Train the ear to hear the difference between sounds, as in just and in jest. Don't slide over the final consonant in such words as going and reading. Watch words containing wh. The dictionary tells us that where was originally written hwar, the h coming before the w; and we still pronounce it so, although we write the w before the h. The word whether is of the same kind. The dictionary tells us that it was first spelled hweder. Such words should be carefully noted and their pronunciation practiced.
Then there is the habit of slurring syllables. We may understand what is meant by the expression "C'm' on" or "Waja say?", but most of us would prefer not to be included in the class of people who use either. Correct speech cannot be mastered without an effort.
In the following exercises watch every vowel and every consonant so that you may give each one its full value.
Exercise 10—Diacritical Marks
Although an a is always written a, it is not always given the same quality or length of sound. When we discover a new word, it is important that we know exactly the quality to give each of the vowels in it. For this purpose diacritical marks have been invented. They are illustrated in the following list from Webster's International Dictionary.
Transcriber's Note: Due to the constraints of HTML, a letter with a tack above such as
cannot be displayed. For this reason [+x] has been used to denote a letter with a tack above it.
| ā | as | in | āte, fāte, lāb´or |
| [+a] | " | " | sen´[+a]te, del´ic[+a]te, [+a]e´rial |
| â | " | " | câre, shâre, pâr´ent |
| ă | " | " | ăm, ădd, răn´dom |
| ä | " | " | ärm, fär, fä´ther |
| ȧ | " | " | ȧsk, grȧss, pȧss, dȧnce |
| a̠ | " | " | fi´na̠l, in´fa̠nt, guid´ānce |
| a̤ | " | " | a̤ll, a̤we, swa̤rm, ta̤lk |
| ē | " | " | ēve, mēte, serēne´ |
| [+e] | " | " | [+e]vent´, d[+e]pend´, soci´[+e]ty |
| ĕ | " | " | ĕnd, mĕt, ĕxcuse´, ĕfface´ |
| ẽ | " | " | fẽrn, hẽr, ẽr´mine, ev´ẽr |
| e | " | " | re´cent, de´cency, pru´dence |
| ī | " | " | īce, tīme, sīght, inspīre´ |
| [+i] | " | " | [+i]dea´, tr[+i]bu´nal, b[+i]ol´ogy |
| ĭ | " | " | ĭll, pĭn, pĭt´y, admĭt´ |
| ō | " | " | ōld, nōte, ō´ver, prōpose´ |
| [+o] | " | " | [+o]bey´, t[+o]bac´co, sor´r[+o]w |
| ô | " | " | ôrb, lôrd, ôr´der, abhôr´ |
| ŏ | " | " | ŏdd, nŏt, tŏr´rid, ŏccur´ |
| ū | " | " | ūse, pūre, dū´ty, assūme´ |
| [+u] | " | " | [+u]nite´, ac´t[+u]ate, ed[+u]ca´tion |
| ṳ | " | " | rṳde, rṳ´mor, intrṳde´ |
| ụ | " | " | fụll, pụt, fụlfill´ |
| ŭ | " | " | ŭp, tŭb, stŭd´y |
| û | " | " | ûrn, fûr, concûr´ |
| y̆ | " | " | pit´y̆, in´jury̆, divin´ity̆ |
| o͞o | " | " | fo͞ol, fo͞od, mo͞on |
| o͝o | " | " | fo͝ot, wo͝ol, bo͝ok |
| ou | " | " | out, thou, devour´ |
| oi | " | " | oil, noi´sy, avoid´ |