The Rudiments of the English Language, arranged in Catechetical Order; DESIGNED TO TEACH THE ORTHOGRAPHY AND ORTHOEPY OF J. WALKER. BY LYMAN COBB, Author of THE JUVENILE READERS, SCHOOL DICTIONARY, EXPOSITOR, Examine thoroughly and impartially, then judge. REVISED EDITION. ITHACA, N. Y. PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY MACK, ANDRUS & WOODRUFF. 1842. Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1939 oy Lyman Cobb in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the Southern district of New-York. KNOWLEDGE and FAME are gained not by surprise THE great and prominent objects of a Spelling-Book should be to aid the pupil in learning to spell, pronounce, and read the language with ease, accuracy, and precision. To effect this most important object, a Spelling-Book should contain all, or nearly all, the most common and useful words of the language, properly classed. divided, pronounced, and accented, exhibiting throughout the different spelling lessons all the varieties of vowel and consonant sounds in the language, with their peculiarities accurately and minutely pointed out and explained. This Spelling-Book contains about twice as many words in the different spelling lessons as any other, and nearly every primitive common word in the language. The great advantage of having a large and copious number of words in a Spelling. Book is, that nine tenths, if not all, the children of our country obtain all their knowledge of orthography from the SPELLING-BOOK only; for, when they leave that book they attend to higher, though not more important studies, and almost invariably neglect spelling. Children scarcely ever consult a Dictionary for the orthogra phy of a word but for its pronunciation and definition only; and hence the actual necessity of extensive and well selected classes of words in a Spelling-Book. Perhaps there is no branch of education by which the learned and illiterate are so readily and so generally distinguished, as that of spelling. So universal is the con:lemuation of bad spelling, among all classes of citizens, whether professional. mercantile, or mechanical, that no person, it is believed, can be found who would be wall.ag to be ide tified with it. The subject of orthography, therefore, is of primary importance in the education of children, and should engage the attention of parents, and all teachers more especially, since it may fairly be assumed that one third of the whole time spent in acquiring a useful education, is devoted to this particular branch. The Author of this work is fully aware that many men of education and influence, consider the Spelling-Book as an unimportant volume, beneath their critical notice; and that the impression too generally prevails, that it is of but little consequence what book is first placed in the hands of the pupil. It is certain. ly of great importance that a correct and uniform system of language should be adopted in our country; and how is this to be done, if a correct foundation be not laid in the earliest stages of education? The great importance of classification is not properly understood or appreciated by many teachers. Spelling is learned only by a repetition of the letters which compose a word until the association of them is impressed upon the mind; and. without this class fication the words, which are pronounced so very differently from their orthography, and, of course, require a greater repetition to impress the association of the letters upon the mind, can not be so repeated to advantage. By association and classification we learn every thing; as the way from one place to another, by associating in the mind the objects which we pass: the appearance of a Man's countenance brings things and circunstances to the mind which were associated with the countenance, and which had not been thought of from the time the countenance was seen, on a former occasion, until it is seen again. So i Spelling We learn the orthography of a word by repeating the letters in connexion with their sounds, until their orthography, whether regular or ir egular, is thoroughly inpressed upon the mind. By the use of a book in which the words are properly classed, the teacher can drill'or exercise his scholars on the classes of words of difficult orthography longer than on those which are of easy orthography. systematick classification in spelling can not fail to aid the scholar in learning to read or enunciate readily." A The improvements in the classif.cation of the words in Spelling-Books, like all other improvements, have been progressive. Thus, for instance; in the first at tempt of this kind the words were classed with regard to the number of letters in a word, if a monosyllable, or to the number of syllables in each word, if a dissylla ble, trisyllable, or polysyllable, without any regard to the vowel or conso ant sounds: in the second attempt the words were classed with regard to the vowel sounds but no regard was paid the peculiar consonant sounds: and in the third attempt the word, are classed with regard not only to their accentuation, number of syllabies, and vowel sounds, but also with regard to their consonant sounds. Hence it will he readily seen that in the order of improvements in Spelling-Books, the book in which all the varieties of vowel and consonant sounds are the most minutely and accurately classed and noted is the best book. See note to Teachers, page 17. In the CLASSIFICATION of the different spelling lessons in the following work, great pains have been taken; and, the several lessons are so arranged throughout the book that the scholar will be led on gradually from easy to difficult spelling, in striet accordance with his natural progress and expanding capacities. The Rudiments of the Language, or Principles of Pronunciation, are given, and all the peculiar vowel and consonant sounds are noted, and the reasons for each consonant sound, or its silence, are clearly and minutely pointed out. The form of question and answer has been adopted that the scholar may easily coinmit them to memory. The Alphabet is analytically arranged in lessons, so that a part of the letters may be learned at once, and that the practice of teaching the letters by course, all at one lesson, be abandoned. The words in the different spelling lessons are in alphabetical arrangement from one figure to the next, which, as a reference to orthography and pronunciation, answers the same purpose as a Dictionary, for any one who is acquainted with the classification of the different spelling lessons in the book. The Lessons from page 20 to 37, inclusive, comprise words of one, two, three, and four syllables, and which are easily spelled and pronounced from their containing only the long and short sounds of the vowels, without s.lent letters, or words which are subject to different pronunciation or accentuation, or words pronounced alike but spelled differently. The Lessons from page 38 to 81, inclusive, contain words of one, two, three, and four syllables, comprising all the varieties of the vowel sounds, and silent letters, but no words subject to different pronunciation or accentuation, as bow, conduct, &c. or words spelled differently and pronounced alike, as ale, ail, &c. Such words are all classed in the fifty-eighth chapter, pages 129, 130, &c., where their distinctive definitions are given; whereas, in other books, these words are promiseuously intermingled with other words throughout the book, causing great per plexity and embarrassment, both to scholar and teacher. The Lessons from page 83 to 123, inclusive, contain words comprising all the varieties of the consonant and vowel sounds, so classed that the learner will be led on gradually from easy to the more difficult combinations of letters. Those words in which cious, tious, sion, tion, ciate, tiate, &c. occur, are separately classed, whereby the perplexity and uncertainty, arising from a promiscuous classification, as in other books, are avoided. The same may be said of that class of words which are subject to different accentuation or pronunciation, ard those which are spelled differently and pronounced alike, and which in other works are intermingled throughout the various lessons; but which in this are classed, as on pages 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133. &c., with their distinctive definitions. These lessons are also larger than those contained in any other Spelling-Book. There are many consonant sounds classed and noted in this book, not noted in any previous Spelimg-Book. All the words of the spelling lessons are so arranged in classes, that the pronunciation of each word can be readily known and learned; and no word is in a wrong lesson, or uselessly repeated. Words, which are irregular in their pronunciation, or do not belong in any of the preceding classes, containing two or more peculiar consonant sounds, are thrown together, with their pronunciation spelled, on pages 138, 139, 140, 141, and 142. Words which are pronounced in an improper and vulgar manner, on pages 143, 144, and 145. Words often spelled incorrectly, on page 145. The Pauses and Marks are explained more fully than usual, and in question and answer, that they may more easily be committed to memory, and their uses and application known, on pages 149, 150, and 151. The names of Places, Persons, and Scripture Proper Names, with their pronunciation noted, on pages 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159,160, 161, 162, 163, and 164. The correctness and utility of this work are submitted to the candour of teachers and parents, believing that a fair and impartial comparison with other Spelling. Books, can not fail to secure to it a decided preference. New York, April 13, 1835. LYMAN COBB. RUDIMENTS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. Q. What is Language? A. Language, in an unlimited sense, indicates all sounds or characters, by which one person declares his ideas or thoughts so as to be understood by another. Language is both vocal and written. Q. What is vocal Language? A. It is the expression of ideas by the human voice, called articulate sounds. Q. What is an articulate sound? A. It is an emission of the human voice, formed by the organs of speech, in pronouncing letters, syllables, and words, and constituting the vocal Language, which is addressed to the ear. Q. What are letters? A. Letters are the marks of sounds, and the rudiments of wri ten Language which are presented to the eye. Q. What is written Language? A. It is composed of letters, syllables, and words, which represent articulate sounds. Q. How many letters are there in the English Language? A. Twenty-six ; namely, A a, b b, C c, D d, Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, J j, K k, L l, M m, Nn, O o,P p, Ss, Tt, Uu, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z. Q q, Rr. Q. What are these letters called, when taken together? A. The English Alphabet. Q. How is the Alphabet divided? A. Into vowels and consonants. Q. What is a vowel? A. It is a simple articulate sound that can be perfectly uttered by itself, without the assistance of any other letter, as a, e, o. Q. What is a consonant? A. It is a letter which cannot be fully sounded without the help of a vowel; as b, c, d, which are expressed be, ce, de. Q. Which are the vowels? A. A, e, i, o, u. W is a vowel when it is immediately ceded by a, e, or o, in the same syllable. Y is always eaowel when it is in the middle or at the end of a syllable, |