NATIONAL

SPELLING-BOOK,

AND

PRONOUNCING TUTOR;

CONTAINING RUDIMENTS OF

ORTHOGRAPHY AND PRONUNCIATION

ON AN IMPROVED PLAN,

BY WHICH

THE SOUND OF EVERY SYLLABLE IS DISTINCTLY SHOWN,

ACCORDING TO

WALKER'S PRINCIPLES

OF

ENGLISH ORTHOEPY;

WITH

PROGRESSIVE READING LESSONS

DESIGNED

FOR THE USE OF SCHOOLS IN THE UNITED STATES

BY B. D. EMERSON,

PRINCIPAL OF THE ADAMS GRAMMAR SCHOOL, BOSTON.

One Hundred & Eightieth Edition.

BOSTON:

SHEPARD, CLARK AND BROWN.

1858.

HARVARD
JUNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

Entered according to Act of Congress for renewal of copyri, in the year 1856, Br B. D. EMERSON,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Mass (1244t8.

PREFACE

THE principal design of a Spelling-book is to afford facilities to the young in learning to read, to spell, and to pronounce the language with propriety. For the purposes of Reading and Orthography only, the author of this work would not think it necessary to add another English Spelling-book to the many already extant. It is the hope of rendering the way more easy to an early attainment of correct Pro nunciation, that has induced him to make this compilation. In submitting it to the candid criticism of teachers, and others interested in the welfare of our schools, he feels assured, that whatever of merit it may possess will be readily acknowledged; and that it will be patronised or neglected, in just proportion to its value. The difficulty of teaching pronunciation from books arises, chiefly, from the variety of sounds, which the same letters are made to represent in different words, and from the impossibility of forming rules, adapted to the capacity of young learners, by which these definite sounds may be communicated.

The method of showing the pronunciation, by annexing a false orthography to words, may not be objectionable in a dictionary, used for occasional reference; but in a Spelling-book, from which children are to derive their first impressions of orthography, its effects are pernicious. It is highly important, that the true orthography of words should be closely associated in the young mind with the pronunciation of them. The use of false orthography is destructive of this association. And when the true and the false orthography are presented to the pupil at the same time. the false, bearing the strongest analogy to the sound, is most easily retained; and the confounding of the true and the false becomes a lasting embarrassment.

The mode of designating the pronunciation of words, by attaching to them numerous characters or figures, is also attended with inconvenience. The necessity, to which it subjects the pupil, of studying the effect of these characters or figures upon each syllable of every word, and the confused appearance in the print, are such impediments to the progress of the learner, as ought, if possible, to be removed.

The classification of words is formed from the accented syllable, and also from the vowel sound of each syllable, as shown in Walker's "Table of Simple and Diphthongal Vowels; " a figure being added to each of the three vowels, a, o, u ;to a, representing its sound in such words as wad, quarter ; to o, in such words as good, wolf; to u, in such words as rule, cruel.

Auxiliary to his scheme, the author has assigned a definite pronunciation to certain syllables: he has made use of the cedilla under c and g, when soft, and under s, when flat; and he has placed an inverted comma over each of the vowels, except u, when they have the sound of short u; as will appear by the Key.

In the division of words into syllables, there seems great propriety in being guided by the etymology of them; but, believing it to be inexpedient, in a book, an important design of which is, to inculcate with precision the pronunciation of words, he has adhered to etymological syllabication no further, than it was found convenient for the purposes of pronunciation.

The figures, at the head of each short column of words in the spelling chapters, are designed to govern the sound of the vowels, which follow in the respective syllables of the words in that column. Thus the figure 1, over the first syllable of a word at the head of a column, shows that each vowel, in the first syllable of all the words in that column, has the sound which is designated by the figure 1, in the Key at the top of the page.

The improvement claimed for this, over most other Spelling-books, is:-1. That it precisely points out the pronunciation of each syllable, in every word, according to Walker's Principles of Orthoepy;-2. That it does this on a plan easily compre hended by the learner;-3. That it contains more matter, on the same number of pages, and in the same liberal type;-4. That the arrangement is better suited to the progressive improvement of learners, and peculiarly adapted to the exercises of monitorial teaching.

THE AUTHOR