one who carefully consults the foregoing tables. OF CONSONANTS. C. C has two modifications, the hard and the soft; as, cull, cell. C is always hard, like k, before a, o, u, and all consonants, and at the end of syllables or words; as, call,coal, cut, accost, public: but soft, like s, before e, i, and y; as, cease, cit, cypress. G. Ghas likewise a hard and a soft modification; as, gun, gin. G is hard before a, o, u, and all consonants, and at the end of words; as, gat, got, gut, glad, jug. G is for the most part soft before e, i, and y; as, gem, gill, clergy: but all proper names in the Bible have G hard before e and i; as, Geru, Gilboah. G is likewise hard in many English words before e and i; as, geese, geld, get, gear, girl, give, giddy, dagger, anger: and in many more which may be supplied by observation. Ch. Ch has one hard, and two soft modifications; as, Baruch, (Baruck), Arch, Chaise (Shaise). The first prevails in words of Hebrew and Greek original, and the last in such as come from the French. Ph. Ph, when joined in the same syllable, is sounded likeƒ; as, Asaph, elephant. S. S has two modifications, a sharp and a flat; as, this, these. The flat sound prevails in the end of all words made plural, or otherwise increased by the addition of s, ; as, pins, foxes, loves. Th. Th has likewise a sharp and a flat sound; as, thin, thine. Ti. Ti before a vowel is frequently softened down to sh; as station, in which the sound of the is nearly, if not quite, lost. W. W, in diphthongs and triphthongs, as in few, view, must be a vowel; but in other cases, especially at the beginning of words, it must be a consonant; as, we, William. C OF THE POINTS OR STOPS, AND OTHER CHARACTERS MADE USE OF IN WRITING. A Comma [,] denoting, perhaps, especially in long sentences, a little elevation of the voice, is the shortest pause, and may be held while A semicolon [;] denoting for the most part an evenness of the voice, may be held while you count two. A colon [:] marks a little depression of the voice, and requires a pause while you count three. A period or full stop [.] denotes a yet greater depression of the voice than a colon, and may be held while you count four. A note of interrogation [] requiring as long a pause as a full stop, is placed at the end of a question, and denotes an elevation of the voice, and rather a smartness in the pronunciation. A note of admiration or exclamation[!] which requires also as long a pause as a full stop, is used after a word or sentence that expresses surprise or emotion, and denotes a modulation of the voice suited to the expression. An apostrophe ['] marked by a comma at the top of a letter, shews some letter or letters to be there left out; as lov'd for loved, can't for cannot. A quotation [or ""] marked by inverted commas, includes a passage taken from some author, or spoken by some other person. A diæresis or dialysis [] marked by two dots over the latter of two vowels, shews that what would otherwise be a diphthong, must be divided into two distinct syllables; as, Agesi laus, Danaë. A hyphen [-] is used to join the syllables of a word ogether, especially such as are partly in one line and partly in another; as,la-bor,be-set. It serves also to compound two different words into one; as, all-powerful, self-rewarded. A caret [▲] denotes an interlincation, and shews where to bring in what had been omitted in writing. The same mark when placed over a vowel, is called a circumflex, and shews that such vowel is to be sounded long; as, Euphrates, Aristobulus. of Au ellipsis [-- or -] shews that part word or sentence is left out by design; as Kfor King; before I go hence a An accent [ ́] placed over a letter, shews where the stress or force of a word lies; as, constant, besét. A parenthesis () to be avoided as much as possible, is used to include some short sentence within the body of a larger one; which, though not necessary to the sense, yet should serve to explain or illustrate it. Brackets or crotchets [] are applied nearly to the same purpose as a parenthesis; and they are also used to include à reference to some book or part of some book, A paragraph [] is seldom used except in the Bible, and points out the beginning of a new subject. A section [§] is used to divide books or. chapters into smaller parts. Sometimes it serves also as a mark of reference to a note. An index or hand [] points to something remarkable, that should be particularly noticed. An astereisk [*], a dagger or obelisk [+], a double dagger [‡], parallel lines [||], &c. direct to some note or remark in the margin, or at the bottom of the page. A brace [] couples words or lines together, that have a relation to the same thing; |