The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Art Of Writing & Speaking The English
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Title: The Art Of Writing & Speaking The English Language
       Word-Study and Composition & Rhetoric

Author: Sherwin Cody

Release Date: November 5, 2006 [EBook #19719]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ART OF WRITING ***




Produced by Andrew Hodson





Transcriber's note:
Letters with an extra space before them show those that should be
removed & letters with { } around them show those added as there are
some mistakes in the book & because plain text is used.  (I changed
mathematical & meter but it maybe that they are correct and the others
are wrong).  I did not change _Shak{e}spe{a}re, mortgag eor_ & some
words in lists.  (The N word should have a capital!)

I've used superscript _a_ for broad _a_ (instead of 2 dots under it).
& superscripted _a_ & _o_ (Spanish ordinals) before _o_ for ligatures.
A long vowel should have a straight line over it but I've shown them by
using a colon : after them.  Short vowels are shown by a grave accent
mark after instead of a curved line over the letter.  An equals sign =
after a word shows that the next 1 should start the next column.
"Special SYSTEM Edition" brought from frontispiece.




THE ART _of_ WRITING & SPEAKING _The_ ENGLISH LANGUAGE

SHERWIN CODY

Special  S Y S T E M  Edition

WORD-STUDY

The Old Greek Press
_Chicago New{ }York Boston_

_Revised Edition_.


_Copyright,1903,_

BY SHERWIN CODY.

Note.  The thanks of the author are due to Dr. Edwin H. Lewis, of the
Lewis Institute, Chicago, and to Prof. John F. Genung, Ph. D., of Amherst
College, for suggestions made after reading the proof of this series.



CONTENTS.

THE ART OF WRITING AND SPEAKING THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 7


WORD-STUDY

INTRODUCTION---THE STUDY OF SPELLING

CHAPTER I. LETTERS AND SOUNDS
 {VOWELS
 CONSONANTS
 EXERCISES
 THE DICTIONARY}

CHAPTER II. WORD-BUILDING
 {PREFIXES}

CHAPTER III. WORD-BUILDING---Rules and Applications
 {EXCEPTIONS}

CHAPTER IV. PRONUNCIATION

CHAPTER V. A SPELLING DRILL

    APPENDIX



The Art of Writing and Speaking the English Language

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

If there is a subject of really universal interest and utility,
it is the art of writing and speaking one's own language effectively.
It is the basis of culture, as we all know; but it is infinitely more
than that: it is the basis of business.  No salesman can sell anything
unless he can explain the merits of his goods in _effective_ English
(among our people), or can write an advertisement equally effective,
or present his ideas, and the facts, in a letter.  Indeed, the way
we talk, and write letters, largely determines our success in life.

Now it is well for us to face at once the counter-statement that the
most ignorant and uncultivated men often succeed best in business, and
that misspelled, ungrammatical advertisements have brought in millions
of dollars.  It is an acknowledged fact that our business circulars
and letters are far inferior in correctness to those of Great Britain;
yet they are more effective in getting business.  As far as spelling
is concerned, we know that some of the masters of literature have been
atrocious spellers and many suppose that when one can sin in such
company, sinning is, as we might say, a "beauty spot", a defect in
which we can even take pride.

Let us examine the facts in the case more closely.  First of all,
language is no more than a medium; it is like air to the creatures of
the land or water to fishes.  If it is perfectly clear and pure, we do
not notice it any more than we notice pure air when the sun is shining
in a clear sky, or the taste of pure cool water when we drink a glass
on a hot day.  Unless the sun is shining, there is no brightness;
unless the water is cool, there is no refreshment.  The source of all
our joy in the landscape, of the luxuriance of fertile nature,
is the sun and not the air.  Nature would be more prodigal in Mexico than
in Greenland, even if the air in Mexico were as full of soot and smoke as
the air of Pittsburg{h}, or loaded with the acid from a chemical factory.
So it is with language.  Language is merely a medium for thoughts,
emotions, the intelligence of a finely wrought brain, and a good
mind will make far more out of a bad medium than a poor mind will
make out of the best.  A great violinist will draw such music from
the cheapest violin that the world is astonished.  However is that any
reason why the great violinist should choose to play on a poor violin;
or should one say nothing of the smoke nuisance in Chicago because
more light and heat penetrate its murky atmosphere than are to be found
in cities only a few miles farther north?  The truth is, we must regard
the bad spelling nuisance, the bad grammar nuisance, the inartistic and
rambling language nuisance, precisely as we would the smoke nuisance,
the sewer-gas nuisance, the stock-yards' smell nuisance.  Some dainty
people prefer pure air and correct language; but we now recognize that
purity is something more than an esthetic fad, that it is essential to our
health and well-being, and therefore it becomes a matter of universal
public interest, in language as well as in air.

There is a general belief that while bad air may be a positive evil
influence, incorrect use of language is at most no more than a negative
evil: that while it may be a good thing to be correct, no special harm
is involved in being incorrect.  Let us look into this point.

While language as the medium of thought may be compared to air as
the medium of the sun's influence, in other respects it is like the
skin of the body; a scurvy skin shows bad blood within, and a scurvy
language shows inaccurate thought and a confused mind.  And as a
disease once fixed on the skin reacts and poisons the blood in
turn as it has first been poisoned by the blood, so careless use of
language if indulged reacts on the mind to make it permanently and
increasingly careless, illogical, and inaccurate in its thinking.

The ordinary person will probably not believe this, because he conceives
of good use of language as an accomplishment to be learned from books,
a prim system of genteel manners to be put on when occasion demands,
a sort of superficial education in the correct thing, or, as the boys
would say, "the proper caper."  In this, however, he is mistaken.
Language which expresses the thought with strict logical accuracy is
correct language, and language which is sufficiently rich in its resources
to express thought fully, in all its lights and bearings, is effective
language.  If the writer or speaker has a sufficient stock of words and
forms at his disposal, he has only to use them in a strictly logical way
and with sufficient fulness to be both correct and effective.  If his mind
can always be trusted to work accurately, he need not know a word of
grammar except what he has imbibed unconsciously in getting his stock of
words and expressions.  Formal grammar is purely for critical purposes.
It is no more than a standard measuring stick by which to try the
work that has been done and find out if it is imperfect at any point.
Of course constant correction of inaccuracies schools the mind and
puts it on its guard so that it will be more careful the next time
it attempts expression; but we cannot avoid the conclusion that if
the mind lacks material, lacks knowledge of the essential elements
of the language, it should go to the original source from which it got
its first supply, namely to reading and hearing that which is acknowledged
to be correct and sufficient---as the child learns from its mother.
All the scholastic and analytic grammar in the world will not
enrich the mind in language to any appreciable extent.

And now we may consider another objector, who says, "I have studied
grammar for years and it has done me no good."  In view of what has
just been said, we may easily concede that such is very likely to
have been the case.  A measuring stick is of little value unless you
have something to measure.  Language cannot be acquired, only tested,
by analysis, and grammar is an analytic, not a constructive science.

We have compared bad use of language to a scurvy condition of the skin.
To cure the skin we must doctor the blood; and to improve the language
we should begin by teaching the mind to think.  But that, you will say,
is a large undertaking.  Yes, but after all it is the most direct and
effective way.  All education should be in the nature of teaching
the mind to think, and the teaching of language consists in teaching
thinking in connection with word forms and expression through language.
The unfortunate thing is that teachers of language have failed
to go to the root of the trouble, and enormous effort has
counted for nothing, and besides has led to discouragement.

The American people are noted for being hasty in all they do.
Their manufactures are quickly made and cheap.  They have not
hitherto had time to secure that perfection in minute details which
constitutes "quality."  The slow-going Europeans still excel in
nearly all fine and high-grade forms of manufacture---fine pottery,
fine carpets and rugs, fine cloth, fine bronze and other art wares.
In our language, too, we are hasty, and therefore imperfect.
Fine logical accuracy requires more time than we have had
to give to it, and we read the newspapers, which are very poor
models of language, instead of books, which should be far better.
Our standard of business letters is very low.  It is rare to
find a letter of any length without one or more errors of language,
to say nothing of frequent errors in spelling made by ignorant
stenographers and not corrected by the business men who sign the letters.

But a change is coming over us.  We have suddenly taken to reading
books, and while they are not always the best books, they are better
than newspapers.  And now a young business man feels that it is
distinctly to his advantage if he can dictate a thoroughly good
letter to his superior or to a well informed customer.  Good letters
raise the tone of a business house, poor letters give the idea
that it is a cheapjack concern.  In social life, well written letters,
like good conversational powers, bring friends and introduce the
writer into higher circles.  A command of language is the index
of culture, and the uneducated man or woman who has become wealthy
or has gained any special success is eager to put on this wedding
garment of refinement.  If he continues to regard a good command
of language as a wedding garment, he will probably fail in his effort;
but a few will discover the way to self-education and actively follow
it to its conclusion adding to their first success this new achievement.

But we may even go farther.  The right kind of language-teaching will also
give us power, a kind of eloquence, a skill in the use of words, which
will enable us to frame advertisements which will draw business, letters
which will win customers, and to speak in that elegant and forceful way so
effective in selling goods.  When all advertisements are couched in very
imperfect language, and all business letters are carelessly written, of
course no one has an advantage over another, and a good knowledge and
command of language would not be much of a recommendation to a business
man who wants a good assistant.  But when a few have come in and by their
superior command of language gained a distinct advantage over rivals, then
the power inherent in language comes into universal demand--the business
standard is raised.  There are many signs now that the business standard
in the use of language is being distinctly raised.  Already a stenographer
who does not make errors commands a salary from 25 per cent. to 50 per
cent. higher than the average, and is always in demand.  Advertisement
writers must have not only business instinct but language instinct,
and knowledge of correct, as well as forceful, expression{.}

Granted, then, that we are all eager to better our knowledge
of the English language, how shall we go about it?

There are literally thousands of published books devoted to the study
and teaching of our language.  In such a flood it would seem that we
should have no difficulty in obtaining good guides for our study.

But what do we find?  We find spelling-books filled with lists of words to
be memorized; we find grammars filled with names and definitions of all
the different forms which the language assumes; we find rhetorics filled
with the names of every device ever employed to give effectiveness to
language; we find books on literature filled with the names, dates of
birth and death, and lists of works, of every writer any one ever heard of:
and when we have learned all these names we are no better off than when we
started.  It is true that in many of these books we may find prefaces
which say, "All other books err in clinging too closely to mere system,
to names; but we will break away and give you the real thing."  But they
don't do it; they can't afford to be too radical, and so they merely modify
in a few details the same old system, the system of names.  Yet it is a
great point gained when the necessity for a change is realized.

How, then, shall we go about our mastery of the English language?

Modern science has provided us a universal method by which we may study
and master any subject.  As applied to an art, this method has proved
highly successful in the case of music.  It has not been applied to
language because there was a well fixed method of language study in
existence long before modern science was even dreamed of, and that
ancient method has held on with wonderful tenacity.  The great fault
with it is that it was invented to apply to languages entirely different
from our own.  Latin grammar and Greek grammar were mechanical systems
of endings by which the relationships of words were indicated.
Of course the relationship of words was at bottom logical, but the
mechanical form was the chief thing to be learned.  Our language depends
wholly (or very nearly so) on arrangement of words, and the key is the
logical relationship.  A man who knows all the forms of the Latin or
Greek language can write it with substantial accuracy; but the man who
would master the English language must go deeper, he must master the
logic of sentence structure or word relations.  We must begin our study
at just the opposite end from the Latin or Greek; but our teachers of
language have balked at a complete reversal of method, the power of
custom and time has been too strong, and in the matter of grammar we are
still the slaves of the ancient world.  As for spelling, the
irregularities of our language seem to have driven us to one sole method,
memorizing: and to memorize every word in a language is an appalling
task.  Our rhetoric we have inherited from the middle ages, from
scholiasts, refiners, and theological logicians, a race of men who got
their living by inventing distinctions and splitting hairs.  The fact is,
prose has had a very low place in the literature of the world until
within a century; all that was worth saying was said in poetry, which the
rhetoricians were forced to leave severely alone, or in oratory, from
which all their rules were derived; and since written prose language
became a universal possession through the printing press and the
newspaper we have been too busy to invent a new rhetoric.

Now, language is just as much a natural growth as trees or rocks or human
bodies, and it can have no more irregularities, even in the matter of
spelling, than these have.  Science would laugh at the notion of
memorizing every individual form of rock.  It seeks the fundamental laws,
it classifies and groups, and even if the number of classes or groups is
large, still they have a limit and can be mastered.  Here we have a
solution of the spelling problem.  In grammar we find seven fundamental
logical relationships, and when we have mastered these and their chief
modifications and combinations, we have the essence of grammar as truly
as if we knew the name for every possible combination which our seven
fundamental relationships might have.  Since rhetoric is the art of
appealing to the emotions and intelligence of our hearers, we need to
know, not the names of all the different artifices which may be employed,
but the nature and laws of emotion and intelligence as they may be reached
through language; for if we know what we are hitting at, a little
practice will enable us to hit accurately; whereas if we knew the name of
every kind of blow, and yet were ignorant of the thing we were hitting at,
namely the intelligence and emotion of our fellow man, we would be forever
striking into the air,---striking cleverly perhaps, but ineffectively.

Having got our bearings, we find before us a purely practical problem,
that of leading the student through the maze of a new science and teaching
him the skill of an old art, exemplified in a long line of masters.

By way of preface we may say that the mastery of the English language
(or any language) is almost the task of a lifetime.  A few easy lessons
will have no effect.  We must form a habit of language study that will
grow upon us as we grow older, and little by little, but never by leaps,
shall we mount up to the full expression of all that is in us.


WORD-STUDY

INTRODUCTION

THE STUDY OF SPELLING.

The mastery of English spelling is a serious under-taking.  In the first
place, we must actually memorize from one to three thousand words which are
spelled in more or less irregular ways.  The best that can be done with
these words is to classify them as much as possible and suggest methods of
association which will aid the memory.  But after all, the drudgery of
memorizing must be gone through with.

Again, those words called homonyms, which are pronounced alike but spelled
differently, can be studied only in connection with their meaning, since
the meaning and grammatical use in the sentence is our only key to their
form.  So we have to go considerably beyond the mere mechanical association
of letters.

Besides the two or three thousand common irregular words, the dictionary
contains something over two hundred thousand other words.  Of course no one
of us can possibly have occasion to use all of those words; but at the same
time, every one of us may sooner or later have occasion to use any one of
them.  As we cannot tell before hand what ones we shall need, we should be
prepared to write any or all of them upon occasion.  Of course we may refer
to the dictionary; but this is not always, or indeed very often, possible.
It would obviously be of immense advantage to us if we could find a key to
the spelling of these numerous but infrequently used words.

The first duty of the instructor in spelling should be to provide such
a key.  We would suppose, off-hand, that the three hundred thousand
school-teachers in the United States would do this immediately and
without suggestion--certainly that the writers of school-books would.
But many things have stood in the way.  It is only within a few years,
comparatively speaking, that our language has become at all fixed in its
spelling.  Noah Webster did a great deal to establish principles, and
bring the spelling of as many words as possible to conform with these
principles and with such analogies as seemed fairly well established.
But other dictionary-makers have set up their ideas against his,
and we have a conflict of authorities.  If for any reason one finds
himself spelling a word differently from the world about him,
he begins to say, "Well, that is the spelling given in Worcester,
or the Century, or the Standard, or the new Oxford."  So the word
"authority" looms big on the horizon; and we think so much about
authority, and about different authorities, that we forget
to look for principles, as Mr. Webster would have us do.

Another reason for neglecting rules and principles is that the lists of
exceptions are often so formidable that we get discouraged and exclaim,
"If nine tenths of the words I use every day are exceptions to the
rules, what is the use of the rules anyway!"  Well, the words which
constitute that other tenth will aggregate in actual numbers far more
than the common words which form the chief part of everyday speech,
and as they are selected at random from a vastly larger number,
the only possible way to master them is by acquiring principles,
consciously or unconsciously, which will serve as a key to them.
Some people have the faculty of unconsciously formulating principles
from their everyday observations, but it is a slow process,
and many never acquire it unless it is taught them.

The spelling problem is not to learn how to spell nine tenths of
our words correctly.  Nearly all of us can and do accomplish that.
The good speller must spell nine hundred and ninety-nine one
thousandths of his word correctly, which is quite another matter.
Some of us go even one figure higher.

Our first task is clearly to commit the common irregular words to memory.
How may we do that most easily?  It is a huge task at best, but every
pound of life energy which we can save in doing it is so much gained for
higher efforts.  We should strive to economize effort in this just as
the manufacturer tries to economize in the cost of making his goods.

In this particular matter, it seems to the present writer that makers
of modern spelling-books have committed a great blunder in mixing
indiscriminately regular words with irregular, and common words with
uncommon.  Clearly we should memorize first the words we use most often,
and then take up those which we use less frequently.  But the
superintendent of the Evanston schools has reported that out of one
hundred first-reader words which he gave to his grammar classes as
a spelling test, some were misspelled by all but sixteen per cent{.} of
the pupils.  And yet these same pupils were studying busily away on
_categories, concatenation,_ and _amphibious_.  The spelling-book makers
feel that they must put hard words into their spellers.  Their books are
little more than lists of words, and any one can make lists of common, easy
words.  A spelling-book filled with common easy words would not seem to be
worth the price paid for it.  Pupils and teachers must get their money's
worth, even if they never learn to spell.  Of course the teachers are
expected to furnish drills themselves on the common, easy words; but
unfortunately they take their cue from the spelling-book, each day merely
assigning to the class the next page.  They haven't time to select, and no
one could consistently expect them to do otherwise than as they do do.

To meet this difficulty, the author of this book has prepared a version
of the story of Robinson Crusoe which contains a large proportion of
the common words which offer difficulty in spelling.  Unluckily it
is not easy to produce classic English when one is writing under the
necessity of using a vocabulary previously selected.  However, if we
concentrate our attention on the word-forms, we are not likely to be
much injured by the ungraceful sentence-forms.  This story is not long,
but it should be dictated to every school class, beginning in the
fourth grade, until _every_ pupil can spell _every_ word correctly.
A high percentage is not enough, as in the case of some other studies.
Any pupil who misses a single word in any exercise should be marked zero.

But even if one can spell correctly every word in this story, he may still
not be a good speller, for there are thousands of other words to be
spelled, many of which are not and never will be found in any
spelling-book.  The chief object of a course of study in spelling is to
acquire two habits, the habit of observing articulate sounds, and the habit
of observing word-forms in reading.

1.  Train the Ear.  Until the habit of observing articulate sounds
carefully has been acquired, the niceties of pronunciation are beyond
the student's reach, and equally the niceties of spelling are beyond his
reach, too.  In ordinary speaking, many vowels and even some consonants
are slurred and obscured.  If the ear is not trained to exactness,
this habit of slurring introduces many inaccuracies.  Even in careful
speaking, many obscure sounds are so nearly alike that only a finely
trained ear can detect any difference.  Who of us notices any
difference between _er_ in _pardoner_ and _or_ in _honor_?  Careful
speakers do not pass over the latter syllable quite so hastily as over
the former, but only the most finely trained ear will detect any
difference even in the pronunciation of the most finely trained voice.

In the lower grades in the schools the ear may be trained by giving
separate utterance to each sound in a given word, as f-r-e-n-d, _friend,_
allowing each letter only its true value in the word.  Still it may also be
obtained by requiring careful and distinct pronunciation in reading, not,
however, to the extent of exaggerating the value of obscure syllables,
or painfully accentuating syllables naturally obscure.

Adults (but seldom children) may train the ear by reading poetry aloud,
always guarding against the sing-song style, but trying to harmonize
nicely the sense and the rhythm.  A trained ear is absolutely necessary
to reading poetry well, and the constant reading aloud of poetry cannot
but afford an admirable exercise.

For children, the use of diacritical marks has little or no value, until
the necessity arises for consulting the dictionary for pronunciation.
They are but a mechanical system, and the system we commonly use is so
devoid of permanence in its character that every dictionary has a different
system.  The one most common in the schools is that introduced by Webster;
but if we would consult the Standard or the Century or the Oxford, we must
learn our system all over again.  To the child, any system is a clog and a
hindrance, and quite useless in teaching him phonetic values, wherein the
voice of the teacher is the true medium.

For older students, however, especially students at home, where no teacher
is available, phonetic writing by means of diacritical marks has great
value.*  It is the only practicable way of representing the sounds of the
voice on paper.  When the student writes phonetically he is obliged to
observe closely his own voice and the voices of others in ordinary speech,
and so his ear is trained.  It also takes the place of the voice for
dictation in spelling tests by mail or through the medium of books.

 *There should be no more marks than there are sounds.  When two vowels
have the same sound one should be written as a substitute for the other,
as we have done in this book.

2.  Train the Eye.  No doubt the most effective way of learning spelling
is to train the eye carefully to observe the forms of the words we read
in newspapers and in books.  If this habit is formed, and the habit of
general reading accompanies it, it is sufficient to make a nearly
perfect speller.  The great question is, how to acquire it.

Of course in order to read we are obliged to observe the forms of words
in a general way, and if this were all that is needed, we should all
be good spellers if we were able to read fluently.  But it is not all.
The observation of the general form of a word is not the observation
that teaches spelling.  We must have the habit of observing every
letter in every word, and this we are not likely to have unless
we give special attention to acquiring it.

The "visualization" method of teaching spelling now in use in the
schools is along the line of training the eye to observe every letter
in a word.  It is good so far as it goes; but it does not go very far.
The reason is that there is a limit to the powers of the memory,
especially in the observation of arbitrary combinations of letters.
What habits of visualization would enable the ordinary person to
glance at such a combination as the following and write it ten minutes
afterward with no aid but the single glance: _hwgufhtbizwskoplmne?_
It would require some minutes' study to memorize such a combination,
because there is nothing to aid us but the sheer succession of forms.
The memory works by association.  We build up a vast structure of
knowledge, and each new fact or form must be as securely attached
to this as the new wing of a building; and the more points at which
attachment can be formed the more easily is the addition made.

The Mastery of Irregular Words.

Here, then, we have the real reason for a long study of principles,
analogies, and classifications.  They help us to remember.
If I come to the word _colonnade_ in reading, I observe at once that
the double _n_ is an irregularity.  It catches my eye immediately.
"Ah!" I reflect almost in the fraction of a second as I read in
continuous flow, "here is another of those exceptions."  Building on
what I already know perfectly well, I master this word with the very
slightest effort.  If we can build up a system which will serve the
memory by way of association, so that the slight effort that can be
given in ordinary reading will serve to fix a word more or less fully,
we can soon acquire a marvellous power in the accurate spelling of words.

Again: In a spelling-book before me I see lists of words ending in _ise,
ize,_ and _yse,_ all mixed together with no distinction.  The arrangement
suggests memorizing every word in the language ending with either of these
terminations, and until we have memorized any particular word we have no
means of knowing what the termination is.  If, however, we are taught that
_ize_ is the common ending, that _ise_ is the ending of only thirty-one
words, and _yse_ of only three or four, we reduce our task enormously and
aid the memory in acquiring the few exceptions.  When we come to
_franchise_ in reading we reflect rapidly, "Another of those verbs in
_ise_!" or to _paralyse,_ "One of those very few verbs in _yse_!"  We give
no thought whatever to all the verbs ending in _ize,_ and so save so much
energy for other acquirements.

If we can say, "This is a violation of such and such a rule," or "This is a
strange irregularity," or "This belongs to the class of words which
substitutes _ea_ for the long sound of _e,_ or for the short sound of _e_."

We have an association of the unknown with the known that is the most
powerful possible aid to the memory.  The system may fail in and of itself,
but it more than serves its purpose thus indirectly in aiding the memory.

We have not spoken of the association of word forms with sounds,
the grouping of the letters of words into syllables, and the aid that a
careful pronunciation gives the memory by way of association; for while
this is the most powerful aid of all, it does not need explanation.

The Mastery of Regular Words.

We have spoken of the mastery of irregular words, and in the last paragraph
but one we have referred to the aid which general principles give the
memory by way of association in acquiring the exceptions to the rules.
We will now consider the great class of words formed according to fixed
principles.

Of course these laws and rules are little more than a string of
analogies which we observe in our study of the language.  The language
was not and never will be built to fit these rules.  The usage of the
people is the only authority.  Even clear logic goes down before usage.
Languages grow like mushrooms, or lilies, or bears, or human bodies.
Like these they have occult and profound laws which we can never hope
to penetrate,---which are known only to the creator of all things
existent.  But as in botany and zoology and physiology we may observe
and classify our observations, so we may observe a language, classify
our observations, and create an empirical science of word-formation.
Possibly in time it will become a science something more than empirical.

The laws we are able at this time to state with much definiteness are few
(doubling consonants, dropping silent e's, changing y's to i's, accenting
the penultimate and antepenultimate syllables, lengthening and shortening
vowels).  In addition we may classify exceptions, for the sole purpose of
aiding the memory.

Ignorance of these principles and classifications, and knowledge of the
causes and sources of the irregularities, should be pronounced criminal
in a teacher; and failure to teach them, more than criminal in a
spelling-book.  It is true that most spelling-books do give them in one
form or another, but invariably without due emphasis or special drill,
a lack which renders them worthless.  Pupils and students should be
drilled upon them till they are as familiar as the multiplication table.

We know how most persons stumble over the pronunciation of names in the
Bible and in classic authors.  They are equally nonplussed when called
upon to write words with which they are no more familiar.  They cannot
even pronounce simple English names like _Cody,_ which they call
"Coddy," in analogy with _body,_ because they do not know that in a word
of two syllables a single vowel followed by a single consonant is
regularly long when accented.  At the same time they will spell the word
in all kinds of queer ways, which are in analogy only with exceptions,
not with regular formations.  Unless a person knows what the regular
principles are, he cannot know how a word should regularly be spelled.
A strange word is spelled quite regularly nine times out of ten, and if
one does not know exactly how to spell a word, it is much more to his
credit to spell it in a regular way than in an irregular way.

The truth is, the only possible key we can have to those thousands of
strange words and proper names which we meet only once or twice in a
lifetime, is the system of principles formulated by philologists,
if for no other reason, we should master it that we may come as near as
possible to spelling proper names correctly.


CHAPTER I.

LETTERS AND SOUNDS.

We must begin our study of the English language with the elementary
sounds and the letters which represent them.

Name the first letter of the alphabet---_a_.  The mouth is open and the
sound may be prolonged indefinitely.  It is a full, clear sound,
an unobstructed vibration of the vocal chords.

Now name the second letter of the alphabet---_b_.
You say _bee_ or _buh_.  You cannot prolong the sound.  In order to give
the real sound of _b_ you have to associate it with some other sound,
as that of _e_ or _u_.  In other words, _b_ is in the nature of an
obstruction of sound, or a modification of sound, rather than a simple
elementary sound in itself.  There is indeed a slight sound in the
throat, but it is a closed sound and cannot be prolonged.  In the case
of _p,_ which is similar to _b,_ there is no sound from the throat.

So we see that there are two classes of sounds (represented by two
classes of letters), those which are full and open tones from the vocal
chords, pronounced with the mouth open, and capable of being prolonged
indefinitely; and those which are in the nature of modifications of
these open sounds, pronounced with or without the help of the voice,
and incapable of being prolonged.  The first class of sounds is called
vowel sounds, the second, consonant sounds.  Of the twenty-six letters
of the alphabet, _a, e, i, o,_ and _u_ (sometimes _y_ and _w_)
represent vowel sounds and are called vowels; and the remainder
represent consonant sounds, and are called consonants.

A syllable is an elementary sound, or a combination of elementary
sounds, which can be given easy and distinct utterance at one effort.
Any vowel may form a syllable by itself, but as we have seen that
a consonant must be united with a vowel for its perfect utterance,
it follows that every syllable must contain a vowel sound, even if
it also contains consonant sounds.  With that vowel sound one or
more consonants may be united; but the ways in which consonants may
combine with a vowel to form a syllable are limited.  In general we
may place any consonant before and any consonant after the vowel in
the same syllable: but _y_ for instance, can be given a consonant
sound only at the beginning of a syllable, as in _yet_; at the end
of a syllable _y_ becomes a vowel sound, as in _they_ or _only_.
In the syllable _twelfths_ we find seven consonant sounds; but if
these same letters were arranged in almost any other way they could
not be pronounced as one syllable---as for instance _wtelthfs_.

A word consists of one or more syllables to which some definite
meaning is attached.

The difficulties of spelling and pronunciation arise largely from the
fact that in English twenty-six letters must do duty for some forty-two
sounds, and even then several of the letters are unnecessary, as for
instance _c,_ which has either the sound of _s_ or of _k_; _x,_ which
has the sound either of _ks, gs,_ or _z_; _q,_ which in the combination
_qu_ has the sound of _kw_.  All the vowels represent from two to seven
sounds each, and some of the consonants interchange with each other.

The Sounds of the Vowels.---(1)  Each of the vowels has what is called
a long sound and a short sound.  It is important that these two sets
of sounds be fixed clearly in the mind, as several necessary rules
of spelling depend upon them.  In studying the following table,
note that the long sound is marked by a  s t r a i g h t  l i n e
 o v{colon : aft}er the letter, and the short sound by a
 c u{g}r{a}ve {accent mark ` }.

_Long          Short_
 a:te          a`t
 ga:ve         ma`n
 na:me         ba`g

 the:se        pe`t
 m:e           te`n
 (com)ple:te   bre`d

 ki:te         si`t
 ri:ce         mi`ll
 li:me         ri`p

 no:te         no`t
 ro:de         ro`d
 so:le         To`m

 cu:re         bu`t
 cu:te         ru`n
 (a)bu:se      cru`st

 scy:the       (like)ly`

If we observe the foregoing list of words we shall see that each of the
words containing a long vowel followed by a single consonant sound ends
in silent _e_.  After the short vowels there is no silent _e_.
In each case in which we have the silent _e_ there is a single long
vowel followed by a single consonant, or two consonants combining to
form a single sound, as _th_ in _scythe_.  Such words as _roll, toll,_
etc., ending in double _l_ have no silent _e_ though the vowel is long;
and such words as _great, meet, pail,_ etc., in which two vowels
combine with the sound of one, take no silent _e_ at the end.
We shall consider these exceptions more fully later; but a _single long_
vowel followed by a _single_ consonant _always_ takes silent _e_ at the
end.  As carefully stated in this way, the rule has no exceptions.
The reverse, however, is not always true, for a few words containing
a short vowel followed by a single consonant do take silent _e_;
but there are very few of them.  The principal are _have, give,
{_(I)_ }live, love, shove, dove, above;_ also _none, some, come,_
and some words in three or more syllables, such as _domicile_.

2.  Beside the long and short sounds of the vowels there
are several other vowel sounds.

A has two other distinct sounds:

ª broad, like _aw,_ as in _all, talk,_ etc.

ae Italian, like _ah,_ as in _far, father,_ etc.

Double o has two sounds different from long or short _o_ alone:

long ºo: as in _room, soon, mood,_ etc.

short ºo`, as in _good, took, wood,_ etc.

Ow has a sound of its own, as in _how, crowd, allow,_ etc.;
and _ou_ sometimes has the same sound, as in _loud, rout, bough,_ etc.

(_Ow_ and _ou_ are also sometimes sounded like long _o,_ as in _own,
crow, pour,_ etc., and sometimes have still other sounds,
as _ou_ in _bought_).

Oi and oy have a distinct sound of their own, as in _oil, toil, oyster,
void, boy, employ,_ etc.

_Ow_ and _oi_ are called proper diphthongs, as the two vowels combine
to produce a sound different from either, while such combinations as
_ei, ea, ai,_ etc., are called improper diphthongs (or digraphs),
because they have the sound of one or other of the simple vowels.

3.  In the preceding paragraphs we have given all the distinct vowel
sounds of the language, though many of them are slightly modified in
certain combinations.  But in many cases one vowel will be given the
sound of another vowel, and two or more vowels will combine with a
variety of sounds.  These irregularities occur chiefly in a few hundred
common words, and cause the main difficulties of spelling the English
language.  The following are the leading substitutes:

ew with the sound of _u_ long, as in _few, chew,_ etc. (perhaps
this may be considered a proper diphthong);

e (_e, e_) with the sound of _a_ long, as in _fete, abbe,_ and all
foreign words written with an accent, especially French words;

i with the sound of _e_ long, as in _machine,_ and nearly all French and
other foreign words;

o has the sound of double _o_ long in _tomb, womb, prove, move,_ etc.,
and of double _o_ short in _wolf, women,_ etc.;

o also has the sound of _u_ short in _above, love, some, done,_ etc.;

u has the sound of double _o_ long after _r,_ as in _rude, rule_;

it also has the sound of double _o_ short in _put, pull, bull, sure,_
etc.;

ea has the sound of _a_ long, as in _great_; of _e_ long, as in _heat_; of
_e_ short, as in _head_; of _a_ Italian (ah), as in _heart, hearth,_ etc.;

ei has the sound of _e_ long, as in _receive_; of _a_ long, as in
_freight, weight_; sometimes of _i_ long, as in _either_ and _neither,_
pronounced with either the sound of _e_ long or _i_ long, the latter
being the English usage;

ie has the sound of _i_ long, as in _lie,_ and of _e_ long,
as in _belief,_ and of _i_ short, as in _sieve_;

ai has the sound of _a_ long, as in _laid, bail, train,_ etc.,
and of _a_ short, as in _plaid;_

ay has the sound of _a_ long, as in _play, betray, say,_ etc.;

oa has the sound of _o_ long, as in _moan, foam, coarse,_ etc.

There are also many peculiar and occasional substitutions of sounds as in
_any_ and _many_ (a as e), _women_ (o as i), _busy_ (u as i),
_said_ (ai as e), _people_ (eo as e:), _build_ (u as i), _gauge_ (au as
a:),
_what_ (a as o), etc.

When any of these combinations are to be pronounced as separate vowels,
in two syllables, two dots should be placed over the second, as in _naive_.

4.  The chief modifications of the elementary sounds are the following:

before _r_ each of the vowels _e, i, o, u,_ and _y_ has almost the same
sound (marked like the Spanish n) as in _her, birth, honor, burr,_ and
_myrtle; o_ before _r_ sometimes has the sound of _aw,_ as in _or, for,_
etc.;

in unaccented syllables, each of the long vowels has a slightly shortened
sound, as in f_a_tality, n_e_gotiate, int_o_nation, ref_u_tation,
indicated by a dot above the sign for the long sound; (in a few words,
such as d_i_gress, the sound is not shortened, however);

long _a_ (a) is slightly modified in such words as _care, fare, bare,_
etc., while _e_ has the same sound in words like _there, their,_ and
_where_; (New Englan{d} g people give _a_ the short sound in such words
as _care,_ etc., and pronounce _there_ and _where_ with the short sound
of _a,_ while _their_ is pronounced with the short sound of _e_:
this is not the best usage, however);

in _pass, class, command, laugh,_ etc., we have a sound of a between
Italian _a_ and short _a_ (indicated by a single dot over the _a_),
though most Americans pronounce it as short, and most English give the
Italian sound:  the correct pronunciation is between these two.

The Sounds of the Consonants.  We have already seen that there are two
classes of consonant sounds, those which have a voice sound, as _b,_
called _sonant,_ and those which are mere breath sounds, like _p,_
called _surds_ or aspirates.  The chief difference between _b_ and _p_
is that one has the voice sound and the other has not.  Most of the
other consonants also stand in pairs.  We may say that the sonant
consonant and its corresponding surd are the hard and soft forms of
the same sound.  The following table contains also simple consonant
sounds represented by two letters:
_Sonant                    Surd_
    b                        p
    d                        t
    v                        f
    g (hard)                 k
    j                        ch
    z                        s
    th (in _thine_)          th (in _thin_)
    zh (or z as in _azure_)  sh
    w
    y
    l
    m
    n
    r                        h

If we go down this list from the top to the bottom, we see that _b_ is the
most closed sound, while _h_ is the most slight and open, and the others
are graded in between (though not precisely as arranged above).  These
distinctions are important, because in making combinations of consonants in
the same syllable or in successive syllables we cannot pass abruptly from a
closed sound to an open sound, or the reverse, nor from a surd sound to a
sonant, or the reverse.  _L, m, n,_ and _r_ are called liquids, and easily
combine with other consonants; and so do the sibilants (_s, z,_ etc.).
In the growth of the language, many changes have been made in letters to
secure harmony of sound (as changing _b_ to _p_ in _sub-port---support,_
and _s,_ to _f_ in _differ_---from _dis_ and _fero_).  Some combinations
are not possible of pronunciation, others are not natural or easy; and
hence the alterations.  The student of the language must know how words are
built; and then when he comes to a strange word he can reconstruct it for
himself.  While the short, common words may be irregular, the long, strange
words are almost always formed quite regularly.

Most of the sonants have but one sound, and none of them has more than
three sounds.  The most important variations are as follows:

C and G have each a soft sound and a hard sound.
The soft sound of _c_ is the same as _s,_ and the hard sound the same
as _k_.  The soft sound of _g_ is the same as _j,_ and the hard sound
is the true sound of _g_ as heard in _gone, bug, struggle_.

Important Rule.  _C_ and _G_ are soft before _e, i,_ and _y,_
and hard before all the other vowels, before all the other consonants,
and at the end of words.

The chief exceptions to this rule are a few common words in which _g_
is hard before _e_ or _i_.  They include---_give, get, gill, gimlet,
girl, gibberish, gelding, gerrymander, gewgaw, geyser, giddy,
gibbon, gift, gig, giggle, gild, gimp, gingham, gird, girt,
girth, eager,_ and _begin_.  G is soft before a consonant in
_judgment{,} lodgment, acknowledgment,_ etc.  Also in a few
words from foreign languages _c_ is soft before other vowels,
though in such cases it should always be written with a cedilla (c).

N when marked n in words from the Spanish language is pronounced
_n-y_ (canon like _canyon_).

Ng has a peculiar nasal sound of its own, as heard in the syllable _ing_.

N alone also has the sound of _ng_ sometimes before _g_ and _k,_ as in
_angle, ankle, single,_ etc. (pronounced _ang-gle, ang-kle, sing-gle_).

Ph has the sound of _f,_ as in prophet.

Th has two sounds, a hard sound as in _the, than, bathe, scythe,_ etc.,
and a soft sound as in _thin, kith, bath, Smith,_ etc.  Contrast
_breathe_ and _breath, lath_ and _lathe_; and _bath_ and _baths,
lath_ and _laths,_ etc.

S has two sounds, one its own sound, as in _sin, kiss, fist_ (the same as
_c_ in _lace, rice,_ etc.), and the sound of _z,_ as in _rise_ (contrast
with _rice_), _is, baths, men's,_ etc.

X has two common sounds, one that of _ks_ as in _box, six,_ etc., and the
other the sound of _gs,_ as in _exact, exaggerate_ (by the way, the first
_g_ in this word is silent).  At the beginning of a word _x_ has the sound
of _z_ as in _Xerxes_.

Ch has three sounds, as heard first in _child,_ second in _machine,_ and
third in _character_.  The first is peculiar to itself, the second is that
of _sh,_ and the third that of _k_.

The sound of _sh_ is variously represented:

by _sh{,}_ as in _share, shift, shirt,_ etc.

by _ti,_ as in _condition, mention, sanction,_ etc.

by _si,_ as in _tension, suspension, extension,_ etc.

by _ci,_ as in _suspicion_.  (Also, _crucifixion_.)

The kindred sound of _zh_ is represented by _z_ as in _azure,_
and _s_ as in _pleasure,_ and by some combinations.

Y is always a consonant at the beginning of a word when followed by a
vowel, as in _yet, year, yell,_ etc.; but if followed by a consonant it
is a vowel, as in _Ypsilanti_.  At the end of a word it is {al}ways a
vowel, as in all words ending in the syllable _ly_.

Exercises.  It is very important that the student should master the
sounds of the language and the symbols for them, or the diacritical
marks, for several reasons:

First, because it is impossible to find out the true pronunciation of
a word from the dictionary unless one clearly understands the meaning
of the principal marks;

Second, because one of the essentials in accurate pronunciation and good
spelling is the habit of analyzing the sounds which compose words,
and training the ear to detect slight variations;

Third, because a thorough knowledge of the sounds and their natural
symbols is the first step toward a study of the principles governing
word formation, or spelling and pronunciation.

For purposes of instruction through correspondence or by means of a
textbook, the diacritical marks representing distinct sounds of the
language afford a substitute for the voice in dictation and similar
exercises, and hence such work requires a mastery of what might at first
sight seem a purely mechanical and useless system.

One of the best exercises for the mastery of this system is to open the
unabridged dictionary at any point and copy out lists of words, writing the
words as they ordinarily appear in one column, and in an adjoining column
the phonetic form of the word.  When the list is complete, cover one column
and reproduce the other from an application of the principles that have
been learned.  After a few days, reproduce the phonetic forms from the
words as ordinarily written, and again the ordinary word from the phonetic
form.  Avoid memorizing as much as possible, but work solely by the
application of principles.  Never write down a phonetic form without fully
understanding its meaning in every detail.  A key to the various marks will
be found at the bottom of every page of the dictionary, and the student
should refer to this frequently.  In the front part of the dictionary there
will also be found an explanation of all possible sounds that any letter
may have; and every sound that any letter may have may be indicated by a
peculiar mark, so that since several letters may represent the same sound
there are a variety of symbols for the same sound.  For the purposes of
this book it has seemed best to offer only one symbol for each sound, and
that symbol the one most frequently used.  For that reason the following
example will not correspond precisely with the forms given in the
dictionary, but a study of the differences will afford a valuable exercise.

Illustration.*

 *In this exercise, vowels before r marked in webster with the double
curve used over the Spanish n, are left unmarked.  Double o with the
short sound is also left unmarked.

  The  first place that  I can  well  remember  was  a large,
  The` first pla:s tha`t I ka`n we`l re:me`mber wo`z a: laerj,

pleasant meadow with a  pond  of  clear water  in it.  Some
ple`s'nt me`do: with a: po`nd o`v kle:r wo`ter in it.  Su`m

shady   trees leaned over  it,  and   rushes  and  water-lilies
sha:di` tre:z le:nd  o:ver i`t, a`nd ru`she:z a`nd wo`ter-li`li`z

grew at  the  deep end.   Over the  hedge on one  side we looked
gru: a`t the` de:p e`nd.  Over the: he`j o`n wu`n si:d we: lookt

into  a  plowed field, and  on  the  other  we  looked over a
intºo: a: plowd fe:ld  a`nd o`n the: o`ther we: lookt o:ver a:

gate  at our master's house, which stood by  the  roadside.
ga:t a`t owr ma`ster'z hows, hwich stood bi: the: ro:dsi:d.

At  the  top  of  the  meadow was  a  grove of  fir-trees,
A`t the: to`p o`v the: me`do: wo`z a: gro:v o`v fir-tre:z,

and at  the  bottom a running brook  overhung  by  a  steep bank.
and a`t the: bo`t'm a ru`ning brook o:verhu`ng bi: a: ste:p ba`nk.


  Whilst  I was  young I lived upon  my  mother's  milk, as I could
  Hwi:lst I wo`z yu`ng I livd u`po`n mi: mu`ther'z milk, a`z I kood

not  eat grass.  In the  daytime I ran  by  her side, and  at night
no`t e:t gra`s.  In the: da:ti:m I ra`n bi: her si:d, a`nd a`t ni:t

I lay down close by  her.  When  it was  hot  we  used  to  stand
I la: down klo:s bi: her.  Hwe`n it wo`z ho`t we: u:zd tºo: sta`nd

by  the  pond  in the  shade of  the  trees, and when  it was  cold
bi: the: po`nd in the: sha:d o`v the: tre:z a`nd hwe`n it wo`z ko:ld

we  had  a  nice, warm  shed  near the  grove.
we: ha`d a: ni:s, wawrm she`d ne:r the: gro:v.

Note.  In Webster's dictionary letters which are unmarked have an
obscure sound often not unlike uh, or are silent, and letters printed
in italics are nearly elided, so very slight is the sound they have if
it can be said to exist at all.  In the illustration above, all very
obscure sounds have been replaced by the apostrophe, while no distinction
has been made between short vowels in accented and unaccented syllables.

Studies from the Dictionary.

The following are taken from Webster's Dictionary:

Ab-do`m'-i-nou`s:  The _a_ in _ab_ is only a little shorter than _a_ in
_at,_ and the _i_ is short being unaccented, while the _o_ is silent,
the syllable having the sound nus as indicated by the mark over the _u_.

Le`ss'_e_n, (le`s'n), le`s's_o_n, (le`s'sn), le`ss'er, le`s'sor:  Each of
these words has two distinct syllables, though there is no recognizable
vowel sound in the last syllables of the first two.  This eliding of the
vowel is shown by printing the _e_ and the _o_ of the final syllables
in italics.  In the last two words the vowels of the final syllables are
not marked, but have nearly the sound they would have if marked in the
usual way for _e_ and _o_ before _r_.  As the syllables are not accented
the vowel sound is slightly obscured.  Or in _lessor_ has the sound of
the word _or_ (nearly), not the sound of _or_ in _honor,_ which will be
found re-spelled (o`n'ur).  It will be noted that the double s is
divided in two of the words and not in the other two.  In _lesser_ and
_lessen_ all possible stress is placed on the first syllables,
since the terminations have the least possible value in speaking;
but in _lesson_ and _lessor_ we put a little more stress on the final
syllables, due to the greater dignity of the letter _o,_
and this draws over a part of the s sound.

Hon'-ey-co:mb (hu`n'y-ko:m): The heavy{ second} hyphen indicates that
this is a compound word and the hyphen must always be written.
The hyphens printed lightly in the dictionary merely serve to separate
the syllables and show how a word may be divided at the end of a line.
The student will also note that the _o_ in _-comb_ has its full long
value instead of being slighted.  This slight added stress on the _o_
is the way we have in speaking of indicating that _-comb_ was once a
word by itself, with an accent of its own.

Exercise.
Select other words from the dictionary, and analyse as we have done
above, giving some explanation for every peculiarity found in the
printing and marks.  Continue this until there is no doubt or hesitation
in regard to the meaning of any mark that may be found.


CHAPTER II.

WORD-BUILDING.

English speaking peoples have been inclined to exaggerate the
irregularities of the English word-formation.  The fact is, only a small
number of common words and roots are irregular in formation, while fully
nine tenths of all the words in the language are formed according to
regular principles, or are regularly derived from the small number of
irregular words.  We use the irregular words so much more frequently
that they do indeed constitute the greater part of our speech,
but it is very necessary that we should master the regular principles
of word-building, since they give us a key to the less frequently used,
but far more numerous, class which fills the dictionary, teaching us
both the spelling of words of which we know the sound, and the
pronunciation of words which we meet for the first time in reading.

Accent.  In English, accent is an essential part of every word.
It is something of an art to learn to throw it on to any syllable we
choose, for unless we are able to do this we cannot get the true
pronunciation of a word from the dictionary and we are helpless when we
are called on to pronounce a word we have never heard.

Perhaps the best way to learn the art of throwing accent is by
comparing words in which we are in the habit of shifting the
accent to one syllable or another according to the meaning,
as for instance the following:

 1.  Accent.

a.  What _ac'cent_ has this word?

b.  With what _accent'uation_ do you _accent'_ this word?

 2.  Concert.

a.  Did you go to the _con'cert_ last night?

b.  By _concert'ed_ action we can do anything.

 3.  Contrast.

{a} b.  What a _con'trast_ between the rich man and the poor man!

b.  _Contrast'_ good with bad, black with white, greatness with littleness.

 4.  Permit.

a.  I have a building_-per'mit_.

b.  My mother will not _permit'_ me to go.

 5.  Present.

a.  He received a beautiful Christmas _pres'ent_.

b.  She was _present'ed_ at court.

 6.  Prefix.

a.  Sub is a common _pre'fix_.

b.  _Prefix'_ sub to port and you get support.

 7.  Compound.

a.  He can _compound'_ medicine like a druggist.

b.  Nitroglycerine is a dangerous _com'pound_.

As a further illustration, read the following stanza of poetry,
especially accenting the syllables as marked:

     Tell' me not' in mourn'ful num'bers,
       "Life' is but' an emp'ty dream'!"
     For' the soul' is dead' that slum'bers,
       And' things are' not what' they seem'.

This is called scanning, and all verse may be scanned in the same way.
It is an excellent drill in learning the art of throwing the stress of
the voice on any syllable that may be desired.

Two Laws of Word-Formation.

We are now prepared to consider the two great laws governing
word-formation.  These are:

1.  Law: All vowels in combination with consonants are naturally short
unless the long sound is given by combination with other vowels,
by accent, or by position in the syllable with reference to consonants.

2.  Law: Words derived from other words by the addition of prefixes or
suffixes always retain the original form as far as possible.

1.  We are likely to suppose that the natural or original sound of a
vowel is the long sound, because that is the sound we give it when
naming it in the alphabet.  If we will examine a number of words,
however, we shall soon see that in combination with consonants
all vowels have a tendency to a short or obscure pronunciation.
The sounds of the consonants are naturally obscure, and they
draw the vowels to a similar obscurity.

Since such is the case, when a vowel is given its long sound there is
always a special reason for it.  In the simple words _not, pin, her,
rip, rid, cut, met,_ we have the short sounds of the vowels; but if we
desire the long sounds we must add a silent _e,_ which is not pronounced
as _e,_ but has its sound value in the greater stress put upon the vowel
with which it is connected.  By adding silent _e_ to the above words we
have _note, pine, here, ripe, ride, mete_.  In each of these cases the
_e_ follows the consonant, though really combining with the vowel before
the consonant; but if we place the additional _e_ just after the first
_e_ in _met_ we have _meet,_ which is a word even more common than
_mete.  E_ is the only vowel that may be placed after the consonant and
still combine with the vowel before it {while being silent}; but nearly
all the other vowels may be placed beside the vowel that would otherwise
be short in order to make it long, and sometimes this added vowel is
placed before as well as after the vowel to be lengthened.  Thus we have
_boat, bait, beat, field, chief,_ etc.  There are a very, very few
irregular words in which the vowel sound has been kept short in spite
of the added vowel, as for instance, _head, sieve,_ etc.  It appears
that with certain consonants the long sound is especially difficult,
and so in the case of very common words the wear of common speech has
shortened the vowels in spite of original efforts to strengthen them.
This is peculiarly true of the consonant _v,_ and the combination _th,_
and less so of _s_ and _z_.  So in {(I)}_live, have, give, love, shove,
move,_ etc., the vowel sound is more or less obscured even in spite of
the silent _e,_ though in the less common words _alive, behave,_ etc.,
the long sound strengthened by accent has not been lost.  So as a rule
two silent vowels are now used to make the vowel before the _v_ long,
as in _leave, believe, receive, beeves, weave,_ etc.  In the single word
_sieve_ the vowel remains short in spite of two silent vowels added to
strengthen it.  Two vowels are also sometimes required to strengthen a
long vowel before _th,_ as in _breathe,_ though when the vowel itself
is a strong one, as _a_ in _bathe,_ the second vowel is not required,
and _o_ in _both_ is so easily increased in sound that the two
consonants alone are sufficient.  It will be seen, therefore, that much
depends on the quality of the vowel.  _A_ and _o_ are the strongest
vowels, _i_ the weakest (which accounts for sieve).  After _s_ and _z_
we must also have a silent _e_ in addition to the silent vowel with
which the sounded vowel is combined, as we may see in _cheese, increase,
freeze,_ etc.  The added vowel in combination with the long vowel is not
always needed, however, as we may see in contrasting _raise_ and _rise_.

Not only vowels but consonants may serve to lengthen vowel sounds, as
we see in _right, night, bright,_ and in _scold, roll,_ etc.  Only _o_
is capable of being lengthened by two simple consonants such as we have
in _scold_ and _roll_.  In _calm_ and _ball,_ for instance, the _a_ has
one of its extra values rather than its long sound.  The _gh_ is of
course a powerful combination.  Once it was pronounced; but it became so
difficult that we have learned to give its value by dwelling a little on
the vowel sound.

Another powerful means of lengthening a vowel is accent.  When a vowel
receives the full force of the accent by coming at the end of an accented
syllable it is almost invariably made long.  We see this in monosyllables
such as _he, no,_ etc.  It is often necessary to strengthen by an
additional silent vowel, however, as in _tie, sue, view,_ etc., and _a_ has
a peculiarity in that when it comes at the end of a syllable alone it has
the sound of _ah,_ or _a_ Italian, rather than that of _a_ long, and we
have _pa, ma,_ etc., and for the long sound _y_ is added, as in _say, day,
ray.  I_ has a great disinclination to appear at the end of a word, and so
is n usually changed to _y_ when such a position is necessary, or it takes
silent _e_ as indicated above; while this service on the part of _y_ is
reciprocated by _i_'s taking the place of _y_ inside a word, as may be
illustrated by _city_ and _cities_.

When a vowel gets the _full force_ of the accent in a word of two or
more syllables it is bound to be long, as for instance the first _a_ in
_ma'di a_.  Even the stress necessary to keep the vowel from running
into the next syllable will make it long, though the sound is somewhat
obscured, some other syllable receiving the chief accent, as the first
_a_ in _ma gi'cian_.  In this last word _i_ seems to have the full
force of the accent, yet it is not long; and we note the same in such
words as _condi'tion,_ etc.  The fact is, however, that _i_ being a
weak vowel easily runs into the consonant sound of the next syllable,
and if we note the sounds as we pronounce _condition_ we shall see that
the _sh_ sound represented by _ti_ blends with the _i_ and takes the
force of the accent.  We cannot separate the _ti_ or _ci_ from the
following portion of the syllable, since if so separated they could not
have their _sh_ value; but in pronunciation this separation is made in
part and the _sh_ sound serves both for the syllable that precedes and
the syllable that follows.  In a word like _di men'sion_ we find the _i_
of the first syllable long even without the accent, since the accent on
_men_ attaches the _m_ so closely to it that it cannot in any way
relieve the _i_.  So we see that in an accented syllable the consonant
before a short vowel, as well as the consonant following it, receives
part of the stress.  This is especially noticeable in the word _ma
gi'cian_ as compared with _mag'ic_.  In magic the syllable _ic_ is in
itself so complete that the _g_ is kept with the _a_ and takes the force
of the accent, leaving the _a_ short.  In _magician_ the _g_ is drawn
away from the _a_ to help out the short _i_ followed by an _sh_ sound,
and the _a_ is lengthened even to altering the form of the simple word.
In the word _ma'gi an,_ again, we find _a_ long, the _g_ being needed to
help out the _i_.

Since accent makes a vowel long if no consonant intervenes at the end
of a syllable, and as a single consonant following such a vowel in a
word of two syllables (though not in words of three or more) is likely
to be drawn into the syllable following, a single consonant following
a single short vowel must be doubled.  If two or more consonants follow
the vowel, as in _masking, standing, wilting,_ the vowel even in an
accented syllable remains short.  But in _pining_ with one _n_ following
the _i_ in the accented syllable, we know that the vowel must be long,
for if it were short the word would be written _pinning_.

Universal Rule: _Monosyllables_ in which, a single vowel is followed by
a single consonant (except _v_ and _h_ never doubled) _double the final
consonant_ when a single syllable beginning with a vowel is added,
and _all words_ so ending double the final consonant on the addition of
a syllable beginning with a vowel _if the syllable containing the single
vowel_ followed by a single consonant _is to be accented_.

Thus we have _can---canning, run---running, fun---funny, flat---flattish_;
and also _sin---sinned_ (for the _ed_ is counted a syllable though not
pronounced as such nowadays); _preferred,_ but _preference,_ since the
accent is thrown back from the syllable containing the single vowel
followed by a single consonant in the word _preference,_ though not in
_preferred_; and of course the vowel is not doubled in _murmured, wondered,
covered,_ etc.

If, however, the accented syllable is followed by two or more syllables,
the tendency of accent is to shorten the vowel.  Thus we have
_grammat'ical,_ etc., in which the short vowel in the accented syllable
is followed by a single consonant not doubled.  The word _na'tion_ (with
a long a) becomes _na'tional_ (short _a_) when the addition of a syllable
throws the accent on to the antepenult.  The vowel _u_ is never shortened
in this way, however, and we have _lu'bricate,_ not _lub'ricate_.
We also find such words as _no'tional_ (long _o_).  While accented
syllables which are followed by two or more syllables seldom if ever double
the single consonant, in pronunciation we often find the vowel long if the
two syllables following contain short and weak vowels.  Thus we have
_pe'riod_ (long _e_), _ma'niac_ (long _a_), and _o'rient'al_ (long _o_).

In words of two syllables and other words in which the accent comes on
the next to the last syllable, a short vowel in an accented syllable
should logically always be followed by more than one consonant or a
double consonant.  We find the double consonant in such words as
_summer, pretty, mammal,_ etc.  Unfortunately, our second law, which
requires all derived words to preserve the form of the original root,
interferes with this principle very seriously in a large number
of English words.  The roots are often derived from languages in
which this principle did not apply, or else these roots originally
had very different sound values from those they have with us.
So we have _body,_ with one _d,_ though we have _shoddy_ and _toddy_
regularly formed with two _d_'s, and we have _finish, exhibit,_ etc.;
in _col'onnade_ the _n_ is doubled in a syllable that is not accented.

The chief exception to the general principle is the entire class of
words ending in _ic,_ such as _colic, cynic, civic, antithetic,
peripatetic,_ etc.  If the root is long, however, it will remain long
after the addition of the termination _ic,_ as _music_ (from _muse_),
_basic_ (from _base_), etc.

But in the case of words which we form ourselves, we will find practically
no exceptions to the rule that a short vowel in a syllable _next_ to the
last _must_ be followed by a _double consonant_ when accented, while a
short vowel in a syllable _before_ the next to the last is _not_ followed
by a double consonant when the syllable is accented.

2.  Our second law tells us that the original form of a word or of its
root must be preserved as far as possible.  Most of the words referred
to above in which single consonants are doubled or not doubled in
violation of the general rule are derived from the Latin, usually through
the French, and if we were familiar with those languages we should have a
key to their correct spelling.  But even without such thorough knowledge,
we may learn a few of the methods of derivation in those languages,
especially the Latin, as well as the simpler methods in use in the English.

Certain changes in the derived words are always made, as, for instance, the
dropping of the silent _e_ when a syllable beginning with a vowel is added.

Rule.  Silent _e_ at the end of a word is dropped whenever a syllable
beginning with a vowel is added.

This rule is not quite universal, though nearly so.  The silent _e_ is
always retained when the vowel at the beginning of the added syllable
would make a soft _c_ or _g_ hard, as in _serviceable, changeable,_ etc.
In _changing, chancing,_ etc., the _i_ of the added syllable is sufficient
to make the _c_ or _g_ retain its soft sound.  In such words as _cringe_
and _singe_ the silent _e_ is retained even before _i_ in order to avoid
confusing the words so formed with other words in which the _ng_ has a
nasal sound; thus we have _singeing_ to avoid confusion with _singing,_
though we have _singed_ in which the _e_ is dropped before _ed_ because the
dropping of it causes no confusion.  Formerly the silent _e_ was retained
in _moveable_; but now we write _movable,_ according to the rule.

Of course when the added syllable begins with a consonant, the silent
_e_ is not dropped, since dropping it would have the effect of
shortening the preceding vowel by making it stand before two consonants.

A few monosyllables ending in two vowels, one of which is silent _e,_
are exceptions: _duly, truly_; also _wholly_.

Also final _y_ is changed to _i_ when a syllable is added, unless that
added syllable begins with _i_ and two _i_'s would thus come together.
_I_ is a vowel never doubled.  Th{u} is we have _citified,_
but _citifying_.

We have already seen that final consonants may be doubled under certain
circumstances when a syllable is added.

These are nearly all the changes in spelling that are possible when
words are formed by adding syllables; but changes in pronunciation and
vowel values are often affected, as we have seen in _nation_ (_a_ long)
and _national_ (_a_ short).

Prefixes.  But words may be formed by prefixing syllables, or by combining
two or more words into one.  Many of these formations were effected in the
Latin before the words were introduced into English; but we can study the
principles governing them and gain a key to the spelling of many English
words.

In English we unite a preposition with a verb by placing it after the
verb and treating it as an adverb.  Thus we have "breaking in,"
"running over," etc.  In Latin the preposition in such cases was
prefixed to the word; and there were particles used as prefixes which
were never used as prepositions.  We should become familiar with the
principal Latin prefixes and always take them into account in the
spelling of English words.  The principal Latin prefixes are:

ab (abs)---from
ad---to
ante---before
bi (bis)---twice
circum (circu)---around
con---with
contra(counter)---against
de---down, from
dis---apart, not
ex---out of, away from
extra---beyond
in---in, into, on; _also_ not (another word)
inter---between=
non---not
ob---in front of, in the way of
per---through
post---after
pre---before
pro---for, forth
re---back or again
retro---backward
se---aside
semi---half
sub---under
super---above, over
trans---over, beyond
ultra---beyond
vice---instead of.

Of these prefixes, those ending in a single consonant are likely to
change that consonant for euphony to the consonant beginning the word
to which the prefix is attached.  Thus _ad_ drops the _d_ in _ascend,_
becomes _ac_ in _accord, af_ in _affiliate, an_ in _annex, ap_ in
_appropriate, at_ in _attend; con_ becomes _com_ in _commotion,_ also
in _compunction_ and _compress, cor_ in _correspond, col_ in _collect,
co_ in _co-equal_; _dis_ becomes _dif_ in _differ_; _ex_ becomes _e_ in
_eject, ec_ in _eccentric, ef_ in _effect_; _in_ becomes _il_ in
_illuminate, im_ in _import, ir_ in _irreconcilable; ob_ becomes _op_
in _oppress, oc_ in _occasion, of_ in _offend_; and _sub_ becomes _suc_
in _succeed, sup_ in _support, suf_ in _suffix, sug_ in _suggest,
sus_ in _sustain_.  The final consonant is changed to a consonant that
can be easily pronounced before the consonant with which the following
syllable begins.  Following the rule that the root must be changed as
little as possible, it is always the prefix, not the root,
which is compelled to yield to the demands of euphony.

A little reflection upon the derivation of words will thus often give
us a key to the spelling.  For instance, suppose we are in doubt whether
_irredeemable_ has two _r_'s or only one: we now that _redeem_ is a
root, and therefore the _ir_ must be a prefix, and the two _r_'s are
accounted for,--- indeed are necessary in order to prevent our losing
sight of the derivation and meaning of the word.  In the same way, we can
never be in doubt as to the two _m_'s in _commotion, commencement,_ etc.

We have already noted the tendency of _y_ to become _i_ in the middle
of a word.  The exceptional cases are chiefly derivatives from the
Greek, and a study of the Greek prefixes will often give us a hint in
regard to the spelling of words containing _y_.  These prefixes,
given here in full for convenience, are:

a (an)---without, not
amphi---both, around
ana---up, back, through=
anti---against, opposite
apo (ap)---from
cata---down

dia---through
en (em)---in
epi (ep)---upon
hyper---over, excessive
hypo---under=
meta (met)---beyond, change
syn (sy, syl, sym)---with, together

In Greek words also we will find _ph_ with the sound of _f_.
We know that _symmetrical, hypophosphite, metaphysics, emphasis,_ etc.,
are Greek because of the key we find in the prefix, and we are thus
prepared for the _y_'s and _ph_'s.  _F_ does not exist in the Greek
alphabet (except as ph) and so we shall never find it in words derived
from the Greek.

The English prefixes are not so often useful in determining peculiar
spelling, but for completeness we give them here:

a---at, in, on (ahead)
be---to make, by (benumb)
en (em)---in, on, to make (encircle, empower)
for---not, from (forbear)
fore---before (forewarn)
mis---wrong, wrongly (misstate)
out---beyond (outbreak)
over---above (overruling)
to---the, this (to-night)
un---not, opposite
act (unable, undeceive)
under---beneath (undermine)
with---against, from (withstand)


CHAPTER III.

WORD-BUILDING---RULES AND APPLICATIONS.

There are a few rules and applications of the principles of word-formation
which may be found fully treated in the chapter on "Orthography" at the
beginning of the dictionary, but which we present here very briefly,
together with a summary of principles already discussed.

Rule 1.  _F, l,_ and _s_ at the end of a monosyllable after a single
vowel are commonly doubled.  The exceptions are the cases in which _s_
forms the plural or possessive case of a noun, or third person singular
of the verb, and the following words: _clef, if, of, pal, sol, as, gas,
has, was, yes, gris, his, is, thus, us.  L_ is not doubled at the end
of words of more than one syllable, as _parallel, willful,_ etc.

Rule 2.  No other consonants thus situated are doubled.  Exceptions:
_ebb, add, odd, egg, inn, bunn, err, burr, purr, butt, fizz, fuzz,
buzz,_ and a few very uncommon words, for which see the chapter in the
dictionary above referred to.

Rule 3.  A consonant standing at the end of a word immediately after a
diphthong or double vowel is never doubled.  The word _guess_ is only an
apparent exception, since _u_ does not form a combination with _e_ but
merely makes the _g_ hard.

Rule 4.  Monosyllables ending in the sound of _ic_ represented by _c_
usually take _k_ after the _c_, as in _back, knock,_ etc.  Exceptions:
_talc, zinc, roc, arc,_ and a few very uncommon words.  Words of more
than one syllable ending in _ic_ or _iac_ do not take _k_ after the _c_
(except _derrick_), as for example _elegiac, cubic, music,_ etc.
If the _c_ is preceded by any other vowel than _i_ or _ia, k_ is added
to the _c_, as in _barrack, hammock, wedlock_.  Exceptions:
_almanac, havoc,_ and a very few uncommon words.

Rule 5.  To preserve the hard sound of _c_ when a syllable is added
which begins with _e, i,_ or _y, k_ is placed after final _c_,
as in _trafficking, zincky, colicky_.

Rule 6.  _X_ and _h_ are never doubled, _v_ and _j_ seldom.
_G_ with the soft sound cannot be doubled, because then the first _g_
would be made hard.  Example: _mag'ic.  Q_ always appears with _u_
following it, and here _u_ has the value of the consonant _w_ and in no
way combines or is counted with the vowel which may follow it.  For
instance _squatting_ is written as if _squat_ contained but one vowel.

Rule 7.  In simple derivatives a single final consonant following a
single vowel in a syllable that receives an accent is doubled when
another syllable beginning with a vowel is added.

Rule 8.  When accent comes on a syllable standing next to the last,
it has a tendency to lengthen the vowel; but on syllables farther from
the end, the tendency is to shorten the vowel without doubling the
consonant.  For example, _na'tion_ (_a_ long), but _na'tional_
(_a_ short); _gram'mar,_ but _grammat'ical_.

Rule 9.  Silent _e_ at the end of a word is usually dropped
when a syllable beginning with a vowel is added.  The chief
exceptions are words in which the silent _e_ is retained to
preserve the soft sound of _c_ or _g_.

Rule 10.  Plurals are regularly formed by adding _s_; but if the
word end in a sibilant sound (_sh, zh, z, s, j, ch, x_), the plural
is formed by adding _es,_ which is pronounced as a separate syllable.
If the word end{s} in a sibilant sound followed by silent _e,_
that _e_ unites with the _s_ to form a separate syllable.
Examples: _seas, cans; boxes, churches, brushes; changes, services_.

Rule 11.  Final _y_ is regularly changed to _i_ when a syllable is
added.  In plurals it is changed to _ies,_ except when preceded by a
vowel, when a simple _s_ is added without change of the _y_.
Examples: _clumsy, clumsily_; _city, cities_; _chimney, chimneys_.
We have _colloquies_ because _u_ after _q_ has the value of the
consonant _w_.  There are a few exceptions to the above rule.  When two
_i_'s would come together, the _y_ is not changed, as in _carrying_.

Rule 12.  Words ending, in a double consonant commonly retain the double
consonant in derivatives.  The chief exception is _all,_ which drops one
_l,_ as in _almighty, already, although,_ etc.  According to English
usage other words ending in double _l_ drop one _l_ in derivatives,
and we have _skilful_ (for _skillful_), _wilful_ (for _willful_), etc.,
but Webster does not approve this custom.  _Ful_ is an affix,
not the word _full_ in a compound.


EXCEPTIONS AND IRREGULARITIES.

1.  Though in the case of simple words ending in a double consonant the
derivatives usually retain the double consonant, _pontific_ and
_pontifical_ (from _pontiff_) are exceptions, and when three letters of
the same kind would come together, one is usually dropped, as in
_agreed_ (_agree_ plus _ed_), _illy_ (_ill_ plus _ly_), _belless,_ etc.
We may write _bell-less,_ etc., however, in the case of words in which
three _l_'s come together, separating the syllables by a hyphen.

2.  To prevent two _i_'s coming together, we change _i_ to _y_ in
_dying, tying, vying,_ etc., from _die, tie,_ and _vie_.

3.  Derivatives from _adjectives_ ending in _y_ do not change _y_ to
_i_, and we have _shyly, shyness, slyly,_ etc., though _drier_ and
_driest_ from _dry_ are used.  The _y_ is not changed before _ship,_
as in _secretaryship, ladyship,_ etc., nor in _babyhood_ and _ladykin_.

4.  We have already seen that _y_ is not changed in derivatives when it
is preceded by another vowel, as in the case of _joyful,_ etc.;
but we find exceptions to this principle in _daily, laid, paid, said,
saith, slain,_ and _staid_; and many write _gaily_ and _gaiety,_
though Webster prefers _gayly_ and _gayety_.

5.  Nouns of one syllable ending in _o_ usually take a silent _e_ also,
as _toe, doe, shoe,_ etc, but other parts of speech do not take the _e,_
as _do, to, so, no,_ and the like, and nouns of more than one syllable,
as _potato, tomato,_ etc., omit the _e_.  Monosyllables ending in _oe_
usually retain the silent _e_ in derivatives, and we have _shoeing,
toeing,_ etc.  The commoner English nouns ending in _o_ also have the
peculiarity of forming the plural by adding _es_ instead of _s,_ and we
have _potatoes, tomatoes, heroes, echoes, cargoes, embargoes, mottoes_;
but nouns a trifle more foreign form their plurals regularly, as _solos,
zeros, pianos,_ etc.  When a vowel precedes the _o,_ the plural is
always formed regularly.  The third person singular of the verb _woo_
is _wooes,_ of _do does,_ of _go goes,_ etc., in analogy with the
plurals of the nouns ending in _o_.

6.  The following are exceptions to the rule that silent _e_ is retained
in derivatives when the added syllable begins with a consonant:
_judgment, acknowledgment, lodgment, wholly, abridgment, wisdom,_ etc.

7.  Some nouns ending in _f_ or _fe_ change those terminations to _ve_
in the plural, as _beef---beeves, leaf---leaves, knife---knives,
loaf---loaves, life---lives, wife---wives, thief---thieves,
wolf---wolves, self---selves, shelf---shelves, calf---calves,
half---halves, elf---elves, sheaf---sheaves_.  We have _chief---chiefs_
and _handkerchief---handkerchiefs,_ however, and the same is true of all
nouns ending in _f_ or _fe_ except those given above.

8.  A few nouns form their plurals by changing a single vowel, as
_man---men, woman---women, goose---geese, foot---feet, tooth---teeth,_
etc.  Compounds follow the rule of the simple form, but the plural of
_talisman_ is _talismans,_ of _German_ is _Germans,_ of _musselman_ is
_musselmans,_ because these are not compounds of _men_.

9.  A few plurals are formed by adding _en,_ as _brother---brethren,
child---children, ox---oxen_.

10.  _Brother, pea, die,_ and _penny_ have each two plurals, which
differ in meaning.  _Brothers_ refers to male children of the same
parents, _brethren_ to members of a religious body or the like;
_peas_ is used when a definite number is mentioned, _pease_ when
bulk is referred to; _dies_ are instruments used for stamping, etc.,
_dice_ cubical blocks used in games of chance; _pennies_ refer to a
given number of coins, _pence_ to an amount reckoned by the coins.
_Acquaintance_ is sometimes used in the plural for _acquaintances_ with
no difference of meaning.

11.  A few words are the same in the plural as in the singular,
as _sheep, deer, trout,_ etc.

12.  Some words derived from foreign languages retain the plurals of
those languages.  For example:
datum---data
criterion---criteria
genus---genera
larva---larvae=
crisis---crises
matrix---matrices
focus---foci
monsieur---messieurs

13.  A few allow either a regular plural or the plural retained
from the foreign language:
formula---formulae or formulas
beau---beaux or beaus
index---indices or indexes
stratum---strata or stratums
bandit---banditti or bandits
cherub---cherubim or cherubs
seraph---seraphim or seraphs

14.  In very loose compounds in which a noun is followed by an adjective
or the like, the noun commonly takes the plural ending, as in
_courts-martial, sons-in-law, cousins-german_.  When the adjective is
more closely joined, the plural ending must be placed at the end of the
entire word.  Thus we have _cupfuls, handfuls,_ etc.

Different Spellings for the same Sound.

Perhaps the greatest difficulty in spelling English words arises from
the fact that words and syllables pronounced alike are often spelled
differently, and there is no rule to guide us in distinguishing.
In order to fix their spelling, in mind we should know what classes of
words are doubtful, and when we come to them constantly refer to the
dictionary.  To try to master these except in the connections in which
we wish to use them the writer believes to be worse than folly.
By studying such words in pairs, confusion is very likely to be fixed
forever in the mind.  Most spelling-books commit this error, and so are
responsible for a considerable amount of bad spelling, which their
method has actually introduced and instilled into the child's mind.

Persons who read much are not likely to make these errors, since they
remember words by the form as it appeals to the eye, not by the sound
in which there is no distinction.  The study of such words should
therefore be conducted chiefly while writing or reading, not orally.

While we must memorize, one at a time as we come to them in reading or
writing, the words or syllables in which the same sound is represented
by different spellings, still we should know clearly what classes of
words to be on the lookout for.  We will now consider some of the
classes of words in which a single syllable may be spelled in various ways.


Vowel Substitutions in Simple Words.

ea for e` short or e obscure before r.

already
bread
breakfast
breast
breadth
death
earth
dead
deaf
dread=
early
earn
earnest
earth
feather
head
health
heaven
heavy=
heard
lead
learn
leather
meadow
measure
pearl
pleasant
read=
search
sergeant
spread
steady
thread
threaten
tread
wealth
weather

ee for e: long.

agree
beef
breed
cheek
cheese
creek
creep
cheer
deer
deed
deep
feed=
feel
feet
fleece
green
heel
heed
indeed
keep
keel
keen
kneel
meek=
need
needle
peel
peep
queer
screen
seed
seen
sheet
sheep
sleep
sleeve=
sneeze
squeeze
street
speech
steeple
steet
sweep
sleet
teeth
weep
weed
week

ea for e: long.

appear
bead
beach
bean
beast
beat
beneath
breathe
cease
cheap
cheat
clean
clear
congeal
cream
crease
creature
dear
deal
dream
defeat=
each
ear
eager
easy
east
eaves
feast
fear
feat
grease
heap
hear
heat
increase
knead
lead
leaf
leak
lean
least
leave=
meat
meal
mean
neat
near
peas (pease)
peal
peace
peach
please
preach
reach
read
reap
rear
reason
repeat
scream=
seam
seat
season
seal
speak
steam
streak
stream
tea
team
tear
tease
teach
veal
weave
weak
wheat
wreath (wreathe)
year
yeast

ai for a: long.

afraid
aid
braid
brain
complain
daily
dairy
daisy
drain
dainty
explain
fail
fain=
gain
gait
gaiter
grain
hail
jail
laid
maid
mail
maim
nail
paid=
pail
paint
plain
prairie
praise
quail
rail
rain
raise
raisin
remain
sail=
saint
snail
sprain
stain
straight
strain
tail
train
vain
waist
wait
waive

ai for i or e obscure.

bargain    captain    certain    curtain    mountain

oa for o: long.

board
boat
cloak
coax
coal
coast
coarse=
float
foam
goat
gloam
groan
hoarse
load=
loan
loaf
oak
oar
oats
roast
road=
roam
shoal
soap
soar
throat
toad
toast

ie for e: long.

believe
chief=
fierce
grief=
niece
priest=
piece
thief

ei for e long.

neither    receipt    receive

In _sieve, ie_ has the sound of _i_ short.

In _eight, skein, neighbor, rein, reign, sleigh, vein, veil, weigh,_
and _weight, ei_ has the sound of _a_ long.

In _height, sleight,_ and a few other words _ei_ has the sound of _i_ long.

In _great, break,_ and _steak ea_ has the sound of _a_ long;
in _heart_ and _hearth_ it has the sound of _a_ Italian,
and in _tear_ and _bear_ it has the sound of _a_ as in _care_.

Silent Consonants etc.

although
answer
bouquet
bridge
calf
calm
catch
castle
caught
chalk
climb
ditch
dumb
edge
folks
comb
daughter
debt
depot
forehead
gnaw
hatchet
hedge
hiccough=
hitch
honest
honor
hustle
island
itch
judge
judgment
knack
knead
kneel
knew
knife
knit
knuckle
knock
knot
know
knowledge
lamb
latch
laugh
limb
listen=
match
might
muscle
naughty
night
notch
numb
often
palm
pitcher
pitch
pledge
ridge
right
rough
scene
scratch
should
sigh
sketch
snatch
soften
stitch
switch=
sword
talk
though
through
thought
thumb
tough
twitch
thigh
walk
watch
whole
witch
would
write
written
wrapper
wring
wrong
wrung
wrote
wrestle
yacht

Unusual Spellings.

The following words have irregularities peculiar to themselves.

ache
any
air
apron
among
again
aunt
against
biscuit
build
busy
business
bureau
because
carriage
coffee
collar
color
country
couple
cousin
cover
does
dose=
done
double
diamond
every
especially
February
flourish
flown
fourteen
forty
fruit
gauge
glue
gluey
guide
goes
handkerchief
honey
heifer
impatient
iron
juice
liar
lion=
liquor
marriage
mayor
many
melon
minute
money
necessary
ninety
ninth
nothing
nuisance
obey
ocean
once
onion
only
other
owe
owner
patient
people
pigeon
prayer=
pray
prepare
rogue
scheme
scholar
screw
shoe
shoulder
soldier
stomach
sugar
succeed
precede
proceed
procedure
suspicion
they
tongue
touch
trouble
wagon
were
where
wholly

C with the sound of s.

In the following words the sound of _s_ is represented by _c_ followed
by a vowel that makes this letter soft:

city
face
ice
juice
lace
necessary
nuisance
once
pencil
police
policy
pace
race
rice
space
trace
twice
trice
thrice
nice
price
slice=
lice
spice
circus
citron
circumstance
centre
cent
cellar
certain
circle
concert
concern
cell
dunce
decide
December
dance
disgrace
exercise
excellent
except
force=
fleece
fierce
furnace
fence
grocer
grace
icicle
instance
innocent
indecent
decent
introduce
juice
justice
lettuce
medicine
mercy
niece
ounce
officer
patience
peace=
piece
place
principal
principle
parcel
produce
prejudice
trace
voice
receipt
recite
cite
sauce
saucer
sentence
scarcely
since
silence
service
crevice
novice

Words ending in cal and cle.

Words in _cal_ are nearly all derived from other words ending in _ic,_
as _classical, cubical, clerical,_ etc.  Words ending in _cle_ are
(as far as English is concerned) original words, as _cuticle,
miracle, manacle,_ etc.  When in doubt, ask the question if, on
dropping the _al_ or _le,_ a complete word ending in _ic_ would be left.
If such a word is left, the ending is _al,_ if not, it is probably _le_.

Er and re.

Webster spells _theater, center, meter,_ etc., with the termination
_er,_ but most English writers prefer _re.  Meter_ is more used to
denote a device for measuring (as a "gas meter"), _meter_ as the French
unit of length (in the "Metric system").  In words like _acre_ even
Webster retains _re_ because _er_ would make the _c_ (or _g_) soft.

Words ending in er, ar, or.

First, let it be said that in most words these three syllables
(_er, ar, or_), are pronounced very nearly if not exactly alike (except
a few legal terms in or, like _mort'gageor_), and we should not try to
give an essentially different sound to _ar_ or _or_* from that we give
to _er_.  The ending _er_ is the regular one, and those words ending in
_ar_ or _or_ are very few in number.  They constitute the exceptions.

 *While making no especial difference in the vocalization of these
syllables, careful speakers dwell on them a trifle longer than they do
on _er_.

Common words ending in _ar_ with the sound of _er_:

liar
collar
beggar
burglar
solar
cedar
jugular
scholar=
calendar
secular
dollar
grammar
tabular
poplar
pillar
sugar=
jocular
globular
mortar
lunar
vulgar
popular
insular
Templar=
ocular
muscular
nectar
similar
tubular
altar (for worship)
singular

In some words we have the same syllable with the same sound in the next
to the last syllable, as in _solitary, preliminary, ordinary,
temporary_.  etc.  The syllable _ard_ with the sound of _erd_ is also
found, as in _standard, wizard, mustard, mallard,_ etc.

Common words ending in _or_ with the sound of _er_:

honor
valor
mayor
sculptor
prior
ardor
clamor
labor
tutor
warrior
razor
flavor
auditor
juror
favor
tumor
editor
vigor
actor
author
conductor
savior
visitor
elevator
parlor
ancestor
captor
creditor
victor=
error
proprietor
arbor
chancellor
debtor
doctor
instructor
successor
rigor
senator
suitor
traitor
donor
inventor
odor
conqueror
senior
tenor
tremor
bachelor
junior
oppressor
possessor
liquor
surveyor
vapor
governor
languor
professor=
spectator
competitor
candor
harbor
meteor
orator
rumor
splendor
elector
executor
factor
generator
impostor
innovator
investor
legislator
narrator
navigator
numerator
operator
originator
perpetrator
personator
predecessor
protector
prosecutor
projector
reflector
regulator=
sailor
senator
separator
solicitor
supervisor
survivor
tormentor
testator
transgressor
translator
divisor
director
dictator
denominator
creator
counsellor
councillor
administrator
aggressor
agitator
arbitrator
assessor
benefactor
collector
compositor
conspirator
constructor
contributor
tailor

The _o_ and _a_ in such words as the above are retained in the English
spelling because they were found in the Latin roots from which the words
were derived.  Some, though not all, of the above words in or are
usually spelled in England with our, as _splendour, saviour,_ etc., and
many books printed in this country for circulation in England retain
this spelling.  See {end of a}p{pendix} ..


Words ending in able and ible.

Another class of words in which we are often confused is those which end
in _able_ or _ible_.  The great majority end in _able,_ but a few
derived from Latin words in _ibilis_ retain the _i_.  A brief list of
common words ending in _ible_ is subjoined:

compatible
compressible
convertible
forcible
enforcible
gullible
horrible
sensible
terrible
possible
visible=
perceptible
susceptible
audible
credible
combustible
eligible
intelligible
irascible
inexhaustible
reversible=
plausible
permissible
accessible
digestible
responsible
admissible
fallible
flexible
incorrigible
irresistible=
ostensible
tangible
contemptible
divisible
discernible
corruptible
edible
legible
indelible
indigestible

Of course when a soft _g_ precedes the doubtful letter, as in _legible,_
we are always certain that we should write _i,_ not _a_.  All words formed
from plain English words add _able_.  Those familiar with Latin will have
little difficulty in recognizing the _i_ as an essential part of the root.

Words ending in ent and ant, and ence and ance.

Another class of words concerning which we must also feel doubt is that
terminating in _ence_ and _ance,_ or _ant_ and _ent_.  All these words
are from the Latin, and the difference in termination is usually due to
whether they come from verbs of the first conjugation or of other
conjugations.  As there is no means of distinguishing, we must
continually refer to the dictionary till we have learned each one.
We present a brief list:

  ent
confident
belligerent
independent
transcendent
competent
insistent
consistent
convalescent
correspondent
corpulent
dependent
despondent
expedient
impertinent
inclement
insolvent
intermittent
prevalent
superintendent
recipient
proficient
efficient
eminent
excellent
fraudulent
latent
opulent
convenient
corpulent
descendent
different=

  ant
abundant
accountant
arrogant
assailant
assistant
attendant
clairvoyant
combatant
recreant
consonant
conversant
defendant
descendent
discordant
elegant
exorbitant
important
incessant
irrelevant
luxuriant
malignant
petulant
pleasant
poignant
reluctant
stagnant
triumphant
vagrant
warrant
attendant
repentant

A few of these words may have either termination according to the
meaning, as _confident_ (adj.) and _confidant_ (noun).  Usually the noun
ends in _ant,_ the adjective in _ent_.  Some words ending in _ant_ are
used both as noun and as adjective, as _attendant_.  The abstract nouns
in _ence_ or _ance_ correspond to the adjectives.  But there are several
of which the adjective form does not appear in the above list:

  ence
abstinence
existence
innocence
diffidence
diligence
essence
indigence
negligence
obedience
occurrence
reverence
vehemence
residence
violence
reminiscence
intelligence
presence
prominence
prudence
reference
reverence
transference
turbulence
consequence
indolence
patience
beneficence
preference=

  ance
annoyance
cognizance
vengeance
compliance
conveyance
ignorance
grievance
fragrance
pittance
alliance
defiance
acquaintance
deliverance
appearance
accordance
countenance
sustenance
remittance
connivance
resistance
nuisance
utterance
variance
vigilance
maintenance
forbearance
temperance
repentance

Vowels e and i before ous.

The vowels _e_ and _i_ sometimes have the value of the consonant _y,_
as _e_ in _righteous_.  There is also no clear distinction in sound
between _eous_ and _ions_.  The following lists are composed chiefly of
words in which the _e_ or the _i_ has its usual value.*  In which words
does _e_ or _i_ have the consonant value of _y?_

  eons
aqueous
gaseous
hideous
courteous
instantaneous
miscellaneous
simultaneous
spontaneous
righteous
gorgeous
nauseous
outrageous=

  ious.
copious
dubious
impious
delirious
impervious
amphibious
ceremonious
deleterious
supercilious
punctilious
religious
sacrilegious

Notice that all the accented vowels except _i_ in antepenultimate
syllables are long before this termination.

Words ending in ize, ise, and yse.

In English we have a few verbs ending in _ise,_ though _ize_ is the
regular ending of most verbs of this class, at least according to the
American usage.  In England _ise_ is often substituted for _ize_.
The following words derived through the French must always be written
with the termination _ise_:

advertise
catechise
compromise
devise
divertise
exercise
misprise
supervise
advise
chastise=
criticise
disfranchise
emprise
exorcise
premise
surmise
affranchise
circumcise
demise
disguise=
enfranchise
franchise
reprise
surprise
apprise
comprise
despise
disenfranchise
enterprise
manumise

A few words end in _yse_ (yze): _analyse, paralyse_.  They are all words
from the Greek.

Words ending in cious, sion, tion, etc.

The common termination is _tious,_ but there are a few words ending in
_cious,_ among them the following:

avaricious
pernicious
tenacious=
capricious
suspicious
precocious=
judicious
vicious
sagacious=
malicious
conscious

The endings _tion_ and _sion_ are both common; _sion_ usually being the
termination of words originally ending in _d, de, ge, mit, rt, se,_
and _so,_ as _extend---extension_.

_Cion_ and _cian_ are found only in a few words, such as _suspicion,
physician_.  Also, while _tial_ is most common by far, we have _cial,_
as in _special, official,_ etc.

Special words with c sounded like s.

We have already given a list of simple words in which _c_ is used for
_s,_ but the following may be singled out because they are troublesome:

acquiesce
paucity
reticence
vacillate
coincidence=
publicity
license
tenacity
crescent
prejudice=
scenery
condescend
effervesce
proboscis
scintillate=
oscillate
rescind
transcend

Words with obscure Vowels.

The following words are troublesome because some vowel,
usually in the next to the last syllable unaccented,
is so obscured that the pronunciation does not give us a key to it:

  a
almanac
apathy
avarice
cataract
citadel
dilatory
malady
ornament
palatable
propagate
salary
separate
extravagant=

  e
celebrate
desecrate
supplement
liquefy
petroleum
rarefy
skeleton
telescope
tragedy
gayety
lineal
renegade
secretary
deprecate
execrate
implement
maleable
promenade
recreate
stupefy
tenement
vegetate
academy
remedy
revenue
serenade=

  i
expiate
privilege
rarity
stupidity
verify
epitaph
retinue
nutriment
vestige
medicine
impediment
prodigy
serenity
terrify
edifice
orifice
sacrilege
specimen

Words ending in cy and sy.

_Cy_ is the common termination, but some words are troublesome because they
terminate in _sy.  Prophecy_ is the noun, _prophesy_ the verb,
distinguished in pronunciation by the fact that the final _y_ in the verb
is long, in the noun it is short.  The following are a few words in _sy_
which deserve notice:

controversy
ecstasy=
embassy
heresy=
hypocrisy
courtesy=
fantasy
________

The above lists are for reference and for review.  No one, in school or
out, should attempt to memorize these words offhand.  The only rational way
to learn them is by reference to the dictionary when one has occasion to
write them, and to observe them in reading.  These two habits, the use of
the dictionary and observing the formation of words in reading, will prove
more effective in the mastery of words of this character than three times
the work applied in any other way.  The usual result of the effort to
memorize in lists is confusion so instilled that it can never be
eradicated.

By way of review it is often well to look over such lists as those
above, and common words which one is likely to use and which one feels
one ought to have mastered, may be checked with a pencil, and the
attention concentrated upon them for a few minutes.  It will be well also
to compare such words as _stupefy_ and _stupidity, rarity_ and _rarefy_.


Homonyms.

The infatuation of modern spelling-book makers has introduced the
present generation to a serious difficulty in spelling which was not
accounted great in olden times.  The pupil now has forced upon him a
large number of groups of words pronounced alike but spelled differently.

The peculiar trouble with these words is due to the confusion between
the two forms, and to increase this the writers of spelling-books have
insisted on placing the two forms side by side in black type or italic
so that the pupil may forever see those two forms dancing together before
his eyes whenever he has occasion to use one of them.  The attempt is
made to distinguish them by definitions or use in sentences; but as the
mind is not governed by logical distinctions so much as by association,
the pupil is taught to associate each word with the word which may cause
him trouble, not especially with the meaning to which the word ought to
be so wedded that there can be no doubt or separation.

These words should no doubt receive careful attention; but the
association of one with the other should never be suggested to the
pupil:  it is time enough to distinguish the two when the pupil has
actually confused them.  The effort should always be made to fix in the
pupil's mind from the beginning an association of each word with that
which will be a safe key at all times.  Thus _hear_ may be associated
(should always be associated) with _ear, their_ (_theyr_) with _they,
here_ and _there_ with each other and with _where,_ etc.  It will also
be found that in most cases one word is more familiar than the other,
as for instances _been_ and _bin_.  We learn _been_ and never would
think of confusing it with _bin_ were we not actually taught to do so.
In such cases it is best to see that the common word is quite familiar;
then the less common word may be introduced, and nine chances out of ten
the pupil will not dream of confusion.  In a few cases in which both
words are not very often used, and are equally common or uncommon,
as for instance _mantle_ and _mantel,_ distinction may prove useful as
a method of teaching, but generally it will be found best to drill upon
one of the words, finding some helpful association for it, until it is
thoroughly mastered; then the pupil will know that the other word is
spelled in the other way, and think no more about it.

The following quotations contain words which need special drill.
This is best secured by writing ten or twenty sentences containing each
word, an effort being made to use the word in as many different ways and
connections as possible.  Thus we may make sentences containing _there,_
as follows:

There, where his kind and gentle face looks down upon me,
I used to stand and gaze upon the marble form of Lincoln.

Here and there we found a good picture.

There was an awful crowd.

I stopped there a few moments.

Etc., etc.


Quotations.

Heaven's _gate_ is shut to him who comes alone.   ---_Whittier_.

Many a _tale_ of former day
Shall wing the laughing hours away.               ---_Byron_.

Fair hands the broken grain shall sift,
And _knead_ its meal of gold.                     ---_Whittier_.

They are slaves who fear to speak
For the fallen and the _weak.                     ---Lowell_.

If any man hath ears to _hear,_ let him hear.
And he saith unto them, Take heed what ye _hear.  ---Bible_.

Hark! I _hear_ music on the zephyr's wing.        ---_Shelley_.

_Row,_ brothers, _row,_ the stream runs fast,
The rapids are near, and the daylight's past!     ---_Moore_.

Each boatman bending to his _oar,_
With measured sweep the burden bore.              ---_Scott_.

The visions of my youth are past,
_Too_ bright, _too_ beautiful to last.            ---_Bryant_.

(We seldom err in the use of _to_ and _two_; but in how many different
ways may _too_ properly be used?)

With kind words and kinder looks he _bade_ me go my way.
                                                  ---_Whittier_.
(The _a_ in _bade_ is short.)

Then, as to greet the sunbeam's birth,
Rises the choral _hymn_ of earth.                 ---_Mrs. Hemans_.

Come thou with me to the vineyards nigh,
And we'll pluck the grapes of the richest _dye.   ---Mrs. Hemans_.

If any one attempts to _haul_ down the American flag, shoot him on the
spot.                                             ---_John A. Dix_.

In all the trade of war, no _feat_
Is nobler than a brave retreat.                   ---_Samuel Butler_.

His form was bent, and his _gait_ was slow,
His long thin hair was white as snow.             ---_George Arnold_.

Green pastures she views in the midst of the dale,
Down which she so often has tripped with her _pail.
                                                  ---Wordsworth_.

Like Aesop's fox when he had lost his _tail_, would have all his
fellow-foxes cut off theirs.                      ---_Robert Burton_.

He that is thy friend indeed,
He will help thee in thy _need.                   ---Shakspere_.

Flowery May, who from her green lap throws
The yellow cowslip, and the _pale_ primrose.      ---_Milton_.

What, keep a _week_ away?  Seven days and seven nights?
Eight score and eight hours?                      ---_Shakspere_.

Spring and Autumn _here_
Danc'd hand in hand.                              ---_Milton_.

Chasing the wild _deer,_ and following the _roe,_
My heart's in the Highlands wherever I go.        ---_Burns_.

Th' allotted hour of daily sport is _o'er,_
And Learning beckons from her temple's door?      ---_Byron_.

_To_ know, to esteem, to love, and then to part,
Makes up life's tale to many a feeling heart.     ---_Coleridge_.

Bad men excuse their faults, good men will leave them.
                                                  ---_Ben Jonson_.
He was a man, take _him_ for all in all,
I shall not look upon his like again.             ---_Shakspere_.

There will little learning _die_ then,
that day thou art hanged.                         ---_Shakspere_.

Be merry all, be merry all,
With holly dress the festive _hall.               ---W. R. Spencer_.

When youth and pleasure meet,
To chase the glowing hours with flying _feet.     ---Byron_.

Quotations containing words in the following list may be found in
"Wheeler's Graded Studies in Great Authors: A Complete Speller," from
which the preceding quotations were taken.  Use these words in sentences,
and if you are not sure of them, look them up in the dictionary, giving
especial attention to quotations containing them.

ale
dear
rode
ore
blew
awl
thyme
new
ate
lief
cell
dew
sell
won
praise
high
prays
hie
be
inn
ail
road
rowed
by
blue
tier
so
all
two
time
knew
ate
leaf
one
due
sew
tear
buy
lone
hare
night
clime
sight
tolled
site
knights
maid
cede
beech
waste
bred
piece
sum
plum
e'er
cent
son
weight
tier
rein
weigh
heart
wood
paws
through
fur
fare
main
pare
beech
meet
wrest
led
bow
seen
earn
plate
wear
rote
peel
you
berry
flew
know
dough
groan
links
see
lye
bell=
great
aught
foul
mean
seam
moan
knot
rap
bee
wrap
not
loan
told
cite
hair
seed
night
knit
made
peace
in
waist
bread
climb
heard
sent
sun
some
air
tares
rain
way
wait
threw
fir
hart
pause
would
pear
fair
mane
lead
meat
rest
scent
bough
reign
scene
sail
bier
pray
right
toe
yew
sale
prey
rite
rough
tow
steal
done
bare
their
creek
soul
draught
four
base
beet
heel
but
steaks
coarse
choir
cord
chaste
boar
butt
stake
waive
choose
stayed
cast
maze
ween
hour
birth
horde
aisle
core=
rice
male
none
plane
pore
fete
poll
sweet
throe
borne
root
been
load
feign
forte
vein
kill
rime
shown
wrung
hew
ode
ere
wrote
wares
urn
plait
arc
bury
peal
doe
grown
flue
know
sea
lie
mete
lynx
bow
stare
belle
read
grate
ark
ought
slay
thrown
vain
bin
lode
fain
fort
fowl
mien
write
mown
sole
drafts
fore
bass
beat
seem
steel
dun
bear
there
creak
bore
ball
wave
chews
staid
caste
maize
heel
bawl
course
quire
chord
chased
tide
sword
mail
nun
plain
pour
fate
wean
hoard
berth=
isle
throne
vane
seize
sore
slight
freeze
knave
fane
reek
Rome
rye
style
flea
faint
peak
throw
bourn
route
soar
sleight
frieze
nave
reck
sere
wreak
roam
wry
flee
feint
pique
mite
seer
idle
pistol
flower
holy
serf
borough
capital
canvas
indict
martial
kernel
carat
bridle
lesson
council
collar
levy
accept
affect
deference
emigrant
prophesy
sculptor
plaintive
populous
ingenious
lineament
desert
extent
pillow
stile
descent
incite
pillar
device
patients
lightening
proceed
plaintiff
prophet
immigrant
fisher
difference
presents
effect
except
levee
choler
counsel
lessen
bridal
carrot
colonel
marshal
indite
assent
sleigh=
our
stair
capitol
alter
pearl
might
kiln
rhyme
shone
rung
hue
pier
strait
wreck
sear
Hugh
lyre
whorl
surge
purl
altar
cannon
ascent
principle
mantle
weather
barren
current
miner
cellar
mettle
pendent
advice
illusion
assay
felicity
genius
profit
statute
poplar
precede
lightning
patience
devise
disease
insight
dissent
decease
extant
dessert
ingenuous
liniment
stature
sculpture
fissure
facility
essay
allusion
advise
pendant
metal
seller
minor
complement
currant
baron
wether
mantel
principal
burrow
canon
surf
wholly
serge
whirl
liar
idyl
flour
pistil
idol
rise
rude
team
corps
peer
straight
teem
reed
beau
compliment

The preceding list contains several pairs of words often confused with
each other though they are not pronounced exactly alike.

Of course when confusion actually exists in a person's mind, a drill on
distinctions is valuable.  But in very many cases no confusion exists,
and in such cases it is worse than unfortunate to introduce it to the
mind.  In any case it is by far the better way to drill upon each word
separately, using it in sentences in as many different ways as possible;
and the more familiar of two words pronounced alike or nearly alike
should be taken up first.  When that is fixed, passing attention may be
given to the less familiar; but it is a great error to give as much
attention to the word that will be little used as to the word which will
be used often.  In the case of a few words such as _principle_ and
_principal, counsel_ and _council,_ confusion is inevitable,
and the method of distinction and contrast must be used;
but even in cases like this, the method of studying each word
exhaustively by itself will undoubtedly yield good results.


Division of Words into Syllables.

In writing it is often necessary to break words at the ends of lines.
This can properly be done only between syllables, and this is the usage
in the United States for the most part, though in Great Britain words
are usually divided so as to show their etymological derivation.

The following rules will show the general usage in this country:

1.  All common English prefixes and suffixes are kept undivided, even
if the pronunciation would seem to require division.  Thus, _tion,_ and
similar endings, _ble, cions,_ etc., are never divided.  The termination
_ed_ may be carried over to the next line even when it is not
pronounced, as in _scorn-ed,_ but this is objectionable and should be
avoided when possible.  When a Latin or other foreign prefix appears in
English as an essential part of the root of the word, and the
pronunciation requires a different division from that which would
separate the original parts, the word is divided as pronounced, as
_pref'ace_ (because we pronounce the _e_ short), _prog'-ress,_ etc.
(The English divide thus: _pre-face, pro-gress_.)

2.  Otherwise, words are divided as pronounced, and the exact division
may be found in the dictionary.  When a vowel is followed by a single
consonant and is short, the consonant stands with the syllable which
precedes it, especially if accented.  Examples: _gram-mat'-ic-al,
math-e-mat'-ics_.  (The people of Great Britain write these words
_gram-ma-ti-cal, ma-the-ma-ti -c{s} a l,_ etc.)

3.  Combinations of consonants forming digraphs are never divided.
Examples: ng, th, ph.

4.  Double consonants are divided.  Examples: _Run-ning, drop-ped_
(if absolutely necessary to divide this word), _sum-mer_.

5.  Two or more consonants, unless they are so united as to form
digraphs or fixed groups, are usually divided according to
pronunciation.  Examples: _pen-sive, sin-gle_ (here the _n_ has the _ng_
nasal sound, and the _g_ is connected with the _l_), _doc-tor,
con-ster-nation, ex-am.-ple, sub-st an-tive_.

6.  A vowel sounded long should as a rule close the syllable, except at
the end of a word.  Examples: _na'-tion_ (we must also write
_na'-tion-al,_ because _tion_ cannot be divided), _di-men'-sion,
deter'min-ate, con-no-ta'-tion_.

Miscellaneous examples: _ex-haust'-ive, pre-par'a-tive,
sen-si-bil'-i-ty, joc'-u-lar-y, pol-y-phon'-ic, op-po'-nent_.


CHAPTER IV.

PRONUNCIATION.

This chapter is designed to serve two practical objects:
First, to aid in the correction and improvement of the pronunciation of
everyday English; second, to give hints that will guide a reader to a
ready and substantially correct pronunciation of strange words and names
that may occasionally be met with.

Accent.

Let us first consider accent.  We have already tried to indicate what
it is.  We will now attempt to find out what principles govern it.

Accent is very closely associated with rhythm.
It has already been stated that a reading of poetry will cultivate an
ear for accent.  If every syllable or articulation of language received
exactly the same stress, or occupied exactly the same time in
pronunciation, speech would have an intolerable monotony, and it would
be impossible to give it what is called "expression." Expression is so
important a part of language that the arts of the orator, the actor, and
the preacher depend directly upon it.  It doubles the value of words.

The foundation of expression is rhythm, or regular succession of stress
and easy gliding over syllables.  In Latin it was a matter of
"quantity," or long and short vowels.  In English it is a mixture of
"quantity" (or length and shortness of vowels) and special stress given
by the speaker to bring out the meaning as well as to please the ear.
Hence English has a range and power that Latin could never have had.

In poetry, accent, quantity, and rhythm are exaggerated according to an
artificial plan; but the same principles govern all speech in a greater
or less degree, and even the pronunciation of every word of two
syllables or more.  The fundamental element is "time" as we know it in
music.  In music every bar has just so much time allotted to it,
but that time may be variously divided up between different notes.
Thus, suppose the bar is based on the time required for one full note.
We may have in place of one full note two half notes or four quarter
notes, or a half note lengthened by half and followed by two eight
notes, or two quarter notes followed by a half note, and so on.
The total time remains the same, but it may be variously divided,
though not without reference to the way in which other bars in the same
piece of music are divided.

We will drop music and continue our illustration by reference to English
poetry.  In trochaic meter we have an accented syllable followed by an
unaccented, and in dactylic we have an accented syllable followed by two
unaccented syllables, as for instance in the following:

Trochaic---
     "In' his cham'ber, weak' and dy'ing,
     Was' the Nor'man bar'on ly'ing."

Dactylic--
     "This' is the for'est prime'val.
     The mur'muring pines' and the hem'locks . . .
     Stand' like Dru'ids of eld'."

Or in the iambic we have an unaccented syllable followed by an accented,
as in--
       "It was' the schoo'ner Hes'perus'
     That sai'led the win'try sea'."

But if two syllables are so short that they can be uttered in the same
time as one, two syllables will satisfy the meter just as well as one.
Thus we have the following, in the same general met{r}e r as the
foregoing quotation:
     "I stood' on the bridge' at mid'night,
     As the clocks' were stri'king the hour'."

It is all a matter of time.  If we were to place a syllable that
required a long time for utterance in a place where only a short time
could be given to it, we should seriously break the rhythmic flow;
and all the pauses indicated by punctuation marks are taken into
account, in the same way that rests are counted in music.  The natural
pause at the end of a line of poetry often occupies the time of an
entire syllable, and we have a rational explanation of what has been
called without explanation "catalectic" and "acatalectic" lines.

The same principles govern the accenting of single words in a very large
degree, and must be taken into account in reading prose aloud.

The general tendency of the English language is to throw the accent
toward the beginning of a word, just as in French the tendency is to
throw it toward the end.  Words of two and three syllables are regularly
accented on the first syllable; but if the second syllable is stronger
than the first, it will get the accent.  Thus we have _sum'mer, ar'gue,
pres'ent,_ etc.; but _agree', resolve', retain',_ etc.*  We have
indicated above a natural reason why it cannot fail in the cases
mentioned.  The voice would be incapable of accenting easily the
unimportant prefix in such a word as _ac-cuse',_ for instance.

Sometimes the strength of both syllables in words of two syllables is
equal, and then the accent may be placed on either at will, as in the
case of _re'tail,_ and _retail', pro'ceed_ and _proceed',_ etc.
There are about sixty of these words capable of being differently
accented according to meaning.  The verb usually takes the accent on the
last syllable.  In words in which it seems desirable on account of the
meaning to accent the first syllable when the second syllable is
naturally stronger, that second syllable is deliberately shortened in
the pronunciation, as in _moun'tain, cur'tain,_ etc., in which the last
syllable has the value of _tin_.

 *In the chapter at the beginning of Webster's dictionary devoted to
accent it is stated that these words are accented on the last syllable
because by derivation the root rather than the prefix receives the
accent.  This "great principle of derivation" often fails, it is
admitted.  We have indicated above a natural reason why it cannot
fail in the cases mentioned.  The voice would be incapable of accenting
easily the unimportant prefix in such a word as _ac-cuse',_ for instance.

In words of three syllables, the accent is usually on the first syllable,
especially if the second syllable is weak and the last syllable no weaker
if not indeed stronger.  Thus we have _pe'-ri-od, per'-son-ate, It'-aly,_
etc.

If for any reason the second syllable becomes stronger than either the
first or the last, then the second syllable must receive the accent
and the syllable before it is usually strengthened.  Thus we have
_i-tal'-ic,_ and there is a natural tendency to make the _i_ long,
though in _Italy_ it is short.  This is because _tal_ is stronger than
_ic,_ though not stronger than _y_.  The syllable _ic_ is very weak, but
the obscure _er,_ or, _ur_ is still weaker, and so we have _rhet'-or-ic_.
In _his-tor'-ic_ the first syllable is too weak to take an accent, and we
strengthen its second syllable, giving _o_ the _aw_ sound.

It will be seen that in words of two or more syllables there may be a
second, and even a third accent, the voice dwelling on every other
syllable.  In _pe'-ri-od_ the dwelling on _od_ is scarcely perceptible,
but in _pe'-ri-od'-ic_ it becomes the chief accent, and it receives this
special force because _ic_ is so weak, In _ter'-ri-to-ry_ the secondary
accent on _to_ is slight because _ri_ is nearly equal and it is easy to
spread the stress over both syllables equally.

The principles above illustrated have a decided limitation in the fact
that the value of vowels in English is more or less variable, and the
great "principle of derivation," as Webster calls it, exercises a still
potent influence, though one becoming every year less binding.
The following words taken bodily from the Greek or Latin are accented
on the penult rather than the antepenult (as analogy would lead us to
accent them) because in the original language the penultimate vowel was
long: abdo'men, hori'zon, deco'rum, diplo'ma, muse'um, sono'rous,
acu'men, bitu'men; and similarly such words as farra'go, etc.
We may never be sure just how to accent a large class of names taken
from the Latin and Greek without knowing the length of the vowel in the
original,--such words, for example, as _Mede'a, Posi'don_ (more properly
written _Posei'don_), _Came'nia, Iphigeni'a, Casto'lus, Cas'tores, etc_.

In a general way we may assume that the chief accent lies on
either the penult or antepenult, the second syllable from the end,
or the third, and we will naturally place it upon the one that appears
to us most likely to be strong, while a slight secondary accent goes on
every second syllable before or after.  If the next to the last syllable
is followed by a double consonant, we are sure it must be accented,
and if the combination of consonants is such that we cannot easily
accent the preceding syllable we need entertain no reasonable doubt.
By constant observation we will soon learn the usual value of vowels
and syllables as we pronounce them in ordinary speaking, and will follow
the analogy.  If we have difficulty in determining the chief accent,
we will naturally look to see where secondary accents may come,
and thus get the key to the accent.

It will be seen that rules are of little value, in this as in other
departments of the study of language.  The main thing is to form the
_habit of observing_ words as we read and pronounce them, and thus develop
a habit and a sense that will guide us.  The important thing to start with
is that we should know the general principle on which accent is based.

Special Rules for Accent.

Words having the following terminations are usually accented on the
antepenult, or third syllable from the end: _cracy, ferous, fluent, flous,
honal, gony, grapher, graphy, loger, logist, logy, loquy, machy, mathy,
meter, metry, nomy, nomy, parous, pathy, phony, scopy, strophe, tomy,
trophy, vomous, vorous_.

Words of more than two syllables ending in _cate, date, gate, fy, tude,_
and _ty_ preceded by a vowel usually accent the antepenult,
as _dep'recate,_ etc.

All words ending in a syllable beginning with an _sh_ or _zh_ sound,
or _y_ consonant sound, except those words ending in _ch_ sounded like
_sh_ as _capu-chin',_ accent the penult or next to the last syllable,
as _dona'tion, condi'tion,_ etc.

Words ending in _ic_ usually accent the penult, _scientif'ic, histor'ic,_
etc.  The chief exceptions are _Ar'abic, arith'metic, ar'senic, cath'olic,
chol'eric, her'etic, lu'natic, pleth'oric, pol'itic, rhet'oric, tur'meric.
Climacteric_ is accented by some speakers on one syllable and by some on
the other; so are _splenetic_ and _schismatic_.

Most words ending in _eal_ accent the antepenult, but _ide'al_ and
_hymene'al_ are exceptions.  Words in _ean_ and _eum_ are divided,
some one way and some the other.

Words of two syllable ending in _ose_ usually accent the last syllable,
as _verbose',_ but words of three or more syllables with this ending
accent the antepenult, with a secondary accent on the last syllable,
as _com'-a-tose_.

When it is desired to distinguish words differing but by a syllable,
the syllable in which the difference lies is given a special accent,
as in _bi'en'nial_ and _tri'en'nial, em'inent_ and _im'minent, op'pose'_
and _sup'pose',_ etc.

Sounds of Vowels in Different Positions.

Let us now consider the value of vowels.

We note first that position at the end of a word naturally makes every
vowel long except _y_; (e. g., _Levi, Jehu, potato_); but _a_ has the
Italian sound at the end of a word, or the sound usually given to _ah_.

A vowel followed by two or more consonants is almost invariably short.
If a vowel is followed by one consonant in an accented syllable it will
probably receive the accent and be long.  If the word has two syllables,
as in _Kinah,_ but if the word has three syllables the consonant will
probably receive the accent and the vowel will be short, as in _Jo`n'adab_.

In words of three or more syllables the vowels are naturally short
unless made long by position or the like; but the vowel in the syllable
before the one which receives the accent, if it is the first syllable
of the word and followed by but one consonant, is likely to be long,
because the consonant which would otherwise end the syllable is drawn
over to the accented syllable, as in _di:-men'-sion_.  This rule is
still more in force if no consonant intervenes, as _i_ in _di:-am'-e-ter_.
If the vowel is followed by two consonants which naturally unite, as in
_di:-gress,_ it is also long.  I