McGuffeys Eclectic Spelling Book

McGuffey's Eclectic Spelling
Book

Project Gutenberg's McGuffey's Eclectic Spelling Book, by W. H.
McGuffey This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and
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Title: McGuffey's Eclectic Spelling Book
Author: W. H. McGuffey
Release Date: March 24, 2005 [EBook #15456]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK
MCGUFFEY'S ECLECTIC SPELLING BOOK ***

Produced by Don Kostuch

{Transcribers Notes: Do you remember how to spell "pharmacopoeia"
or "Winnipiseogee"? This was for sixth grade! Here is a chance to
expand your vocabulary or just enjoy a trip to the grade school of 1900.
The original text uses a specialized font to indicate pronunciation.
Italics are used to specify words or syllables in the text. The
approximations given here retain only the emphasis (accent). See the
DOC or PDF format for the original graphics.
Don Kostuch}

ECLECTIC EDUCATIONAL SERIES.
McGUFFEY'S [Registered]
ECLECTIC
SPELLING-BOOK.
REVISED EDITION.

McGuffey Editions and Colophon are Trademarks of
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
NEW
YORK-CHICHESTER-WEINHEIM-BRISBANE-SINGAPORE-TOR
ONTO
PREFACE. In revising this book, care has been taken to preserve all
the excellences that have so long and so favorably distinguished
McGUFFEY'S ECLECTIC SPELLING-BOOK: and the chief changes
that have been made, have been suggested by the evident plan of the
original work.
The old system of indicating the pronunciation by numerals, called
"superiors," has been abandoned, and the diacritical marks used by
Webster have been adopted. The Revised Speller conforms in
orthography, pronunciation, and syllabication to the latest edition of
Webster's Unabridged Dictionary. Exercises have been given on each
of the distinctive marks used in the book, as will be seen by reference
to Lessons 36-57.
A number of lessons have been added in the department of prefixes and
suffixes, and now nearly all the more common of these etymological
principles have been explained. (See Lessons 136-167.) In arranging
the text of the several lessons, the object has been not to appeal merely
to arbitrary memory, but to associate each lesson with some principle
of sound, meaning, or accent, which would tend to aid the pupil in
acquiring a knowledge of our language. Several distinct lessons on
pronunciation are given, and towards the close of the book numerous
lessons of difficult words in orthography have been introduced.
Instead of indicating silent letters by italics, as has hitherto been done, a
new type has been made in which such letters are canceled, thus
enabling the pupil to discover their status at a glance.
The pages have been enlivened, as in the other books of this Series, by
attractive engravings.

The publishers take pleasure in acknowledging the valuable services of
W. B. Watkins, D. D., who planned and executed this revision.
DECEMBER, 1879.
16
Copyright, 1879, by Van Antwerp, Bragg & Co.

THE ENGLISH ALPHABET.
The English Alphabet consists of twenty-six letters, viz.:
a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i,j,k,l,m,n,o,p,q,r,s,t,u,v,w,x,y,z.
Letters are divided into VOWELS and CONSONANTS.
The Vowels are those letters which can be perfectly sounded without
the aid of any other letter. The vowels are a, e, i, o, u, w, and y.
The vowel sounds of w and y are the same as those of u and i. A, e, and
o are always vowels. I, u, w, and y are sometimes consonants.
A Diphthong is the union of two vowels in one sound. When both
vowels are sounded, the diphthong is called PROPER, because then it
is really a DIPHTHONG, or double sound; that is, the sounds of the
vowels unite; as, oi in oil; ou in sound.
When only one of the vowels is sounded, the diphthong is called
IMPROPER, because then, as one of the vowels is silent, it is not
properly a DIPHTHONG, though it takes that name; as, oa in boat, ui
in suit, where a and i are silent.
The following diphthongs are in common use, viz.: oi, oy, ou, ow, ae,
ai, au, aw, ay, ea, ei, eo, eu, ew, ey, ia, ie, oa, oe, ua, ue, ui; as in toil,
boy, round, plow, seal, coal, head, sail, say, aught, yeoman. Of these, oi,
oy, ou, and ow are generally proper diphthongs; though sometimes ou
and ow are improper, as in famous, where o is silent, and in slow,
where w is silent.
A Triphthong is the union of three vowels in one syllable; as, eau in
beau, iew in view. The triphthong is properly a union of letters, not
sounds.

OF THE VARIOUS SOUNDS.
All the vowels, and some of the consonants, have several sounds; in
this book these sounds are indicated by diacritical marks, as in the
following tables:

TABLE OF VOCALS. Long Sounds.
Sound