IV.

Rules in Articulation.

1. The word A, when emphatic, has the long sound (a in ape); as,

I did not say your horse, but a horse.

2. The word A, when not emphatic, has the sound of å (à in ȧsk); as,

Bring me a book and ȧ slate.

3. The word THE, when emphatic, or immediately followed by a word beginning with a vowel sound, has the long sound of ē; as The book, not any book. The apple.

4. The word THE, when not so used, has the sound of ŭ (ŭ in nut); as,

The (thu) dog eat the (thu) meat which the (thŭ) man gave him.

5. The word My, when emphatic, has the long sound of y; as, Get my hat, if you get yours.

6. The word My, when not emphatic, has the short sound of y; as, You have spoiled my hat.

7. G and K before N, in the same syllable, are mute. 8. H after R is mute, as in rheum, rhetoric.

9. L is often mute before K, M and F; as in talk, calm, half.

10. N final is mute after M; as in hymn.

11. p initial is mute before s; as in psalm.

12. FINAL CONSONANTS. Oral elements represented by final consonants should be uttered with great distinctness; as, He attempts to hide his angry acts.

13. WHEN ONE WORD ENDS, and the next one begins, with the same consonant sounds, the consonant that ends the first word should be prolonged, and the one that begins the next word taken up by a second impulse of the voice, without pausing between them; as

Stain not thy youth with sports so wild,
For every mother loves her child.

14. UNACCENTED SYLLABLES should be pronounced as distinctly as those which are accented, less force and prolongation of voice being used; as in stillness, kindness, travel.

Errors in Articulation.

The most common errors in articulation are four in number, as follows:

Errors

in

1. Leaving out a syllable. 2. Leaving out a sound. Articulation. 3. Change of a vowel sound. 4. Blending of words.

First. LEAVING OUT A SYLLABLE; AS.

his t'ry for his to ry.

'rith me tic for a rith me tic.

mem❜ry for mem o ry.

bois t'rous for bois ter ous.

trav'ler for trav el er.

int'rest for in ter est.

LEAVING OUT AN ORAL ELEMENT OR SOUND; AS,

Second.

IN LEARNING TO ARTICULATE clearly, be careful not to acquire a habit of drawling.

AVOID CHANGING THE ACCENT; as, for instance, in giving the sound of a in the word metʼrical, be careful not to pronounce it met-ri-cal', with the accent on the last instead of the first syllable.

II. SYLLABICATION.

I.

Syllables.

A SYLLABLE is a word, or part of a word, uttered by a single effort of the voice.

A MONOSYLLABLE is a word of one syllable; as house. A DISSYLLABLE is a word of two syllables; as houseless.

A TRISYLLABLE is a word of three syllables; as derange-ment.

A POLYSYLLABLE is a word of more than three syllables; as con-grat-u-la-lion.

THE ULTIMATE is the last syllable of a word; as gle in jin-gle.

THE PENULT is the last syllable but one of a word; as tru in in-tru-sion.

THE ANTEPENULT is the last syllable but two of a word; as sti in con-sti-tu-tion.

11. Words.

A SPOKEN WORD is one or more oral elements used to express an idea.

A WRITTEN WORD is one or more letters used as the sign of an idea.

Words are divided into primitive, derivative, simple and compound.

Primitive,

A PRIMITIVE WORD is not derived from any other word, but is a root from which other words spring; as fix, pain.

A DERIVATIVE WORD is formed from a primitive by placing a syllable before it called a prefix, or by adding a syllable to it, called an affix; as in prefix, painful.

A SIMPLE WORD is one that cannot be divided without destroying the sense; as ink, book.

A COMPOUND WORD is formed of two or more words; as ink-stand, book-binder.

A PHRASE is a combination of words not expressing an entire proposition, but performing a distinct office in the structure of a sentence or of another phrase; as, He sat in his tent. He came in the carriage of a friend. A SENTENCE is a combination of words which asserts an entire proposition; as,

Reading is an important study.

God said, Let there be light!

Arithmetic is the science of numbers.

ACCENT is a stress of voice laid on one or more syllables of a word.

IN LONG WORDS, containing many syllables, two syllables are spoken with greater force than the others. Hence we have two accents, viz: the PRIMARY, and the SECONDARY, the former being stronger than the latter.

PRIMARY ACCENT is marked thus ('); as,

man'ly, boy' ish, hap' py.

SECONDARY ACCENT is marked thus (), more lightly; as, con' sti tu' tion, fun' da ment' al.

VERY LONG WORDS sometimes have a third accent; as, in' ter com mu ni ca' tion.

THE MEANING of many words having the same form, is determined by accent.

Con' jure, to practice enchantments.

Con jure', to entreat.

Pres' ent, a gift.

Pre sent', to give.

Au' gust, a month.

Au gust', grand.

CHANGED BY CONTRAST. The accent of words is often changed by contrast; as,

I said in' crease, not de' crease.

He was re' pelled, not com' pelled.