EXPRESSIVE READING.

READING is either silent or oral.

Silent reading is the perusal of written or printed composition for the purpose of gaining the ideas and the emotions of the writer.

Oral reading is the correct vocal expression of the ideas and emotions of the writer so that they may be properly understood by the hearer

Either form of reading presupposes a knowledge of both spoken and written words. In acquiring this knowledge, the pupil must study words; he must be sure of their pronunciation as well as their meaning.

In the preparation of a reading lesson, the pupil is urged to make the dictionary his companion and to consult it whenever he meets with unknown words. This method of preparation should be persisted in until it becomes a fixed habit.

But the intelligent handling of a dictionary involves a knowledge of the phonetic elements of our language and of the symbols that represent them. To this end the Guide to Pronunciation should be thoroughly mastered. It will be found on the following pages. Drill on this "Guide" until the symbol suggests the appropriate sound, and the sound its correct symbol.

66

Tilde e
Long i

Circumflex u

Diphthong oi "

"ice, i Diphthong ou ""our, ou

MODIFIED LONG VOWELS: as in Sun'day, be hind',

i de'a, ō bey', û nite', hý e'na.

TABLE OF VOCAL EQUIVALENTS.

66

urge, û

" oil, oi

s or si, as in pleasure, measure, vision = sound of zh.

A vocal is an elementary sound made of pure voice or Letters that represent vocal sounds are called

tone.

vowels. What letters are vowels?

1. How many sounds are indicated in the "Table of Vocals"? Give each of the vocal sounds, and write its symbol.

2. How many sounds are represented by each of the vowels-a, e, i, o, u?

3. Why are the sounds of ỹ and y called equivalents? Name several other vocal sounds that are equivalents.

4. Name two diphthongs whose sounds are equivalents. 5. What is the difference between "long vowels" and "modified long vowels"? How are modified long vowels in unaccented syllables indicated?

CONSONANT SOUNDS.

Consonants (meaning sounded with) are so called because they are combined in utterance with vowel sounds. Consonants are divided into two classes, Subvocals and Aspirates.

A subvocal is an elementary sound made of voice and breath united, as sounds of b, d, m, n, etc.

An aspirate is an elementary sound made of pure breath, as the sounds of f, p, h, k, t, etc.

A common fault in the enunciation of consonant sounds is dwelling upon the sounds instead of completing them promptly. This is especially liable to occur when it is necessary to utter several such sounds in succession, as in promptly, faults, meddle, amidst, tenths, bursts, depth, puzzled, etc. In these and hundreds of other words the muscles of the lips and tongue must be called into vigorous action. Drills on words and sentences containing these combinations will give the vocal organs precision in their utterance.

PRONUNCIATION.

There is a natural tendency on the part of our vocal organs to modify certain elemental sounds, or substitute for them others that are more easily uttered. This tendency and our ignorance of the correct forms of spoken words, result in many inaccuracies of speech, some of which may be classified as follows:

I. The substitution of one sound for another, thus(1) by giving a its short sound instead of its long sound, as in Dān'ish, a'pri cot, pā'tron, grā'tis; (2) by giving the sound of short o, instead of that of broad a, as in wa'ter, daugh'ter, fau'cet, auc'tion, al'ways; (3) by giving the long sound of i instead of the short, as in fer'tile, fu'tile, san'guine, mer' can tile, di late', di vorce', fi nance', tă rade', Ĭ tal'ian, Ĭ tal'ic; (4) by giving the sound of long oo instead of long u, as in tūne, tūbe, flūte, dū'ty, sub due', stu'dent, nu'mer al, in'sti tūte, lū'di crous, rev o lū'tion. II. The suppression of a sound, thus, in the mouths of careless speakers, ěv'er y becomes "ěv'ry," jõ'ví al"jo'val," vic'to rý—"vic'try," reg'u lar—“reg'lar," his'to rỹ"his'try," a rith'me tic “rĭth'mė tĭc,” etc.

III. The insertion of a sound,-thus, hŭn'gry sometimes becomes "hun'ger y," drowned - "drown'děd," ticklish "tic'kel ish," eŏn vēn'ient, "eon vẽn'i ent," etc.

IV. The accentuation of the wrong syllable, as in recess', suc cèss', ca nine', op pō'nent, in quï'ry, as pīr'ant, etc.

To correct the several classes of mistakes referred to above will require the earnest and thoughtful attention of all. The hearing must be quickened to detect mistakes, and the vocal organs trained so that they will give ready and accurate utterance to each syllable