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ENGLISH GRAMMAR.

CHAPTER I.

LETTERS AND SYLLABLES,

THAT IS,

THE ELEMENTS OUT OF WHICH WORDS ARE FORMED.

1. The English Alphabet consists of twenty-six letters.

Small Letters

Capital Letters-A BCDEFGHIJKL a b c d e f g h i j k l MNOPQRSTUVWXYZ.

m n o p q r s t u v w x y z. Obs.-The word Alphabet is derived from alpha and beta, the Greek names of a and b.

2. Six of the letters are called Vowels. The word Vowel is derived from the Latin word vocalis, which means "sounding," or "capable of being sounded by itself." They are a, e, i, o, u, y.

Obs.-I and O when used alone are always written or printed as Capital letters.

3. The remaining letters are called Consonants. The word Consonant is derived from the Latin word consonans (Plur. consonantes), which means "that which can (only) be sounded with something else."

Obs.-H at the beginning of a word must be pronounced with a marked emission of breath (whence it is sometimes called an Aspirate, sometimes a Spirant, spirans meaning breathing) except in the words heir, honesty, honour, hour, and their derivatives, where the letter h is mute. In the word humour the h is softened till it resembles the sound of y.

B

4. Diphthongs are formed by the union of two vowels in one sound. The word Diphthong is derived from the Greek words dis phthonge, which mean "twofold vowels." Ex. ou, ei, oo.

5. A Syllable is formed by one or more letters constituting a single sound. The word Syllable is derived from the Greek words syn lambano, whence syllabe, which means "taking together."

Words of one syllable are called "monosyllables" (monos, in Greek, meaning "single").

Words of two syllables are called "dissyllables" (dis, in Greek, meaning "twice").

Words of three syllables are called "trisyllables" (tris, in Greek, meaning "thrice").

Words of more than thre syllables are called "polysyllables" (polys, in Greek, meaning "many"). 6. The following stops, or punctuations, are in use: Full Stop, or Period. Note of Interrogation ? Sign of Exclamation !

Comma
Semicolon;
Colon :

It will be seen from this chapter—

(1) That Letters form or constitute Syllables;

Words, therefore, form the subject of the next chapter.

CHAPTER II.

WORDS, THAT IS,

THE ELEMENTS OUT OF WHICH SENTENCES ARE FORMED.

1. There are six sorts of Words-(1) Nouns Sub

stantive. (2) Nouns Adjective. (3) Pronouns.

Articles. (5) Verbs. (6) Particles.

(4)

Obs.-The word Noun alone is used to designate the Noun Substantive, and the word Adjective alone to designate the Noun Adjective.

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