hreae_. The latter sound should be carefully preserved in all words
ending in _ing_, and in such others as require it. The sounding of the
syllable _ing_ as if it were _in_, is a vulgarism in utterance; and the
writing of it so, is, as it would seem by the usage of Burns, a Scotticism.

_N final_ preceded by _m_, is silent; as in _hymn, solemn, column, damn,
condemn, autumn_. But this _n_ becomes audible in an additional syllable;
as in _autumnal, condemnable, damning_.

XV. OF THE LETTER O.

The vowel _O_ has _three_ different sounds, which are properly its own:--

1. The open, full, primal, or long _o_; as in _no, note, opiate, opacity,
Roman_.

2. The close, curt, short, or stopped _o_; as in _not, nor, torrid, dollar,
fondle_.

3. The slender or narrow _o_, like _oo_; as in _prove, move, who, to, do,
tomb_.

_O_, in many words, sounds like _close_ or _curt u_; as in _love, shove,
son, come, nothing, dost, attorney, gallon, dragon, comfit, comfort,
coloration. One_ is pronounced _wun_; and _once, wunce_. In the termination
_on_ immediately after the accent, _o_ is often sunk into a sound scarcely
perceptible, like that of _obscure e_; as in _mason, person, lesson_.

DIPHTHONGS BEGINNING WITH O.

_Oa_, an improper diphthong, has the sound of _open_ or _long o_; as in
_boat, coal, roach, coast, coastwise_: except in _broad_ and _groat_, which
have the sound of _broad a_.

_Oe_, an improper diphthong, when _final_, has the sound of _open_ or _long
o_: as in _doe, foe, throe_: except in _canoe, shoe_, pronounced _canoo,
shoo_. _OE_, a Latin diphthong, generally sounds like _open e_; as in
_Antoeci, foetus_: sometimes, like _close_ or _curt e_; as in _foetid,
foeticide_. But the English word _f~etid_ is often, and perhaps generally,
written without the _o_.

_Oi_ is generally a proper diphthong, uniting the sound of _close o_ or
_broad a_, and that of _open e_; as in _boil, coil, soil, rejoice_. But the
vowels, when they appear together, sometimes belong to separate syllables;
as in _Stoic, Stoicism. Oi_ unaccented, sometimes has the sound of _close_
or _curt i_; as in _avoirdupois, connoisseur, tortoise_.

_Oo_, an improper diphthong, generally has the slender sound of _o_; as in
_coo, too, woo, fool, room_. It has, in some words, a shorter or closer
sound, (like that of _u_ in _bull_,) as in _foot, good, wood, stood,
wool_;--that of _close u_ in _blood_ and _flood_;--and that of _open o_ in
_door_ and