The Smaller Standard Speller |
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Common terms and phrases
accent additional syllable aspirate sound bath begins a word bird of prey Birds boat bread breath broke Chough climbed Comma containing Words DICTATION AND WRITING dictation exercises digraph dis'mal double the final draught ending in silent EPES SARGENT ex-pel fell final consonant fish following words form their plural horse Hyphen italicized knout last syllable letters Makron mark milk Myrrh nasal consonant neigh nouns ending obscure sound parsnip path preceding syllable preterit pronounced rode sail sang ship shoe silent E sing single vowel sleigh slough soft sound of k sound of long sound of sh sound of short spelling syllable beginning Take thief thine thou took tree Unaccented Syllables verb vocal voice volume vowel VOWEL SOUNDS Webster wharf wor'ship-er Words ending words in Paragraph WRITING EXERCISES
Popular passages
Page 65 - Go to the ant, thou sluggard, consider her ways and be wise : which, having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard ? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? Yet a little sleep, yet a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep ! So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.
Page 67 - Monosyllables, and words accented on the last syllable, ending with a single consonant preceded by a single vowel, double that consonant, when they take another syllable beginning with a vowel : as, wit, witty ; thin, thinnish ; to abet, an abettor ; to begin, a beginner.
Page 65 - DON'T is a contraction of do not, and not of does not. Don't for does not is a vulgarism. Contractions like haven't — have not ; isn't = is not, should not be encouraged. 4. DOTH and HATH, in the place of does and has, are sometimes used to express solemn and tender associations, or to avoid the too frequent repetition of the letter s. 5. I WOULD RATHER...
Page 30 - Lay is a transitive verb, and has for its preterit laid: as, he told me to lay it down, and I laid it down.
Page 69 - Most nouns ending in o, preceded by a consonant, form the plural by the addition of es; as, cargo, cargoes; hero, heroes...
Page 6 - By an obscure vowel sound we mean one in which the absence of accent makes the sound less exact. The second a in madman has an obscure sound of short a. A simple word is one that is not compounded ; as boy, book. A compound word is one composed of two or more simple words ; as saltcellar, wood-shed.
Page 67 - Primitive words ending in y, preceded by a consonant, change the y into i before any termination but 's, or one commencing with i ; as, merry, merrier ; pity, pitiless.
Page 70 - The following nouns ending in /, or fe, form the plural by changing their endings into ves : beef, beeves ; calf, calves ; elf, elves ; half, halves ; knife, knives ; leaf, leaves ; life, lives ; loaf, loaves ; self, selves ; sheaf, sheaves ; shelf, shelves ; thief, thieves ; wife, wives ; wolf, wolves.
Page 69 - Compounded words are generally spelled in the same manner, as the simple words of which they are formed : as, glasshouse, skylight, thereby, hereafter. Many words ending with double /, are exceptions to this rule : as, already, welfare, wilful, fulfil: and also the words, wherever, Christmas, Lammas, &c.
Page 66 - Words of one syllable, ending with F, L, or S, preceded by a single vowel, double the final consonant. ' EXAMPLES. — Class, doll, full, puff, stiff. EXCEPTIONS. — As, has, his, if, is, gas, of, this, thus, yes, us, was. 3. Words ending in silent 33 drop E on taking an additional syllable beginning with a vowel. EXAMPLES. — Blame, bla'ma-ble ; brute, bru'tish ; cure, cur...