produced, is compound; being formed, at its opening, of the
obscure sound of _oo_ as heard in _oo_-ze, which sound rapidly slides into
that of _i_, and then advances to that of _ee_ as heard in _e_-ve, _and_ on
which it gradually passes off into silence."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 75.
Thus the "unpractised student" is taught that _b-y_ spells _bwy_; or, if
pronounced "very deliberately, _boo-i-ee_!" Nay, this grammatist makes _b_,
not a labial mute, as Walker, Webster, Cobb, and others, have called it,
but a nasal subtonic, or semivowel. He delights in protracting its
"guttural murmur;" perhaps, in assuming its name for its sound; and, having
proved, that "consonants are capable of forming syllables," finds no
difficulty in mouthing this little monosyllable _by_ into _b-oo-i-ee!_ In
this way, it is the easiest thing in the world, for such a man to outface
Aristotle, or any other divider of the letters; for he _makes_ the sounds
by which he judges. "Boy," says the teacher of Kirkham's Elocution,
"describe the protracted sound of _y_."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 110. The
pupil may answer, "That letter, sir, has no longer or more complex sound,
than what is heard in the word _eye_, or in the vowel _i_; but the book
which I study, describes it otherwise. I know not whether I can make you
understand it, but I will _tr-oo-i-ee_." If the word _try_, which the
author uses as an example, does not exhibit his "protracted sound of _y_,"
there is no word that does: the sound is a mere fiction, originating in
strange ignorance.

OBS. 6.--In the large print above, I have explained the principal classes
of the letters, but not all that are spoken of in books. It is proper to
inform the learner that the _sharp_ consonants are _t_, and all others
after which our contracted preterits and participles require that _d_
should be sounded like _t_; as in the words faced, reached, stuffed,
laughed, triumphed, croaked, cracked, houghed, reaped, nipped, piqued,
missed, wished, earthed, betrothed, fixed. The _flat_ or _smooth_
consonants are _d_, and all others with which the proper sound of _d_ may
be united; as in the words, daubed, judged, hugged, thronged, sealed,
filled, aimed, crammed, pained, planned, feared, marred, soothed, loved,
dozed, buzzed. The _labials_ are those consonants which are articulated
chiefly by the lips; among which, Dr. Webster reckons _b, f, m, p_, and
_v_. But Dr. Rush says, _b_ and _m_ are nasals, the latter, "purely