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WORD AND SENTENCE BOOK

A PRACTICAL SPELLER

DESIGNED TO TEACH THE FORM, PRONUNCIATION,
MEANING, AND USE OF COMMON WORDS

BY

J. ORMOND WILSON, 4. ENTS

LATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS WASHINGTON, D. C.

AYNANO MERRIL, & Co

MARY WILS ENTS

FIRST ASSISTANT, PRINCE SCHOOL, BOSTON, MASS.

Words are things, and a small drop of ink,

Falling like dew upon a thought, produces

That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.

-BYRON

NEW YORK:

MAYNARD, MERRILL, & Co., PUBLISHERS,

29, 31 & 33 EAST NINETEENTH ST.

COPYRIGHT, 1891, BY

CHARLES E. MERRILL & CO.

C

PREFACE

The essentials of a Spelling-Book are : 1. A collection of practical words. 2. A progressive order of exercises.

3. Form, pronunciation, meaning, and use of words taught together. 4. Words presented in sentences and related groups, as the sentence, not the word, is the unit of thought.

5. Sentences:-examples of good English, containing useful information, sound moral principles, and ennobling sentiments.

6. Lessons of a character to interest, in order to instruct.

STEPS IN A SPELLING LESSON

1. Lesson read orally.

2. Drill on certain sounds.

3. Drill on pronunciation of difficult words.

4. Words containing silent letters and equivalents representing elementary sounds, written on board, line drawn through silent letters, and attention called to equivalents.

5. Words used in original sentences.

6. Words of similar meaning given.

7. Words of similar meaning used in sentences in place of original words.

8. Words of opposite meaning given.

9. Lesson written.

10. Words spelled orally.

11. Lesson written from dictation.

Teachers can use their own judgment as to the number of these steps a class is required to take.

Practice should be given under each rule until pupils can apply it. It was not found convenient to arrange all the exercises in an order to be followed invariably. The Definitions, Sound Chart, and Exercises in the Use of the Diacritical Marks, are introduced before Part I., as the pupil will have frequent occasion to refer to them. The principal list of Abbreviations, Foreign Words and Phrases, and other exercises have been included in Part IV., but are to be taken up, in part or as a whole, at the discretion of the teacher.

Definitions

The vowels are a, e, i, o, u, and w and y when equivalent to u and i respectively.

The consonants are b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, x, z, and w or y before a vowel sound in the same syllable. A vowel is a letter which represents a full and uninterrupted sound of the human voice.

A consonant is a letter which represents a sound modified by some interruption during its passage through the organs of speech.

A diphthong is a union of two vowels in one syllable; as, vain, brow.

A triphthong is a union of three vowels in one syllable; as, adieu, eye.

Equivalents are letters having the same sound; as, ea and ee in steal and steel.

Accent is a greater force of voice upon some particular syllable of a word distinguishing it from the others.

Words are signs of ideas; as, oranges, grow, delicious. A syllable is a letter or combination of letters sounded at a single effort of the voice; as, ve-loç'-i-pēde.

A monosyllable is a word of one syllable; as, I, do, gun.

A dissyllable is a word of two syllables; as, wag'on. A trisyllable is a word of three syllables; as, el'e phant. A polysyllable is a word of four or more syllables; as, rhi noc'e ros, hip po pot'a mus.

A primitive word is one not formed from any other word in the language; as, man, love.

A derivative word is one formed from some other word; as, un man,' lovely.

A simple word is one not composed of other words; as, knife, pen, road, horse, rail.

A compound word is one composed of two or more words; as, pen'knife, horse'-rail'road.

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å, e, i, o, à denote modified longa, e

sounds in unaccented syllables.

denote ob

scure sounds.

DIPHTHONGS

50 as in moon Soi or oy (unmarked), as in oil, oyster

00

66

look

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ou OW

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