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of z," however that sound may be represented in the com. mon spelling.

The proper sound of s is a hiss; and (unless there is an intention to make the utterance harsh and disagreeable) this element should be made both light and brief, especially at the end of a word.

Sound, promptly and forcibly, ẽ, ō, ä, ô, ọ, ã, ō, ä, ọ, s, z, p, b, t, d, f, v.

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Many young persons, in attempting the "sound of s,' place the tip of the tongue against, and sometimes beneath, the upper teeth, thus causing the defect in speech known as lisping. The corrective is found in raising and slightly withdrawing the tongue, allowing its tip to touch the upper gums.

Pronounce each word containing the letter s in the first two paragraphs of the first Lesson in the Phonic Analysis, and state whether it stands for a sonant or a nonsonant; also each word containing the "sound of s" represented by c.

Represent behoof, spoon, know, bark, stone, paws [In writing z, make it on the line, like a printed Italic z], pause, ace, maize, psalms, bestow, seas, cease, half, flaws, maimed, heaves, notes, space, rays.

LESSON VII.

The elementary sounds of the language are usually divided into two grand classes, vowels and consonants. A vowel is uttered through a more open position of the organs of speech than that by which a consonant is formed. A vowel, as its name implies, is a perfect vocal; the most musical of the consonants are sometimes called sub-vocals.

Sound each of the following elements, and state whether it is a vowel or a consonant, and why: b, v, ē, f, o, ä, z, d, ô.

Which two of the foregoing vowels are produced with a closer position of the organs than the other two,—that is, with a less open vocal tube? [The partial closing may be caused either by the tongue or the lips.] Which two, then, are less strictly vowel in their character?

If you have fixed correctly upon the two imperfect vowels, you may be pleased to notice the effect of pronouncing the word on after each. Do it, in each case,

with only one impulse of voice; that is, pass from the imperfect vowel to the word on, making of both but one syllable. What do you observe? In one syllable, utter the two vowels öã: what do you hear? In like manner examine eo.

Represent farce, force, drove, taste, bolt, bees, flows, leased, braced, phase, laugh, routine, lose, loose, born, borne, ought, east, sauce, steak.

LESSON VIII.

We have called four of the six vowels already given, long; but ä and o are as long as the others. In uttering a syllable containing any one of the six, the vowel is not likely to be dwelt upon too long, especially if under accent.-What is accent?

Pronounce complete', fa'tal, Hindoo', for'ward, grandee', martial, Malay', mamma', daugh'ter, mo'ment, roamer, homeless.

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Pronounce at, et, it, ot, ut. Now do it slowly and without looking at the syllables. Do this again, omitting the consonant. Practice until you do it perfectly. have now formed five short vowels, or, more properly, explosive vowels. There is very little danger that any one of these will be spoken too abruptly.

These abrupt vowels are commonly marked in dictionaries thus,-ă, ě, Ĭ, ŏ, ŭ. In writing the following exercises you may omit the curve, or breve. Thus, let a (unmarked) represent the vowel in at; e, that in ell; i, that in it; o, that in on; u, that in up. Remember that a, e, i, o, or u, left unmarked in our written exercises, represents an abrupt vowel.

Sound, very abruptly, a, e, i, o, u, e, a, i, u, o, u.

Analyze dust, top, tubs, pit, vats, dost (u), fated, said, debts, sods, dot, faces, pest, apt, is, phases.

Represent fetlock, arrow [one r], market, railroad, flood, horse, enough, artist, omit, form, arid, acid, bailiff, sophist, trophy (1), prophet, laughed, emblems, porous, love.

LESSON IX.

How many sounds in the word thin? By what is the first represented? Name three other words beginning with the same sound. This element is formed by breathing, the lips being well parted, and the tip of the tongue placed against the upper teeth. Do you hear the same sound in this? Explain. Represent the sonant by th; the non-sonant by th. This consonant is a kind of muffled, or softened, hiss, and is the sound given for s by children who lisp.

The digraph (double-writing) th occurs several times in the foregoing paragraph: in which words is it sonant ?

Pronounce promptly the word pull. Now omit the sound of 1, but speak the rest of the word as before. Now sound only the vowel. Practice with good in the same manner. We will name this vowel, whether represented by u as in full, pulpit, or by oo as in book, good, "short double o," but denote it by u. This vowel is abrupt, and must not be mistaken for o. Observe the difference:

mood, o; foot, ụ; prove, o; put, u.

Use o in the words food, roof, hoop, truth, brute; but u in book, pullet, full, hook.

Utter abruptly a, e, o, u, i, e, u, o, u, e, a, o, u. Now, with prolonged tones, utter such of the following as are long; the short, as before: a, ē, i, o, ō, u, u, ä, a, o, ô, e, u, u, e, u, o, i.

Analyze this, that, both, food, thieves, soothe, sooth, puss, buzz, bathe, put, took, tooth (o), Thebes.

Represent the foregoing list; also thenceforth, breathe, truth, beneath (th), playful, fulfill.

LESSON X.

Is

Study the first sound in the word jar; in gem. the initial sound the same in 'the two words? Is it aspirate or sonant? Represent it by j.

If, in uttering the word jar, you simply breathe the first element, but speak the remainder of the word, as before, you hear char. The sound represented here by ch is as simple as j, and, as we have seen, is its cognate. Denote this by the letter c with a comma beneath, thus,

ç. [Do not infer, however, that ç in the dictionary or gazetteer stands for ch.]

In uttering the sonant j, the resonance should be clear and unmistakable. Pronounce jar, char; chin, gin; large, larch; Jane, chain; rich, ridge; etch, edge.

Observe how you form the first sound in gate. Is it resonant? What difference in sound between the words gate and Kate?

Represent this sonant by g, and the non-sonant by k. The former is commonly called "hard g," to distinguish it from "soft g" (j), as heard in gem.

Arrange the following eight words in pairs, the words of each pair differing in sound only as k differs from g: brick, call, lack, Gaul, got, lag, brig, cot. Forcibly pronounce the words of each pair.

Represent charm, resonant, ledge, porches, jarred, scorched, engulfed, liege, bilged, arched, charged, giddy, stoical, north, sorrows, badge, lathes, acorn, ached, orthoëpy.

How many syllables in the last word?

On which is the accent? The mark over the e is a diaresis: what is its use? Meaning of orthoëpy?

LESSON XI.

A vowel more frequently heard, perhaps, than any other, occurs before r in her, fir, word, murmur, myrrh. In how many different ways do you here find this sound represented? Some writers have thought that r of itself denotes this sound; but if you will place the tongue in position to begin the utterance of the word rose, and then, without moving it, attempt to give the initial element in the word earth, you will readily perceive that a more open position of the organs is required for beginning the latter word.

In the formation of the consonant sound denoted by r, the sonorous breath is driven over the vibrating tip of the tongue, which is raised to the roof of the mouth. Practice on sounding r. Many persons make no distinction between bah and bar; they pronounce forlorn fawlawn. you say bahn or barn, fahm or farm, aw or or?

Do

The vowel heard in the word earth has been called the "neutral vowel," as having no strongly marked distinctive character. In Webster's Dictionary four representations

are employed for it; one of these we will adopt, namely e with a tilde over it, thus, e. Call the sound "tilde e," or, if you prefer, "the neutral vowel."

In the word the, when not emphatic, the vowel is indistinct. If followed by a vowel, the pronunciation approximates the or thi-before a consonant, the or thu.

Practice sounding r. Now utter r th; now ĕr th. Recall what has been said of the position of the tongue in sounding r, and do not fail to pronounce e-a-r-t-h ẽrth, not eth. R SHOULD NEVER BE SUPPRESSED, except where two r's stand side by side in one word; then only one is, in general, to be heard.

Analyze bird, further, birth, turbid, therefore, church, Turk.

Represent the foregoing list; also myrrh, journey, fertile, cur, rehearse, mermaid, Herbert, curled, cracker, zenith, nadir, northern, southern.

LESSON XII.

Call

You would write player plaer, and prayer, one who prays, prāĕr; but prayer, a petition, has a different sound of a, one formed through a more open vocal tube. this "long flat a," and let â represent it. This sound enters no word, except when immediately followed by r as in air, heir, ere, e'er [These four words are pronounced precisely alike], hair, care, where, there, their. We must distinguish between layer and lair, stare and stayer, flayer and flare; but there and their do not differ in

sound.

Though no English word contains the digraph zh, yet the sound of the z in glazier and of the s in leisure is known as the "sound of zh." Probably this name was given, because the sound is cognate to the "sound of sh‚” in share, sure, as z is to s. Represent the aspirate by sh, or, if preferred, by the script "long s;" the sonant by zh, or by the common script z, with a fold below the line.

Analyze beget, fourths, scarce, soothed, patter, proceeds, goods, prepare, sharer, perplexed, disturbed, shadowy, devised, chairs, pitchers, excursion [not zhun], thirty, forty, parent, merciful.

Represent the foregoing list.

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