the rules of pronunciation in our language; to examin the past and present practice of the English, both in the pronunciation of words and construction of sentences; to exhibit the principal differences between the practice in England and America, and the differences in the several parts of America, with a view to reconcile them on the principles of universal practice and analogy. I have no system of my own to offer; my sole design is to explain what I suppose to be authorities, superior to all private opinions, and to examin local dialects by those authorities.

Most writers upon this subject have split upon one rock: They lay down certain rules, arbitrary perhaps or drawn from the principles of other languages, and then condemn all English phrases which do not coincide with those rules. They seem not to consider that grammar is formed on language, and not language on grammar. Instead of examining to find what the English language is, they endeavor to show what it ought to be according to their rules. It is for this reason that some of the criticisms of the most celebrated philologers are so far from being just, that they tend to overthrow the rules, and corrupt the true idiom, of the English tongue. Several examples of this will appear in the course of these Dissertations.

To learn the English language in its purity, it is necessary to examin and compare the best authors from Chaucer to the present time. In executing the following work, the most approved compilations have been consulted, and the opinions of the learned authors considered as respectable, not as decisive, authorities. The language itself has been examined with great industry, with a view to discover and defend its principles on the best grounds, analogies in structure, and immemorial usage. I have had recourse to the works of authors who wrote prior to Chaucer, and have even borrowed some light upon this subject, from the early ages of Gothic ignorance. Believing, with the author of "Diversions of Purley," that the peculiar structure of our language is Saxon, and that its principles can be discovered only in its Teutonic original, it has been my business, as far as the materials in my possession would permit, to compare the English with the other branches of the same stock, particularly the German and the Danish. These researches have thrown light upon the meaning and construction of particular phrases, and enabled me to vindicate some expressions in the language which are often used, but generally condemned by grammarians.

My knowlege of the practice of speaking in different parts of America, is derived from personal observation. My knowlege of the past and present state of the language in England, is taken from the writers who have treated expressly of the subject.[7] The authorities necessary to prove particular points will be quoted, as occasion shall require.

The talk of examining words cannot be agreeable to a writer, nor can his criticisms be very entertaining to the reader. Yet this talk I have imposed upon myself; for I believe it the only method to correct common mistakes. A general rule may be sufficient for a classical scholar, who makes it his business to apply the rule to all cases: But most readers must have their particular errors laid before their eyes, or they will not discover them.

To offer to correct the mistakes of others, is also a hazardous task, and commonly exposes a man to abuse and ill will. To avoid this I can only say, that my motives for the undertaking were not local nor personal; my enquiries are for truth, and my criticisms, it is hoped, will be marked with candor.

But before I proceed to explain the principles of pronunciation, it is necessary to give a sketch of the history of our language from the earliest times, and endeavor to discover from what sources it is derived.

HISTORY of the ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

The first correct accounts we have of Britain were given by Julius Cesar, who invaded and conquered the southern parts of the island, about fifty four years before the Christian era.[8] Tacitus, in his Life of Julius Agricola, has described the natives of the island, and given it as his opinion, that they came from Gaul (now France.) The inhabitants of Caledonia, now Scotland, in the color of their hair and size of their limbs, resembled the Germans. Some appearances in the people of the more southern parts of the island, and their position with respect to Spain, indicated their descent from the ancient Iberi. But those who inhabited the shores, opposite to France, resembled the Gauls, in their religious ceremonies, their courage, and particularly in their language: "Sermo haud multum diversus."[10]

It is an uncontroverted point, that the primitive language of Britain was the same as that of Gaul.[11] This language was denominated the Celtic, from the Celtæ, or Keltæ, a famous tribe of people that inhabited Gaul. Many writers suppose the Celtic to have been the primitive elementary language, from which most, or all the present languages of Europe, and some of the languages of Asia and Africa, are derived. Some authors go so far as to assert that the Greek and Roman may be traced to the same source. To prove this opinion well founded, they endeavor to discover an affinity between these languages, by analizing words in each, and tracing them to the same elements or monosyllabic roots. In this they have succeeded so far as to discover a great number of words, which, with small dialectical variations, are common to the Greek and Latin and to most of the living languages of Europe. Perhaps these radicals, common to all languages of which we have any knowlege, were sufficient to form a simple language, adequate to the purposes of speech among rude nations.[A]

But as the first inhabitants of the earth had, for many ages, no method of fixing sounds, or very imperfect methods, their language must have been liable to considerable mutations, even when they lived and conversed together. But after they had separated from each other, by extending their settlements into distant regions, and an intercourse between the colonies had ceased, their languages must have in a great measure lost their affinity to each other. The radical words, common to all, must have assumed dialectical distinctions, and new objects and inventions, peculiar to the different tribes, must have originated new terms among each, to which the others were strangers. Different nations would advance, by very different degrees of rapidity, to a state of civilization, and as words multiply with ideas, one language would become more copious than another, as well as more regular and