The sound of a, in Italian^ is that which is heard in
uttering the English a in the word arm* Examples :
aria, air ; drma, weapon. It has, however, a sharper
sound in monosyllables, and when it is marked with
the grave accent : as in the words, a, to ; sia, he re-
mains ; verild, truth ; caritd, charity ; which is also
the case with the other vowels, when accented.
E has two sounds ; one open, like the first e in the
word ever, and the other close, like the a in the word
cake. Examples : —



E open.
Erba Herb.
Ermo '. Solitary.
Esca Let him go out.
E close.
DSgno Worthy.
Ligno Wood.
Segno Mark.
Observation. — It is very important to know when
the sound of the e should be open or dose, inasmuch
as there are many words— similarly written-^-the sig-
nification of which can only be distinguished by the
pronunciation of this letter ; as :—



E, sounded open.
Legge He reads.
TiTna Theme.
Fenii Winds.
E, sounded close.
Legge Law.
Tema Fear.
Fenii Twenty.
But it would be impossible to lay down precise rules
to determine the true pronunciation of this letter : —



OF THE ITALIAN LANGUAGE. 3

practice, assisted by memory, will do more to over-
come this difficulty tlian aU the precepts which could
be given.
/ is always pronounoed as ia the English word idiom.
Examples: irdio, angry; mira, aim.
