extends to the end of the second paragraph, including the heading and
the salutation, and should be written in 9 minutes. The second
exercise includes the rest of the letter and should be written in 12
minutes. Not more than one exercise should be given in one day.
Newark, New Jersey,
December 3, 1920.
Mr. Frank A. Hardy, Managing Editor,
National Insurance Journal,
Boston, Massachusetts.
MY DEAR MR. HARDY,
I am glad to make an immediate reply to your inquiry of December 1,
regarding Miss Henry's qualifications.
It is now eight years since Miss Henry first took a position with us.
She began as mail clerk, working up rapidly through the ranks, until she
became private secretary to Mr. Baldwin, President of the Central
Insurance Company, in which capacity she has served for four years,
becoming an important part of the institution. We have found her always
courteous, thoroughly efficient in her work, and absolutely reliable.
She is well equipped for a position on an insurance publication because
of her magazine writing, which she has been doing in connection with a
course in journalism at the university this year. She has been most
successful in this work and hopes to find time to do more of it during
the summer term if her schedule will permit. It was only because of her
great desire to continue her education that we were willing to accept
her resignation, and we knew that this year's work at the university
would mean a broader field for her in the future.
I am enclosing a record of Miss Henry's work, on the usual form kept
for each employee, showing the approximate progress she made during
her eight years with us and her increased value to the company, and I
am also sending under separate cover Miss Henry's photograph, as you
suggested.
Hoping I may hear from you further if there is any additional
information you require, I am
Very sincerely yours,
JOHN SMITH.
SUPPLEMENT WHICH CONTAINS CERTAIN RULES AND DEFINITIONS OFTEN TAUGHT
AS A PART OF THE COURSE OF STUDY IN SPELLING
As a part of the course of study in spelling, there is occasionally
found a provision for word study and for teaching certain rules and
definitions. The following supplement is added as a guide in schools
which make such a requirement. Ordinarily such topics as derivation of
words, root prefixes, suffixes, homonyms, antonyms, synonyms, and
hyphens are taught, either as a part of composition or as a part of
dictionary exercises.
The value of teaching spelling rules is still somewhat a matter of
controversy, although the weight of experimental evidence seems to
indicate that children do not profit from a study of the rules in
spelling, as much as they profit from the same amount of time spent in
the direct study of the important words covered by these rules.
However, since some city and state courses of study require the
teaching of the rules, it seems advisable to put the more important
rules in this supplement.
An effort has been made to state these rules in the simplest manner
possible, within the limits of accuracy. Great care has been taken,
also, to tabulate, for each rule, the words frequently used in
correspondence, which are exceptions.
The teacher should understand clearly that it is not the intention of
the authors to have these rules take the place of the direct teaching
of any word. Rather they are to be regarded as supplementary
exercises. It is doubtful whether much attention should be given to
rules before grade seven.
DERIVATION OF WORDS
Often one word is built up from several words or syllables. The most
important part of such a built-up word is called the root, or base.
This root or base had an original meaning which is usually clear,
especially in purely English words, as in-side, happi-ness, etc. Many
built-up or derivative words are from other languages. A few examples
may help to illustrate:
1. international--Latin inter (between) plus nation (nation) plus
al (pertaining to)--between nations, pertaining to intercourse
between nations.
The root is "nation."
2. extraordinary--Latin extra (on the outside, out of) plus
ordinarius (ordinary)--out of the ordinary, unusual.
The root is "ordinar."
3. provide--Latin pro (before) plus vid (to look or see)--to look
before or ahead, to look out for in advance.
The root is "vid."
4. convention--Latin con (together) plus ven (to come) plus tion
(act of)--act of coming together--meeting.
The root is "ven."
Many roots or bases are taken directly from the English:
1. out-come--act of coming out--that which comes out of something
else--result.
2. in-side--inner side or surface.
3. cheer-ful--full of cheer.
4. happi-ness--state of being happy.
In studying these words, you may have noticed that something besides
the root or base is needed to make the meaning clear. The other two
parts which help to make up words are called prefixes and suffixes.
These will be taken up separately.
PREFIXES
A prefix is a word or syllable placed before another word, and so
completely joined to it that it changes the meaning of the basic word.
NOTE TO TEACHER:--Have the pupils select in the lessons of your
grade, words which have similar prefixes.
As you can see in the list below, the final consonant of a prefix has
often been changed to make the pronunciation easier, but does not
disappear when added to the stem. Thus, ad-cord became ac-cord,
ad-fect became af-fect, etc.
=Prefix= | =Definition= | =Illustration=
| |
ab (abs, a) |from, away |abandon
| |
ad (ac, af, ag, al, an, ap, | |
ar, as, at) |to |accommodate
| |
ante |before |antecedent
| |
circum |about, around |circumstance
| |
com (co, col, con, cor) |with, together |compare, concert
| |
de |from, down, away |desert, debate
| |
dis (dif, de) |apart, not |disobey
| |
ex (e, ef) |out, out of, away from, |
| off, beyond |expect
| |
extra |out of |extraordinary
| |
in (ill, im, ir) |in, into, not, without |inside
| |
inter |among, between, mutually|interurban
| |
non |not |nonsense
| |
per |through, by, for |perhaps
| |
post |behind, after |postpone
| |
pre |before |prevent
| |
pro |forward, before, instead|provide
| |
re |back, again, against |return
| |
se |aside, apart, without |separate
| |
sub (suc, suf, sug, sup, | |
sur) |under, below, near |subject, succeed
| |
super |over, above, beyond |superintendent
| |
trans (tran, tra) |across, over, beyond, |
| through |transfer, travel
SUFFIXES
A suffix is a syllable or word which is added to the end of another
word to change the meaning of the basic word.
NOTE TO TEACHER:--As the suffix is often closely connected with
the root of the word, not much stress will be laid on learning
suffixes by themselves. A few of the more common ones will be
noted.
=Suffix=| =Definition= | =Illustration=
| |
ful |with or full of |cheerful
| |
less |without |careless, doubtless
| |
ness |state of being |happiness
| |
ly |like or like in manner |happily
| |
ment |act, state, a thing that|development
| |
some |act of being |lonesome
HOMONYMS
A homonym is a word pronounced exactly like another, but differing
from it in meaning. A few homonyms are spelled in the same way, as
"weed," a garment, and "weed," a plant. Only a small group of the more
common type will be given here.
NOTE TO TEACHER:--It has been deemed advisable to omit giving an
extensive list of homonyms here. You may refer the pupils to the
lists of homonyms which occur in the regular spelling lessons of
the first five grades. For example, the following lists are among
those which contain homonyms:--16 in grade I; 18, 19, 20, in
grade II; 12 words in 28 of grade III; 32 in grade IV; etc.
=Word= | =Definition= | =Sentence=
| |
1. flour |a fine meal of ground wheat |
| or other grain |Mother uses flour in baking
| | bread.
| |
flower|a blossom |The rose is a beautiful
| | flower.
| |
2. no |not, not any |I have no work to do.
| |
know |to understand |Do you know your lesson?
| |
3. son |a male child; the male offspring|
| of a parent, father or mother |John is my son.
| |
sun |the heavenly body which produces|The sun rises in the east.
| the light of day |
SYNONYMS
Synonyms are words that have almost the same meaning. If you were to
look up the simple words "cut" and "ask" you would find the following
synonyms:
For "cut"--carve, lance, bite, dissect, snip, saw, slice, slit, slash,
etc.
For "ask"--beg, crave, entreat, beseech, implore, move, plead,
solicit, etc. No two of these synonyms mean exactly the same thing,
but they express different shades of the same meaning.
Practice Exercises: Find as many synonyms as you can for the following
words:
best
decide
effort
deceive
imagine
dark
time
form
pleasure
public
Any lesson in the book may be used for an exercise in discovering
synonyms.
ANTONYMS
Words of opposite meaning are called antonyms. For example,
black--white; big--little; and open--closed, are so named.
Practice Exercises: Try to think of antonyms for the following words:
cold
come
dull
inside
fat
front
good
high
in
large
up
long
new
poor
slow
spring
sweet
tall
wet
winter
THE HYPHEN
Authorities differ in regard to the use of the hyphen. However, there
are two rules which always hold good: (1). The hyphen is used to
separate compound adjectives; (2). The hyphen is used to show, at the
end of a line, that a word has been divided. (Such a word must be
divided between syllables.) In other cases, when you cannot decide
whether or not to use a hyphen, consult the dictionary used in your
school. It is much less frequently used than formerly.
RULES FOR SPELLING
=I. Formation of Possessives=
1. The following list is made up of words in the singular number. To
form the possessive, add an apostrophe and "s."
horse's head
man's coat
girl's dress
boy's shoes
soldier's uniform
child's laugh
sheep's wool
sister's hat
2. The following list is made up of plural nouns that do not end in
"s." To form the possessive, add an apostrophe and "s."
children's clothes
men's shirts
women's praise
gentlemen's plans
3. The following list is made up of plural nouns ending in "s."
To form the possessive, add only an apostrophe.
miles' walk
girls' clothing
years' word
pupils' attention
=II. Treatment of the final consonant before a suffix=
1. The following list contains words of one syllable. Notice that each
word ends in a consonant, and that in every word there is a single
short vowel preceding it. In all such words, the final consonant is
doubled before adding a suffix beginning with a vowel.
big--bigg (er) (est)
drop--dropp(ed) (ing)
stop--stopp(ed) (ing)
plan--plann(ed) (ing)
begin--beginn(er) (ing)
2. The following list contains verbs of more than one syllable. Each
verb is accented on the last syllable, and ends in a single consonant
preceded by a single short vowel. In such verbs, the final consonant
is doubled before a suffix beginning with a vowel.
beginn(ing)
referr(ed) (ing)
occurr(ed)
forgott(en)
remitt(ance)
=III. Adding suffixes to words ending in "e"=
1. A word ending in silent "e" drops the "e" before a vowel, as:
come--coming
hope--hoping
serve--serving
appreciate--appreciating
vote--voting
2. When a suffix beginning with a consonant is added to a word ending
in "e," the "e" is kept.
announce--announce-ment
hope--hope-ful
late--late-ly
care--care-less
lone--lone-some
3. "E" is retained to keep the soft sound of "c" and "g" before "a"
and "o" as in notice--notice-able, and advantage--advantage-ous.
=Exceptions:=
Of the words commonly used in writing letters the following exceptions
are to be made:
a. When a suffix beginning with a consonant is added to a word ending
in "e":
(1) Only three words drop "e" before adding "ment": judgment,
acknowledgment, argument.
(2) Only one word drops "e" before adding "ful": awful.
(3) Only three words drop "e" before adding "ly":
true--truly
due--duly
whole--wholly
b. When the last syllable of a word ends in "le," "ly" does not make a
new syllable, as: probable---probably, possible--possibly,
simple--simply.
(When "ly" is added to words ending in "l," both "l's" are retained,
as: practical--practically, careful--carefully.)
=IV. Treatment of the final "y"=
1. To form the plural of a noun ending in "y" preceded by a consonant,
change the "y" to "i" and add "es."
lady--ladies
quantity--quantities
quality--qualities
2. When a verb ends in "y" preceded by a consonant, change the "y" to
"i" and add "es" to form the third person singular of the verb. To
form the past tense of the verb, change the "y" to "i" and add "ed."
fry--fries
cry--cries
bury--buried
carry--carried
3. When a word ends in "y" preceded by a vowel, form the plural by
adding "s."
turkey--turkeys
chimney--chimneys
valley--valleys
4. When "y" is preceded by a consonant, change it to "i" before a
suffix which does not begin with "i," as in business, readily,
happiness, etc.
Retain "y" in such words as: hurrying, crying, flying, etc.
=V. Treatment and use of the apostrophe=
1. Put the apostrophe in the place of the absent letter or letters:
aren't, don't, didn't, can't, I'll, etc.
2. Possessives of personal pronouns have no apostrophe, as: its, hers,
ours, yours, etc.
=VI. Irregular Plurals=
Some words ending in "f" or "fe" form their plurals by changing the
"f" or "fe" to "v" and adding "es."
half--halves
knife--knives
life--lives
leaf--leaves
calf--calves
wife--wives
=VII. Confusion of "ei" and "ie"=
NOTE TO TEACHER:--Experimental evidence does not seem to show
that this rule is very effective, but if it is taught, the
following presentation is recommended.
Whenever "i" and "e" occur together in one syllable, and are
pronounced as "[=e]" or "[)e]," it is always "i" before "e" except
after "c" (see). When sounded like "[=a]" it is always "e" before "i."
Some have used the following jingle to help fix the rule:
"i" before "e"
Except after "c"
Or when sounded like "a"
As in neighbor or weigh.
Four of the words most commonly used in writing letters are exceptions
to these rules: neither, leisure, foreign, height.
Transcriber's Note:
* Text enclosed between equal signs was in bold face in the
original (=bold=).
* Punctuation errors have been corrected.
* All misprinted reference pages throughout the book have been
corrected (vii-xvi).
* Pg 17 Added missing "opening quotation" before "Remember" in "Remember
that the purpose of this test ..."
* Pg 97 Removed ")" after "I didn't see him.")" and added "("
before "Fitzgerald".
* Pg 97 Corrected spelling of "kindom" to "kingdom" in "... gone
to kindom come"
* Pg 103 Corrected spelling of "expecially" to "especially" in
"... expecially since they are in ..."
* Pg 109 Corrected spelling of "occassionally" to "occasionally"
in "... there is occassionally found ..."