She led him through the trackless wild, And nature gladdened as she gazed. In fields of air he writes his name, And treads the chambers of the sky; LESSON LXXXIV. TO THE CONDOR. WONDROUS, majestic bird! whose mighty wing Dwells not with puny warblers of the springNor on earth's silent breast, Powerful to soar in strength and pride on high, Proud nursling of the tempest, where repose Dost thou in silence, breathless and alone,— The mountain's frozen peak is lone and bare; Far o'er its frowning summit;-and the plain The limits of thy course no daring eye The gorgeous sun thy quenchless gaze may share; Thou art, with him, alone. Imperial wanderer! the storms that shake Beyond the bolt,-beyond the lightning's gleam, And thus the soul, with upward flight like thine, Yet meaner cares oppress its drooping wings; GENERAL AND SPECIAL RULES FOR PRONOUNCING THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. Deduced from the composition of the words themselves, and in most cases, giving an infallible Rule, by which to determine on what syllable the main accent should fall. This point being settled, the places of the semi-accents cannot be mistaken. EXPLANATIONS. For the definition of a prefix and suffix, see pages 113 and 130 of "Town's Speller." By the root of a word, we mean that part which belongs exclusively to the primitive form, and is not combined with any other word, syllable, or letter; as press. By a separable prefix, we mean that part which may be taken from the primitive root, and leave a significant English word; as from impress, im may be thus taken. By an inseparable prefix is meant, such combination of a word, syllable, or letter, with the root, that as an English word, a separation of the parts would destroy the English signification of both; as depute, which, in Latin, is composed of de, and puto, but in English they may not be separated. The classical scholar will readily distinguish what are prefixes, at sight; and the English scholar, by a little attention to Town's Analysis, can do the same. Penult, means the last syllable but one. Antepenult, is the last syllable but two. Rules for applying suffixes, see page 110 of "Speller." It is believed the following Rules will not only contribute to uniformity in pronunciation, but aid in settling the disputed accent of many words. I. General Rule.-Words of two syllables, the first of which is a separable, or inseparable prefix, commonly take the accent on the second; as de-báse, procláim; but if the first syllable partakes of the root, the accent generally falls on the first; as úr-gent, tál-ent. NOTE. This rule has an extensive application, and the main exceptions are found in those words which may be used, either as nouns or verbs. When used as nouns, the accent, in most cases, rests on the first syllable; as, an éx-tract, his cón-duct; but when used as verbs, the accent commonly falls on the second; as, to ex-tract, to con-duct. 1st Rule. All words of one syllable, becoming words of two syllables, by adding the following single suffixes, as seen italicised in the examples, invariably retain the accent on the first syllable; viz: 2d Rule. All words of one syllable, becoming words of three or four syllables, by the addition of the following combined suffixes, as italicised, always retain the main accent on the first syllable; viz : 3d Rule. All words of three or more syllables, ending in ability, ibility, ical, ity or ety, have the main accent, invariably, on the antepenult; as sensibility, económical, curiósity. NOTE. When two vowels come together in words ending in ity, the one under accent is always long, as Deity. If one consonant intervene, all are short except u; as levity. If two consonants intervene, u is short; as curvity. 4th Rule. All that numerous class of words consisting of no more than three syllables, the last letter of which is y, not preceded by a vowel, as in attorney, nor mute e before ly, as in profusely, are very uniformly accented on the first syllable, as félony, ártery. |