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INTRODUCTION.

ELOCUTION.

ELOCUTION, as an art, is the accurate and graceful management of Voice, Countenance, and Gesture in the expression of thought and emotion.

ORAL READING is the expression by the voice of the sentiment of that which is read.

A good reader must have a clear, smooth, resonant voice, be able to control its modulations perfectly, and to articulate the elementary sounds of the language correctly and distinctly. He must also understand what he reads, and be able to utter all possible combinations of elementary sounds with ease and fluency.

BREATHING.

Ability to manage the breath is essential to good reading.

DIRECTIONS.-Stand or sit erect; place the hands on the hips, the fingers extending forward, the thumbs backward; throw the shoulders well back; inhale the breath slowly until the lungs are inflated; retain the breath a moment, and then breathe it out steadily. Let the chest rise and fall freely and natu

rally. Do not let the slightest sound be heard either in inflating or exhausting the lungs.

Gradually increase the rapidity of breathing until the lungs can be inflated and exhausted almost instantly. Continue this exercise two or three min

utes.

An exercise in breathing should precede each lesson in reading.

ARTICULATION.

ARTICULATION is the utterance of the elementary sounds of a language, and of their combinations in words.

To acquire a good articulation, attention must be paid to exercises upon elementary sounds and their combinations, and to the phonetic analysis of syllables and words.

An ELEMENTARY SOUND is a simple, distinct sound made by the organs of speech.

PHONETIC ANALYSIS is the separation of syllables and words into the elementary sounds of which they are composed.

ELEMENTARY SOUNDS.

The Elementary Sounds of the English Language are divided into Vocals, Subvocals, and Aspirates.

VOCALS.

Vocals consist of pure tone. A diphthong is a

commencing with one and endVocals are the most prominent

union of two vocals, ing with the other. elements of all words.

Let the teacher take care

that the pupil, in articulating them, observes the following directions:

1. Let the mouth be open, and the teeth, tongue, and palate in their proper position. 2. Pronounce one of the words in the CHART in a forcible, affirmative tone, several times in succession. 3. Drop the subvocal or aspirate sounds which precede or follow the vocal, and repeat the vocals alone.

The class may, at first, repeat the words and sounds in concert. Each pupil should then be required to articulate them separately.

CHART OF VOCAL SOUNDS.

Long Sounds.

A, ā, as in ate, late, māte, baker, labor, favor.

A, â,

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A, å,

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A, a, E, ē,

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I, i,

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U, ū,

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âir, fair, hâre, mâre, shâre.

äre, fär, ärk, dählia, härp, härsh.
åfter, brånch, påss, plåster.

all, fall, haul, call, walk.

ēve, wē, deep, sēre, hear, receive.
ĕrr, erst, ermine, prefer.

īre, time, tide, combine, file, write.
ōver, nō, tōld, võte, contrōl, mōde.
doom, cool, bloom, moon, groom.
ūse, unit, music, refuse, involute.
ûrn, ûrge, bûrn, fûr.

U, u, when preceded by r, as in rule, frugal, trụe, ruby.

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Diphthongs.

Oi, oi, as in oil, coin, choice, quoit.

Ou, ou, bound, proud, out, rouse, cow.

SUBVOCALS.

SUBVOCALS are those sounds in which the vocalized breath is more or less obstructed. The Correlatives of subvocals are the light, aspirate sounds with which some of them end. In articulating subvocals, observe the following directions:

1. Pronounce distinctly and forcibly, several times in succession, words in which they occur as final elements. 2. Drop the other sounds, and repeat the subvocals alone.

Repeat the words and elements, at first, in concert; then separately.

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ASPIRATES Consist of breath only, modified by the vocal organs. In articulating them, observe the following directions :

1. Pronounce, several times in succession, words in which aspirate sounds occur as initial or final elements. 2. Drop the other sounds, and repeat

the aspirates alone.

Repeat the words and elements, at first, in concert; then separately.

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The following table contains those characters which are used as substitutes to represent sounds ordinarily represented by other characters:

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