Lanterna Rally

Author: Richard Soule

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2017-11-25

Total Pages: 502

ISBN-13: 9780331949292

Excerpt from Manual of English Pronunciation and Spelling: Containing a Full Alphabetical Vocabulary of the Language, With a Preliminary Exposition of English Orthoepy and Orthography; And Designed as a Work of Reference for General Use, and as a Text-Book in Schools Of American writers who have given a careful attention to the subject of pronunciation, Dr. Webster stands first in point of time, and probably first, also, as regards the ex tent to which the influence of authority upon this subject has prevailed in the United States, if we may judge from the large circulation in this country of his Dictionary and his Spelling-book. But it is to be observed that both these works have been subjected to considerable revision by their editors, since Dr. Webster's death, in 1843, with respect both to pronunciation and to orthography. In order, there fore, to ascertain the mode in which Dr. Webster himself pronounced words, the compilers of this Manual have exam ined very carefully the edition of his Dictionary published in 1841, which was the last issued during his lifetime. To this was appended, in 1843, shortly after the author's death, a Supplement of new words, which was prepared by his own hand, and which has accordingly been examined with the same obj ect. By comparing this edition with that of 1859, edited by Dr. Goodrich, the changes of pronunciation introduced by the latter have been determined. They were made, according to the statement of Dr. Goodrich in reply to a letter addressed to him on the subject, in con formity with Dr. Webster's known principles, and in con sultation with his son, Mr. William G. Webster, who hadbeen associated with him in his literary labors. We sup posed ourselves, says Dr. Goodrich, to be well acquaint ed with the pfirm'pks on which he would have wished such a revision to be conducted. It is matter of mere conjecture how far he might have been satisfied with each individual alteration. I am not certain he would have rejected any of them. I am sure he would have embraced nearly all, had he lived to understand the progress of the public mind as we have endeavored to do in his behalf. A dictionary, from the nature of the case, is a progressive thing. As the language is in a state of slow but continual progress, the volume that records it must from time to time undergo corresponding changes. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.