ORTHOGRAPHY. O I. DEFINITIONS. RTHOGRAPHY treats of the nature and prop erties of letters, and the correct spelling and writing of words. 2. The English Language consists of forty-three oral elements, or elementary sounds. 3. Oral Elements are the sounds that, uttered separately or in combination, form syllables and words. 4. Oral Elements are produced by different positions of the organs of speech, in connection with the voice and the breath. 5. The Principal Organs of Speech are the lips, the teeth, the tongue, and the palate. 6. Voice is produced by the action of the breath upon the larynx, or upper part of the wind-pipe. 7. Oral Elements are divided into three classes: eighteen tonics, fifteen subtonics, and ten atonics. 8. Tonics are pure tones produced by the voice, with but slight use of the organs of speech. 9. Subtonics are tones produced by the voice, modified by the organs of speech. 10. Atonics are mere breathings, modified by the organs of speech. 11. Letters are characters that are used to represent or modify the oral elements. 12. The English Alphabet consists of twenty-six letters, viz.: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, 8, t, u, V, W, X, Y, Z. 13. The Alphabet is divided into Vowels and Consonants. 14. Vowels are the letters that usually represent the tonic elements, and form syllables by themselves. They are a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y. 15. A Diphthong is the union of two vowels in one syllable; as, ou in our. 16. A Digraph, or improper diphthong, is the union of two vowels in a syllable, one of which is silent; as, oa in loaf, ou in youth. 17. A Triphthong is the union of three vowels in one syllable; as, eau, in beau, ieu in adieu. 18. Consonants are the letters that usually represent either subtonic or atonic elements. They are of two kinds, single letters. and combined, including all the letters of the alphabet, except the vowels, and the combinations, ch, sh, wh, ng: th subtonic, and th atonic. 19. Labials are letters whose oral elements are chiefly formed by the lips. They are b, p, w, and wh. M may be regarded as a nasal labial, as its sound is affected by the nose. Fand v are labio-dentals. 20. Dentals are letters whose oral elements are chiefly formed by the teeth. They are j, 8, z, ch, and sh. 21. Linguals are letters whose oral elements are chiefly formed by the tongue. They are d, l, r, and t. N is a nasal lingual; y a lingua-palatal; and th (th and th) a lingua-dental. 22. Palatals are letters whose oral elements are chiefly formed by the palate. They are g and k. Ng is a nasal palatal. 23. Cognates are letters whose oral elements are produced by the same organs, in a similar manner; thus, f is a cognate of v; k of g, &c. 24. Alphabetic Equivalents are letters, or combinations of letters, that represent the same elements, or sounds; thus, i is an equivalent of e, in pique. II. PRINCIPLES OF PRONUNCIATION. 1. VOWELS. A USUALLY represents six oral elements, or sounds; as in dle; ånd, årt, all, båre, åsk. The fifth element, or sound, represented by a, is its first or alphabetic sound, modified or softened by r. In its production, the lips, placed nearly together, are held immovable while the student tries to utter the first or alphabetic sound of a. The sixth element, represented by a, is a sound intermediate between a as heard in at, ash, and a as in arm, art. It is produced by prolonging and slightly softening a as heard in at. E usually represents three elements; as in me, end, êrr. The third element, represented by e, is e as heard in end, prolonged, and modified or softened by r. I usually represents two elements; as in ice, inch. O usually represents three elements; as in öld, on, då. U usually represents three elements; as in tùbe, tůb, füll. When u long, or its alphabetic equivalent ew, is preceded by r, or by the sound of sh, it has always the sound of o in do; as in rude, sure, brew. At the beginning of words, when long, it has the sound of yu, as in use. Y represents, when used as a vowel, the same elements as I; as in type (tip), hymn (him). Ou usually represents one element; as in our. This element is also represented by ow; as in now. OI and OY are equivalent to â, followed by i; as in oil (áfl), boy (báî). B 2. CONSONANTS. REPRESENTS one element; as in bib. Before t, and after m, it is silent; as in debt, thumb. C has no element peculiar to itself. It represents the sound of k before the letters a, o, u, l, r, t, and at the end of a word, when, in this work, it is printed with a dot over it; as in cane, cot, ċure, click, crank, district, music. Before e, i, and y, it represents the sound of 8; as in cent, cider, cyst. In a few words it has the sound of z; as in suffice. When it comes after the accent, and is followed by ea, ia, eous, or ious, it is sounded like sh; as in ocean, social, cetaceous, tenacious. It is silent before k; as in hack, lack. D usually represents one element; as in did. At the end of a word it is sometimes sounded like t, as in mixed; and in a few words is silent, as in sedge, hedge. Frepresents one element, as in fife; except in of, when it is sounded like v. & usually represents one element; as in gag. Before e, i, and y, it is usually sounded like j, and is marked thus, ģ; as in ġem, gin, gyve. H represents one element; as in home. It is silent at the beginning of a number of words, and after g and r; as in honor, ghost, rhyme. J represents one element; as in just. K represents one element; as in kink. It is silent before n; as in knee. L represents one element; as in lilac. It is silent in many words; as calf, half, talk. M represents one element; as in maim. N represents one element; as in no, on. It is sometimes sounded like ng, when, in this work, it is marked thus, ǹ; as in bank, thank, an' ger, finger. It is silent after 1, or m, when it ends a syllable; as in kiln, hymn. P represents one element; as in pipe. It is silent before n, s, and t, in the same syllable; as in pneumatic, psalm, prompt. Q has no element peculiar to itself. With u, by which it is always followed, it commonly represents the sound of kw, as in quaff, quilt, quoth; but in many words derived from the French it has the sound of k; as in coquet, etiquet, &c. R represents one element; as in rare, for. When it precedes a vowel, it may be trilled; as in roll, round. It is never silent; but its oral element is somtimes transposed; as in acre (ā' kêr). S usually represents one element; as in save, kiss. In many words it is sounded like z as heard in zinc, when, in this work, it is marked thus, s as in rose, rise. In a few instances it has the sound or z as heard in azure; as in pleasure, osier. It sometimes represents the sound of sh; as in sure, diversion. T represents one element; as in tart, taste. X has no element peculiar to itself. It is equivalent to z, at the beginning of words; to ks, as in tax, expect; to gz, when the next syllable following begins with an accented vowel, as in exalt, exert, and to kesh, in some words, when the accent immediately precedes it, as in anxious. Y, when a consonant, represents one element; as in yet, yes. Z represents two elements. The first may be heard in zest, zinc. The second, in this work, is marked thus, z; as in azure. TH represents two elements. When a subtonic, in this work, it is marked th; as in this, with. As an atonic, it is marked th; as in thin. Ch usually represents one element; as in change, much. In words derived from the ancient languages, ch is generally sounded like k; as in ache, chasm, school. It frequently represents the sound of sh; as in chaise, chivalry, machine. Sh represents one element; as in shame, marsh. Wh represents one element; as in what, when, whip. To produce this oral element, the student will blow from the center of the mouth, first compressing the lips, and then suddenly relaxing them while the air is escaping. Ng represents one element; as in bang, gang, young. III. ORAL ELEMENTS. HE instructor will first require the students to pro THE instructor word once, nounce a catch-word once, and then produce the oral element represented by the figured vowel, or Italic consonant, four times-thus: àge-à, à, à, à; åt—å, å, å, å, &c. He will exercise the class perseveringly, until each student can utter consecutively all of the elementary sounds, as arranged in the following |