sounds. I, U, are compound sounds when pronounced with their name sound. W and Y are consonants when placed at the beginning of words or syllables, as water, war; year, you. When u is the initial letter of a word or syllable, and pronounced with its name sound, it takes the numeral particle a, and not an, before it; and may be regarded as much a consonant as y in you.

Vowel is derived from vocalis (Latin), vocal, sounding.

The other nineteen letters of the Alphabet are consonants. They are so called because they can be sounded only in connection with a vowel.

In strict propriety, consonants should be named articulations, because they are the closings or junctions of the organs of speech which precede and follow the openings of the organs with which the vowel sounds are uttered. The consonants begin and end syllables; and their use is to determine the manner of beginning or ending the vocal sounds.

The word letters, though originally applied to the characters of the alphabet, has other significations. A man of letters is a learned man. Belles Lettres (French) means elegant literature; and letters are written epistles sent to correspondents.

The languages of Europe are read from the left to the right hand side of the page. The Hebrew, Arabic, and Persian languages are read from right to left. The Chinese language is written in perpendicular columns like the columns in a spelling-book.

SYLLABLES.-A syllable consists of as many letters as are pronounced by one articulation. When words are divided into syllables, the letters should be collocated as they are united in correct pronunciation. When a word of two or more syllables has to be divided at the end of a line for want of room, the division should be made at the end of a syllable. A word of one syllable should never be divided. No part of a word should be interlined

except when an omission has taken place; then a caret (^) should be placed underneath the omission to point it out.

Point out the vowels and consonants in bat, may, oar, wan, chin, eye, yea, ewe, you, way, us, we, stone, ass, moon, boar, fowl, wish, one, this, though, feather, tea, Ann, John, strength, abstemiously, pair, reap, pea, unit, ounce, air, Zeno, succour, Heaven, George, chimney, peace.

Divide into syllables parent, mother, cannot, attend, commit, tenor, digging, collar, rotten, accept, illegal, affair, sudden, asses, cinder, cedar, early, cooling, ailing, suspicion, strength, airy, breadth, phthisic, Thomas, Alexander, Victoria, condescend, becoming, humility, jaundice, jocularly, mendacious, renovation, sixpence, Aberdeen, Barbara, covetousness, degenerate, flagellation, paregoric, rixdollar, righteousness, robbery, civility, carelessness, frugality, Glasgow, consciousness, Ayr, Dunse, beau, pique, critique, unique, cynic, hydrophobia.

ETYMOLOGY,

Or the Derivation and Classification of Words.

There are in English Eight Classes of Words or Parts of Speech,-Nouns or names, Adjectives or qualities, Pronouns, Verbs, Adverbs, Prepositions, Conjunctions, and Interjections.

NOUNS OR NAMES: The name of every person, place, or thing that exists, or of whatever is conceived to exist, is a NoUN. Nouns may be arranged in three classes. 1. Objects perceived by our senses; we see a man, we hear a noise, we smell the odour of a rose, we taste sugar, we touch a book: whatever we see, or hear, or smell, or taste, or touch, is a NOUN. 2. Objects that exist beyond the reach of our senses, but of which we form an idea by reading of them, or hearing them described. An idea is a picture which the mind naturally forms when we read or hear a description of any thing.

We thus form an idea of a whale, of a mountain, as Etna, of a water-spout, or of the tunnel under the Thames. We in the same manner form an idea of an action or event, as of Samson carrying away the gates of Gaza, of

the meeting of Joseph and his brethren, and of David killing Goliath. 3. Abstract nouns express the properties of nouns without regarding the subjects in which they exist; as, whiteness, hardness, roundness, which terms are applicable to all objects that are white, hard, or round. Abstract nouns, therefore, include species or classes of things possessing in common a similar quality or property; as, bravery in soldiers, hardness in stones and metals, agility in monkeys, fluidity in liquids.

Nouns are distinguished as PROPER or COMMON. Proper names are exclusively applied to individuals, as, John, Mary, Charles, Ann. Proper names include the names of cities, as, London, Paris; of countries, as, England, Italy; of continents, as, Asia, America; of islands, as, Great Britain, Ireland; of mountains, as, Vesuvius, the Alps; of rivers, as, the Thames, the Ganges; of oceans, as, the Atlantic, the Pacific; of seas, as, the Caspian, the Yellow Sea; of streets, as, Cheapside, George's Street; of ships, as, the Victoria, the Black Eagle, &c. Royal palaces and public buildings, having special names, are classed with proper nouns, as, Windsor Castle, the Bank of England, St Paul's Cathedral.

All proper names should be written with an initial capital letter.

Proper names of persons require a distinctive designation, as, Paul the Apostle, William the Conqueror, Constantine the Great, Edward the First. The names of very eminent men, as, Luther, Calvin, Melancthon, Columbus, require no distinctive appendage. When more than one person has a common designation, as, the Cæsars, Emperors of Rome, the Edwards and Henrys, Kings of England, and the Jameses, Kings of Scotland,

and family surnames, as, the Camerons, the Gordons, the Stewarts, they retain their distinction of proper names.

The designations of memorable events and memorable epochs are classed among proper names, as, the Deluge, the Captivity, the Christian era, the Reformation.

Common names include every individual of a class, species, order, kind, or profession. Thus, a philosopher is one of a class, a man is one of a species, a nobleman is one of an order, a salmon is a kind of fish, a lawyer is one of a profession.

Distinguish the common and proper names, Perth, Tay, city, river, town, Forfarshire, John, Dundee, county, town, burgh, Victoria, Albert, queen, prince, James, Emilia, woman, man, child, Majesty, sovereign, king, France, Gaul, monarchy, republic, kingdom, Pacific, Atlantic, ocean, sea, lake, bay, Red Sea, Yellow Sea, White Sea, Black Sea, gulf, strait, cape, Baltic, Finland, Alexander, general, conqueror, Wellington, hero, commander, Alps, mountains, hills, island, continent, promontory, isthmus, Borneo, Java, Ireland, Great Britain, America, Asia, stars, planets, comets, sun, moon, Jupiter, Venus, Neptune, Sirius, sky, clouds, rain, wind, day, night, summer, winter, cold, heat, Jordan, Ganges, whale, elephant, mammoth, eagle, condor, bird, beast, mouse, wren, humming bird, a ship, a barque, a sloop, a steamer, a boat, the brig Alexander, the line-of-battle ship the Thunderer, the Amazon steam frigate, virtue, vice, gold, silver, brass, metals, blue, green, colour, hardness, softness, stupidity, cleverness, activity, laziness, rewards, punishments.

NUMBER.

English nouns are of two numbers—the singular, which denotes one, as, hand; and the plural, which denotes two or any greater number, as, hands.

The singular denotes an individual, or a collection of individuals united in a body—as, a dog, a school, a company, a society, a dozen, a score. The singular is therefore definite and precise. The plural is quite indefinite, unless it is conjoined with a numeral adjective-as, two hands, three books, five pounds, a hundred men, a thousand miles.

In the Hebrew and the Greek languages there is a dual number (from duo, two), signifying that only two are spoken of. In English there are a few words that strictly imply duality, as, brace, couple, pair, both.

Collective nouns, representing many individuals congregated together, are singular or plural as they convey unity or plurality of idea-as, a flock of sheep, a swarm of bees, a fleet of ships, a multitude of people, the General Assembly.

Proper names have no plural. But family designations, denoting the members collectively, are pluralized—as, the Bourbons, the Russells, the Douglasses.

Formation of the Plural: The plural number is generally formed by adding the letter s to the singular, when the s smoothly unites with the last letter or syllable—as, hand, hands; stone, stones; house, houses.

Singular nouns ending with x, sh, and ss, take es in the plural-as, fox, foxes; wish, wishes; mass, masses. Nouns ending with ch soft, add es, as in coach, coaches; but when ch are sounded like k, as in monarch, s only is added, as monarchs; patriarch, patriarchs.

Nouns ending with o preceded by a consonant, add es in the plural-as, hero, heroes; but canto, folio, grotto, junto, portico, quarto, solo, tyro, have s only added in the plural.

Nouns ending with y after a consonant form their plural by omitting y, and adding ies-as, duty, duties; fly, flies; sky, skies.

Nouns ending with ay, ey, and oy take only s―as, delay, delays; valley, valleys; journey, journeys; joy, joys; money, moneys.

A few names ending with fe in the singular change the f into v in the plural-as, knife, knives; life, lives; wife, wives;-other nouns ending with f change it into v, and