Qis always followed by u, as, in queen. Qu sometimes sounds like k, as, conqueror. R has a rough sound, as, in Rome; and a smooth one, as, in bard. Re, at the end of words, sounds like a weak er, as, in theatre.

S has a soft and flat sound like z, as, in besom; and also, at the beginning of words, a sharp hissing sound, as, in sister. S has also a sound like sh, as, in sure, sugar; and another like zh, as, in pleasure, leisure. It is silent in isle, island, demesne, viscount.

T generally sounds as in take. T before u, when the accent precedes, sounds like tch, as, in nature. Th has two sounds; the one flat and soft, as, in thus; the other hard and sharp, as, in think. Th is sometimes pronounced like simple t, as, in Thomas, thyme, asthma.

V has the sound of flat f, as, in vain.

W, at the beginning of a word or syllable, has nearly the sound of oo, as, in water. In some words it is not sounded, as, in answer; it is silent before r, as, in wrap, wrong. After o, at the end of a syllable, it is generally silent, as, in grow, blow. W, before h, is pronounced as if it were after the h, as why, hwy; when, hwen.

X has three sounds. It is sounded like z at the beginning of proper names of Greek origin, as, in Xenophon. Sometimes it sounds like ks, when it ends a syllable accented, as, exit, excellence; or when the accent is on the next syllable beginning with a consonant, as, extent; but generally it has a flat sound like gz, as, in example, exist. Y, when a vowel, sounds precisely like i in the same circumstances, as, rhyme, system, justifÿ, party. When y is used as a consonant, it is sounded as in York, yes. Z has the sound of flats, as, in brazen.

In pronunciation, both the unaccented and accented vowels should have their distinct and appropriate sounds. Thus, a good speaker would pronounce the word amity as if written ámětě, and not, as it is frequently but improperly pronounced, ámětě. Indeed, the correct pronunciation of the unaccented vowels is one of the characteristics of a good education.

As a perfect Alphabet must always contain as many letters as there are elementary sounds in the language, the English Alphabet is therefore both defective and redundant. It is defective; for the five letters a, e, i, o, u, are employed to represent fourteen distinct sounds, and the sounds of th, sh, and ng, have no appropriate letters to represent them. It is also redundant; for c is represented in both its sounds by k or 8; j has the soft sound of g, q of k, and x is compounded of gs or ks.

OF SYLLABLES AND WORDS.

A Syllable is one distinct sound, consisting either of one letter, as I, or of two or more letters pronounced at once; as, mine, just.

Every syllable contains at the least one vowel, but in many words the vowel in the last syllable is not sounded, as, in tak-en, e-vil, sea-son.

Words are articulate sounds, used as signs to convey our ideas.

All that speak the same language use the same word to express the same idea, while those who speak different languages use different words to express the same idea; thus, the thing which we call hat, a Frenchman calls chapeau.

A word of one syllable is termed a monosyllable; a word of two syllables, a dissyllable; a word of three syllables, a trisyllable; and a word of four or more syllables, a polysyllable.

All words were, originally, what are now termed monosyllables; but for the sake of greater expedition in communicating thoughts, and in the inattentive rapidity of pronunciation, two, three, or more words, expressing several ideas, were often uttered so closely together, as at length, through the force of habit, to be considered only one word. Hence, those words which we call dissyllables, trisyllables, and

polysyllables, are no other than two, three, or more entire words, or parts of words, which had a separate existence either in the same or in some kindred language, and which are thus condensed into one.

All words are either primitive or derivative.

A primitive or radical word is not derived from another word in the language; as, art, kind, wise.

A derivative word is one that is formed from a primitive, either by prefixing or annexing a syllable or syllables; as, artful from art, kindness from kind.

A compound word is formed by the union of two or more primitive words, that are merely joined without undergoing any modification; as, bookseller from book, seller.

Spelling is the method by which we express a word by its proper letters, and rightly divide it into syllables.

The spelling of the English language is principally, though not entirely, determined by the pronunciation. The only rules which can be given with respect to the spelling of English words are those which relate to the final letters, and the mode in which additional syllables are annexed to them. We shall therefore furnish the Student with rules for the Division of words into syllables, and afterwards for the Final syllables of words.

1. Rules for the Division of Words into Syllables.

General Rule.-Divide the words according to the division made by a correct pronunciation. When the pronunciation is not known, observe the following rules:

1. Two vowels coming together, not forming a diphthong, must be divided into separate syllables; as, li-on, cru-el.

A diphthong, preceding a vowel, must be separated from it; as, roy-al, pow-er.

2. A single consonant, between two vowels, must be joined to the latter; as, de-light, o-bey. But the letter must be joined to the former vowel; as, ex-ist.

In many derivative words also the consonant goes to the former vowel; as, up-on, dis-use.

3. Two consonants, between two vowels, must be separated; as, un-der, in-sect; except when the latter consonant is not proper to begin the syllable alone; as, fa-ble, de-cline. Two consonants, such as wh, th, ch, sh, ph, forming only one sound, are never divided.

4. Three or more consonants, between two vowels, must not be separated, if the preceding vowel is long; as, de-throne, de-stroy. But when the preceding vowel is short, they must be separated agreeably to that division which is observed in the pronunciation; as, dis-tract, ab-stain, parch-ment.

5. Compounded and derivative words must be divided into the simple words of which they are composed, as ice

house, mis-lead. But the termination y is not generally placed alone; as, dus-ty, wor-thy.

A few words, however, in y, as dough-y, snow-y, string-y, follow the rule of derivatives.

Grammatical terminations are generally separated; as, teach-er, teach-ing, teach-est.

1. Derivatives, doubling the final consonant of the simple, have the consonants separated; as, fat, fat-ter.

2. When the additional syllable is preceded by c or g soft, the c or g is added to the additional syllable; as, of-fen-ces, wa-ger. Also, when the preceding single vowel is long, the consonant, if single, is joined to the termination; as, ba-ker, po-ker.

6. The terminations cial, cian, tial, cious, scious, sion, tion, tious, should not be divided; as, so-cial, mu-si-cian, vi-cious; except when ti is preceded by s; as, ce-les-ti-al.

2. Rules for final and additional Syllables.

1. Monosyllables generally end with a single consonant ; as, man, fur, fox; except add, bunn, butt, buzz, ebb, egg, err, inn, odd, purr.

Except also monosyllables ending in f, l, or s, preceded by a single vowel, which generally double the final consonant; as, muff, ball, loss. But if, of, as, gas, has, his, is, this, thus, us, was, yes, have the consonant single.

1. Words of more than one syllable have the final consonant generally single, if preceded by a single vowel, as, alabaster; except words ending in for s, which are doubled, as, rebuff, harness.

2. C hard is used as a final letter only in words of more than one syllable when i or ia precedes it, as, physic, maniac; in monosyllables it is always followed by k, as, duck, trick; except lac, zinc.

2. Words ending in y, preceded by a vowel, retain the y upon taking any augment; as, boy, boy-s, boy-ish; joy, joy-ful.

Except laid, paid, and said, and their compounds, unlaid, unpaid, unsaid.

But words ending in y, preceded by a consonant, change the y into i in forming the plurals of nouns, the persons of verbs, verbal nouns, past participles, comparatives, and superlatives; as, duty, dut-ies; try, tri-est; carry, carrier, carr-ied; happy, happ-ier, happiest. But ing and ish retain the y that i may not be doubled; as, carry, carry-ing; baby, baby-ish.

3. Words ending in silent e, retain the e on receiving an additional syllable beginning with a consonant; as, pale, paleness; but reject the e when the additional syllable begins with a vowel; as, place, plac-ing; cure, cur-able; rose, ros-y.

Exceptions. In du-ly, tru-ly, aw-ful, judg-ment, abridgment, acknowledg-ment, lodg-ment, and argu-ment, the e is rejected. When e is preceded by v, or c, or g soft, it is re

tained before able, (but not before ible;) as, move-able, peaceable, charge-able; reduce, reduc-ible.

1. E is also retained before ous, when preceded by g soft; as, courageous. Final ie is changed into y before an affix beginning with i; as, die, dying.

2. The e is retained in a few words when receiving an augment beginning with a vowel, to prevent ambiguity, as, in singeing from singe, to distinguish it from singing from sing; and in dyeing, colouring, to distinguish it from dying of a disease. 3. Words ending in ee omit one e when the additional syllable begins with e; as, see, seeth.

4. Monosyllables, and words accented on the last syllable, ending with a single consonant, preceded by a single vowel, upon assuming another syllable beginning with a vowel, have the final consonant doubled; as, scan, scan-ning; mud, mud-dy; to begin', a begin'-ner.

But when a diphthong precedes the final consonant, or the accent is not on the last syllable, the consonant is not doubled; as, to boil, boil-ing; need, need-y; to visit, a vis'it-er.

Words ending in or p, though not accented on the last syllable, have commonly, but most improperly, the 7 or p doubled; as, traveller, worshipper. The 7 and p ought, therefore, in these cases to be single.

5. Words ending in a double consonant retain both consonants upon assuming an augment, beginning either with a vowel or consonant; as, stiff-ly from stiff, odd-ity from odd. But words ending in ll, generally drop one on taking an augment beginning with a consonant; as, full, ful-ness; skill, skil-less.

6. Compound words are generally spelled in the same manner as the simple words of which they are composed; as, glass-house, there-by, up-hill. But words ending in generally drop one 7 when joined to other words, as almighty, al-ready, al-ways, hand-ful.

The orthography of the English language is far from being uniform. The deviations from analogy are so numerous, that they can be known only by an intimate acquaintance with the best authors, and frequently consulting a good Dictionary.

1. Many words are now spelled differently from what they were some time ago; thus choose, jail, are used in preference to chuse, gaol, which are obsolete in all good works.

2. Some words admit of two ways of spelling, thus connection and connexion, enquire and inquire, honour and honor, are used indiscriminately by good writers. 3. Nouns in our omit the u when the additional syllable is ous; as, vigour, vigorous. To reduce our orthography to some settled and uniform mode is much to be desired, as it would render it easier of acquisition not only to foreigners but to our own countrymen.

Dr. Johnson's Dictionary has, hitherto, been considered the standard for the signification, and Walker's for the pronunciation of words. But as Johnson's Dictionary contains several orthographical inconsistencies which ought to be rectified, many modern writers have, with great propriety, deviated in these instances from his mode of spelling. Dr. Webster of New York, has lately published an elaborate Dictionary of the English language, in which he has avoided the irregularities of Johnson's orthography, and improved his definitions. But time alone will show to what extent these alterations will be adopted. An improved edition of Walker, by Mr. Smart, has also just appeared.

PART II. ETYMOLOGY.

ETYMOLOGY treats of the Classification, Inflection, and Derivation of words.

Etymology is derived from ruμos (etumos) true, and λóyos (logos) word.

Classification is the arrangement of words into their dif ferent sorts, called Parts of Speech.

Inflection is that change of termination which words undergo to express their various relations.

Derivation is that part which treats of the origin and primary signification of words.

I. CLASSIFICATION.

There are, in English, nine sorts of words, or parts of speech; namely, 1. the Article; 2. the Substantive or Noun; 3. the Adjective; 4. the Pronoun; 5. the Verb; 6. the Adverb; 7. the Preposition; 8. the Conjunction; and 9. the Interjection.

1. An Article is a word put before a noun to show whether it is taken in an indefinite or in a particular sense; as, a man, the man.

2. A Substantive or Noun is the name of any person, place, or thing; as, John, London, book.

3. An Adjective is a word which expresses the quality, size, shape, colour, number, quantity, or any other property or accident of a noun to which it is joined; as, A good man;" "a bad heart;" "a large hill;" "a square table;” “the green grass ;""twenty horses;" "much noise ;" "this hat.”

4. A Pronoun is a word used to supply the place of a noun; as, "When Cæsar had conquered Gaul, he turned his arms against his country."

66

I am

5. A Verb is a word which affirms or expresses the state, action, or suffering of some person or thing; as, "I teach," "I am taught." It is also used to command, exhort, request, or ask a question; as, "Be silent; diligently;" "Spare me;" "Lend me the book;" you written the letter?"

"Study " Have