Plain English. Marian Wharton
which we are using in connection with this course—Winston's New Universal Self-Pronouncing Dictionary.
Key to Pronunciation
ā as in late, fade.
ä as in mar, father.
ȧ as in mask, dance.
a as in cat, had.
aw as in awl, fall.
ē as in he, feet.
ẽ as in her, verge.
e as in let, men.
ī as in line, time.
i as in tin, little.
ō as in vote, home.
ô as in orb, form.
o as in lot, odd.
oi as in oil, join.
o̅o̅ as in moon, school.
oo as in cook, foot.
ou as in out, house.
ū as in mute, unit.
u as in nut, drum.
The spelling lesson for this week is composed of words containing the different vowel sounds. Look up in your dictionary and mark all the a's in Monday's lesson, all the e's in Tuesday's lesson, all the i's in Wednesday's lesson, all the o's in Thursday's lesson, and all the u's in Friday's lesson. In Saturday's lesson note the use of w and y as vowels.
Monday
Pause
Adjective
Lazy
Quality
Advance
Tuesday
Resemble
Descend
Adverb
Interjection
Complete
Wednesday
Limit
Define
Distinct
Imprison
Civilize
Thursday
Form
Footsteps
Proof
Report
Common
Friday
Union
Under
Unusual
Summer
Commune
Saturday
Comply
Employ
Vowel
News
Lawful
PLAIN ENGLISH
LESSON 4
Dear Comrade:
We are studying in this lesson a most interesting part of our language, the words that are the names of things. If we could trace these names of things and the order and time of their coming into the language of men we would have a progressive history of mankind. Way back yonder in the dim dawn of history, men lived upon fruit and nuts. They had no knowledge of the use of fire and could not use foods that required cooking. They communicated with one another by signs. Then they discovered fire and invented the bow and arrow. They could now use fish and flesh for food and they commenced to use articulate speech. This stage has been called the Middle Stage of Savagery. With the invention of the bow and arrow, began the third stage of savagery which merged into the first stage of barbarism with the invention of pottery.
There are three stages of barbarism before we come to the beginning of the era of civilization which begins with the use of the phonetic alphabet and the production of literary records. All tribes that have never attained the art of pottery are classed as savages and those who possess this art but have never attained a phonetic alphabet and the use of writing are classed as barbarians. Civilization began with the spoken and written language and it has been well said that all that separates us from savagery is a wall of books. It is upon the accumulated wisdom of the past that we build. Without this we would be helpless.
So these various names of things have come to us with developing evolving life. As the men of the past gained a knowledge of the use of fire, as they learned to bake the clay and make various utensils; to heat and forge the iron into weapons; to conquer nature in all her phases, to feed the race, to clothe the race, to shelter the race more adequately, our language has grown in volume, strength and beauty.
The study of words and their uses is of great importance to you. Master the few rules necessary and watch your words daily. We are living in an age full of wondrous things and yet many of us have almost as limited a vocabulary as the men of those bygone days, who had never dreamed of the marvels that are commonplace to us.
As you use your dictionary watch closely the meaning of the words and choose the words that most aptly express your ideas. Listen to good English spoken as often as you can. Read good English. Mark the difference between good and bad English and gradually you will find yourself using good English naturally and continually.
CLASSES OF NOUNS
59. We have learned that the words in a sentence are classified according to the work which each word does. The words which assert are called verbs; the words which are the names of things are called nouns. But now we shall see that these words are again divided into classes according to the special work which they perform. Just as we may gather the people of the world into one great class, the working class, then classify them according to the industry in which they work, thus some are farmers, some teachers, some factory workers; then each class may be subdivided according to the special work which they perform, as truck farmers, high school teachers, machinists, etc.
So we find that nouns are divided into classes according to their meaning in the sentence.
In the sentence, Lincoln was a man of the people, we have two nouns referring to the same person, Lincoln and man, but they are different kinds of names. The word man is a name that may apply to any one of a million persons but the name Lincoln applies to one person only. Some nouns, then, represent a thing as being of a certain kind or class, without showing which particular one is meant. Other nouns are names given to designate a particular individual. These are called common and proper nouns.
60. A proper noun is a special name meant for only one person, place or thing.
All other nouns are common nouns.
A common noun is a name which belongs to all things of a class of objects.
Every proper noun should begin with a capital letter.
Indicate the proper nouns in the following list by drawing a line under the letters that ought to be capitals:
king
month
city
france
dog
virginia
war
wilson
november
doctor
colonel
napoleon
chicago
governor
independence