Mispronounced. Words. maremaid

seamstress

mountainious second

mushmelon

12

SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS.

THE introductory lessons should be thoroughly practised upon, until the scholars have perfectly mastered the subject of inflections, and are able readily to distinguish them by the ear, and execute them with the voice..

When a reading lesson is finished, ey should be required to give some account of what they have been reading about, and be questioned on each part in detail. Their attention should be directed to any passage or sentiment in the lesson, which is beautiful or. striking, and no pains be spared to make them think, and exercise their own taste. Scholars should be required to define every word in the lesson, the meaning of which they would not be likely to know without consulting a dictionary, and to give a definition, which being substituted for the word itself, will preserve the sense of the sentence. This exercise is highly useful

and improving.

Orthography may also be best learned from the reading lesson; and a part of the regular exercise should be, to spell all the more difficult words. In learning orthography and definitions, a reading book is preferable to a dictionary or a spelling book, because the words occur with their inflections; such as the person of verbs, the number and case of nouns, &c., and because, they are more likely to be words in frequent use, and on that account most important to be known. Moreover, the exact import and force of a term is best learned from its connection with others in a sentence; whereas, in a dictionary, words stand detached, with no relation to each other but that of alphabetic succession.

AMERICAN CLASS-READER

INTRODUCTORY LESSONS.

LESSON I.

Articulation.

I. THE first requisite to good reading, is distin A aviculation; or the giving to every letter in a word, its appropriate sound, so as to make it distinctly perceptible to the ear. This contributes far more to being well heard and distinctly understood, than mere loudness or strength of voice. Much of the wear and tear of lungs might be spared, if public speakers would bestow more attention on the cultivation of their organs, and the acquiring of the power of distinct articulation, and rely less upon vociferation, to make themselves audible.

II. One very common fault of articulation, is that of clipping or suppressing certain letters in a word or syllable; as, consis for consists, mornin for morning, victry for victory, correcly for correctly, blieve for believe, distincly for distinctly, predics for predicts, evry for every, reglar for regular.

Words which are sometimes articulated indistinctly.

amends, prevail, numerous,

communicatively,

clothes, prevent, commandments, authoritatively,
proceed, offerings,
belong,

terrestrial,
reasonableness,

utterance,

2

Gifts, rests,

lifts, casts,
defects, facts, fields,

persists, softly,

friends,

guests, bursts, lands, accounts, torment,
tempests, beasts, blindfold, chapel, water,
sixth, bands, thousand, rebel,
posts, vastly, stormy,* northern,
Now is the best time to do it.
For Christ's sake.

warmth,
never,

A most humbling fall.
A most stumbling beast.

Henry's speech.

receptacle, peremptorily, acceptableness, disinterestedness.t

The sophist's subtle argument.

III. Another fault of articulation, is the running of words into one another, in such a manner, that the termination of the one, and the beginning of the next, cannot be distinguished by the ear.

The culprits ought to make The culprit sought to make amends.

amends.

He will earn neither.

That lasts till night.
Some mice.

A great deal better.

For truth's sake.

The beast's tongue.

An ice-house.

He will learn either.
That last still night.
Some ice.

A most tumbling fall.
A most tumbling beast.
Henry's peach.

The bee stung.

A nice house.

IV. A bad articulation sometimes confounds the vowel sounds. Thus, event, uvvent, correct, currect, wholly, hully, peaceably, peaceubbly, opinion, uppinion, popular, popelar, omnipotent, omnipetent, educate, edecate, and, und, wicked, wickud, gospel, gospul.

V. In aiming at distinctness of articulation, some persons fall into the opposite error of protracting, and giving prominence to, the unaccented vowels and syllables. This gives an air of stiffness and pedantry to their enunciation. The fault alluded to, divides off the several syllables in the

* The letter r, is often pronounced indistinctly, especially when it occurs in unaccented syllables; thus, instead of stormy we sometimes hear stawmy.

+ Hundreds of other words might be selected. These are designed merely as examples.

manner of a spelling-book, making a sensible pause at each division thus, mul-ti-pli-ca-tion, an-ni-ver-sa-ry, dis-tinguish, lan-guage, lan-guish, sug-ges-tion.

:

Particles, and unaccented syllables, should at once be spoken distinctly, and "trippingly on the tongue;" which, with a little pains and practice, may be done by any one, who has not some defect in the organs of speech.

By making a list of such words as are found most difficult of utterance, and practising upon them frequently, any person may, in a short time, acquire a correct and graceful articulation.

LESSON II.

MODIFICATIONS OF THE VOICE.

The Monotone.

WHEN the voice proceeds through a succession of words in the same key or pitch, this unvaried sameness of sound is called the Monotone. A repetition of strokes on a bell, or of touches on the same key of a piano, will exemplify it. Although irksome and disagreeable to the car in ordinary reading and speaking, the monotone is both natural and impressive, when employed in passages of sublime description, or expressing deep reverence and awe.

(m)

High on a throne of royal state, which far
Outshone the wealth of Ormus or of Ind;
Or where the gorgeous-East with richest hand,
Showers on her kings barbaric, pearl and gold,
Satan exalted sat.

(m) And the heaven departed as a scroll, when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

(m) In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep. sleep falleth on men, fear came upon me, and trembling