LANGUAGE.

Language is human speech, or a set of articulate sounds, used by any nation or people to convey their ideas to each other.

Grammar is the art of speaking and writing any language with propriety.

Orthography is that part of grammar, which teaches the nature and power of letters, and the just method of spelling words.

A letter is the first principle, or least part of a word.

The letters of a language are called the alphabet, which in the English language are twenty-six in number.

Letters are divided into vowels and consonants.

A vowel is a letter, which can be perfectly sounded by itself; or without moving the parts of the mouth.

A consonant is a letter, which cannot be perfectly sounded by itself; but, joined with a vowel, forms an articulate or significant sound.

and

The vowels are a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes, w

y.

W and

y are consonants, when they begin a word or syllable; but in every other situation they are called vowels.

A diphthong is the union of two vowels in one syllable; as ea in beat, ou in sound.

A triphthong is the union of three vowels in one syllable; as, ieu in adieu, lieu.

A syllable is a sound, either simple or compounded, pronounced by a single impulse or effort of the voice, and constituting a word or part of a word; as, man, man-ful.

Words are articulate, or significant sounds, which are used to express our ideas.

A word of one syllable, is called a mon'osyllable, A word of two syllables,

A word of three syllables,

a dis'syllable,
a tris'yllable,

A word of four or more syllables, a polysyllable. Orthography or spelling is the art of expressing syllables and words by their proper letters.

Practical Questions.

What is language?
What is grammar?
What is orthography?
What is a letter?
What is an alphabet?
How are letters divided?
What is a vowel?
What is a consonant?
Which are the vowels?
When are w and y conso-
nants?

What is a diphthong?
What is a triphthong?
What is a syllable?
What are words?

What is a monosyllable?
What sort of a word is gram-
mar?

Ans. A dissyllable.

Why is it a dissyllable? Ans. Because it is a word of two syllables. What is alphabet? Why is it a trisyllable? in What is articulation? Ans. A polysyllable.

What is w in when?
Ans. A consonant.
Why is it a consonant
the word when?
Ans. Because it begins a
word.

Why is it a polysyllable?
Ans. Because it is a word
of more than four sylla-
bles.

What is spelling?

N. B. These questions upon the vowels, consonants, &c. should be repeated till children can readily distinguish them, and tell what they are.

RULES FOR SPELLING.

[These rules and the exceptions should be committed to memory.]

Rule 1. Monosyllables ending with the consonant f, l, or s, preceded by a single vowel, double the final or last consonant; as staff, mill, pass, &c.

The only exceptions are, as, has, is, this, was, his, if, of, us, yes, and thus.

Rule 2. Monosyllables ending with any consonant but f, l, or s, and preceded by a single vowel, never double the final consonant; as, far, thin, for,

set.

The only exceptions are, add, ebb, butt, egg, odd, err, inn, bunn, burr, buzz.

Examples.

Spell, staff, mill, gross, stress, shall, will.
Car, war, drug, nor, hum, fin, fur.
Thief, heal, says, as, has, is, this.

Small, thin, great, add, egg, odd, inn.

Practical Questions.

Why should the final consonant I be doubled in the word spell?

Ans. Because it is a monosyllable ending in preceded by the single vowel e; Rule 1. Monosyllables, &c. Why should the final consonant r be single in the word car?

Ans. Because monosyllables, ending with any consonant but f, l, or s, preceded by a single vowel, do not double the final consonant. Rule 2.

Why does not the word thief double the final consonant ƒ? Ans. Because the final consonant f is not preceded by a single vowel, but by a diphthong; Rule 1. Monosyllables, &c.

Why does not the word is double the final consonant s as it is preceded by the single vowel i?

Ans. Because it is an exception to rule 2; as the only exceptions are as, has, is, &c.

Why does the word add double the last consonant d? Ans. Because it is an exception to Rule 2d. Monosyllables ending, &c.-The only exceptions are add, ebb, &c.

N. B. These questions should be repeated and varied, till the rules are perfectly understood, and the exceptions readily recollected.

Rule 3. Words ending with y preceded by a consonant, form the plurals of nouns, the persons of verbs, verbal nouns, past participles, comparatives, and superlatives, by changing y into i; as, spy, spies; I carry, thou carriest, he carries; carrier, carried; happy, happier, happiest.

The present participle in ing, retains the y, that i may not be doubled; as, carry, carrying

But y preceded by a vowel, in such instances as the above, is not changed; as, boy, boys; cloy, cloyed. Except in lay, pay, and say; from which are formed laid, paid, said.

Rule 4. Words ending with y, preceded by a consonant, upon assuming or taking an additional syllable beginning with a consonant, commonly change y into i; as, happy, happily.

But when y is preceded by a vowel, it is rarely changed in the additional syllable; as, boy, boyish, boyhood.

Rule 5. Monosyllables, and words accented on the last syllable, ending with a single consonant, preceded by a single vowel, double that conso

1

nant, when they take another syllable beginning with a vowel; as, wit, witty; thin, thinnish; begin, beginner.

But if a diphthong precedes, or the accent is on the preceding syllable, the consonant remains single; as, toil, toiling; offer, offering.

Rule 6. Words ending in any double letter but 1, and taking ness, less, ly, or ful, after them, preserve the letter double; as, harmlessness, carelessness, carelessly, stiffly, successful.

But words ending with double l, and taking ness, less, ly, or ful, after them, generally omit one l; as, fulness, skilless, fully, skilful.

Rule 7. Ness, less, ly, and ful, added to words ending with silent e, do not cut it off; as, paleness, guileless, peaceful,-except in a few words; as, duly, truly, awful.

Rule 8. Ment added to words ending with silent e, generally preserves the e from elision, or from being cut off; as, abatement, chastisement, incitement ;-but the e is omitted in judgment, abridgment, acknowledgment.

Ment added to words ending with y, preceded by a consonant, changes y into i; as, accompany, accompaniment; merry, merriment.

Rule 9. Able and ible, added to words ending with silent e, almost always cut it off; as, blame, blamable; cure, curable; sense, sensible ;--but if c or g soft come before e in the original word, the e is preserved; as, change, changeable; peuce, peaceable.

Rule 10. When ing or ish is added to words ending with silent e, the c is almost always omitted; as,