_floor_. Derivatives from any of these, sound as their
primitives.

_Ou_ is generally a proper diphthong, uniting the sound of _close_ or _curt
o_, and that of _u_ as heard in _bull_,--or _u_ sounded as _oo_; as in
_bound, found, sound, ounce, thou. Ou_ is also, in certain instances, an
improper diphthong; and, as such, it has _six_ different sounds:--(l.) That
of _close_ or _curt u_; as in _rough, tough, young, flourish_. (2.) That of
_broad a_; as in _ought, bought, thought_. (3.) That of _open_ or _long o_;
as in _court, dough, four, though_. (4.) That of _close_ or _curt o_; as in
_cough, trough, lough, shough_: which are, I believe, the only examples.
(5.) That of _slender o_, or _oo_; as in _soup, you, through_. (6.) That of
_u_ in _bull_, or of _oo_ shortened; only in _would, could, should_.

_Ow_ generally sounds like the proper diphthong _ou_,--or like a union of
_short o_ with _oo_; as in _brown, dowry, now, shower_: but it is often an
improper diphthong, having only the sound of _open_ or _long o_; as in
_know, show, stow_.

_Oy_ is a proper diphthong, equivalent in sound to _oi_; as in _joy, toy,
oyster_.

TRIPHTHONGS BEGINNING WITH O.

_OEu_ is a French triphthong, pronounced in English as _oo_, and occurring
in the word _manoeuvre_, with its several derivatives. _Owe_ is an improper
triphthong, and an English word, in which the _o_ only is heard, and heard
always with its long or open sound.

XVI. OF THE LETTER P.

The consonant _P_, when not written before _h_, has commonly one peculiar
sound; which is heard in _pen, pine, sup, supper_. The word _cupboard_ is
usually pronounced _kubburd_. _P_, written with an audible consonant, is
sometimes itself silent; as in _psalm, psalter, pseudography, psychology,
ptarmigan, ptyalism, receipt, corps_.

_Ph_ generally sounds like _f_; as in _philosophy_. In _Stephen_ and
_nephew, ph_ has the sound of _v_. The _h_ after _p_, is silent in
_diphthong, triphthong, naphtha, ophthalmic_; and both the _p_ and the _h_
are silent in _apophthegm, phthisis, phthisical_. From the last three
words, _ph_ is sometimes dropped.

XVII. OF THE LETTER Q.

The consonant _Q_, being never silent, never final, never doubled, and not
having a sound peculiar to itself, is invariably heard, in English, with
the power of _k_; and is always followed by the vowel _u_, which, in words
_purely English_, is sounded like the narrow _o_, or _oo_,--or, perhaps, is
squeezed into the c