HON. THEODORE FRELINGHUYSEN.-Vice-President.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.

ROBERT DONALDSON, HENRY D. CRUGER, JAMES LENOX SAMUEL B. RUGGLES, ROBERT RAY.

TOWN'S SPELLING AND DEFINING BOOK.

TOWN'S READER, No. 1.

TOWN'S READER, No. 2.

TOWN'S READER, No. 3.

TOWN'S READER, No. 4.

TOWN'S ANALYSIS OF WORDS, BY SUFFIXES AND PREFIXES, Affording Classical advantages to the English scholar

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the Clerk's Office of the Supreme Court of the United States, for the Northern Distric f New York, 1843 by Salem Town.

3

PREFACE.

IN presenting to the Public a new elementary work, for the use of Schools, the Author feels bound, briefly to assign the reasons which have prompted him to an undertaking, that might, at first view, appear to be superfluous. These reasons, he trusts, will be deemed sufficiently valid, to free him from the imputation of having engaged in a service uncalled for.

The principle, which he considers as lying at the foundation of all good teaching, is, that a child being taught, both to read and to spell, should be taught, at the same time, to understand what he reads and spells. It is this principle, which has suggested the plan of the present work. He would not deny, that some advantages may accrue from the mere mechanical exercise of spelling, and storing the memory with words which, as yet, convey no sense. He is ready to admit, that it is better for the mind to be thus furnished, than not to be furnished at all; but as words are the signs of ideas, and the ultimate object of acquiring words is, to acquire ideas, and a medium of imparting them to others, it is not easy to say, why this end should not be kept in view, through every stage of the learner's progress.

All the spelling books now in use, follow out the same uniform plan, of arranging words according to their sounds and syllables, irrespective of their import. On that plan, ey are generally well executed, and would admit of little unprovement.

But if the above principle be well founded, something is still requisite, beyond a mere judicious arrangement and correct orthography, to answer the grand purposes of elementary instruction. It is plain, that as far as practicable, the knowledge of the sign, and of the thing signified, should be) acquired together, inasmuch as both are to hold an inseparable connection in the mind.

OF LANGUAGE, ITS ELEMENTS AND

FORMATION.

The human voice is an audible sound, made by the organs of speech.

The main organs of speech, are the tongue, teeth, palate, and lips, aided by the breath.

Speech is the faculty of uttering articulate sounds.

Articulate sounds are the distinct utterance of letters, syllables, or words.

Language is a medium by which we receive, and impart ideas.

Language was spoken, long before it was written.

Spoken language is a combination of articulate sounds, denoting ideas, or things.

Letters are characters presented to the eye, in a written language, to indicate the variety of sounds, heard in a spo ken language.

Written language is a combination of words, used by common consent, for signs of ideas.

The letters in the English language are twenty-six, and are called the English Alphabet. (See page 11th.)

Each letter, except h, represents one, or more distinct sounds.

These seven double letters, ch, gh, ng, ph, sc, sh, and th, denote simple, or compound sounds.

The alphabet is divided into vowels and consonants.

A vowel is a letter that can be sounded alone, as a, e, o; which are pure vowels. i and u are vowels, or have the power of diphthongs. w and y are vowels, or consonants. A diphthong is the union of two vowels in the same syllable, both of which are sounded, as oil. (See page 16th.)

A digraph is the union of two vowels in the same syllable, only one of which is sounded, as bread. (See page 16th.)

A triphthong is the union of three vowels in the same syllable, two of which are mute, as in adieu.

A consonant cannot be sounded alone. b, makes be.

Consonants are divided into mutes, semi-vowels, and liquids.

A mute emits no sound without a vowel. They are b, d, k, p, q, t, and c and g hard. Semi-vowels emit a slight sound alone. 1, m, n, r, s, v, x, z, ch, sh, th, and c and

They are f, h, j,

g soft.

A liquid easily unites with a mute. They are, 1, m, n, r. Those consonants whose sounds mainly depend on the lips, are called labials, as b, f, m, p, v, w.

Those whose sounds depend on the teeth, are called dentals, as j, s, z, ch, sh, and end ge soft.

Those whose sounds depend on the tongue, are called linguals, as k, q, x, ng, c and hard.

Letters form syllables, syllables form words, words form sentences, and sentences form language, written, or spoken. A syllable is one letter, as a, or a union of letters, as man.

No syllable can be formed without a vowel, or diphthong. Orthography treats of the power of letters, and teaches how to write, or spell words correctly.

Orthoepy teaches the correct pronunciation of words.

Spelling is correctly naming the proper letters of a word, in the order of the syllables.

Monosyllables are words of one syllable.
Dissyllables are words of two syllables.

Trisyllables are words of three syllables.

Polysyllables are words of four or more syllables. Accent is a more forcible stress of voice, on some particular syllable in all words, having more syllables than one. When the accent falls on a vowel, the sound of that vowel is long, as hō-ly.

When the accent falls on a consonant, the preceding vowel is short, as man'-ner.

Accent is primary, or full; secondary, or slight, as on the word, ad"-ver-sa'-ry.

Words are primitive, as man, or derivative, as manly. Words are simple, as horse, or compound, as horse-shoe. A sentence is such a combination of words, as being read in connection, makes good sense. The close of such a sentence is marked by a period.