he different, and sometimes
directly contradictory senses in which certain orthoepists [sic--KTH] have
employed such terms. Wells says, "Vowel sounds are called _open_ or
_close_, according to the _relative size of the opening_ through which the
voice passes in forming them. Thus, _a_ in _father_, and _o_ in _nor_, are
called _open_ sounds, because they are formed by a _wide opening_ of the
organs of speech; while _e_ in _me_, and _u_ in _rule_, are called _close_
sounds, because the organs are _nearly closed_ in uttering them."--_School
Grammar_, 1850, p. 32. Good use should fix the import of words. How does
the passage here cited comport with this hint of Pope?

"These equal syllables alone require,
_Though oft the ear the open_ vowels tire."
--_Essay on Criticism_, l. 344.

OBS. 2.--Walker, too, in his Principles, 64 and 65, on page 19th of his
Critical Pronouncing Dictionary, mentions a similar distinction of vowels,
"which arises from _the different apertures_ of the mouth in forming them;"
and says, "We accordingly find vowels denominated by the French, _ouvert_
and _ferme_; by the Italians, _aperto_ and _chiuso_; and by the English [,]
_open_ and _shut_. But whatever propriety there may be in the use of these
terms in other languages, it is certain they must be used with caution in
English for fear of confounding them with _long_ and _short_. Dr. Johnson
and other grammarians call the _a_ in _father_ the _open a_: which may,
indeed, distinguish it from the _slender a_ in _paper_; but not from the
_broad a_ in _water_, which is still more _open_. Each of these letters
[the seven vowels] has a _short_ sound, which may be called a _shut_ sound;
but the _long_ sounds cannot be so properly denominated _open_ as more or
less _broad_; that is, the _a_ in _paper_, the slender sound; the _a_ in
_father_, the broadish or middle sound; and the _a_ in _water_, the broad
sound. The same may be observed of the _o_. This letter has three long
sounds, heard in _move, note, nor_; which graduate from slender to
broadish, and broad [,] like [those three sounds of] the _a_. The _i_ also
in _mine_ may be called the broad _i_, and that in _machine_, the slender
_i_; though each of them is equally _long_; and though these vowels that
are _long_ [,] may be said to be more or less _open_ according to the
different apertures of the mouth in forming them, yet the _short_ vowels
cannot be said to be more or less _shut_; for a