_Not to be glanced at or skipped, but to be carefully studied._
1.--Two consonants of the _same kind_ with no vowel between, provided
they have the _same_ sound, are treated as one consonant, as
"ll" = 5, "nn" = 2, "rr" = 4, "dd" = 1, &c. The first two
consonants have different values in the word "accident" = 70121.
2.--All _silent_ consonants are _disregarded_, as "b" in
"Lam_b_" = 53, "Com_b_" = 73, or in "Tom_b_" = 13. "_Ph_" and "_h_"
in "_Ph_t_h_isic" = 107; "_gh_" in Bou_gh_t = 91; "_k_" in
_K_now = 2; "_gh_" in Nei_gh_bours = 2940; "l" in Cou_l_d = 71, or
in Psa_l_m = 03.
3.--The _equivalents_ of the figure-consonants have the _same value_
as those consonants themselves, as "gh" in "{T}ou{gh}" = 18, "gh"
in E{n}ou{gh} = 28; "gh" in {R}ou{gh} = 48. "{Ph}{r}a{s}e" = 840,
"{N}y{mph}" = 238, "{L}o{ck}" = 57. "N" sometimes sounds like
ng, and so represents 7, as in "Bank" (977) which _sounds_ like
"bang" (not "ban") with a "k" after it; ng are not always taken
together as one sound and translated into 7, but when they sound
separately are treated separately, as in engage = 276[D]. X = gs
or ks = 70, as in example = 70395; in oxygen = 7062. Sometimes
X = Z, as in Xerxes = 04700, and then it = 0. Ci and ti, and
sometimes si and sci = sh, as gracious = 7460; Nation = 262;
Conscience = 72620. Dge = j, as in Ju{dge} = 66. Tch = ch = 6, as
in ditch = 16 (it rhymes with rich = 46). Ch sometimes = k, as in
{Ch}ristmas = 74030. S and z sometimes = zh, which is the cognate
equivalent of sh = 6, as in pleasure = 9564, and in
Crozier = 7464. Acquiesce = 70, excrescence = 7074020.
[D] Pupils who have a poor ear for sounds sometimes fail to note when
"n" sounds like "ng" and so means 7 instead of 2. Let them study the
words "ringer" (474), "linger" (5774), and "ginger" (6264). The first
syllable of "linger" rhymes with the first of "ringer" and not with the
first of "ginger;" it rhymes with "ring" and not with "gin;" and if the
first syllable of "ringer" is 47, the first of "linger" must be 57; but
the second syllable of "linger" is "ger," while the second syllable of
"ringer" is only "er." So "linger" is pronounced as if spelled
"ling-ger," the "n" sounds like "ng." "Ringer" is pronounced
"ring-er," and "ginger" as if spelled "gin-ger."
1. When will facility be attained?
2. Are these rules to be carefully studied?
3. Repeat the first rule.
4. What value is given to silent consonants?
5. What have the same value as the consonants themselves?
6. What does the consonant "N" sometimes sound like?
7. What value is assigned to it in such cases?
8. What is the consonant X equal to?
4.--No notice is taken of any _vowel_ or of w (war = 4) or y
(yoke = 7), or of h (the = 1) except as part of ch or sh. Words
like Weigh, Whey, &c., having no figure values, are never counted.
If one word ends with, and the next word begins with, the _same_
consonant, they are both reckoned, as That Toad = 1111.