Orthography | Page 2

part. The mere learning of the meaning of prefixes and suffixes and of the roots themselves, with the brief remarks on the meaning of some of the words, will need to be supplemented by a careful mastery of it all on his part. And to this must be added much thought of his own, together with careful research in the great dictionaries. But to the earnest and intelligent teacher, such thought and research will yield very rich fruit in his own thinking, and in his use of English speech.
I cheerfully commend the book as a move in the right direction; and as adapted, in my opinion, to do much to supply a serious lack in the present work of the schools.
Normal, Ill., Aug. 18, 1904. E. C. H.

SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS.
1. From the lists given in this book omit such words as in your opinion are beyond the vocabulary of your pupils.
2. All words given for the first month's work are either defined or illustrated below the lists. This is done to help make clear the method of showing their literal significance. Further along in each year's work only the most difficult words are explained. Insist that pupils in every case where it is possible define or illustrate so as to show the literal meaning, else much of the value of the study is lost.
And, moreover, the ordinary, or current meaning, where it differs from the literal, should be given. Very many of the words have various uses. Thorough work requires that these be illustrated. This necessitates a free use of the dictionary.
It is strongly urged that the pupils (with the aid of the teacher when necessary) try to find an appropriate sentence to illustrate each word and write the same in an orderly way in a note book for the purpose.
In work of this kind a teacher should not underrate the value of reviews. By this means fix facts on the minds of your pupils, especially the meanings of roots and prefixes. Since these meanings are given in a single word, reviews may proceed rapidly.
One convenient method of recitation in this subject is to send pupils to the blackboard without their books, assign them by turns words to be analyzed according to the examples given under "Directions to Pupils", and then let each pupil read to the class what he has written on the board.

DIRECTIONS TO PUPILS.
Given in the seventh and eighth years' work of the State Course of Study are 45 prefixes, 64 roots, and 33 suffixes,--in all 142 elements or component parts of words. In this book a list of words is furnished to illustrate each element, the average number of words in each list being about eleven, and the total number of different words analyzed, or partially analyzed, is over 1200.
TO ANALYZE A WORD.
1. Name its component parts--root, prefix, and suffix--and give the literal meaning of each.
2. Combine these meanings in a definition, supplying additional words if necessary, to make the sense complete. In exceptional cases, however, the exact literal meanings of the parts cannot be put together in a good definition. One or more of the parts must then be omitted entirely, or represented by words which are not exactly literal.
3. Give an illustration of the use of the word.
(Caution: Carefully distinguish verbs, adjectives and nouns. Do not define adjectives as nouns or verbs, or vice versa. Do not, for illustration, say audible is that which can be heard; but rather say audible means capable of being heard.)
EXAMPLES.
avert: (1) a, away + vert, turn. (2) To turn away; to ward off. (3) The evils which exist are necessary to avert greater evils.
deify: (1) dei, god + fy, to make. (2) To make a god of; to praise and revere as if a deity. (3) The people of India deify the Ganges River.
hostile: (1)host, enemy + ile, belonging to. (2) Belonging to or having the characteristics of an enemy. (3) Yon tower which rears its head so high invites the hostile winds.
portable: (1) port, carry + able, capable of. (2) capable of being carried or moved from place to place; not stationary. (3) A portable photograph gallery stopped for three days at the cross-roads near my home.
benefactor: (1) bene, good + fact, make, do + or, one who. (2) One who does good; especially one who makes a charitable donation. (3) "He is a true benefactor and alone worthy of honor who brings comfort where before was wretchedness, who dries the tear of sorrow."
A careful study of the five examples given above will reveal that to analyze words a pupil must--
1. Learn some facts--meanings of the component parts of words.
2. Be careful in putting these facts together to make a sensible definition.
3. Use the dictionary to find the ordinary, or current, use of a word.
4. Gather illustrations.