“Hye dum, dye dum, fiddle dumb—c.” —Sterne.
A syllable is a distinct sound of one or more letters pronounced in a breath, or, as we say in the classics, in a jiffey.
|
A HUMAN DIPHTHONG. |
A diphthong is the sound of two vowels in one syllable. Taken collectively they resemble a closed fist—i.e. a bunch of fives. The diphthongs are au, eu, ei, æ, and œ. Of the two first of these, au and eu, the sound is intermediate between that of the two vowels of which each is formed. This fact may perhaps be impressed upon the mind, on the principles of artificial memory, by a reference to a familiar beverage, known by the name of half-and-half. In like manner, ei, which is generally pronounced i, and æ and œ, sounded like e, may be said to exhibit something like an analogy to a married couple. The human diphthong, Smith female + Brown male, is called Brown only.
The reason, says the fool in King Lear, why the seven stars are no more than seven—is a pretty reason—because they are not eight. This is a fool’s reason; but we (like many other commentators) cannot give a better one, why the Parts of Speech are no more than eight—because they are not nine. They are as follow:
1. Noun, Pronoun, Verb, Participle—declined.
2. Adverb, Preposition, Conjunction, Interjection—undeclined. Most schoolboys would like to decline them altogether.
OF A NOUN.
A noun is a name,—whether it be a Christian name, or a sur-name—the name of a prince, a pig, a pancake, or a post. Whatever is—is a noun.