PART I.

CALIF

PRACTICAL ELOCUTION.

LOCUTION is the mode of utterance or delivery of

any thing spoken. It may be good or bad.

2. Good Elocution, in reading or speaking, is uttering ideäs understandingly, correctly, and effectively. It embraces the two general divisions, ORTHOËPY and EXPRESSION.

ORTHOEPY.

RTHOËPY is the art of correct pronunciation. It embraces ARTICULATION, SYLLABICATION, and ACCENT.

Articulation,

Ortheepy - Syllabication,

Accent.

Orthoëpy has to do with separate words,-the production of their oral elements, the combination of these elements to form syllables, and the accentuation of the right syllables.

1 Blackboard Diagrams.—Regarding blackboard diagrams as indispensable, in conducting most successfully class exercises in elocution, they are here introduced not less for

the convenience of young teachers than to serve as constant reminders, to all educators, of the importance of employing the perceptive faculties in connection with oral instruction.

MOLIAN ARTICULATION.

I.

DEFINITIONS.

ARTICULATION is the distinct utterance of the oral

elements in syllables and words.

2. Oral Elements are the sounds that, uttered separately or in combination, form syllables and words.

3. Oral Elements are produced by different positions of the organs of speech, in connection with the voice and the breath.

4. The principal Organs of Speech are the lips, the teeth, the tongue, and the palate.

5. Voice is produced by the action of the breath upon the larynx.1

6. Oral Elements are divided into three classes: eighteen TONICS, fifteen SUBTONICS, and ten ATONICS.

7. Tonics are pure tones produced by the voice, with but slight use of the organs of speech.

8. Subtonics are tones produced by the voice, modified by the organs of speech.

9. Atonics are mere breathings, modified by the organs of speech.

10. Letters are characters that are used to represent or modify the oral elements..

11. The Alphabet is divided into vowels and consonants. 12. Vowels are the letters that usually represent the tonic elements. They are a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y.2 13. A Diphthong is the union of two vowels in a syllable; as ou in our, ea in bread.

14. A Proper Diphthong is the union of two vowels in a syllable, neither of which is silent: as ou in out, ai in said.

1 Larynx. The larynx is the upper part of the trachea, or windpipe, consisting of five gristly pieces which form the organ of voice.

2 W not a Vowel.-As w, standing alone, does not represent a pure or unmodified tone, it is not here classified with the vowels.

15. An Improper Diphthong is the union of two vowels in a syllable, one of which is silent; as oa in loaf, ou in court. 16. A Triphthong is the union of three vowels in a syllable; as eau in beau, ieu in adieu.

17. Consonants' are the letters that usually represent either subtonic or atonic elements. They are of two kinds, single letters and combined, including all the letters of the alphabet, except the vowels, and the combinations ch, sh, wh, ng; th subtonic, and th atonic.

18. Labials are formed by the lips.

letters whose oral elements are chiefly They are b, p, w, and wh. M may be regarded as a nasal labial, as its sound is affected by the nose. F and v are labia-dentals.

19. Dentals are letters whose oral elements are chiefly formed by the teeth. They are j, s, z, ch, and sh.

20. Linguals are letters whose oral elements are chiefly formed by the tongue. They are d, l, r, and t. N is a nasallingual; y, a lingua-palatal, and th, a lingua-dental.

21. Palatals are letters whose oral elements are chiefly formed by the palate. They are g and k. NG is a nasalpalatal.

22. Cognates are letters whose oral elements are produced by the same organs, in a similar manner; thus, ƒ is a cognate of v; k of g, &c.

23. Alphabetic Equivalents are letters, or combinations of letters, that represent the same elements, or sounds; thus, i is an equivalent of e, in pique.

Ν

II.

ORAL ELEMENTS.

IN sounding the tonics, the organs should be fully opened,

and the stream of sound from the throat should be thrown, as much as possible, directly upward against the

1 Consonant.-The term consonant, literally meaning sounding with, is applied to these letters and combinations because they are rare

ly used in words without having a vowel connected with them in the same syllable, although their oral elements may be uttered separately,

roof of the mouth. These elements should open with an abrupt and explosive force, and then diminish gradually and equably to the end.

In producing the subtonic and atonic elements, it is important to press the organs upon each other with great firmness and tension; to throw the breath upon them with force; and to prolong the sound sufficiently to give it a full impression on the ear.

The instructor will first require the students to pronounce a catch-word once, and then produce the oral element repsented by the figured vowel, or Italic consonant, four times —thus; àge,—à, à, à, à; āte, ā, ā, ã, ã : åt,—å, å, å, å; ăsh,— ă, ă, ă, ă, &c. He will exercise the class until each student can utter consecutively all the elementary sounds as arranged in the following

TABLE OF ORAL ELEMENTS.

and without the aid of a vowel. Indeed, they frequently form syllables by themselves, as in feeble (bl), taken (kn).

1 Long and Short Vowels.-The attention of the class should be called to the fact that the first element, or sound, represented by each of the vowels, is usually indicated by a horizontal line placed over the letter, and the second sound by a curved line.

2 A Fifth.-The fifth element, or sound, represented by a, is its first or Alphabetic sound, modified or softened by r. In its production,

the lips, placed nearly together, are held immovable while the student tries to say, ā.

3 A Sixth.-The sixth element represented by a, is a sound intermediate between a, as heard in at, ash, and a, as in arm, art. It is produced by prolonging and slightly softening ă. 4 E Third. The third element represented by e, is e as heard in end, prolonged, and modified or softened by r.

5 O modified.-The modified oral element of o, in this work, is represented by (8 or ŏ) the same marks as its regular second power. This mod