1. The Persian Peasant. 2. The Secret of Family Harmony. Kindness in Little Things— H. More. 2. Forgiveness — Ken- 144 THE The letters EI, placed in this volume at the end of a word, refer the reader to its definition in the Explanatory Index. Figures at the end of words refer to the corresponding numbers of 1. THE Alphabet consists of twenty-six letters, of which a, e, i, o, u, are always, and w and y sometimes, vowels. 2. W and y are consonants at the beginning of words; as, water, young, war, youth. 3. A diphthong is the union of two vowels in one syllable; 4. A triphthong is the union of three vowels in one syllable; 5. The comma (,) is the shortest pause in reading: when you 6. At the semicolon (;), pause as long as it would take you 7. At the colon (:), pause as long as it would take you to pronounce the letters a, b, c. 8. At the period (.), or full stop, the voice must generally fall, and the pause continue as long as it would take you to pro- 9. The note of interrogation (?) is used when a question is asked; and it generally requires as long a pause as a full stop; as, Who is there? Will no one speak? 10. A note of exclamation (!) is a mark of wonder, surprise or admiration; it requires about as long a pause as a full stop; 11. The dash (-) is used where the sentence breaks off ab ruptly, or where a significant pause is required. 12. The marks of parenthesis () are used to include words or marks which could be left out without injuring the sense of a sentence; or, to enclose distinct passages. 13. The hyphen (-) is used to separate syllables; also to connect compound words. 14. The apos'tro-phe (') denotes the possessive case; as, John's hat. It is also used to mark the omission of one or more letters; as, e'er for ever, 'gin for begin. 15. Marks of quotation (“”) include lines or sentences taken from other authors. 16. A dia'resis (..) divides two vowels into syllables that would otherwise make a diphthong; as, Creator. It also is placed over a vowel to show that the vowel so marked ought to commence, or form part of, a new syllable; as, aged, learned. 17. The mark of accent ( ́) denotes that the stress of the voice should be laid on a certain syllable; as, perfume, per-fume'. 18. The mak'ron (-), which is merely a hyphen placed over a vowel, denotes that the quantity is long; as, remōte, hāte, accēde. 19. The breve (~), when placed over a vowel, denotes that it is short; as, hat, mět, pit, got, hut, crystal. 20. An asterisk (*), obelisk (†), parallels (I), and other marks, are used to direct the reader to some note in the margin, or at the foot of a page, or in an appendix. 21. The hand () calls particular attention to a passage. The section (§) indicates a subdivision of a subject. When we begin a sentence with a new line having a slight blank space at its commencement, we call it a paragraph. It may be indicated by this sign (T). 22. A Capital Letter should begin the first word of every paragraph; the first after a period; every line in poetry; proper names of persons, places, ships, &c.; the pronoun I, and the injection O; the principal words in the titles of books. 23. The abbreviation etc., and the sign &c., are used in place of the Latin words et cætera, meaning and others; and so forth. 24. According to the table on page 11, there are thirty-four Elementary Sounds in the English language, and six Compound Sounds; of which six, four are compounded by means of a vowel and two by means of a consonant. 25. The letters c, q and x, do not appear in the following table, because, as representatives of sound, they are not wanted. C expresses only what may be expressed by either s or k; and q, only what may be expressed by kw. 26. By "Cognate " sounds, we mean a class of sounds related to each other, or resembling each other in sound. |