(1) C before a, o, u or a consonant sounds like the k in kin: as, caro, dear; colore, colour; cura, care; Cristo, Christ. Before e and i it retakes its primitive sound of ch.

When it is preceded by s and followed by e or i, it sounds like sh in dish: as, pesce, a fish; ambascia, shortness of breath. But when followed by a, o, u or a consonant, it retakes the sound of k: as, esca, bait; nasco, I am born; scure, an ax; ascrivo, I ascribe.

(2) G before the vowels a, o, u or a consonant is pronounced as in English in the same combination of letters: as, gamba, a leg; gola, throat; gusto, taste; gloria, glory. Before e and i it retakes the usual sound of g

in gem.

(3) H has no sound in the Italian language. It is found before four persons of the present Indicative of the Verb Avere, To have, viz. ho, I have; hai, thou hast; ha, he has; hanno, they have, which serves only to make them pronounced with a grave accent. In the Interjections ah! oh! ch! it gives the vowel a protracted sound. When it is placed between the c-e, c-i, or g-e, g-i it has a hard sound, as in barche, boats; pochi, few; piaghe, wounds; preghi,

prayers.

PARTS OF SPEECH.

The parts of speech are eight, viz.

Noun, Pronoun, Verb, Participle, declinable; Adverb, Preposition, Conjunction, Interjection, indeclinable. A Noun is the name of whatsoever thing or being we discourse of.

Nouns are divided into Nouns substantive and Nouns adjective.

Are of two sorts, proper and common. The former are the names of persons and places: as, Guglielmo, William; Inghilterra, England. The latter are the names of kinds or species: as, uomo, man; animale, animal.

GENDERS.

There are only two genders in Italian; masculine and feminine. It is very difficult for the grammarian to lay down precise rules for determining the genders of nouns in Italian. The following general rules will be found sufficient.

The final vowel determines the genders of nouns. Nouns in a are of the feminine gender: as, scatola, a box. Except names, vocations and titles of men: as, Andrea, Andrew; poeta, a poet; Duca, a Duke, and some nouns derived from the Greek: as,

The names of cities, towns, and provinces ending in a are feminine: as, Roma, Rome; Siena, Sienna, etc. If they have any other termination, they are of both genders: as, Il brillante Parigi, or la brillante Parigi, Delightful Paris-Il bel Firenze, or la bella Firenze, Fair Florence.

All names of empires, kingdoms, provinces and rivers are feminine, when they terminate in a: as, La Russia, Russia; la Lombardia, Lombardy; la Germania, Germany etc. and masculine, if they end in any other vowel: as, Il Portogallo, Portugal; il Tamigi, the Thames; il Piemonte, Piedmont etc.

Nouns in e are some masculine and some feminine. Nouns in me are masculine: as, costume, custom: except fame, hunger; speme, hope.

Nouns in re are masculine: as, timore, fear: except febbre, fever; coltre, coverlet; polvere, dust; scure, ax; torre, tower, which are feminine. Also arbore, tree; aere, air; folgore, thunderbolt; lepre, hare; cenere, ashes; carcere, prison, which are common to both genders.

Nouns in nte are masculine: as, monte, mountain; except mente, the mind; corrente, current; sorgente, source; gente, people (feminine); fronte, forehead; fonte, fountain, (common.)

Fine, end; trave, a beam, are common.

Nouns in i are feminine: as, metropoli, metropolis; except barbagianni, owl; brindisi, toast (in drinking); Tamigi, Thames; di, day, and its compounds; eclissi, eclipse; and numerals ending in i: as, dieci, ten; quin'dici, fifteen etc.

Genesi, genesis, is of both genders.

Nouns in o are masculine, except mano, a hand, and names and titles of women: as, Saffo, Sapho.

Names of trees end mostly in o of the masculine