THE CAREFUL EXERCISE of the organs of speech enables us to articulate clearly and correctly.

oi or oy, as in oil, boy. ou or ow, as in out, owl.

As the above tables have been prepared with reference to their future use as a key to the system of marking employed in the spelling and defining exercises, many substitutes, not usually included in a list of Oral Elements, have been given.

III.

Oral Substitutes.

ORAL SUBSTITUTES are other letters or combinations of letters used to represent the oral elements; as

ai, au, ey, in the words gain, gauge, they, for a. iew, ui, eau, in the words view, juice, beauty, for ū. eau, ew, ow, in the words beau, sew, bow, for ō. a, ue, ie, in the words any, guess, friend, for ě. au, eo, oa, in the words fault, George, broad, for a.

IV.

Rules in Articulation.

1. The word a, when emphatic, has the long sound (a in ape); as,

I did not say your horse, but a horse.

2. The word A, when not emphatic, has the sound of å (à in ȧsk); as,

Bring me a book and å slate.

3. The word THE, when emphatic, or immediately followed by a word beginning with a vowel sound, has the long sound of ē; as The book, not any book. The apple.

4. The word THE, when not so used, has the sound of ŭ (ŭ in nŭt); as,

The (thu) dog eat the (thŭ) meat which the (thŭ) man gave him.

5. The word MY, when emphatic, has the long sound of y; as, Get my hat, if you get yours.

6. The word MY, when not emphatic, has the short sound of y; as, You have spoiled my hat.

7. G and K before N, in the same syllable, are mute. 8. H after R is mute, as in rheum, rhetoric.

9. L is often mute before K, M and F; as in talk, calm, half.

10. N final is mute after M; as in hymn.

11. P initial is mute before s; as in psalm.

12. FINAL CONSONANTS. Oral elements represented by final consonants should be uttered with great distinctness; as, He attempts to hide his angry acts.

13. WHEN ONE WORD ENDS, and the next one begins, with the same consonant sounds, the consonant that ends the first word should be prolonged, and the one that begins the next word taken up by a second impulse of the voice, without pausing between them; as

Stain not thy youth with sports so wild,

For every mother loves her child.

14. UNACCENTED SYLLABLES should be pronounced as distinctly as those which are accented, less force and prolongation of voice being used; as in stillness, kindness, travel.

Errors in Articulation.

The most common errors in articulation are four in number, as follows:

Errors

in

1. Leaving out a syllable. 2. Leaving out a sound. Articulation.) 3. Change of a vowel sound. 4. Blending of words.

First. LEAVING OUT A SYLLABLE; AS,

his t'ry for his to ry.

'rith me tic for a rith me tic.

mem'ry for mem o ry.

bois t'rous for bois ter ous.

trav'ler for trav el er.

int'rest for in ter est.

LEAVING OUT AN ORAL ELEMENT OR SOUND; AS,

Second.

Third. CHANGE OF A VOWEL SOUND; AS,

IN LEARNING TO ARTICULATE clearly, be careful not to acquire a habit of drawling.

AVOID CHANGING THE ACCENT; as, for instance, in giving the sound of a in the word met'rical, be careful not to pronounce it met-ri-cal', with the accent on the last instead of the first syllable.

II. SYLLABICATION.

I.

Syllables.

A SYLLABLE is a word, or part of a word, uttered by a single effort of the voice.

A MONOSYLLABLE is a word of one syllable; as house. A DISSYLLABLE is a word of two syllables; as houseless.

A TRISYLLABLE is a word of three syllables; as derange-ment.

A POLYSYLLABLE is a word of more than three syllables; as con-grat-u-la-tion.

THE ULTIMATE is the last syllable of a word; as gle in jin-gle.

THE PENULT is the last syllable but one of a word; as tru in in-tru-sion.

THE ANTEPENULT is the last syllable but two of a word; as sti in con-sti-tu-tion.