their compounds."--_W. Allen's Grammar_, p. 22.

_Th final_ is also sharp; as in _south_: except in _beneath, booth, with_,
and several verbs formerly with _th_ last, but now frequently (and more
properly) written with final _e_; as _loathe, mouthe, seethe, soothe,
smoothe, clothe, wreathe, bequeathe, unclothe_.

_Th medial_ is sharp, too, when preceded or followed by a consonant; as in
_Arthur, ethnic, swarthy, athwart_: except in _brethren, burthen, farther,
farthing, murther, northern, worthy_. But "_th_ between two vowels, is
generally flat in words purely English; as in _gather, neither, whither_:
and sharp in words from the learned languages; as in _atheist, ether,
method_"--See _W. Allen's Gram._, p. 22.

"_Th_, in _Thames, Thomas, thyme, asthma, phthisis_, and their compounds,
is pronounced like _t_."--_Ib._

XXI. OF THE LETTER U.

The vowel _U_ has three sounds which may be considered to be properly its
own:--

1. The open, long, full, primal, or diphthongal _u_; as in _tube, cubic,
juvenile_.

2. The close, curt, short, or stopped _u_; as in _tub, butter, justice,
unhung_.

3. The middle _u_, resembling a short or quick _oo_; as in _pull, pulpit,
artful_.

_U_ forming a syllable by itself or _U_ as naming itself is nearly
equivalent in sound to _you_, and requires the article _a_, and not _an_,
before it; as, _a U, a union_.

_U_ sometimes borrows the sound of some other vowel; for _bury_ is
pronounced _berry_, and _busy_ is pronounced _bizzy_. So in the
derivatives, _burial, buried, busied, busily_, and the like.

The long or diphthongal _u_, commonly sounded as _yu_, or as _ew_ in
_ewer_,--or any equivalent diphthong or digraph, as _ue, ui, eu_, or
_ew_.--when it follows _r_ or _rh_, assumes the sound of slender _o_ or
_oo_; as in _rude, rhubarb, rue, rueful, rheum, fruit, truth, brewer_.

DIPHTHONGS BEGINNING WITH U.

_U_, in the proper diphthongs, _ua, ue, ui, uo, uy_, has the sound of _w_
or of _oo feeble_; as in _persuade, query, quell, quiet, languid, quote,
obloquy_.

_Ua_, an improper diphthong, has the sound--1. Of _middle a_; as in _guard,
guardian_. 2. Of _close a_; as in _guarantee, piquant_. 3. Of _obscure e_;
as in _victuals_ and its compounds or kindred. 4. Of _open u_; as in
_mantuamaker_.

_Ue_, an improper diphthong, has the sound--1. Of _open u_; as in _blue,
ensue, ague_. 2. Of _close e_; as in _guest, guesser_. 3. Of _close u_; as
in _leaguer_. _Ue final_ is somet