Italian: lagoon, macaroni, miniature, opera, solo, volcano. Spanish alligator, cork, mosquito, negro, sherry, tornado. Turkish horde, turquoise.

Copy the following words, then look up in an unabridged dictionary the pronunciation and the derivation of each. Mark the syllable where the accent falls, and write after the word the name of the language from

CHAPTER II

ORAL ENGLISH

Enunciation, Clearness. If we expect to make other people understand what we say, we must speak distinctly enough to allow them to hear every syllable we utter. Every one is familiar with the persons who talk rapidly, cutting off final letters. and syllables, slurring sounds, and destroying the beauty of the English language. This carelessness is due sometimes to mere physical indolence, sometimes to a foolish desire to avoid being affected in speech. Listen attentively to the people about you and decide which ones speak clearly, slowly, carefully and which ones do not, which are the people whose speech is attractive, who are always welcome as guests because they are able to talk in an entertaining, interesting way. How many times a day do you have to ask somebody to repeat what he has said? Clearness, exactness, precision in speaking help us to express our wishes and our thoughts quickly and well. The person who plays golf or tennis or hockey well, prides himself upon having a swift, clean, sure stroke, without fumbling. So, in speaking we ought not to fumble.

GENERAL SUGGESTIONS ABOUT ENUNCIATION

Do not turn v into f; e.g. have is not haf.
Final g should always be sounded distinctly.
Do not turn o into e; e.g. for is not fer.

Do not turn other vowels into u; e.g. American is not
Amurican, promise is not promuse.

Do not turn t or d followed by e, i, u, or y into ch or j; did you is not properly dijew, won't you is not properly wonchew, nature is not properly nacher.

Do not ignore r in a word; harbor is not properly habah, director is not properly directah.

Do not add r to words when it does not belong; idea is not properly idear, to is not properly ter.

Do not run words together, slurring the final syllables; what for is not properly whaffer, do you like it is not properly julikit, if you please is not properly fuplease, let me is not properly lemme.

Do not omit syllables; solidify is not slidfy, laboratory is not labratory, history is not histry, certificate is not stifkit, separate is not seprate.

Training the Voice. Clearness is the first need in enunciation, but after a person has acquired that he should seek to make his speech as agreeable as possible by avoiding harsh sounds and by speaking pleasantly. The voice is a wonderful index of the character and disposition. A person who is cross and sulky is recognized by thoughtful persons, who hear the querulous notes in his voice; the happy, cheerful person is known also. If you cultivate the better side of your nature your voice will soon reveal that fact. Of course it is not well to spend much time thinking about one's personal appearance or

one's accomplishments, but in this matter of the voice it is highly desirable for every one to discover whether or not he has a harsh, grating, unpleasant voice or any peculiarity which will prove annoying to other persons and interfere with his own happiness and success in life. Since it is a comparatively simple matter to overcome any little mannerisms, time and attention can well be spent upon adding to the sum of pleasure for other people. It often happens that a person loses a good position because he or she has such a "loud," or "shrill," or "unpleasant" voice.

Reading aloud is good practice, for it makes a person become accustomed to the sound of his own voice, frees him from self-consciousness, and gives him training in pronunciation of new words.

Pronunciation.-Pronunciation differs from enunciation, for while enunciation is concerned chiefly in getting sounds made clearly and strongly by our tongues and our throats, pronunciation is concerned with following accepted rules which tell us on what syllable a word is to be stressed, or accented, and which tell us when letters are silent, or when there are special exceptions to general rules. A foreigner may enunciate his words clearly, although he mispronounces them. The laws of pronunciation have been formed in the past, and we to-day obey these laws as they are exemplified in the speech of educated people, and as they are given in standard

dictionaries. Spelling has changed much since the Old English period. For example, the Old English word scip was probably pronounced as our word ship, and geoc as our yoke. Everybody knows that words are not pronounced as they are spelled, in English. We learn slowly the laws of pronunciation, and must constantly be adding to our knowledge. Nothing but hard work in memorizing will help us to attain correctness, to know the differences. between tough, cough, slough, though, to know when letters are silent as in mortgage, falcon, slaughter, to know all the various exceptions in our richly varied English speech. Form the habit of looking up the pronunciation of every new word you meet.

Dictionaries. We have so many good dictionaries that it is hard to choose among them. Webster's International Dictionary, The Century Dictionary, Worcester's Dictionary, A Standard Dictionary are American works that every student should know. They are written in collaboration by many scholars each of whom is an authority in some field of work. Every dictionary gives, at the foot of each page, a key to the pronunciation of all vowels and all consonants. Study this key very carefully.

The New English Dictionary (Murray's, or the Oxford Dictionary) is being published in England. It is the most scholarly dictionary ever printed, for it is more accurate and detailed in giving derivations and examples of usage, than others.