eu (ew) in feud, muse, suit, due.

oi (oy) in oil, voice, boy.

ou (ow) in house, fowl.

3.—Y and W are either vowels or semi-vowels. As vowels, y = i or ě; w = u.

As semi-vowels (or more properly as aspirated vowels), w = 00, as will (oo-il), French oui = we. ē, as yet (ee-et), French y = e.

y =

4.-Sixteen sounds (consonants) are called mutes, which may be arranged in pairs, according to their sharp or flat utterance. Thus :

5.-Four sounds are called liquids, from their propensity of doubling themselves or combining with other consonants. These are, m, n, l, r.

6.-One sound is nasal, as ng in King.

7.-One sound is aspirated, as h in hot, which. 8. One sound is trilled, as r, especially after w, as in wreck.

9.-These 41 sounds of the English language can be represented in writing by 23 out of the 26 letters of the alphabet. The other three signs, c, q, x, are therefore superfluous or redundant, and only necessary in the language to show the derivation of the word of which they form part. Thus :

c = s before e, i, y, as cell, city, mercy.

ck before a, o, u, or a consonant, as cat, cot, cut, clot.

c with hsh, tsh, or k, as Charlotte, church, character.

q (always followed by u) = kw, as queen (kween). x=cs, ks, cks, as lax, lacs, lacks.

10. The following should be observed.

That g is always hard before a, o, u, and consonants, as gat, got, gut, glad. That g is generally soft, or pronounced like j, before e, i, y, as gem (ex. get) gill, a measure (ex. gill, of a fish). Compare auger, anger, germ, gypsy, gyp (a college servant.)

That when two consonants come together in the same sound or syllable—a flat mute in sound succeeds a flat mute or a liquid, and a sharp mute succeeds a sharp mute. When, in writing, a sharp mute follows a flat mute or a liquid, or a flat mute follows a sharp mute, either the sound of the second is changed to harmonise with that of the former, or a vowel must be inserted between them, when the word acquires another sound or syllable. Compare stacks and stags. In stacks-k, a sharp mute, is followed by another sharp mute s, and the two letters harmonise. In stags, g is a flat-but as s is a sharp, the s must either be pronounced as the corresponding flatz, or the vowel e must be inserted when the word becomes one of two sounds as stag-es.

The same process is seen in the formation of the past tense and past participle of verbs, passed= past, stepped stept, looked = lookt, worshipped worshipt.

=

=

Attention to these remarks will account for the many anomalies in English spelling, as well as the great number of homonyms in the language, and convince the student that it is only by constant practice in writing, and observation in reading, he can ever attain to correct spelling.

SECTION I.

SINGLE WRITTEN VOWELS AND THEIR VARIOUS SOUNDS.

Exercise 1.

The letter a has five sounds :

á (Italian), as father; and in all foreign words, as

bravo, banana.

a (English), as fate.

ă (short), as fat.

ä = or, as fall, swarm. = ě, as many, Thames.

å

EXAMPLES.

The waters

He made the bad boy bare his arms. abated, and the dove came not back to the ark. That tall man was in a great rage at his fall from the car. Bar the back gate. Halve the walnuts and almonds. Take care of that swarm of ants. Bravo! you shall all have your reward. A basket of bananas. That is rather a rare idea.

bard, pall, raft, salve, waver, many, mallet, marvel, after, affect, palace, paltry, aware, cigar, manna, allow, appal, pacha, regatta, Thames, ancient.

Exercise 2.

The letter e has two sounds :

ē in be, recede; è in bed, redden.

N.B.-The final semi-vowel e following a consonant lengthens the sound of that consonant as well as of the vowel preceding it.

EXAMPLES.

Be merry and wise. The sere and yellow leaf. Will you ever accede to my request? His style was replete with elegance. Ever comely, ever blithe. You impede my movements. The Belle of the village. Mere talk. Fruitful glebe. The heretic adhered to his heresy. Revere your parents. A clergyman is called a clerk.

recede, secede, effete, complete, austere, adhere, obscene, gangrene, Nicene, obsolete, reverence, tenements, simile, epitome, hereditaments.

Exercise 3.

The letter i has four sounds :

i a spoken diphthong, as site, wine.

i as sit, civil, iniquity.

i = è in foreign words, as intrigue, police. i = u or e before r, in fir, birch.

EXAMPLES.

Sit still while I write a line to invite him to dinner. Fir wood easily ignites. Ships' rigging is now made of iron wire. He had thirty yards of thin twine to his kite. The invalid was fatigued by his walk in the ravine. Engines and other machines. Granite is a hard rock. An infinity of caprices. An intriguing mandarin.

hit, rite, basin, valid, respite, ivy, icy, police, grimaces, profile, cavil, miry, wiry, idyls, sinner, sinecure, oblique, oblige, chemise, prestige, initials, inability, imbecile, routine, magazine.

EXAMPLES.

Do not move from your abode. The wolves worried the donkey. I wonder who is wandering there. The monkeys were very docile. The foe was worsted more than once. Worsted stockings. The soldier was killed at his post by the frost. A foul tongue is the sign of a disordered stomach. The pommel of a saddle. Put the shovel in yonder hovel.

host, worse, cord, glove, bowl, moth, tomb, womb, dove-cot, sloven, cover, spongy, bosom, tolled, extolled, reprove, cozen, onion, sonorous, worship, colonel, attorney, sacerdotal.

Exercise 5.

The letter u has four sounds :

ŭ as butter.

ü = oo, as bullock.

u = eu diphthong, as muse, acute.

u = i or e in busy and before r, as bury, surge, purloin.

EXAMPLES.

Put more sugar in the pudding. A tuneful lute. He pushed him into a puddle. The island of Bute. Soft music. A dutiful son. A wasp stung the butcher. A puling infant. That stupid busy body intruded everywhere. Refulgent moon. Cool as a cucumber. The surge of the ocean.

gull, pull, delude, purge, puny, useful, surly, surely, gusty, annul, utter, ruby, ruin, purport, usurp, purloin, future, prudence, usury, unicorn, cuckoo, business.

Exercise 6.

W as a vowel is always joined to another vowel, as part of a written diphthong, as bow, skewer.