IN THE RISING INFLECTION, the voice begins on the general pitch, and ends above it; while in the falling inflection the voice begins above and ends on the general pitch.

THE CIRCUMFLEX is the union of the rising and falling inflections on the same syllable or word, so as to produce a wave of the voice. It may begin with the rising and end with the falling, or begin with the falling and end with the rising inflection.

HOW MARKED. The rising inflection is marked thus ('); and the falling inflection thus (`). The rising circumflex is marked thus; and the falling circumflex thus

I.

Rising Inflection.

DIRECT QUESTIONS, or those that can be answered by yes or no, unless repeated with emphasis, take the rising inflection, and their answers generally, the falling; as, Do you live in town'? I dò. Will you ride to-day? Nò.

WHEN REPEATED with emphasis, direct questions take the falling inflection; as,

Do you live in town?

Will you ride to-day?

CARELESS ANSWERS to direct questions take the rising inflection; as,

Are you sick this morning? Not much'.

DISJUNCTIVE OR.

Words and clauses connected by the

disjunctive or usually take the rising inflection before,

and the falling, after, it; as,

Shall we go', or stay`?

Did

you say valor' or value`?

THE NAME OF THE PERSON OR OBJECT ADDRESSED generally takes the rising inflection; as,

Hamlet', you have your father much offended.
John', James',-cease whispering.

Ye hills, and dales', ye rivers', woods', and plains',
Tell, if ye saw, how came I here`?

WHEN A PAUSE is required by the meaning, and the sense is not complete, the rising inflection is generally used; as,

The bell having rung', the boys came in.

If your studies sometimes seem difficult', if your schoolmates are not always kind',-be not discouraged.

Industry will conquer the one', and gentleness subdue the other.

TENDER EMOTION, such as grief, pity, kindness, gentle joy and mild entreaty, commonly requires the rising inflection; as,

Henry', Henry', how can you act so'?

The sun shines, and the birds are singing; I feel happy to-day'.

I am sorry, mother', that I disobeyed you'.

REMEMBER that the rising inflection is often very slight, so that, in fact, the voice is merely suspended, rather than raised.

II.

Falling Inflection.

INDIRECT QUESTIONS, or those which cannot be answered by yes or no, generally take the falling inflection, and their answers the same; as,

How old are you?

What time is it?

་

Ten.

Eight o'clock.

How many books have you? I do not know`.

WHEN REPEATED, however, indirect questions imply a

2

brief and immediate answer, like direct questions, and therefore take the rising inflection; as,

How old'? Ten'.

What time'? Eight.

THE LANGUAGE OF COMMAND, SURPRISE, EXCLAMATION, ANGER, TERROR, and, in fact, all strong emotion, requires the falling inflection; as,

Command. Charge Chester'! Charge.
Surprise. Well! who would have thought it!
Exclamation. "Tis he'! 'tis he'!

Anger. Begone! my soul abhors` thee!

Terror. The foe`! they come`! they come!

THE FALLING INFLECTION is generally proper wherever the sense is complete, whether at the end of a sentence or not; as,

Life is short and art is long.

There is no excellence without labor.

Lives of great men all remind us,
We can make our lives sublime`;
And, departing, leave behind us,
Footprints on the sands of time.

WHEN NEGATION is opposed to affirmation, the former takes the rising, and the latter the falling inflection, whether the negation comes first or not; as,

I did not see John', but James`.

When contrast and com

He is a better man`, not a stronger one'. CONTRAST AND COMPARISON. parison are set forth, either by single words or clauses, the first word or clause takes the rising inflection and the second the falling; as,

George was the faster runner'; James the better student'.

In sunshine' and in storm`, in pleasure' and in pain`, come weal' or come woe', we will be truly friends`.

III.

Circumflex.

THE CIRCUMFLEX IS USED when the language is not sincere or earnest, but is employed in jest, ridicule, sarcasm or mockery. The falling circumflex is used in places that would otherwise require the falling inflection; the rising circumflex in places that would otherwise require the rising inflection; as,

Yes, of course, you are a smart boy.

The book is mine, not yours.

Who thought that Smith would become a poet! CIRCUMFLEX AND EMPHASIS are very much alike; so much so, indeed, that it is hardly necessary to give them different names.

Pause is the suspension of voice made in reading and speaking, in order to rest the voice, give an opportunity for breathing, and render the vocal expression of written matter intelligible and effective.

It has two general divisions, GRAMMATICAL and RHETORICAL PAUSE.

GRAMMATICAL PAUSE is used to make clear the meaning of written or spoken language, and is represented by

certain signs called punctuation points or pauses. They

are seven in number: Dash, comma, semicolon, colon, exclamation, interrogation and period.

THE DASH denotes a sudden hesitation or change of thought; as, He was there-but how changed! It is frequently used to represent the other pauses.

THE COMMA is the shortest pause; as,

John, James and Henry were reciting.

The voice should be generally, but not always, kept up. THE SEMICOLON represents a pause longer than the comma, and separates such parts of a sentence as are somewhat less closely connected than those separated by the comma; as,

"No mate, no comrade, Lucy knew;

She dwelt on a wide moor.

THE VOICE usually falls with a semicolon, but not always.

THE COLON represents a pause longer than a semicolon, and separates parts of a sentence less closely connected than those divided by the latter; as,

Youth is the seed-time of life: how few there are who improve it!

THE EXCLAMATION denotes wonder, surprise, pain, etc; as,

Help me, Cassius! or I sink!