Mr. Sheridan, in my opinion, is guilty of an error of greater consequence, in marking the two qualities of sound in bard and bad with the same figure. He distinguishes the different qualities of sound in pool and full, and in not and naught; and why he should omit the distinction of sound in bard and bad, ask and man, is to me inconceiveable. The last distinction is as obvious as the others which he has marked; and the defect of his scheme must lead a foreigner into mistakes. His scheme is singular; Kenrick, Perry and Burn all make a distinction in the time of pronouncing a in ask and at; and even Scott, who copies Sheridan's pronunciation almost implicitly, still makes the same distinction.
"Non multum differt hic sonus (w) ab Anglorum oo; Gallorum ou, Germanorum u pingui, rapidissime pronunciatis; adeoque a quibusdam pro vocali fuit habita, cum tamen revera consona sit, quanquam ipsi vocali admodum sit affinis."——Wallis.
"It is indeed on the celerity of utterance, that all the difference, in many cases, between consonants and vowels depends; as in w and y, in English; which, being discharged quickly, perform the office of consonants, in giving form only to the succeeding vowel; but when protracted or drawled out, acquire a tone and become the vocal oo and ee."——Kenrick, Rhet. Gram. p. 4.
Perry has adopted this opinion and contends warmly that w is a consonant. If w is a vowel, says he, then wool, wolf, will be pronounced oo-ool, oo-olf, or ool, olf. I am sensible that in the beginning of words, w has not precisely the power of oo; but it is not clear from this fact that it has the properties of a consonant. Place a vowel before w, as, ow, and there is no compression of the lips or other parts of the mouth, to obstruct the sound, as there is produced by b or m, in eb and em.
In opposition to the authorities mentioned, Sheridan ranks w among the vowels, and supposes it to form dipthongs with the other vowels, as in well, will, &c. It appears to me to be a letter rather of an ambiguous nature, of which we have others in the language.
It has been remarked that by old authors y was often used for g; yeve for give; foryete for forget.—— Chaucer, Knight's Tale, 1884.
I have observed that some foreigners pronounce year, in the same manner nearly as they do ear; and yeast is commonly pronounced east. This pronunciation would easily lead a man into the supposition that y is merely ee short. But the pronunciation is vicious.