The Art of Writing & Speaking the English Language Part 3

Ill.u.s.tration.*

*In this exercise, vowels before r marked in webster with the double curve used over the Spanish n, are left unmarked. Double o with the short sound is also left unmarked.

The first place that I can well remember was a large, The first plas that I kan wel remember woz a larj,

pleasant meadow with a pond of clear water in it. Some ples'nt medo with a pond ov kler woter in it. Sum

shady trees leaned over it, and rushes and water-lilies shadi trez lend over it, and rushez and woter-liliz

grew at the deep end. Over the hedge on one side we looked gru at the dep end. Over the hej on wun sid we lookt

into a plowed field, and on the other we looked over a intoo a plowd feld{,} and on the other we lookt over a

gate at our master's house, which stood by the roadside.

gat at owr master'z hows, hwich stood bi the rodsid.

At the top of the meadow was a grove of fir-trees, and at At the top ov the medo woz a grov ov fir-trez, and at

the bottom a running brook overhung by a steep bank.

the bot'm a runing brook overhung bi a step bank.

Whilst I was young I lived upon my mother's milk, as I could Hwilst I woz yung I livd upon mi m.u.t.h.e.r'z milk, az I kood

not eat gra.s.s. In the daytime I ran by her side, and at night not et gras. In the datim I ran bi her sid, and at nit

I lay down close by her. When it was hot we used to stand I la down klos bi her. Hwen it woz hot we uzd too stand

by the pond in the shade of the trees, and when it was cold bi the pond in the shad ov the trez, and hwen it woz kold

we had a nice, warm shed near the grove.

we had a nis, wawrm shed ner the grov.

Note. In Webster's dictionary letters which are unmarked have an obscure sound often not unlike uh, or are silent, and letters printed in italics are nearly elided, so very slight is the sound they have if it can be said to exist at all. In the ill.u.s.tration above, all very obscure sounds have been replaced by the apostrophe, while no distinction has been made between short vowels in accented and unaccented syllables.

Studies from the Dictionary.

The following are taken from Webster's Dictionary:

Ab-dom'-i-nous: The _a_ in _ab_ is only a little shorter than _a_ in _at,_ and the _i_ is short being unaccented, while the _o_ is silent, the syllable having the sound nus as indicated by the mark over the _u_.

Less'en, (les'n), les'son, (les'sn), less'er, les'sor: Each of these words has two distinct syllables, though there is no recognizable vowel sound in the last syllables of the first two. This eliding of the vowel is shown by printing the _e_ and the _o_ of the final syllables in italics. In the last two words the vowels of the final syllables are not marked, but have nearly the sound they would have if marked in the usual way for _e_ and _o_ before _r_. As the syllables are not accented the vowel sound is slightly obscured. Or in _lessor_ has the sound of the word _or_ (nearly), not the sound of _or_ in _honor,_ which will be found re-spelled (on'ur). It will be noted that the double s is divided in two of the words and not in the other two. In _lesser_ and _lessen_ all possible stress is placed on the first syllables, since the terminations have the least possible value in speaking; but in _lesson_ and _lessor_ we put a little more stress on the final syllables, due to the greater dignity of the letter _o,_ and this draws over a part of the s sound.

Hon'-ey?comb (hun'ykom): The heavy hyphen indicates that this is a compound word and the hyphen must always be written. The hyphens printed lightly in the dictionary merely serve to separate the syllables and show how a word may be divided at the end of a line.

The student will also note that the _o_ in _-comb_ has its full long value instead of being slighted. This slight added stress on the _o_ is the way we have in speaking of indicating that _-comb_ was once a word by itself, with an accent of its own.

Exercise.

Select other words from the dictionary, and a.n.a.lyse as we have done above, giving some explanation for every peculiarity found in the printing and marks. Continue this until there is no doubt or hesitation in regard to the meaning of any mark that may be found.

CHAPTER II.

WORD-BUILDING.

English speaking peoples have been inclined to exaggerate the irregularities of the English word-formation. The fact is, only a small number of common words and roots are irregular in formation, while fully nine tenths of all the words in the language are formed according to regular principles, or are regularly derived from the small number of irregular words. We use the irregular words so much more frequently that they do indeed const.i.tute the greater part of our speech, but it is very necessary that we should master the regular principles of word-building, since they give us a key to the less frequently used, but far more numerous, cla.s.s which fills the dictionary, teaching us both the spelling of words of which we know the sound, and the p.r.o.nunciation of words which we meet for the first time in reading.

Accent. In English, accent is an essential part of every word.

It is something of an art to learn to throw it on to any syllable we choose, for unless we are able to do this we cannot get the true p.r.o.nunciation of a word from the dictionary and we are helpless when we are called on to p.r.o.nounce a word we have never heard.

Perhaps the best way to learn the art of throwing accent is by comparing words in which we are in the habit of s.h.i.+fting the accent to one syllable or another according to the meaning, as for instance the following:

1. Accent.

a. What _ac'cent_ has this word?

b. With what _accent'uation_ do you _accent'_ this word?

2. Concert.

a. Did you go to the _con'cert_ last night?

b. By _concert'ed_ action we can do anything.

3. Contrast.

{a}?. What a _con'trast_ between the rich man and the poor man!

b. _Contrast'_ good with bad, black with white, greatness with littleness.

4. Permit.

a. I have a building_-per'mit_.

b. My mother will not _permit'_ me to go.

5. Present.

a. He received a beautiful Christmas _pres'ent_.

b. She was _present'ed_ at court.

6. Prefix.

a. Sub is a common _pre'fix_.

b. _Prefix'_ sub to port and you get support.

7. Compound.