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THE FIFTH READER.

ARTICULATION.

Articulation is the utterance of the various vocal sounds represented by letters, and combinations of letters, in syllables.

A Vowel is a letter which represents a free and uninterrupted sound of the human voice.

A Consonant is a letter which cannot be sounded, or but imperfectly, without the aid of a vowel.

A Letter is not itself a sound, but only the sign of a sound. The whole number of English sounds, which, for convenience, may be classed as "Elementary," or essentially simple, is forty-four. They are those indicated in the following tables of vowels and consonants (in large type); also, that of A long before R, and A intermediate. Some of these, however, are by some authors regarded as compound sounds.

Some of the letters represent several elementary sounds, and an elementary sound is sometimes represented by more than one letter.

An Equivalent is a letter, or a combination of letters, used to represent an elementary sound more appropriately represented by another letter or letters.

The equivalents given in the following tables are those of most common occurrence.

TABLE OF VOWEL SOUNDS.

This table is designed for an exercise upon the vowel elements. These should be pronounced alone as well as in combination with the words given as examples. Let the class first pronounce the table in order, thus: A long, Fate, ā; A short, Fat, ǎ, &c.; then pronounce the column of elements alone. Remarks on the sounds of the letters will be found on page 1; also, under the Exercises on the vowel and the consonant sounds.

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The following vowel sounds cannot be easily pronounced alone, as distinct elements, so as to be distinguished from some of the other sounds. See re marks on a long before r, a intermediate, and on the obscure sounds, page 5.

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EXAMPLES.

Fast, branch.

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Fåre, páir. I slight or obscure. Rujn, ability.
O slight or obscure. Actor, confess
U slight or obscure. Sulphur famous
Y slight or obscure. Truly, envy.

Liar, palace.
Hêir, thêre.

Brier, fuel.

TABLE OF CONSONANT SOUNDS.

This table should be treated by the class in the same manner as the table of vowel sounds. The sound of a consonant may be ascertained by pronouncing a word containing it in a slow and forcible manner.

Vocal Consonants are those uttered with a slight degree of vocality, but less than that of a vowel. They are formed with a vibration of the vocal chords. Aspirate Consonants are those in which the pure breath alone is heard They are formed without any vibration of the vocal chords.

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Q has the sound of k, and is always followed by u, which, in this position, com monly has the sound of w, but is sometimes silent.

WH is an aspirated w, pronounced as if written hw.

1 Sometimes called Subvocals, or Subtonics.

2 H sounded before a vowel, is an expulsion of the breath after the organs are in a position to sound the vowel.

EXERCISES ON THE VOWEL SOUNDS.

In pronouncing the words in the following exercises, special attention should be given to the precise sound of the letters Italicized. The sounds of the let ters in Italics are the same as the sound of the vowel at the head of the paragraph.

a, long, as in fäte. — Blame, sail, obey, cambric, ancient, vein, weigh, patron, lava, patriot.

a, short, as in făt. - Bad, had, can, cannon, fancy, plaid, have, scath, inhabit, companion, national.

a, Italian, as in fär.- Are, guitar, mart, alarm, father,

heart, hearth, guard, daunt, haunt, gauntlet, jaundice. a, broad, as in fall; and o, as in nor.- Ball, tall, form, storm, salt, ought, fought, auger, awful, water, author, always, cause, lawyer, balsam, bauble.

a1, as in fare, and e, as in thêre. - Dare, rare, pair, air, share, bear, snare, where, heir, stare, pare.

a 2, as in fast. -Blast, chance, trance, branch, grasp, graft, grant, grass, class, mastiff, pasture, plaster, chancellor. e, long, as in mēte; and i, as in marine. - Theme, scene, ravine, pique, key, fiend, grieve, treaty, Caesar, critique, belief, receive, receipt, quay, lenient, inherent.

e, short, as in mět.— Bed, bread, tepid, said, says, friend, leopard, preface, heroism, heifer, again, realm, maný, any, get, yes, chest, beneficent.

i, long, as in pine; and y, as in by. - Vine, child, fly, height, type, isle, buy, satiety, guide, guile, flight, ally, apply, tiny, sinecure.

i, short, as in pin, and y, as in myth.-Prince, quince, lyric, servile, agile, busy, business, sieve, cygnet, cynic, cylinder, Italian, tribune,

0, long, as in note.- Dome, glory, more, both, oath, foe, dough, glow, yeoman, beau, coeval, encroach.

03, short, as in not. - Rob, sob, dot, got, was, wand, watch, from, prompt, prospect, fossil, docile.

e, long and close, as in move; and u, as in rule.- Prove, lose, mood, moon, root, remove, smooth, rude, rural, fruitless, truant, prudent, brutal.

u, long, as in tube; and ew, as in new.-Tune, fuse, duty, few, pew, pursuit, endure, beautiful, revolution.

u, short, as in tub; and o, as in son.- Tun, fun, such, clutch, dove, does, rough, son, ton, tongue, nothing. u, middle, as in fûll.—Bush, push, would, should, wolf, pulpit, cushion, cuckoo, wool, woollen, foot, book. u, short and obtuse, as in für; e, as in hër; i, as in fïr; and y, as in myrrh. - Burn, murmur, further, herd, fern, person, merge, mercy, sir, bird, virtue, dirk, dirt, mirth, myrrh, myrtle, syrtis.

oi, as in voice, and oy, as in böğ.— Coil, void, coin, joint, joist, employ, rejoice, embroil, foible, oyster.

ou, as in söûnd; and ow, as in now. - Pound, proud,

brown, town, doubt, devout, plough, trout, vowel, around.

1 The sound of a marked thus [a] is that of long a qualified by being followed by the letter r. Some orthoepists regard it as short e prolonged. The common pronunciation of this class of words, in some parts of the United States, is, to give the vowel before r the sound of short a, prolonged, but this pronunciation is not sanctioned by the dictionaries.

2 This sound is an intermediate one between that of a in fat and a in far. It is found in a class of words, mostly monosyllables, ending in aff, aft, ass, ast, ask, asp, with a few in ance and ant. Among different speakers the quality of this sound ranges through every practical shade, from a in fat to a in far.

There is a class of words ending in f, ft, ss, st, and th, in which o is marked, in most pronouncing dictionaries, with the short sound, though some orthoepists give it the sound of a broad in fall; as, off, often, offer, coffee, scoff, aloft, soft, cross, loss, toss, cost, frost, lost, broth, cloth, cough, trough, &c. To these may be added gone and begone, and also some words ending in ng ; as, long, along, prong, song, strong, thong, wrong. A medium between short o and broad a is, perhaps, the practice of the best speakers.

VOWEL SOUNDS IN UNACCENTED SYLLABLES.

Vowels marked with a dot underneath, thus (a, e, i, o, u, y), are found so marked only in syllables which are not accented, and which are slightly or hastily articulated.

This mark indicates a slight stress of voice in uttering the appropriate sound of the vowel, rather than to note any particular quality of sound. In a majority of cases this mark may be regarded as indicating an indistinct short sound, as

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