The Art of Writing & Speaking the English Language Part 7

perceptible susceptible audible credible combustible eligible intelligible irascible inexhaustible reversible?

plausible permissible accessible digestible responsible admissible fallible flexible incorrigible irresistible?

ostensible tangible contemptible divisible discernible corruptible edible legible indelible indigestible

Of course when a soft _g_ precedes the doubtful letter, as in _legible,_ we are always certain that we should write _i,_ not _a_. All words formed from plain English words add _able_. Those familiar with Latin will have little difficulty in recognizing the _i_ as an essential part of the root.

Words ending in ent and ant, and ence and ance.

Another cla.s.s of words concerning which we must also feel doubt is that terminating in _ence_ and _ance,_ or _ant_ and _ent_. All these words are from the Latin, and the difference in termination is usually due to whether they come from verbs of the first conjugation or of other conjugations.

As there is no means of distinguis.h.i.+ng, we must continually refer to the dictionary till we have learned each one. We present a brief list:

ent confident belligerent independent transcendent competent insistent consistent convalescent correspondent corpulent dependent despondent expedient impertinent inclement insolvent intermittent prevalent superintendent recipient proficient efficient eminent excellent fraudulent latent opulent convenient corpulent descendent different?

ant abundant accountant arrogant a.s.sailant a.s.sistant attendant clairvoyant combatant recreant consonant conversant defendant descendent discordant elegant exorbitant important incessant irrelevant luxuriant malignant petulant pleasant poignant reluctant stagnant triumphant vagrant warrant attendant repentant

A few of these words may have either termination according to the meaning, as _confident_ (adj.) and _confidant_ (noun). Usually the noun ends in _ant,_ the adjective in _ent_. Some words ending in _ant_ are used both as noun and as adjective, as _attendant_. The abstract nouns in _ence_ or _ance_ correspond to the adjectives. But there are several of which the adjective form does not appear in the above list:

ence abstinence existence innocence diffidence diligence essence indigence negligence obedience occurrence reverence vehemence residence violence reminiscence intelligence presence prominence prudence reference reverence transference turbulence consequence indolence patience beneficence preference?

ance annoyance cognizance vengeance compliance conveyance ignorance grievance fragrance pittance alliance defiance acquaintance deliverance appearance accordance countenance sustenance remittance connivance resistance nuisance utterance variance vigilance maintenance forbearance temperance repentance

Vowels e and i before ous.

The vowels _e_ and _i_ sometimes have the value of the consonant _y,_ as _e_ in _righteous_. There is also no clear distinction in sound between _eous_ and _ions_. The following lists are composed chiefly of words in which the _e_ or the _i_ has its usual value.* In which words does _e_ or _i_ have the consonant value of _y?_

eons aqueous gaseous hideous courteous instantaneous miscellaneous simultaneous spontaneous righteous gorgeous nauseous outrageous?

ious.

copious dubious impious delirious impervious amphibious ceremonious deleterious supercilious punctilious religious sacrilegious

Notice that all the accented vowels except _i_ in antepenultimate syllables are long before this termination.

Words ending in ize, ise, and yse.

In English we have a few verbs ending in _ise,_ though _ize_ is the regular ending of most verbs of this cla.s.s, at least according to the American usage. In England _ise_ is often subst.i.tuted for _ize_.

The following words derived through the French must always be written with the termination _ise_:

advertise catechise compromise devise divertise exercise misprise supervise advise chastise?

criticise disfranchise emprise exorcise premise surmise affranchise circ.u.mcise demise disguise?

enfranchise franchise reprise surprise apprise comprise despise disenfranchise enterprise manumise

A few words end in _yse_ (yze): _a.n.a.lyse, paralyse_. They are all words from the Greek.

Words ending in cious, sion, tion, etc.

The common termination is _tious,_ but there are a few words ending in _cious,_ among them the following:

avaricious pernicious tenacious?

capricious suspicious precocious?

judicious vicious sagacious?

malicious conscious

The endings _tion_ and _sion_ are both common; _sion_ usually being the termination of words originally ending in _d, de, ge, mit, rt, se,_ and _so,_ as _extend--extension_.

_Cion_ and _cian_ are found only in a few words, such as _suspicion, physician_. Also, while _tial_ is most common by far, we have _cial,_ as in _special, official,_ etc.

Special words with c sounded like s.

We have already given a list of simple words in which _c_ is used for _s,_ but the following may be singled out because they are troublesome:

acquiesce paucity reticence vacillate coincidence?

publicity license tenacity crescent prejudice?

scenery condescend effervesce proboscis scintillate?

oscillate rescind transcend

Words with obscure Vowels.

The following words are troublesome because some vowel, usually in the next to the last syllable unaccented, is so obscured that the p.r.o.nunciation does not give us a key to it:

a almanac apathy avarice cataract citadel dilatory malady ornament palatable propagate salary separate extravagant?

e celebrate desecrate supplement liquefy petroleum rarefy skeleton telescope tragedy gayety lineal renegade secretary deprecate execrate implement maleable promenade recreate stupefy tenement vegetate academy remedy revenue serenade?

i expiate privilege rarity stupidity verify epitaph retinue nutriment vestige medicine impediment prodigy serenity terrify edifice orifice sacrilege specimen

Words ending in cy and sy.

_Cy_ is the common termination, but some words are troublesome because they terminate in _sy. Prophecy_ is the noun, _prophesy_ the verb, distinguished in p.r.o.nunciation by the fact that the final _y_ in the verb is long, in the noun it is short. The following are a few words in _sy_ which deserve notice:

controversy emba.s.sy hypocrisy fantasy ecstasy heresy courtesy

________

The above lists are for reference and for review. No one, in school or out, should attempt to memorize these words offhand. The only rational way to learn them is by reference to the dictionary when one has occasion to write them, and to observe them in reading. These two habits, the use of the dictionary and observing the formation of words in reading, will prove more effective in the mastery of words of this character than three times the work applied in any other way. The usual result of the effort to memorize in lists is confusion so instilled that it can never be eradicated.

By way of review it is often well to look over such lists as those above, and common words which one is likely to use and which one feels one ought to have mastered, may be checked with a pencil, and the attention concentrated upon them for a few minutes. It will be well also to compare such words as _stupefy_ and _stupidity, rarity_ and _rarefy_.

h.o.m.onyms.

The infatuation of modern spelling-book makers has introduced the present generation to a serious difficulty in spelling which was not accounted great in olden times. The pupil now has forced upon him a large number of groups of words p.r.o.nounced alike but spelled differently.

The peculiar trouble with these words is due to the confusion between the two forms, and to increase this the writers of spelling-books have insisted on placing the two forms side by side in black type or italic so that the pupil may forever see those two forms dancing together before his eyes whenever he has occasion to use one of them. The attempt is made to distinguish them by definitions or use in sentences; but as the mind is not governed by logical distinctions so much as by a.s.sociation, the pupil is taught to a.s.sociate each word with the word which may cause him trouble, not especially with the meaning to which the word ought to be so wedded that there can be no doubt or separation.

These words should no doubt receive careful attention; but the a.s.sociation of one with the other should never be suggested to the pupil: it is time enough to distinguish the two when the pupil has actually confused them. The effort should always be made to fix in the pupil's mind from the beginning an a.s.sociation of each word with that which will be a safe key at all times. Thus _hear_ may be a.s.sociated (should always be a.s.sociated) with _ear, their_ (_theyr_) with _they, here_ and _there_ with each other and with _where,_ etc. It will also be found that in most cases one word is more familiar than the other, as for instances _been_ and _bin_. We learn _been_ and never would think of confusing it with _bin_ were we not actually taught to do so.

In such cases it is best to see that the common word is quite familiar; then the less common word may be introduced, and nine chances out of ten the pupil will not dream of confusion. In a few cases in which both words are not very often used, and are equally common or uncommon, as for instance _mantle_ and _mantel,_ distinction may prove useful as a method of teaching, but generally it will be found best to drill upon one of the words, finding some helpful a.s.sociation for it, until it is thoroughly mastered; then the pupil will know that the other word is spelled in the other way, and think no more about it.

The following quotations contain words which need special drill. This is best secured by writing ten or twenty sentences containing each word, an effort being made to use the word in as many different ways and connections as possible. Thus we may make sentences containing _there,_ as follows:

There, where his kind and gentle face looks down upon me, I used to stand and gaze upon the marble form of Lincoln.

Here and there we found a good picture.

There was an awful crowd.