PHONIC ANALYSIS.

LESSON I.

AN ELEMENTARY SOUND is produced, from its beginning to its close, without any change in the position of the organs of speech.

In pronouncing the word feet, we produce three elementary sounds, sounds that cannot be divided. The first, which we call "the sound of f," is formed by continuous blowing while the lower lip is placed lightly against the edges of the upper front teeth; the second, which is called "long e," is produced by singing, while the tongue, slightly advanced, and curved so as to be highest in the middle, is raised nearly to the roof of the mouth; and the "sound of t" is formed by first pressing the end of the tongue against the inner gums of the upper front teeth, compressing the breath above it, and then suddenly allowing the forced breath to escape in a slight gust.

Pronounce each of the following words, and then utter separately whichever of these three sounds it contains: cat, me, cuff, laugh, sheaf, sphere, tea, eat, reefed.

Which of the three, if any, do you hear when you pronounce of? bed? beak? team? tot? thee? thank? elk? enough?

What four ways do you observe of representing the sound of f, in sheaf, cuff, laugh, sphere? Name three other words to illustrate each of these four ways. In what two ways is the sound of t represented in eat and

LESSON II.

reefed?

Pronounce mete, mead, meed, bier, seize, pique, key, pæan. In each of these words is heard the sound of long e; yet no two of the modes of representing it are alike. This sound is

usually represented in the keys to English spelling-books and dictionaries by e. [The short horizontal mark over the e is called a macron.] We will use è whenever we wish to represent this sound; and these eight words will, in our mode of representing, be written thus: mēt, mēd, mēd, bēr, sēz, pēk, kē, pēan. When we write one character for each sound, and for a given sound always the same character, the mode of indicating is called phonetic, phonographic, phonic, or phonotypic all from the Greek phone, meaning sound.

Pronounce the following: bek, mēl, rēm, werd, sēm, stēl, grēt, sfēr, bēlēv. What silent letter is here omitted in writing each of the first four words? In what two ways is the fifth spelled? The sixth?

DIRECTION. When asked to represent a word containing a sound which at that stage of these instructions has not been mentioned, or in respect to writing which no directions have been given, use, in indicating that sound, the letter (or letters) representing it in the given word as printed, being careful to omit every silent letter.

Represent, by well-formed written characters, all the sounds in breeze, leer, sphere, bier, ream, geese, least, sweet, meat, glebe.

LESSON III.

If, while the lip and teeth are placed as described, in Lesson I., for forming the sound of f, a tone, or singing sound, be given, the sound of v is formed. Try it. F and v, then, represent two sounds between which there is a resemblance; these are called cognate sounds (twin-born sounds).

T and d are also called cognate. If, while the tongue is in place to form t, you make a singing sound (allowing_no ringing within the nose), you produce the sound of d. Describe very carefully the difference you observe between speaking the word teem and the word deem. Raise the chin, and, while uttering the sound of d, let the thumb and fingers of one hand press firmly against the upper part of the throat, just beneath the roots of the tongue. Maintaining the same position, sound t; you merely impel the breath; to utter d, the breath is made to give forth a semi-musical sound. Such a sound is called resonant, sonant, intoned, or vocal; and the breath is said to be vocalized. Elements

wanting in resonance, as t and f, are called non-sonant, aspirate, toneless, or atonic.

In the word date are three sounds. The second of these is made with a more open tube than e, the tongue being kept farther from the roof of the mouth. This sound is called "long a." Represent it by a. Pronounce aim, ā; bake, ā.

Utter distinctly each sound in evade, feet, fade, date. [This is an exercise in Oral Phonic Analysis.] Pronounce each word clearly both before and after analyzing it.

Represent tame, bale, deal, sleep, vain, steal, lief, trade, plate, heal. [This is an exercise in Written Phonic Analysis.]

LESSON IV.

The sound of p is formed by compressing the lips, forcing the breath against them, then suddenly bursting them apart, and emitting the breath. The sounds of b and p are cognate. Practice with bale and pale as you did with deem and teem. While attempting to form the sound of b, no resonance should be allowed in the nose.

Pronounce ah. This is, perhaps, the very finest sound in the language. Learn to form it with exactness and fullness, the tongue in its natural position, and the opening of the mouth enlarged from side to side. Do not fear to say ah, star; ah, calm; ah, father; ah, half. This is "Italian a." Represent it by ä.

A sound almost as fine and full as ä, is heard in the words awe, nor, gall, morn;-the tongue in the same position as for a, but the opening of the mouth narrower from side to side. Call this "broad o," and represent it by ô. Pronounce six words containing the sound ä; six containing ô. Distinguish with perfect clearness between farm and form; also between morn and mourn.

Sound ẽ, ā, ä, ô, p, b, t, d, f, v.

Analyze be, paid, tape, beef, bought, taught.

Represent ball [write but one : you hear but one], barn [single r is never silent], mark, stall, palm, flaw, snarl, half, peat, braid.

LESSON V.

When each character used in writing English words is uniformly employed to indicate the same sound, we have no

use for c, q, and x. Study the following forms, and prepare to tell what three values c may represent; what one, q; what two, x: kat, sirkle, sakrifize, kuill, foks, egzakt. C, when followed by h, as in chin, and when followed by e or i, as in the syllables cion, cean, appears to have still other uses; yet, even in these cases, it has no sound exclusively its own. X, as an initial, has also the sound of z, as in Xerxes, xebee, xyster.

Represent "long o," as in zone, by ō, and "long oo," as in moon, prove, by ọ. In sounding o, contract the opening of the mouth as much as possible, and thrust the lips forward and upward: do not depress the upper lip.

Pronounce moose, o; school, o; o, prove, moon, soon, root. room, broom, hoop. Sound e, o, ā, ô, ä, ō.

Analyze deep, boot, vote, food, paid, bead.

Represent awl, tomb, talk, root, mourn, morn, haul, tour, balm, pork.

LESSON VI.

The sounds of s and z are cognate—the former breathed, the latter sonant. S is very often written, where the sound of z is to be given. A good reader will show a difference between trice and tries, price and pries, cease and seas, juice and Jews. The proper sound of s is a hiss, and (unless there is an intention to make the utterance harsh and disagreeable) this element should be made both light and brief, especially at the end of a word.

Sound promptly and forcibly e, ō, ä, ô, ọ, ã, ō, ä, o̟, ẽ, s, z, p, b, t, d, f, v.

Pronounce each word containing an s, in Lesson III., p. 78, and tell whether the s is sonant or non-sonant. The words rush and Bishop may be omitted.

Represent behoof, spoon, know, bark, stone, paws [in writing z, make it on the line, like a printed Italic z], pause, ace, maize, psalms, bestow, seas, cease, half.

LESSON VII.

The elementary sounds of the language are usually divided into two grand classes, vowels and consonants. A vowel is made through a more open position of the organs than that through which a consonant is produced. Its quality is therefore purer. A vowel, as its name implies, is a perfect vocal;

while even the most musical of the consonants, such as are intoned, are only sub-vocal.

Sound each of the following elements, and tell whether it is a vowel or a consonant, and why: b, v, ẽ, f, ọ, ä, z, d, ô.

Which two of the foregoing vowels are produced with a less open position of the organs than the other two? [The partial closing of the tube may be caused by the tongue as well as by the lips.] Which two, then, are less strictly vowel in their character?

If you have fixed correctly upon the two imperfect vowels, and have learned to form them well, you may be pleased to notice the effect of pronouncing the word on after each. Do it, in each case, with one impulse of voice; that is, pass from the imperfect vowel to the word on without the least pause: what do you observe? With one impulse, utter the two vowels oa: what do you hear? In like manner examine eo.

We have called four of the six vowels already given, long; but ä and ô are as long as the others. In uttering a syllable containing any one of the six, the vowel is not likely to be dwelt upon too long, especially if under the accent. Pronounce complete', fa'tal, Hindoo', for'ward, grandee', mar'tial, Malay', mamma', daugh'ter, mo'ment, roam'er, home less.

Represent farce, force, drove, taste, bolt, bees, flows, leased, braced, phase, laugh, routine, lose, loose, born, borne, ought, east, sauce, steak.

LESSON VIII.

Pronounce at, et, it, ot, ut. Now do it slowly and without looking at the syllables. Do this again, omitting the consonant. Practice until you can do it perfectly. You have now formed five short vowels, or, more properly, explosive vowels. These are commonly marked in dictionaries thus, ă, ě, Ĭ, ŏ, ù. We will omit the curve, or breve: let a (unmarked), in our notation, represent the vowel in at; e, that in ell; i, that in it; o, that in on; u, that in up. Remember that a, e, i, o, or u, left unmarked in our written exercises, represents an abrupt vowel.

Analyze dust, top, sub, pit, vat, dost (u), fated, said, debt, sod, dot.

Represent fetlock, arrow [one r], market, railroad, flood, horse, enough, artist, omit, form, arid, acid, bailiff, sophist, trophy (i), prophet, laughed, emblems, porous, love.