y[27]: that is, that you cannot,
or at least do not, modify an unaccented vowel; you either pronounce
_a_, _e_, _o_, _u_, distinctly, or you must substitute an alien
sound, generally 'er', or in some consonantal positions a short
'i'. Thus we have _parersite_, _oblerquy_, _ikse'pt_, _ikspre'ss_,
_iqua'ter_, _peri'sherner_, _perli'ce_, _spe'sherlize_, _pin'erkl_,
_Mes'esperta'mier_, &c., and one of his examples, which he advances
with the confidence of complete satisfaction, is the name _Margate_,
which he asserts is pronounced _Margit_,[28] that is, with a short
_i_. The vowel is no doubt short, and its shortness is enforced by its
being closed by a _t_: but it is not a short _i_, it is an extremely
hastened and therefore disguised form of the original and proper
diphthong _ei_ (heard in _bait_ and _gate_); and the true way to write
it phonetically would be _ei_, with some diacritical sign to show that
it was obscured. There is no long vowel or diphthong in English which
cannot in some positions be pronounced short; and when hurried over
between accents it is easy to see that there is nothing, except
an obstacle of consonants, which can prevent the shortening of any
syllable; for long and short are relative, and when you are speaking
very slowly 'short' sounds actually occupy as much time as 'long'
sounds do when you are speaking quickly. You have therefore only to
suppose a speed of utterance somewhat out of scale; and this is just
what happens. In the second syllable of _Margate_ the diphthong is
hastened and obscured, but a trace of its quality remains, and will
more distinctly appear as you speak the word slower. And so in the
case of unaccented short vowels that are hurried over between the
accents in talking, they are disguised and lose quality, but in good
speakers a trace of the original sound will remain (as in _parasite_
and _obloquy_), where, on the ground of indistinctness, Mr. Jones
introduces the symbol of an _alien unrelated_ sound, a sound, that is,
which is _distinctly wrong instead of being indistinctly right_: and
this fault vitiates all his books. Economy of symbols has led him to
perversity of pronunciation.[29]

[Footnote 27: I do not deny that he allows some exceptions: and these,
few as they are, concede the principle for which I contend.]

[Footnote 28: His own words are, 'Thus Margate trippers now generally
speak of Ma:geit instead of Ma:git: teachers in London
elementary schools now often sa