Orthography

Orthography, by Elmer W.
Cavins

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Title: Orthography As Outlined in the State Course of Study for Illinois
Author: Elmer W. Cavins
Release Date: November 7, 2007 [EBook #23395]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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ORTHOGRAPHY ***

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ORTHOGRAPHY AS OUTLINED IN THE STATE COURSE OF
STUDY FOR ILLINOIS.
SEVENTH AND EIGHTH YEARS.

BY ELMER W. CAVINS, TEACHER OF ORTHOGRAPHY IN
ILLINOIS STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY.
INTRODUCTION BY DR. EDWIN C. HEWETT.
SECOND EDITION--JANUARY, 1906.
PUBLISHED BY C. M. PARKER, TAYLORVILLE, ILLINOIS.
Copyright, 1904, by C. M. Parker.

PREFACE.
This book is prepared for teachers and pupils who use the Illinois State
Course of Study. The outline in Orthography for the Seventh and
Eighth Years is the basis of all that is included herein. Three fifths or
more of this work is word analysis which, valuable as it is, teachers as a
rule are unable to teach without the aid of a text, never having learned
much of it themselves. What, for example, can the average teacher
unaided do toward writing a list of words to be analyzed which contain
the root ann, meaning year? He might turn in the dictionary to annual,
anniversary, and annuity, but he must fall back on his acquired
knowledge for such as, biennial, centennial, millennium, perennial, and
superannuate. And having the list, very many teachers, as well as
pupils, need help in the analysis.
The aim of this book has been to set down in an orderly and convenient
form such facts as are needed by those who follow the State Course of
Study.
Emphasis has been placed upon word analysis. The author believes that
this has more value in education than is generally attributed to it. When
Mr. Kennedy named his work on word analysis "What Words Say", he
gave it the best possible title. Composite words have a wealth of
meaning; each syllable is significant. And, as a rule, only to those who
can read this significance does the word yield its full meaning.
Accuracy is the mark of a scholar. Accuracy in speech and in the

understanding of speech cannot be attained by those whose knowledge
of words is vague and general. Pupils should early learn how to
interpret what words say, and to discriminate carefully in the use of
words, for these are the tools which they are to use in all the various
departments for acquiring knowledge.
Normal, Ill., Aug. 30, 1904. E. W. CAVINS.

INTRODUCTION
BY DR. EDWIN C. HEWETT.
I have long thought that the careful, discriminating study of words is
much neglected in our schools. And I am glad to approve, and help to
forward, anything that will promote such a study.
Not only will such a study improve a person's language greatly, but it
will, at the same time, do much to improve the clearness and precision
of his thinking; thought and language have a reciprocal effect.
If a child, while young, can be made to be interested in words
themselves,--their origin, their exact meaning, their relations to each
other and some of the changes in their meaning which result from their
use,--he will be likely to retain that interest through life; it will be more
likely to increase than to diminish.
It seems often to be assumed that a student can do nothing profitably
with the study of words made up from Greek and Latin roots till he has
acquired some mastery of those languages. But I know from experience
and much observation that this is not true. Why should it be? Must one
master Greek and Latin before he can understand that, in English words,
graph means write; ge means earth; phone means sound; cur means run;
fin means limit; port means carry, etc.?
And then having learned the meaning of the prefixes and suffixes, is it
preposterous to train him to know the etymological significance of a
few hundred words by showing him how they are built up?

Of course, we know that many words in common use have shades of
meaning quite different from, and in some cases almost opposite to,
their literal significance. But will not the student be better able to
understand these derived meanings by knowing their literal significance
than in any other way? At any rate, I am fully persuaded that such a
study of words as this book proposes can