leg'isla'tor, an'imadvert'; and some words of seven or eight syllables have one primary and two secondary accents; as in'divis'ibil'ity, incom'prehen sibility.

78. A great number of words are distinguished by the difference of accent alone; thus we say, an attribute, to attribute; the month of August, an august person; a written com'pact, a compact' crowd; half a min'ute, a minute' inquiry. The accent applied to words of this class, with a double meaning, is called discriminative accent. A Rhetorical accent is one applied for the purpose of contrast. Of course it holds good only where it is used for that purpose; as, "this corruptible must put on incorrup

tion."

79. The following list of words, in which the Discriminative accent is employed to distinguish different parts of speech having the same form, is given by Walker. It is composed of nouns and verbs, the accent being on the first syllable in the former, and on the second syllable in the latter. 80. Ac'cent, accent'; affix, affix'; aug'ment, augment'; bombard, bombard'; ce'ment, cement'; colleague, colleague'; collect, collect'; com'pound, compound'; com'press, compress'; con'cert, concert'; con'crete, concrete'; con'duct, conduct'; con'fine, confine'; con'flict, conflict'; con'tract, contract'; con'voy, convoy'.

81. Con'serve, conserve'; con'sort, consort'; con'test, contest'; con'trast, contrast'; con'verse, converse' ; con/vert, convert'; des'cant, descant'; des'ert, desert'; di'gest, digest'; es'cort, escort'; es'say, essay'; ex'port, export'; extract, extract'; ex'ile, exile'; fer'ment, ferment'; frequent, frequent'.

82. Im'port, import'; in'cense, incense'; in'sult, insult'; object, object'; perfume, perfume'; pre'fix, prefix'; prem'ise, premise'; pres ́age, presage'; pres'ent, present'; produce, produce'; project, project'; pro'test, protest; reb'el, rebel'; refuse, refuse'; subject, subject'; sur'vey,

survey'.

83. In the adjectives ab'sent and ab'stract, the accent is on the first syllable; in the verbs, it is on the second. In the noun com'pact, the accent is on the first syllable, and in the adjective on the second. In the words ally' and romance', the accent is on the last syllable whether they be nouns or verbs. Accent the last syllable in the following words: desert' (signifying merit), dessert' (signifying a service of fruit after meat, finance', pretence', pretext', research', resource', recess', burlesque', revolt Accent the first syllable in ex'quisite, mis'chievous, tap'estry, contrary, designate, recognize, ad'vertise, pre'cedent (when a noun), sorcerer (the o as in nor), ap'erture, rev'ëry, in'novate, ped'estal, dis'putant, post humous, dynasty.

84. In contemplate, confiscate, compensate, concentrate, consum'mate, constellate, demon'strate, expur'gate, and extir'pate, orthoëpists differ as to whether the accent should be on the first or second syllable. Walker, who represents the best English usage, places the accent on the second syllable Poets often place it on the first.

85. In the following words the last syllable but one should be accented. aro'ma, aspirant, abdo'men, deco'rum, inqui'ry, oppo'nent, precë ́dent (when an adjective), precë ́dence, horizon, component, condolence, manda'mus, panthe'on, clandestine, affiance, compliant, defal'cate, muse'um, pilas'ter, interstice, bitu'men, interne'cine.

86. Accent the first syllable in the following words: con'tumacy, exemplary, bibliopole, lam'entable, hor'tatory, temperament, com'parable, desultory, in'teresting, con'sequently, cir'cumstances, repertory, legislative, cem'etery. In no'menclature, and ju'dicature, there is a par tial accentual stress on the a.

87. Accent the an-te-pe'nult (last syllable but two) in the following. compu'table, contemplative, retrib'utive, resto'rative, centrifugal, cen trip'etal, advertisement, daguerreotype (pronounced da-ger'otype). Accent the pe'nult (last syllable but one) in the following: coadju ́tor, homicidal, adamante an, empyre'an, Europe'an, adverti'ser.

QUESTIONS-70. What is a syllable? 71. A monosyllable? dissyllable? trisyllable? polysyllable? Can you give the derivation of these words? 72. What is meant by the quantity, long or short, of vowels? 73. Does quantity differ from accent? 74. What is accent? 75. The mark of accent? 78. May words be distinguished by accent alone, even when spelled alike? 79. Give specimens of nouns and verbs that are spelled alike but distinguished by accent. 80-84. Give specimens of trisyllables in which the first syllable is accented; the second. Words of four syllables in which the first is accented; the second.

LESSON VI.

ARTICULATION.

88. THE derivation and meaning of the term articulation have been explained in paragraphs 5 and 6. At first signifying the jointing of speech by the utterance of consonants and of syllables, it comprehends, in its more extended signification, the whole subject of the exact pronunciation of elementary sounds and their syllabic combinations in language. 89. "Every articulation," says Bell, "consists of two parts-a position and an action. The former brings the organs of speech into approxima tion or contact, and the latter separates them, by a smart percussive action of recoil, from the articulative position. This principle is of the utmost importance to all persons whose articulation is defective. On its application distinctness entirely depends. Let it be carefully noted: audibly percussive organic separation is the necessary action of every articu'ation."

90. We have seen that defects in articulation may proceed either from over-eagerness in utterance or from sluggishness and inattention. We will here cite some of the Vowel and Consonant sounds that are most fre quently marred by a vicious articulation. The proper sound of the a in

at is often too decidedly perverted in the syllables and terminations in al, ar, ant, able, an, ance, &c., as in the following words: fatal, particular, scholar, separate, arrogant, honorable, perseverance, preliminary, descendant, ordinance, &c.; in which the a should be slightly obscured but not debased into the e in her or the u in but.

91. Words ending in ent, ens, ence, ess, &c., are often needlessly deprived of their just sound. We hear imminurnt for imminent, vehemurnt for vehement, argumurnts for arguments, referurnce for reference, laziniss for laziness, goodniss for goodness, &c. The e in these words should have a slight sound of the e in ebb, end, &c. Do not say rebul or rebble instead of rebel, chick'n instead of chicken, sudd'n instead of sud'den, nov'l instead of novel, trav'l instead of travel, slov'n instead of sloven, couns'l instead of counsel, mod' instead of model, vess'l instead of vessel, ardurnt instead of ardent, timbr'l instead of timbrel, &c.* In verbs and participles ending with en, the accent being on the previous syllable, the e is generally dropped. Say ris'n, tak'n, wak'n, drunk'n, sadd'n, grav'n, bright'n, op'n, chos'n, &c. Do not say b'lieve, d'ny, prdict, prmote, instead of believe, &c.

92. There are many readers who, instead of giving the syllable er, when unaccented, its true sound, would have us suppose, by their mode of utterance, that it is spelled uh. They will, for instance, say powìh, povuhty, govuhn, instead of power, poverty, govern, in which words the has the sound it has in her. Do not obscure the e too much, or confound it with the i, in such words as society, variety, satiety, &c.

93. In syllables and terminations in in, il, ity, ility, ible, the i short should not be obscured more than is required for a free and graceful utterance. Say satin, not sat'n, Latin, not Lat'n; province, not provence; mountain (mountin), not mount'n; fountain (fountin), not fount'n; capacity, not capac-e-ty; lenitive, not leneteve; pupil, not pup'l; council, not council; pencil, not penc'l, &c. Do not convert the long i into e in such words as benign, oblige, &c.

94. Syllables and terminations in o, ow, and or, are badly articulated by many, who say potater for potato, comprumise for compromise, tobaccernist for tobacconist, innervate for innovate, feller for fellow, winder for window, meller for mellow, hist'ry for history, hallerd for hallowed, meader for meadow, philoserpher for philosopher, colerny for colony, abrurgate for abrogate, &c. The o in such words as horizon, motion, Boston, &c., may be slightly obscured, but not dropped.

95. The unaccented u is often erroneously suppressed, or made to sound like e, in such words as particular, voluble, regular, singular, educate, &c. The full, diphthongal sound of the u in mute should be given to

In regard to such words as weapon, reason, treason, season, &c., although authority is in favor of the dropping of the Vowel before the n, it is a question whether the slight sound of the o is not proper.

the above words, as well as to the following: nude, tune, tube, suit assume, nature, mixture, moisture, vesture, vulture, geniture, structure, gesture, statute, institution, constitute, virtue, tutor, subdued, tuber, duty, &c.

96. There are some miscellaneous vulgarisms in the rendering of Vowel sounds, to which we will but briefly allude. Do not omit the long, round sound of o (as it occurs in hōme) in such words as boat, coat, &c. Do not give to the a in scarce the sound of u in purse. Do not say tremendyous for tremendous, or colyume for column (pronounced kollum, the u short as in us, and not diphthongal as in use). Give to the diphthong oi its full sound in such words as noise, poise, point, &c., which are converted by some readers into nize, pize, pint, &c.

97. Do not trill the r in the wrong place. See rule, Paragraph 62. Do not give the sound of u to the a in Indian (properly pronounced Ind'yan). Do not give the sound of fle or fel to the ful of awful, beautiful, and the like; of um to the m in chasm, prism, patriotism, &c. Do not dismiss the letter d from such words as and, minds, hands, depends, sends, &c.

98. Do not say git for get, hoss for horse, idee for idea, thar for there, potry for poëtry, jest for just, jine for join, ketch for catch, kittle for kettle, stah for star, pint for point, fur for far, ben for been (correctly pronounced bin), doos for does (correctly pronounced duz), agin for again (correctly pronounced agen), ware for were (correctly pronounced wur), tharefore for therefore (correctly pronounced thurfore), air for are (correctly pronounced ar, the a as in far).

99. It is a common fault with slovenly readers to dispense with the final g in words of more than one syllable, ending in ing. Such readers tell us of their goin' to meetin', startin' early in the mornin', seein' nobody comin', &c.; giving us to infer that they either have a bad cold in the head or have been but indifferently attentive to their elocutionary studies. Always avoid this vulgarism, whether in conversation or in reading aloud.

100. Where Consonants precede or follow the letter s, care should be taken to avoid the too frequent practice of improperly dropping the sound of one letter or more. For example, in the line," And thou exist'st and striv'st as duty prompts," - the sound of the italicized consonants is often imperfectly rendered. So we hear acts incorrectly pronounced ax; facts, fax; reflects, reflex; expects, exper, &c.

There are

101. Great liberties are often taken with the letter r. speakers who say bust for burst, fust for first, dust for durst, &c. We also hear Cubar instead of Cuba, lawr instead of law, wawr, instead of war, pawtial instead of partial, Larrence instead of Lawrence, stawm instead of storm, mawn instead of morn, cawn instead of corn. The vibrant Bound of the r should not be muffled in such words as rural, rugged, trophy, &c.; nor should the r be trilled in care, margin, &c.

:

102. The sound of the h in syllables commencing with shr should be heeded as in the line, " He shrilly shrieking shrank from shriving him." In these and similar words the h is often shorn of its due force, and, by some bad speakers, is entirely suppressed. To the preservation of its aspirate sound in such words as what, whale, whither, when, &c., particular attention should be given.

103. A thorough and well-defined articulation will leave a hearer in no doubt as to which word is meant in articulating the following: When, wen; whether, weather; what, wot; wheel, weal; where, wear; whist, wist; while, wile; whet, wet; whey, way; which, witch; whig, wig; whin, win; whine, wine; whirled, world; whit, wit; whither, wither; white, wight; wheeled, wield.

QUESTIONS.-89. Of what must an articulation consist? 90. Name instances in which words ending in al, an, ance, &c., are badly articulated. 91. Words ending in ent, ens, ess, &c. 92. In er. 93. In in, ty, ible, &c. 94. In o, or, ow, &c. 95. In what class of words ought u to have its long, diphthongal sound? 96. How do you pronounce such words as b-o-a-t, s-o-a-p, c-o-1-t, &c.? 97. Pronounce a-w-f-u-l, &c. 98. G-e-t, c-a-t-c-h, b-e-e-n, d-o-c-s, a-r-e, &c. 99. What is said of the termination in ing? 100. Pronounce a-c-t-s, r-e-f-l-e-c-t-s, &c. 101. Pronounce b-u-r-s-t, l-a-w, c-o-r-n, &c. 102. What is said of the omission of the aspirate? 103. Repeat some words that are often confounded by bad readers through the omission of the in pronouncing.

LESSON VII.

ON EXERCISES IN ARTICULATION.

104. THE voice should be thoroughly exercised in the Elementary sounds given in the Table under Paragraph 20. Beginning with the Vowel Sounds, let the different sounds of a in father, fat, fate, fall, be detached from the words in which they occur, and distinctly emitted with a quick, clean, percussive utterance, requiring as slight an expenditure as possible of breath. Proceed in the same way to practise on the other Vowel sounds, till you can deliver them with nicety and accuracy, separately as well as in combination with Consonants.

105. A good succeeding exercise is to combine the Elementary Vowel sounds with the possible Elementary Consonant sounds, in their order, as in the Table mentioned above; thus (the a as in father): ha, ma, na, la, ra, pa, ba, fa, va, tha (the th hard, as in thin), tha (the th soft, as in thine), ta, da, ka, ga (the g as in gun), sa, za, sha, za (the z as in azure). Then make the same Consonant combinations with the short ă in fut, the long à in fate, the broad a in fall, the long e in mete, and the other Vowel sounds, simple and compound, according to their order in the Table.

106. As a next exercise, the Vowel sound may be made to precede the