by the eye, and not by the ear, I have rejected; and, with it, all but one of the five rules which the old grammarians gave for the purpose. "The divisions of the letters into syllables, should, unquestionably, be the same in written, as in spoken language; otherwise the learner is misguided, and seduced by false representations into injurious errors."—Wilson's Essay on Gram., p. 37. Through the influence of books in which the words are divided according to their sounds, the pronunciation of the language is daily becoming more and more uniform; and it may perhaps be reasonably hoped, that the general adoption of this method of syllabication, and a proper exposition of the occasional errors of ignorance, will one day obviate entirely the objection arising from the instability of the principle. For the old grammarians urged, that the scholar who had learned their rules should "strictly conform to them; and that he should industriously avoid that random Method of dividing by the Ear, which is subject to mere jumble, as it must be continually fluctuating according to the various Dialects of different Countries."—British Grammar, p. 47. OBS. 8.—The important exercise of oral spelling is often very absurdly conducted. In many of our schools, it may be observed that the teacher, in giving out the words to be spelled, is not always careful to utter them with what he knows to be their true sounds, but frequently accommodates his pronunciation to the known or supposed ignorance of the scholar; and the latter is still more frequently allowed to hurry through the process, without putting the syllables together as he proceeds; and, sometimes, without forming or distinguishing the syllables at all. Merely to pronounce a word and then name its letters, is an exceedingly imperfect mode of spelling; a mode in which far more is lost in respect to accuracy of speech, than is gained in respect to time. The syllables should not only be distinctly formed and pronounced, but pronounced as they are heard in the whole word; and each should be successively added to the preceding syllables, till the whole sound is formed by the reunion of all its parts. For example: divisibility. The scholar should say, "Dee I, de; Vee I Ess, viz, de-viz; I, de-viz-e; Bee I Ell, bil, de-viz-e-bil; I, de-viz-e-bil-e; Tee Wy, te, de-viz-e-bil-e-te." Again: chicanery. "Cee Aitch I, she; Cee A, ka, she-ka; En E Ar, nur, she-ka-nur; Wy, she-ka-nur-e." One of the chief advantages of oral spelling, is its tendency to promote accuracy of pronunciation; and this end it will reach, in proportion to the care and skill with which it is conducted. But oral spelling should not be relied on as the sole means of teaching orthography. It will not be found sufficient. The method of giving out words for practical spelling on slates or paper, or of reading something which is to be written again by the learner, is much to be commended, as a means of exercising those scholars who are so far advanced as to write legibly. This is called, in the schools, dictation. IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.ERRORS IN SYLLABICATION.LESSON I.—CONSONANTS.1. Correct the division of the following words of two syllables: "ci-vil, co-lour, co-py, da-mask, do-zen, e-ver, fea-ther, ga-ther, hea-ven, hea-vy, ho-ney, le-mon, li-nen, mea-dow, mo-ney, ne-ver, o-live, o-range, o-ther, phea-sant, plea-sant, pu-nish, ra-ther, rea-dy, ri-ver, ro-bin, scho-lar, sho-vel, sto-mach, ti-mid, whe-ther."—Murray's Spelling-Book, N. Y., 1819, p. 43-50. [FORMULE.—Not proper, because the v in ci-vil, the l in co-lour, the p in co-py, &c., are written with the following vowel, but spoken with that which precedes. But, according to Rule 1st, "Consonants should generally be joined to the vowels or diphthongs which they modify in utterance." Therefore, these words should be divided thus: civ-il, col-our, cop-y, &c.] 2. Correct the division of the following words of three syllables: "be-ne-fit, ca-bi-net, ca-nis-ter, ca-ta-logue, cha-rac-ter, cha-ri-ty, co-vet-ous, di-li-gence, di-mi-ty, e-le-phant, e-vi-dent, e-ver-green, fri-vo-lous, ga-ther-ing, ge-ne-rous, go-vern-ess, go-vern-or, ho-nes-ty, ka-len-dar, la-ven-der, le-ve-ret, li-be-ral, me-mo-ry, mi-nis-ter, mo-dest-ly, no-vel-ty, no-bo-dy, pa-ra-dise, po-ver-ty, pre-sent-ly, pro-vi-dence, pro-per-ly, pri-son-er, ra-ven-ous, sa-tis-fy, se-ve-ral, se-pa-rate, tra-vel-ler, va-ga-bond;—con-si-der, con-ti-nue, de-li-ver, dis-co-ver, dis-fi-gure, dis-ho-nest, dis-tri-bute, in-ha-bit, me-cha-nic, what-e-ver;—re-com-mend, re-fu-gee, re-pri-mand."—Murray: ib., p. 67-83. 3. Correct the division of the following words of four syllables: "ca-ter-pil-lar, cha-ri-ta-ble, di-li-gent-ly, mi-se-ra-ble, pro-fit-a-ble, to-le-ra-ble;—be-ne-vo-lent, con-si-der-ate, di-mi-nu-tive, ex-pe-ri-ment, ex-tra-va-gant, in-ha-bi-tant, no-bi-li-ty, par-ti-cu-lar, pros-pe-ri-ty, ri-di-cu-lous, sin-ce-ri-ty;—de-mon-stra-tion, e-du-ca-tion, e-mu-la-tion, e-pi-de-mic, ma-le-fac-tor, ma-nu-fac-ture, me-mo-ran-dum, mo-de-ra-tor, pa-ra-ly-tic, pe-ni-ten-tial, re-sig-na-tion, sa-tis-fac-tion, se-mi-co-lon."—Murray: ib., p. 84-87. 4. Correct the division of the following words of five syllables: "a-bo-mi-na-ble, a-po-the-ca-ry, con-sid-e-ra-ble, ex-pla-na-to-ry, pre-pa-ra-to-ry;—a-ca-de-mi-cal, cu-ri-o-si-ty, ge-o-gra-phi-cal, ma-nu-fac-to-ry, sa-tis-fac-to-ry, me-ri-to-ri-ous;—cha-rac-te-ris-tic, e-pi-gram-ma-tic, ex-pe-ri-ment-al, po-ly-syl-la-ble, con-sid-e-ra-tion." —Murray: ib., p. 87-89. 5. Correct the division of the following proper names: "He-len, Leo-nard, LESSON II.—MIXED.1. Correct the division of the following words, by Rule 1st: "cap-rice, es-teem, dis-es-teem, ob-lige;—az-ure, mat-ron, pat-ron, phal-anx, sir-en, trait-or, trench-er, barb-er, burn-ish, garn-ish, tarn-ish, varn-ish, mark-et, musk-et, pamph-let;—brave-ry, knave-ry, siave-ry, eve-ning, scene-ry, bribe-ry, nice-ty, chi-cane-ry, ma-chine-ry, im-age-ry;— as-y-lum, hor-i-zon,—fi-nan-cier, he-ro-ism,—sar-don-yx, scur-ril-ous,— com-e-di-an, post-e-ri-or."—Webster's Spelling-Books. 2. Correct the division of the following words by Rule 2d: "oy-er, fol-io, gen-ial, gen-ius, jun-ior, sa-tiate, vi-tiate;—am-bro-sia, cha-mel-ion, par-hel-ion, con-ven-ient, in-gen-ious, om-nis-cience, pe-cul-iar, so-cia-ble, par-tial-i-ty, pe-cun-ia-ry;—an-nun-ciate, e-nun-ciate, ap-pre-ciate, as-so-ciate, ex-pa-tiate, in-gra-tiate, in-i-tiate, li-cen-tiate, ne-go-tiate, no-vi-ciate, of-fi-ciate, pro-pi-tiate, sub-stan-tiate."—Webster: Old Spelling-Book, 86-91; New, 121-128. 3. Correct the division of the following words by Rule 3d: "dres-ser, has-ty, pas-try, sei-zure, rol-ler, jes-ter, wea-ver, vam-per, han-dy, dros-sy, glos-sy, mo-ver, mo-ving, oo-zy, ful-ler, trus-ty, weigh-ty, noi-sy, drow-sy, swar-thy."—Cobb's Standard Spelling-Book. Again: "eas-tern, full-y, pull-et, rill-et, scan-ty, nee-dy."—Webster. 4. Correct the division of the following words by Rule 4th: "aw-ry,"—Webster's Old Book, 52; "ath-wart,"—Ib., 93; "pros-pect-ive,"—Ib., 66; "pa-renth-e-sis,"—Ib., 93; "res-ist-i-bil-ity,"—Webster's New Book, 93; "hem-is-pher-ic,"—Ib., 130; "mo-nos-tich, he-mis-tick," [112]—Walker's Dict., 8vo; Cobb, 33; "tow-ards,"—Cobb, 48. |
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