Word-book of English Spelling, Oral and Written: Designed to Attain Practical Results in the Acquisition of the Ordinary English Vocabulary, and to Serve as an Introduction to Word-analysisLearning to spell the Englis language correctly is the most difficult task of school life. Hence correct spelling is rightly regarded as a sign of culture and bad spelling as indicating a lack of it. Orthography cannot be taught in twelve easy lessons : it can be acquired only by hard study. The Word-Book is neither a 'primary speller' nor a dictionary. It omits the alphabet and the "ab ab's" on the one hand, and on the other, quite a number of sesquipedalian words common to all old-time 'spelling books.' Spelling is the leading idea ; but at the same time a foundation is laid for the subsequent study of words and of language |
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Common terms and phrases
adjective ance ba na ben e byss cate ceit ceive chro cial cian cious daugh duc tion duce edst thou ence fore hood ive ion ize+ation Latin Lesson ling means ment na mon Nouns Oral Exercise Oral Spelling pher pict Prefixes Pronunciation and Oral ra phy rence ship short sound signifies sion sive struct suffix syllable tain tance tence ther thor tious tive trib tron tude vent verbs vict ual vise vowel ward wig wam Words relating Written Exercise Written Spelling zard
Popular passages
Page 60 - An indictment is a written accusation of one or more persons of a crime or misdemeanor, preferred to, and presented upon oath by, a grand jury.
Page 116 - Monosyllables, and words accented on the last syllable, -when they end with a single consonant preceded by a single vowel, or by a vowel after qu...
Page 116 - NO DOUBLING. A final consonant, when it is not preceded by a single vowel, or when the accent is not on the last syllable, should remain single before an additional syllable : as, toil, toiling ; visit, visited ; general, generalize.
Page 60 - ... presented upon oath by a grand jury. Antipodes are those situated on that part of the globe diametrically opposite to us. A real circular motion is always accompanied with a centrifugal motion. We must not swallow down opinions as silly people do an empiric's pills, without knowing what they are made of. A fastidious individual affects or arrogates superior taste and discernment. The Emperor Julian himself, that most bitter adversary of Christianity, who had openly apostatized from it, did not...
Page 95 - The bearing down of a ship to one side. tack'ing Changing the course of a ship by shifting the position of the sails. found' er ing The sinking of a ship.
Page 115 - ... ible = forcible; obscure + ity = obscurity. Exception 1. — Words ending in ge or ce usually retain the e before a suffix beginning with a...
Page 115 - The e is retained in a few words to prevent their being confounded with similar words, as singe + ing = singeing, to prevent its being confounded with singing. RULE II. — Final e followed by a consonant.
Page 74 - PAR (Latin, equal) is used to denote a state of equality or equal value. Bills of exchange, stocks, &c., are at par when they sell for their nominal value; above par or below par when they sell for more or less.
Page 115 - The final y of a primitive word, when preceded by a consonant, is changed into i before an additional termination : as, merry, merrier, merriest, merrily, merriment ; pity, pitied, pities, pitiest, pitiless, pitiful, pitiable.
Page 20 - Other sounds spelled -«'-: counterfeit, foreign, height, heir. Doubling the Final Consonant Double the final consonant before a suffix beginning with a vowel (-able, -ed, -er, -ing) with ( 1 ) words of one syllable ending in a single consonant after a single vowel (brag, hit, sit) and (2) with words of more than one syllable, ending the same way and accented on the last syllable (commit, forget, prefer). One-syllable words Words of more than one syllable The consonant is not doubled ( 1 ) in words...