HE NATIONAL ST^KniRJ&| bliahedinthisCountryarebased ndardoftheEnglish igniage. BOOK, CHICAGO r\*d States of America and-its 1-rritoriee. AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY, NEW YORK •:• CINCINNATI •:• CHICAGO. MOST POPULAR AND SUCCESSFUL SCHOOL BOOKS OFTHE DAY, AMONG WHICH AKE Barnes'sNswRearers. Appi.etons'StandardGeographies, Appleiovs' Ki.kmextaky Rzai>in« Charts. Stickney's Language Pen anb Picture GeOOBAPFICAL ReADEK. Series. HisioKicAi. Reader. Eclectic RevisedReadebk. SwINTon's KllfCATl'iSALWllRKS. Raknes's History orthe UnitedStates. Ray's Aritiimktics. RobinsonV Mathematics. Steele'sScienceText-Books. Webster'sSchool Dktsokajubb, Spb.ncehiajjSystemokPenmanship. HarknessV Latin Skisii.s. ADDRESS AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY, Publishers, New York, Cincinnati, Chicago^ the cfheape£t,the be^t, n and the mo£t extensively ujsed # Spelling book ever published. AMENERWIYOCRAKN•:• CINCINNATI •:• CHICAGO Tm ^ Hiixxiiiiiiixiixi xxxr ROBERT M. LESTER pittsboro road Chapel Hill, North Carolina lIHHXIIIIIIITTTTXTTTTTTj APPLETDNS' SCHOOL READERS, ByWMA.NDT.RMHEAAWBRRKJI.SBR,AIICLLLK.EODYF.,,F,AS.uAMp.'.Mt,.o.IfnSsSutcprh'uotcolto*of.rISnitas.trELulocoutciiusot,ni,oMnoC,.leYv;aelleandC.olOl.eg;e. CONSISTING OF FIVE BOOKS, SUPERBLY ILLUSTRATED. Although these books have been before thepublicbut a short time,they haveattainedanunprecedentedsuccessandpopularity. Duringthepastyear amillioncopieswereintroducedintotheschoolsofthecountry. Amongthe cOCiiattkiyle,saPnaadnt,de-rCSsatolan.t;,esND.naovJe.wn;puSosyrirntag,cutIshoee,wmaN;a.reYK.a:n;NsCealewsveYCloiartnykd,,,.BOMroho.io;okl;LyaWnhw,ereNelneicwneag,r,kK,Wa.JnesrVasase.;y; Logansport, Ind.; Racine, Wis.; and the States of Minnesota and South Carolina. Standard Supplementary Readers. Eflited by William Swinton and GeorgeR.Cathcart. SixNumbers. Entered,accordingtoActofCongress,intheyear1837,by EMILYW. ELLSWORTH,JULIA W. GOODRICH, ELIZA S.W. JONES, WILLIAM G. WEBSTER, and LOUISA WEBSTER, (survivingchildrenofthelateNoahWebster, LL.D.) IntheClerk'sOfficeoftheDistrict CourtoftheDistrictofConnecticut. Entered,accordingtoActofCongress,intheyear1857,by G. & C. MERRIAM, IntheClerk'sOfficeoftheDistrictCourtoftheDistrictofMassachusetts. Entered,accordingtoActofCongress,intherear1866,by G. & C. MERRIAM, DatheClerk'sOfficeoftheDistrictCourtoftheDistrictofMassachusetts, Copyright, By GEORGE AND CHARLES MERRIAM, 1880. AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY'S EducationalList embracesstandard works in everydepartment of study, and for every grade of classes from the primary school to the University. Correspondencefrom teachers, in re- gard to educational topics or text-looTcs, will meet at all times with a cordial welcome and a prompt response. Catalogues, circulars, etc, mailedfree to teachers icho will send us their P. 0. address. AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY, New York, Cincinnati, Chicago mTi? k g J PREFACE IN this revision of the Elementary SpellingBook, the chief objectaimedatistobringitsnotationintoacorrespondence with that of the recently issued Quarto Dictionary,inwhich a more extended system of orthoepical markshasbeen adopted for the purpose of exhibiting the nicer discriminations of vowel sounds. A fewofthe Tables,however, and afew single columns ofwords,areleft without diacritical signs as exercises in notation, a familiarity with which is importantto all who consult the dictionary. A little attention to the Key to the Soundsofthe marlced Letterswill aid bothteacherand pupil in this interesting exercise. Asithasbeen found inconvenient to insert the whole Key at the top of the page, as heretofore, frequent reference to thefull explanationofthejointedletters on page 14 may be desirable. In Syllabication it has been thought best not to givethe etymological division of the Quarto Dictionary, but to retain the old mode of Dr. Webster as best calculated to teachyoung scholars the true pronunciation ofwords. The plan of classification here executed is extendedso as to comprehend everyimportant varietyofEnglish words,andthe classes are so arranged, with suitable directions for thepro- nunciation, that any pupil, who shall be master of these Ele- mentary Tables, will find little difficulty in learning to form and pronounce any words that properly belong to our ver- nacularlanguage. The Tables intended forExercises in Spelling and forming words, contain the original words, with the terminations only of their derivatives. These Tables will answerthe important purposes of teachingthe manner offorming the various deriv- atives, and the distinctions of the parts of speech, and thus: PREFACE. 6 anticipate, in some degree, the knowledge ofgrammar at the ; same time, they bring into a small compass a much greater number of words than could be otherwise comprised in so small a book. The 2^ronunciation here given is that which is sanctioned by the most general usage of educated people, both in the United States andinEngland. Thereare a fewwordsinboth countries whose pronunciation is not settledbeyond dispute. In cases of this kind, the Editor hasleanedto regular analo- gies as furnishingthe best rule ofdecision. In orthography there are some classes of words in which usage is not uniform. No two English writersagreeonthis subject; andwhatisworse,nolexicographeris consistentwith himself. In this book, as in Dr. Webster's dictionaries, that mode of spellinghasbeen adopted which is the most simple andbest authorized. TheEditor has followed the rules that areheld tobelegitimate, andhasrendered uniform allclasses of words fallingwithin them. Ifestablished rules and anal- ogieswillnotcontrol the practice of writers, there is no au- thority by which uniformitycanbeproduced. The reading lessons are adapted, as far as possible, to the capacities ofchildren, andto theirgradual progressinknowl- edge. These lessons wTill serve to substitute variety for the dullmonotony of spelling, show thepractical use of wordsin significant sentences, and thus enable the learner the better to understand them. The consideration of diversifying the studies of the pupil has also haditsinfluence inthe arrange- ment ofthe lessonsforspelling. Itis useful to teach children the signification of words, as soon as they can comprehend them but the understanding can hardlykeep pace with the ; memory, andthe minds of children mayw?ell beemployedin learning to spell and pronounce words whose significationis not within the reach of their capacities; for what they do not clearly comprehend at first, they will understand as their capacities are enlarged. The objects of awork of this kind being chiefly to teach orthography and pronunciation, it is judged most proper to adapt the various Tables to these specific objects, and omit_ extraneousmatter. In short, thislittle bookis so constructed | asto condenseinto the smallest compass a complete System : ; ; ; PREFACE. of Elements for teaching the language; andhowever small such a book mayappear,it may be considered as the most important class-book, not of a religious character, which the youth ofourcountry are destined to use. W. G. W. New York, 1866. PREFACE TO THE LATEST EDITION. The modifications in this revision (of 1880) are not of a character to embarrass those teachers who use the previous editionsin the sameclass. The principal changes whichhave beenmade are Inmany instances an improved form*oftype ; The substitution ofliving wordsin the place ofthose words which havebecome obsolete The omission of orthoepical markswhere they are clearly unnecessary, asexplainedbelow The correction ofafew errorsin pronunciation, etc., etc. The addition, at the end of the book, of four new pages of common wordsdifficult to spell. The repetition of the orthoepical mark has l^een omitted as needless in a succession of two or more words having the samevowe—lletter and sound. Insuchcasesonlythefirstword ismarked the marked syllable ofthis leadingwordbeingthe key to the corresponding unmarked syllables in the words which follow. But whenever there is a liability to mispro- nunciation, the right way is indicated by marking the doubt- ful syllable. March, 1880. THE ELEMENTARY ANALYSIS OF SOUNDS THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, I1V The Elementary Sounds of the English language are divided into two classes, vowels and conso- nants. A vowel is a clear sound made through, an open position ofthe mouth-channel, whichmoldsorshapes the voice without obstructing its utterance as a (in : far, in fate, etc.), e, o. A consonant is a sound formed by a closer position ofthe articulating organs than anyposition by which a vowel is formed, as b, d, t, g, sh. In formingacon- sonant the voice is qpmpressed or stopped. A diphthong is the union of two simple vowel sounds, as ou (ado) in out, oi (ai) in noise. The EnglishAlphabetconsistsoftwenty-sixletters, or single characters, which rep—resent vowel, conso- nant, and diphthongal sounds a. b, c, d, e, f, g, h, L |, k, 1, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t u, v.. w, x, y, z. ' The combinations ch, sh, th, and ng are also used to repre- sent elementary sounds; and another sound is ex- pressed by s, or z; as, in measure, azure, pronounced mezh'yoor, azh'ur. Of the foregoing letters, a, e, o, are always simple vowels; i and u are vowels (as in in, its), or diph- thongs (as in time, tune); and y is either a vowel (as in any), a diphthong (as in my), or a consonant (as in ye). Each of the vowels has its regular long and short soundswhicharemostused andalsocertainoccasional ; sounds, as that of a in last, far, care,fall, what; e in term, there, prey; i in firm, marine; o in dove, for, wolf prove; and u infarl,rude, and^w^. These will ; now be considered separately. A, Theregularlongsoundofaisdenotedbyahori- zontal mark over it; as, an'cient, pro-fane'; and the regular shortsoundbyacurve overit; as, cat,parVy. — ; SPELLING BOOK — Occasional sounds. The Italian s—ound is indicated bytwo dotsoverit; as, bar, fa'ther; the short sound o—fthe Italian a, by.a single dot over it; as, fast, last-; the—broad sound, by two dots below it; as, ball, stall; the short sound of br—oad a, by a single dot under it; as, what, quad'rant; the soundofabefore r in certain words like care, fair, etc., is represented by a sharp or pointed circumflex over the «, as, care, hair, fair, etc. E. The regular long sound of e is indicated by a horizontal mark over it; as, mete, se-rene'; the regu- lar short sound, by a—curve over it ; as, met, re-bel'. Occasionalsounds. The sound ofe like a in care is indicated by a pointed circumflex over the e, as in their, where; and of short e before r in cases where it verges toward short u, bya rounded circumflex, or wavy line, over it; as, her, pre-fer'. I, O, IT. Theregularlong and short soundsof% o, and u are indicated like those qf a and e by a hori- zontal mark and by a curve; as, bind, bin; dole, doll; tune, tun. — Occasional sounds. When i has the sound of long e it is—marked by two dots over it; as, fa-tigue', ma- rine'; when o has the sound ofshort,u,—it is marked by a single dot over it; as, dove, son; when it has the sound ofdo, i—t is marked with two dots under it; as, move, prove; when it has the sound of do, it is markedwithasingleclotunderit; as,wolf,wo'man; when it has the sound ofbroada,this is indicated by a—pointed circumflex over the vowel; as, north, sort the twolettersoo, with ahorizontal markover—them, havethe sound heardinthewordsboom, loom; with a curve mark, they hav—e a shorter form of the same sound; as, book, good ; when uis sounded likeshort 00, it has a single dot under it; as, full, pull; while its lengthened sound, as when preceded by r is indi- f cated by two dots; as in rude, ru'ral, ru'by. — Note. The long u in unaccented syllables has, to a great extent, the sound of oo, preceded by y, as in educate, pro- nounced ed'yoo-kiite; nature, pronouncednat'yoor. ; THE ELEMENTARY 10 Thelongsoundofain late,when shortened,coincides nearly with that ofein let; as, adequate, disconsolate, inveterate. The long e, when shortened, coincides nearly with the short i in pit (comparefeet andJit). Thisshortsound of i isthat ofy unaccented, atthe end ofwords; as, inglory. The short soundof broadainholly isthat of the shortoin holly, and ofainwhat. The shortsound of longoo in pool, is thatof u in pull, and ooin wool. The short sound of o in not, is somewhat lengthened before s, th, andM£7; asincross, broth, belong. The pronunciationof the diphthongs oi and oyisthe same anduniform; as, injoin,joy. Thepronunciation of the diphthongsouand owisthe same and uniform; as, in sound, now. But in the termination ous, ou is not a diphthong, and the pronunciation is us; as, in pious, glorious. A combinationof two lettersusedtoexpress asingle sound iscalleda digraph; as, eain head, orthinbath. The digraphsaianday, inwordsofone syllable, andinac- centedsyllables, havethe soundofalong. Inthe unaccented syllablesofafew words,the sound ofaisnearlyorquite lost; as,incertain,curtain. Thedigraphsauandaw,havethesound ofbroada (ainfall); ew, thatof%ilong, asin new; andey, in unaccentedsyllables,thatofyorishort, asinvalley. When onevowel of a digraph is marked, the otherhas no sound; as, incourt, road, slow. The digraphs ea, ee, ei, ie, when not marked,have, in this book, the sound of elong; as, innear, meet, seize, grieve. The digraph oa, when unmarked, hasthe soundofolong. Vowels, inwords of one syllable, followed bya single con- sonant and e final, arelong; as, infate, mete, mite, note, mute, unlessmarked, asindove, give. The articulations or sounds represented bythe consonants arebestapprehended byplacing avowel beforetheminpro- nunciation, and prolonging the second of the two elements thus, eb, ed, ef, eg, ek, el, em, en, ep, er, es, et, ev, ez. Those articulations which wholly stop the passage of the breath fromthe mouth, are called close, or mute, as b, d, g, k, p, t. Those articulations which are formed either wholly or in partbythe lips, are calledlabials; as, b, f, m, p, v. Those which are formed by the tip of the tongue andthe teeth, or the gum covering the roots of the teeth, are called dentals; as, d, t, th (asin thin, this). Thosewhich are formed by the flat surface of the tongue andthepalate, are called pdUttdU; as, g, k, ng, sh,j, y. The letters s andzarecalled also sibilants,orhissingletters.