THE YOUNG SPEAKER. PART FIRST. DIRECTIONS FOR READING. NOTE. TEACHERS may, perhaps, think it sufficient to require their younger pupils to read to them, occasionally, the lessons of this part; but the older ones would, no doubt, find it profitable to commit to memory those on Pause, Inflection, and Emphasis. LESSON I. PRONUNCIATION. 1. GIVE to every letter its proper sound. 2. In particular give a full sound to the vowels a, e, i, o, u. 3. Be careful not to drop the g, in words ending in ing; if you drop that letter, you will be found saying mornin for morning; puddin for pudding; flyin for flying, and the like. This is a very common fault. 4. Another fault equally common is to sound ow like ur; thus many say windur instead of window; pillur instead of pillow; fellur instead of fellow, and so on. 5. It is likewise very incorrect to give the sound of r at the end of words where the letter itself is not found. Some persons say sawr for saw; lawr for law; idear for idea, and thus in other words of the same class. 6. There are other words in which the sound of r is as improperly changed; thus we often hear waw for war; stah for star; haus for horse, and so on. 7. Do not omit to sound any letter which should be sounded. In this way injury is often done to such words as every, several, vessel, memory, and numerous others, being improperly pronounced ev'ry, sev'ral, vess'l, mem'ry, and so forth. 8. Do not drop the d in the word and, nor say git for get; yit for yet; fust for first; bust for burst; bile for boil; hoss for horse; idee for idea; ile for oil; jest for just; jine for join; ketch for catch; kittle for kettle; line for loin; pint for point; sich for such; yunder for yonder; shet for shut: fur for far; ben for been, pronounced bin; doos for does, pronounced duz; agin for again, pronounced agen; ware for were, pronounced wur, and the like. Of many frequent faults in pronunciation, those mentioned above are some of the least excusable, and I hope all my young readers and speakers will be careful to avoid them. LESSON II. PAUSE. 1. PAY particular attention to the grammatical stops and other pauses. No person can read well without observing this rule. 2. At the comma printed thus, you may stop till you can pronounce one. 3. At the semicolon printed thus; you may stop till you can pronounce one two. 4. At the colon printed thus: you may stop till you can pronounce one two three. 5. At the period printed thus. you may stop till you can pronounce one two three four. 6. At the interrogation printed thus? and at the exclamation printed thus! you may stop about as long as at a colon. 7. The parenthesis printed thus () requires a stop at its beginning and end about as long as at a comma. 8. At the dash printed thus you should generally stop about as long as at a semicolon, and sometimes even as long as at a period. When it is added to either of the other stops, it increases the length of that stop. 9. The pause at the end of a paragraph should be longer than at the end of an ordinary sentence. NOTE. The foregoing rules are as good, perhaps, as can be given: but the time occupied in pausing at each of the stops, will sometimes vary, no doubt, from that which has been directed. It must depend upon the nature of what is read. 10. It is frequently proper to pause where none of the grammatical stops are inserted. In the examples which follow, the places of pause will be marked by the dash. These are called rhetorical pauses. 11. After the nominative case, when it consists of more than one word, or of one important word, a pause is necessary; thus, The price of improvement- -is labor. Washington-was a great and good man. 12. When other words come between the nominative case and the verb, they should be separated from both by a short pause; thus, Trials -in this state of being- -are the lot of man. That course 13. Before the prepositions in, of, with, from, to, beyond, and the like, a short pause is often proper; thus, Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth. We found him—with his faithful dog-in the wood. 14. Before the relatives who, which, what, and that, the adverb how, and that used as a conjunction, a short pause generally occurs; thus, Honor thy father and thy mother- -that thy days may be long upon the land- -which the Lord- -who is thy God, hath given thee. Tell me how did the accident happen? 15. The infinitive mood generally requires a short pause before it; thus, He left the room -to see whether all was secured. His highest enjoyment was- to relieve the distressed. 16. Words placed in opposition to each other should be distinguished by a short pause; thus, Some -in ease; place the bliss in action, some- LESSON III. INFLECTION. 1. IF you will pronounce the following question with interest, you will readily perceive that the voice slides upward in sounding the word rain: Does it rain? And in the answer No, you will as readily perceive that it slides downward. This is called inflection. Inflection is heard in the note of a bird when it seems to cry 66 sweet." 2. Inflection then is that sliding up or sliding down of the voice which is heard in finishing the pronunciation of a word. 3. There are two simple inflections of the voice, the upward, called the rising inflection, and the downward, called the falling inflection. 4. The mark for the rising inflection is printed thus; Does it rain? 5. The mark for the falling inflection is printed thus; No. 6. Other examples. Was he obedient, or disobedient? He was obedient, not disobedient. Did he act politely, or impolitely? He acted politely, not impolitely. He was treated kindly, not unkindly. 7. All questions may be divided into two kinds, called the direct and indirect. 8. The direct question is that which can be answered by yes or no this question is read with the rising slide; thus, Were you treated kindly? We were. 9. The indirect question is that which cannot be answered by yes or no: this question is read with the falling slide; thus, |