[55] Hymenean and hymeneal are, by some writers, accented on the last syllable but one; but erroneously. Other authorities preserve the analogy.
[56] This is the sound which the rhime requires in the following verses:
"Give eare to me that ten years fought for Rome,
Yet reapt all grace at my returning home."
Rel. An. Poet. p. 204.
[57] Particularly Perry. I am surprized that his pronunciation has found so many advocates in this country, as there is none more erroneous.
I would just remark here that many writers use an before h aspirate, instead of a; which practice seems not well founded. The rapid sound of the article a is indistinct, but opens the mouth to a proper position to pronounce h; whereas n places the end of the tongue under the upper teeth, and the mouth assumes a new position, before the aspiration can be formed. A hundred, a house, &c. are therefore much more easily articulated, than an hundred, an house.
Thus a should always be used before y consonant, and consequently before u when it has the same sound, as in union, universal, &c. Indeed I cannot account for the use of an before y, on any other principle than this, that the persons who use it do not pronounce y at all. If they make y the same as ee, it is consistent to write an before it; but this is an error.
[58] See Canterbury Tales and Prologue. L. 221, 955, 1599, 15382.
[59] To prove that the Americans have a corrupt pronunciation, we are often told that our ancestors came from the western counties of England. This is but partially true.
The company that purchased New England, was indeed called the Plymouth Company, being composed principally of persons belonging to the county of Devon. But many of the principal settlers in these states came from London and its vicinity; some from the middle counties, the ancient kingdom of Mercia; and a few from the northern counties. To show the falsehood of the charge, with respect to the language, it may be asserted with truth, that there is not the least affinity between the language of the New England people and the specimens of the Devonshire dialect, given in the English Magazines.