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do not mean, however, that every Hebrew word which is Græcised by the Septuagint should be accented exactly according to the Greek rule of accentuation: for if this were the case, every word ending in el would never have the accent higher than the preceding syllable; because it was a general rule in the Greek language, that when the last syllable was long the accent could not be higher than the penultimate: nay, strictly speaking, were we to accent these words according to the accent of that language, they ought to have the accent on the last syllable, because Aldina and Iopaña, Abdiel and Israel, have the accent on that syllable. It may be said, that this accent on the last syllable is the grave, which, when on the last word of a sentence, or succeeded by an enclitic, was changed into an acute.

But here, as in words purely Greek, we find the Latin analogy prevail; and because the penultimate is short, the accent is placed on the antepenultimate, in the same manner as in Socrates, Sosthenes, &c. though the final syllable of the Greek words Zangarns, Zwolevns, &c. is long, and the Greek accent on the penultitimate. (See Introduction prefixed to the Rules for pronouncing Greek and Latin Proper Names.) It is this general prevalence of accenting according to the Latin analogy that has induced. me, when the Hebrew word has been Græcised in the same number of syllables, to prefer the Latin accentuation to what may be called our own. Thus Cathua, coming to us through the Greek Kalea, I have accented it on the penultimate, because the Latins would have placed the accent on this syllable on account of its being long, though an English ear would be better pleased with the antepenultimate accent. The same reason has induced me to accent Chaseba on the antepenultimate, because it is Græcised into Xarebá. But when the Hebrew and Greek word does not contain the same number of syllables, as Mes'o-bah, MɛowCía, Id'u-el, Idɣn, it then comes under our own analogy, and we neglect the long vowel, and place the accent on the antepenultimate. The same may be observed of M.rdecai, from Magdoxaios.

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14. As we never accent a proper name from the Greek on

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the last syllable, (not because the Greeks did not accent the last syllable, for they had many words accented in that manner, but because this accentuation was contrary to the Latin prosody :) so if the Greek word be accented on any other syllable, we seldom pay any regard to it, unless it coincide with the Latin ac-cent. Thus in the word Gede' raḥ I have placed the accent on the penultimate, because it is Græcised by Fanga, where the accent is on the antepenultimate; and this because the penultimate is long, and this long penultimate has always the accent in Latin. (See this farther exemplified, Rule 18, prefixed to the Greek and Latin Proper Names, and Introduction near the end.) Thus though it may seem at first sight absurd to derive our pronunciation of Hebrew words from the Greek, and then to desert the Greek for the Latin; yet since we must have some rule, and, if possible, a learned one, it is very natural to lay hold of the Latin, because it is nearest at hand. For as language is a mixture of reasoning and convenience, if the true reason lie too remote from common apprehension, another more obvious one is generally adopted; and this last, by general usage, becomes a rule superior to the former. It is true the analogy of our own language would be a rule the most rational; but while the analogies of our own language are so little understood, and the Greek and Latin languages are so justly admired, even the appearance of being acquainted with them will always be esteemed reputable, and infallibly lead us to an imitation of them, even in such points as are not only insignificant in themselves, but iņconsistent with our vernacular pronunciation.

15. It is remarkable that all words ending in ias and iab have the accent on the i, without any foundation in the analogy of Greek and Latin pronunciation, except the very vague reason that the Greek word places the accent on this syllable. I call this reason vague, because the Greek accent has no influence on words in ael, iel, ial, &c. as Ισραήλ, Αβδιήλ, Βελίαλ, κ. τ. λ. T.λ.

Hence we may conclude the impropriety of pronouncing Messias with the accent on the first syllable according to Labbe, who says we must pronounce it in this manner, if we wish to

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pronounce it like the French with the os, rotundum et facundum: and, indeed, if the i were to be pronounced in the French manner like e, placing the accent on the first syllable, seems to have the bolder sound. This may serve as an answer to the learned critic, the editor of Labbe, who says, the Greeks, but not the French, pronounce ore rotundo:" for though the Greeks might place the accent on the i in Merσías, yet as they certainly pronounced this vowel as the French do, it must have the same slender sound, and the accent on the first syllable must, in that respect, be preferable to it; for the Greek i, like the same letter in Latin, was the slenderest of all the vowel sounds. It is the broad diphthongal sounds of the English i with the accent on it which makes this word sound so much better in English than it does in French, or even in the true ancient Greek pronunciation.

16. The termination aim seems to attract the accent on the a, only in words of more than three syllables, as Ephraim and Miz'ra-im have the accent on the antepenultimate; but Ho-rona'im, Ram-a-tha' im, &c. on the penultimate syllable. This is a general rule; but if the Greek word has the penultimate long, the accent ought to be on that syllable, as Par-va'im, Φαρείμ, &c.

17. Kemuel, Jemuel, Nemuel, and other words of the same form, having the same number of syllables as the Greek word into which they are translated, ought to have the accent on the penultimate, as that syllable is long in Greek; but Emanuel, Samuel, and Lemuel, are irrecoverably fixed in the antepenultimate accentuation, and show the true analogy of the accentuation of our own language.

18. Thus we see what has been observed of the tendency of Greek and Latin words to desert their original accent, and to adopt that of the English, is much more observable in words from the Hebrew. Greek and Latin words are fixed in their pronunciation, by a thousand books written expressly upon the subject, and ten thousand occasions of using them; but Hebrew words, from the remote antiquity of the language, from the paucity of books in it, from its being originally written without

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180 RULES FOR PRONOUNCING SCRIPTURE PROPER NAMES,

points, and the very different style of its poetry from that of other languages, afford us scarcely any criterion to recur to for settling their pronunciation, which must therefore often be irre, gular and desultory. The Septuagint, indeed, gives us some light, and is the only star by which we can steer; but this is so frequently obscured, as to leave us in the dark, and to force us to pronounce according to the analogy of our own language. It were to be wished, indeed, that this were to be entirely adopted in Hebrew words, where we have so little to determine us; and that those words which we have worn into our own pronunci ation were to be a rule for all others of the same form and termination; but it is easier to bring about a revolution in kingdoms than in languages. Men of learning will always form a sort of literary aristocracy; they will be proud of the distinction which a knowledge of languages gives them above the vulgar, and will be fond of showing this knowledge, which the vulgar will never fail to admire and imitate.

The best we can do, therefore, is to make a sort of compromise between this ancient language and our own; to form a kind of compound ratio of Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and English, and to let each of these prevail as usage has permitted them. Thus Emanuel, Samuel, Lemuel, which, according to the Latin analogy and our own, have the accent on the antepenultimate syllable, ought to remain in quiet possession of their present pronunciation, notwithstanding the Greek Εμμανιήλ, Σαμεήλ, Λεμεὴλ ; but Elishua, Esdrelon, Gederah, may have the accent on the nultimate, because the Greek words into which they are translated, Ελισέ, Εσδρηλωμ, Γαδηρα, have the penultimate long. If this should not appear a satisfactory method of settling the pronunciation of these words, I must intreat those who dissent from it to point out a better: a work of this kind was wanted for general use; it is addressed neither to the learned nor the illiterate, but to that large and most respectable part of society who have a tincture of letters, but whose avocations deny them the opportunity of cultivating them. To these a work of this kind cannot fail of being useful; and by its utility to these the author wishes to stand or fall.

PRONUNCIATION

. OF

SCRIPTURE PROPER NAMES.

INITIAL VOCABULARY.

When a word is succeeded by a word printed in Italics, this latter word is merely to spell the former as it ought to be pronounced. Thus As'e-fa is the true pronunciation of the preceding word Ac'i-pha: and so of the rest.

The figures annexed to the words refer to the rules prefixed to the Voca bulary. Thus the figure (3) after Ab'di refers to Rule the 3d, for the pronunciation of the final i: and the figure (5) after A-bis'sa-i refers to Rule the 5th, for the pronunciation of the unaccented ai; and so of the rest.

For the quantity of the vowels indicated by the syllabication, see Nos. 18 and 19 of the Rules for Greek and Latin Proper Names.

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* Aaron.-This is a word of three syllables in Labbe, who says it is used to be pronounced with the accent on the penultimate: but the general pronunciation of this word in English is in two syllables, with the accent on the first, and as if written A'ron. Milton uniformly gives it this syllabication and accent:

Till by two brethren (those two brethren call

Moses and Aaron sent from God to claim

His people from inthralment.Par. Lost, b. xii. v. 170.

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Abarim. This and some other words are decided in their accentuation by

Milton, in the following verses:

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