We give two manual alphabets, the one-handed being used in America, on the continent of Europe with some variations and additions, in Ireland, and also to some extent in England; the two-handed in Great Britain, Ireland and Australia. A speed of 130 words a minute can be attained when spelling on the fingers. Words are quite readable at this speed.
| The Manual Alphabet. (One-handed.) |
| Fig. 2.—The Manual Alphabet. (Two-handed.) |
Although reading and writing are common to both methods, the manual and oral, as a matter of fact they seem to be used considerably more in the former than in the latter.
In the oral method articulation and lip-reading are chiefly relied upon; reading and writing are also adopted. The phonetic Oral. values of the letters are taught, not the names of the letters; for instance, the sound of the letter ă in “hat” is taught instead of the name of the letter (long A), though of course the latter is taught where such is the proper pronunciation, as in “hate.”
Here is a chart which was lately in use:
Articulation Sheets.
| Analysis of the Vowel Sounds. | |||||||
| Long. | Middle. | Short. | Broad. | ||||
| Diacritic mark. | Phonetic spelling. | Diacritic mark. | Phonetic spelling. | Diacritic mark. | Phonetic spelling. | Diacritic mark. | Phonetic spelling. |
| fāt(e) | = feit | fär | = far | făt | = fat | fãll | = fawl fol |
| mē | = mee mi | mět | = met | ||||
| pīn(e) | = pain | pĭn | = pin | ||||
| nō | = nou | möve | = muv | nŏt | = not | ||
| tūb(e) | = tiub | büll | = bul | tŭb | = tub | ||
Order in which the Vowel Sounds are to be taught.
