CRITICAL PRONOUNCING SPELLING-BOOK; Containing the Rudiments OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. TO WHICH ARE PREFIXED, THE PRINCIPLES OF ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION, UNITED STATES AND GREAT BRITAIN. BY HEZEKIAH BURHANS, "I consider a Human Soul without education, like marble in a quarty” PHILADELPHIA: Printed for JOHN HOLMES, No. 414, North Second St. Published by the author, and sold by J. Crissey, 177 Chesnut st. Langstroth & M'Dowell, 31 1863. Kay. 1. Gist of Gemze Lice EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA, TO WIT: Be it remembered, that on the twenty-first day or July, in the Forty-eighth Year of the Independence of the United States of America, A. D. 1823, Hezekiah Bur hans, of the said District, hath deposited in this office the Title of a Book, the right whereof he claims as author, in the words following, to wit: "The Critical Pronouncing Spelling-Book "ments of the English Language. To Princi "ples of English Pronunciation, compiled for the use of Schools, in "the United States and Great Britain. By Hezekiah Burhans, Coun"sellor at Law." "I consider a Human Soul without, education, like marble in a quarry," and "what sculpture is to a block of marble, education is "to a Human Soul." In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, entitled "An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by securing the Copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the Authors and Proprietors of such Copies, during the Times therein mentioned." And also to the Act, entitled, "An Act supplementary to an Act, entitled, An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by securing the Copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the Authors and Proprietors of such Copies during the Times therein mentioned,' and extending the Benefits thereof to the Arts of designing, engraving, etching historical and other Prints." D. CALDWELL, The above : Clerk of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. been inserted in the "Saturday Evening Post," a publick neopy has the City of Philadelphia, published by Atkin son & Alexander, on every Saturday: from the 9th of August until the 13th of September following. ExecT 758.26.240 To all persons to whom these presents shall come Greeting: I certify that Hezekiah Burhans has, this thirtieth day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-three, and of Independence the forty-eigth, deposited in the Office of the Department of State, a certain book consisting of one volume of 204 pages entitled "The Critical pronouncing Spelling Book, by Hezekiah Burhans, Counsellor at law. Philadelphia 1823, the copy-right whereof is claimed by Hezekiah Burhans as author, under the provisions of "An act for the encouragement of Learning by securing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the Authors and Proprietors of such copies, during the time therein mentioned,' and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching, historical and other prints," passed on the 29th of April, A D. 1802. Given under my hand, as the Secretary of the Department of State of the United States, with the Seal of the said Department affixed, at the City Washington, the day and year first above written. John Quincy Adams. A national Spelling-book, that will establish a uniform system of pronunciation of the English language in the United States and Great Britain is a work that has been anticipated and anxiously sought for. The compiler offers to the inspection of all careful instructors of youth, his Critical Pronouncing Spelling-book, as an orthographical and orthoepical system for the use of those schools, in which the elements of the English language are taught. A system of orthography and orthoepy, that would early secure an accurate pronunciation, which is the fundamental principle of an English education, must materially mitigate the labour of teachers of minor schools as well as facilitate the progress of the pupils, with accuracy and precision, and will be found essentially to aid and assist self-taught teachers, who have not had an opportunity of a classical education. The words are regularly classed, and of sitnilar sound, consisting of syllables of like quantity, without anomalies, or confounding the sounds of the vowels, and the figures are placed over every spelling column that represent the true sound of the vowels, with the correct pronunciation of every syllable in the word, according to the best system of orthoepy, with a short etymological system, in which the part of speech of every word is pointed out. The compiler in his travels in England observed, that each parish and shire has its peculiar dialect; and even in courts of justice, the contrast in the pronunciation of the judges, barristers, and their witnesses, would not warrant the supposition that they were neighbours, or resided in the same island: When they emigrate to the United States, it is with difficulty that they can be understood; and they labour under the same embarrassment in their own country. The people of the east of England can scarcely understand their neighbours of the west. In travelling in the United States, he has also noticed the following inaccuracies, among other orthoepical errors, in the pronunciation of words, viz: “ mắs sắ crẻ, nature, deaf, chastisement, côm parable,hôr 1 zôn, ás'y lum, hum' ble, &c. which are correctly pronounced by literary men, thus: más så-kůr, na'tshure, def, tshas'tiz-ment, côm'på-rå-bl, hò ri'zân, á sl'lům, um'bl, &c. The compiler gives these examples to show that the pronunciation in the United States is sliding into the same variations as that of England. As science advances, it has become necessary to establish a system of pronunciation. By general consent, Walker's Critical Pronouncing Dictionary has been adapted as the standard of pronunciation of the English language in the United States and Great Britain: but will his dictionary alone accomplish this great work without any auxiliary or elementary book? Not more than one person in a hundred has his dictionary, and there is not an elementary book in any school that contains his system of the vowel sounds represented by figures; and the teachers are without any general elementary orthoepical school system by which they can instruct their juvenile pupils. The compiler having introduced a correct elementary system of pronunciation, which agrees with Walker's Critical Pronouncing Dictionary, flatters himself with the hope that his arduous labour will benefit the rising generation of the United States and Great Britain; and, from the patronage it has received from principals and professors of Universities, Colleges, and other literary Institutions, his work bids fair to become the elementary system of both countries, and to do away that contrast of pronunciation that now prevails and impedes that noble gift of God, the power of speech and understanding. |