McGuffeys Fifth Eclectic Reader | Page 3

or modulation. The best speakers and readers are
those who follow the impulse of nature, or most closely imitate it as
observed in others.
II. ARTICULATION.
Articulation is the utterance of the elementary sounds of a language,
and of their combinations.
An Elementary Sound is a simple, distinct sound made by the organs of
speech.

The Elementary Sounds of the English language are divided into
Vocals, Subvocals, and Aspirates.
ELEMENTARY SOUNDS.--VOCALS.
Vocals are sounds which consist of pure tone only. A diphthong is a
union of two vocals, commencing with one and ending with the other.
DIRECTION.--Put the lips, teeth, tongue, and palate in their proper
position; pronounce the word in the chart forcibly, and with the falling
inflection, several times in succession; then drop the subvocal or
aspirate sounds which precede or follow the vocal, and repeat the
vocals alone.
Table of Vocals.
Long Vocals. Vocal as in Vocal as in ----- ----- ----- ----- a hate e err a
hare i pine a far o no a pass u tube a fall u burn e eve oo cool
Short Vocals Vocal as in Vocal as in ----- ----- ----- ----- a mat o hot e
met u us i it oo book

Diphthongs. Vocal as in ------ -------- oi, oy oil, boy ou, ow out,now
REMARK 1.--In this table, the short sounds, except u, are nearly or
quite the same in quality as certain of the long sounds. The difference
consists chiefly in quantity.
REMARK 2. The vocals are often represented by other letters or
combinations of letters than those used in the table; for instance, a is
represented by ai in hail, ea in steak, etc.
REMARK 3.--As a general rule, the long vocals and the diphthongs
should be articulated with a full, clear utterance; but the short vocals
have a sharp, distinct, and almost explosive utterance.

SUBVOCALS AND ASPIRATES.
Subvocals are those sounds in which the vocalized breath is more or
less obstructed.
Aspirates consist of breath only, modified by the vocal organs.
Words ending with subvocal sounds should be selected for practice on
the subvocals; words beginning or ending with aspirate sounds may be
used for practice on the aspirates. Pronounce these words forcibly and
distinctly several times in succession; then drop the other sounds, and
repeat the subvocals and aspirates alone. Let the class repeat the words
and elements at first in concert, then separately.
Table of Subvocals and Aspirates. Subvocal as in Subvocal as in --------
----- -------- ----- b babe p rap d bad t at g nag k book j judge ch rich v
move f life th with th Smith z buzz s hiss z azure(azh'ure) sh rush

REMARK.--These sixteen sounds make eight pairs of cognates. In
articulating the aspirates, the vocal organs are put in the position
required in the articulation of the corresponding subvocals; but the
breath is expelled with some force without the utterance of any vocal
sound. The pupil should first verify this by experiment, and then
practice on these cognates.
The following subvocals and aspirates have no cognates.
SUBVOCALS.
Subvocal as in Subvocal as in -------- ----- -------- ----- l mill r rule m
rim r car n run w win ng sing y yet
ASPIRATES
Aspirate as in -------- ----- h hat wh when

SUBSTITUTES.
Substitutes are characters used to represent sounds ordinarily
represented by other characters.
TABLE OF SUBSTITUTES.
Substitute for as in Substitute for as in ---------- --- ----- ---------- --- -----
a o what y i hymn e a there c s cite e a freight c k cap i e police ch sh
machine i e sir ch k chaos o u son g j cage o oo to n ng rink o oo would
s z rose o a corn s ah sure o u work x gz examine u oo pull gh f laugh u
oo rude ph f sylph y i my qu k pique qu kw quick

FAULTS TO BE REMEDIED.
DIRECTION.--Give to each sound, to each syllable, and to each word
its full, distinct, and appropriate utterance.
For the purpose of avoiding the more common errors under this head,
observe the following rules:
RULE II.--Avoid the omission of unaccented vowels.
EXAMPLES.
Incorrect Correct Incorrect Correct --------- ----------- ---------- ---------
Sep'rate sep-a-rate Ev'dent ev-i-dent met-ric'l met-ric-al mem'ry
mem-o-ry 'pear ap-pear 'pin-ion o-pin-ion com-p'tent com-pe-tent
pr'pose pro-pose pr'cede pre-cede gran'lar gran-u-lar 'spe-cial es-pe-cial
par-tic'lar par-tic-u-lar

RULE III.--Avoid sounding incorrectly the unaccented vowels.
EXAMPLES.
Incorrect Correct Incorrect Correct ---------- ----------- ------------

------------ Sep-er-ate sep-a-rate Mem-er-ry mem-o-ry met-ric-ul
met-ric-al up-pin-ion o-pin-ion up-pear ap-pear prup-ose pro-pose
com-per-tent com-pe-tent gran-ny-lar gran-u-lar dum-mand de-mand
par-tic-e-lar par-tic-u-lar ob-stur-nate ob-sti-nate ev-er-dent ev-i-dent
REMARK I.--In correcting errors of this kind in words of more than
one syllable, it is very important to avoid a fault