14 COURSE OF READING. syllable, it is silent; as in lamb, bomb, thumb, debtor, doubt subtle. 2. F. F is heard in fancy, muffin. In of, but not in its compounds, it has the sound of v. 3. H. This letter is merely a strong breathing, which may be heard in hat, horse, hedge. At the beginning of the words, heir, herb, honest, hour, after r, as in rhomb, rhetoric, and at the end of a word preceded by a vowel, as in ah, oh, it is silent. In many words it is suppressed where it should be heard; as in hostler, humble, exhale, exhibit, exhort, exhaust, exhilarate, &c. 4. J. The sound of j is heard in James, jelly. It has the sound of y in hallelujah. 5. K. The sound of k is heard in keep, skirt, murky. Before n, it is mute; as in knife, knew. 6. L. This letter has a soft liquid sound; as in sorrel, billow, love. It is often silent before d, f, k, m, and v; as in could, calf, talk, balm, salve. 7. M. Mis heard in man, deem, murmur. In comptroller it has the sound of n; and in mnemonic, it is silent. 8. P. The sound of p is heard in pay, lip, puppy. It is silent before n, between m and t, and before s and t at the beginning of words; as in pneumatics, tempt, psalm; and also in the words, corps, raspberry, receipt. 9. R. The sound of this letter is heard in rage, brimstone, hurra. 10. V. The sound of v is heard in vain, levity, relieve. It is silent in sevennight. 11. W. W is heard in want, reward. In answer, and before r, as in wrap, wreck, wrong, it is silent. 12. Y. The sound of y is heard in yonder, &c. sword, 13. Sh. The peculiar sound of sh is heard in short, relish. 14. Th. This combination has two sounds: the one sharp, as in think, with; the other flat, as in them, clothe. The h is silent in asthenic, asthma, isthmus, phthisic, phthisica, Thomas, Thames, thyme. 15. Wh. This sound is heard in which, what, whale, &c The w is sometimes silent; as in whole, who, whoop. 2. The changeable consonants are d, g, n, s, t, x, z, ch, ng 1. D. The peculiar sound of d is heard in dead, meddle, ruddy. It assumes the sound of t in the termination ed of the past tense, when immediately preceded by c, f, k, p, s, x, ch, sh, or q; as in faced, stuffed, cracked, tripped, vexed, vouched, flashed, piqued. In handsome, stadtholder, and Wednesday, it is silent. The sound of j, which Walker assigns to this letter after the accent and followed by ia, ie, u alph., o and eou, as in radiance, obedience, mediocri y, arduous, hideous, &C., as if written rajiance, obejience, mejiocrity, arjuous, hijeous, is unwarranted, absurd and mischievous. Even in soldier, in which d is generally allowed to have the sound of j, it may be doubted whether d loses its proper sound. It is rather partially blended in the rapidity of articulation with the y sound of the i which follows i 2. G. The peculiar sound of g, (usually called its hard sound,) is heard at the end of words, and before a, o, u, l, r; as in bag, log, rug; game, gone, gull, glory, grandeur. It assumes the sound of j, (usually called its soft sound,) before e, i, and y; as in gem, giant, ginger, Egypt, gyration, badge, edge, &c. Exceptions are numerous; as in get, finger, gilt, gimblet, girl, give, giddy, geld, girt, girth, &c. Before m and n in the same syllable, as in phlegm, gnash, malign, and before in the words intaglio and seraglio, g is silent. 3. N. The proper sound of n is heard in manner, number. It assumes the sound of ng when followed in the same syllable by k, c, ch, q, x; as in bank, distinct, bronchial, banquet, anxiously. After 7 and m in the same syllable, it is silent, as in kiln, hymn. 4. S. The peculiar sound of s is heard in sap, passing, It has this sound, use. 1. At the beginning of words; as in sabbath, set, smile; except sugar, sure, &c. 2. After f, k, p, t; as in strifes, rakes, hops, &c. 3. When double, except perhaps in dissolve, possess, and before the terminations ion, ia, ie, or u, &c. 4. In the inseparable prefix dis, except in disarm, discern, disdain, disease, dishonor, and their compounds: in mis; and in the terminations ase, ese, ise, except wise, otherwise, otherguise; and ose, use; sive, sorry and osity, of adjectives. It assumes the sound of z, 1. In the following words: as, is, was, his, has, these, those, and others. 2. After b, d, g, v, l, m, n, r; as in ribs, buds, rags, serves, fills, clams, dens, stars. 3. When together with e, (not mute e,) it forms the plural of nouns, and the third person singular of verbs; as in praises, riches, shoes, tries, flies, dies, &c. 4. After the inseparable prefix re, almost always; as in reserve, reside, result; generally in the terminations son, ser, sin; and often in the terminations sy, scy, sible, ise. It assumes the sound of sh, 1. In sure, sugar, and their compounds. 2. When preceded by the accent and another s, or 1, m, n, r, and followed by ia, ie, io, or alphabetical u; as in cassia, circensian, expulsion, transient, mansion, version, censure, pressure. It assumes the sound of zh, When preceded by the accent and a vowel, and followed by ia, ie, io, or alphabetical u; as in ambrosial, brasier, vision, usual, pleasure, erasure. EXCEPTIONS. Enthusiastic, ecclesiastic. It is silent in aisle, corps, demesne, isle, island, puisne, viscount. 5. T. The peculiar sound of t is heard in ten, met, written. It assumes the sound of sh, When preceded by the accent either primary or secondary, and followed by ia, ie, or io; as in partial, patient, notation. It assumes the sound of ch, When preceded by the accent and s or x; as in fustian, question, mixtion. It is silent before le (except in pestle) and en; as in hasten, bustle; in billet-doux, eclat, hautboy, mortgage; and in the first syllable of chestnut. 6. X. The peculiar sound of this letter is heard in exit, exercise, excellence, luxury, which always occurs, 1. At the end of an accented syllable; as in the words quoted. 2. At the end of a syllable followed by an accented syllable, beginning with a consonant; as in excuse, extent, expense. It assumes the sound of z, At the beginning of a word; as in Xenophon, Xerxes, Xanthus. It assumes the sound of gz, At the end of a syllable, followed by another syllable under accent beginning with a vowel; as in example, exert, exist. EXCEPTIONS. Doxology, proximity, and compound words of which the primitives end in x; as in fixation, vexation, relaxation, &c. The words exhale, exhibit, exhort, exhaust, should also be enumerated as exceptions to this rule, if a is to be pronounced gz; since it immediately precedes an accented syllable beginning with a consonant. But as this sound is all but incompatible with the aspiration of h, and has led to the almost general suppression of h in these words, I think it ought to be rejected. It is silent in billet-doux, and at the end of all words derived from the French. 7. Z. The peculiar sound of z is heard in zest, zinc, zone. It assumes the sound of zh, when preceded by the accent and a vowel, and is followed by ie or alphabetical u; as in glazier, azure. 8. Ch. The peculiar sound of this combination is heard in chin, chub, church. It assumes the sound of sh, in words from the French; as in machine, chagrin, chaise. It assumes the sound of k, in words from the learned languages; as in scheme, chorus, distich, Achish, Enoch. It is silent in schism, yacht, and drachm. 9. Ng. The peculiar sound of ng is heard in sing, song, sung, mingling. It assumes the sound of nj, when followed by e at the end of a syllable; as in arrange, derange. II. The substitutes are c, gh, i, ph, q. 1. C. This letter is a substitute, 1. For k, at the end of a syllable, and before a, o, u, r, l, t; as in vaccination, cart, colt, cut, cur, college, cottage. 2. For s, before e, i, y; as in cedar, cider, cymbal, mercy. 3. For sh, when followed by ea, ia, ie, io, iou, and preceded by the accent primary or secondary; as in ocean, social, species, spacious. 4. For z, as in discern, sacrifice, suffice. C is silent in arbuscle, corpuscle, czar, czarına, indict, muscle, victuals. 2. Gh. This combination, when one or the other, or both of the letters are not silent, is a substitute for f; as in laugh, cough, trough: in one instance at least for k; as hough. 3. I. This letter, as a consonant, is a substitute for y, as in the second syllable of pinion, &c. 4. Ph. Ph is a substitute for for v; as in philosopher, Stephen it is silent in phthisic. 5. Q. This letter is a substitute for k; as in banquet, conquer, coquet. II. SYLLABLES. A syllable is a division of a word, comprising one letter or more, which is pronounced with one articulation; as e-spy, reg-u-late, blame, beau-ty. OBS.-These divisions, being in the main determined by usage, can be learned only from polished conversation, or from approved spelling books and dictionaries. III.-WORDS. A word is the received sign of an idea. If a word of one syllable, it is called a monosyllable: if of two, a dissyllable: if of three, a trisyllable: if of four or more, a polysyllable. Of words, grammatically considered, there are ten kinds, called parts of speech; namely, the noun, the article, the adjective, the pronoun, the verb, the participle, the adverb, the conjunction, tile preposition, and the interjection. 1. THE NOUN. The noun, as the word signifies, is the name of a person, place, or thing; as James, Utica, man, woman, horse, book, mercy, madness. Nouns are divided into two species: proper and common. 1. A proper noun is the name of an individual; as Charles, Albany, the Hudson. 2. A common noun is the name of a number of things of the same kind; as beast, bird, fish, insect. OBS. Some nouns are still farther distinguished by the terms collective, abstract, and participial. 1. A collective noun, or, as it is sometimes called, a noun of multitude, is the name of a number of individuals considered as one; as a council, committee, meeting, flock. 2. An abstract noun is the name of a quality apart from the person or thing possessing it; as hardness, strength, beauty, pride. 3. Participial nouns are participles used as nouns; as glorying in Christ, is the virtue of a Christian. The triumphing of the wicked is short. EXERCISES ON NOUNS. DIRECTION. Let the student point out the nouns, and tell whether they are proper or common: applying the definition of each. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the evening and the morning were the first day. Thus God created man in his own image. In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Cæsar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea, and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene, Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. While the earth remains, seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, shall not cease. Industry is needful in every condition of life: the price of all improvement is labor. Candor, sincerity, and truth are amiable qualities. The horse is a noble animal. The rose, the lily, and the pink, are fragrant flowers. The |