-ance, -ence; -ancy, -ency; -ant, and -ent, often cause confusion when carelessly written.

The following is a list of the more common words with the e form.

abducent
abhorrence, -ent
abluent
absent, -ence
absorbent
abstergent
abstinence, -ent
adherence, -ent
advertency, -ent
affluence, -ent
antecedence, -ent
apparent
appertinent
appetence, -ency
ardent
benevolence, -ent
circumference
coexistence
coherence, -ent
coincidence, -ent
competence, -ent
concurrence, -ent
condolence
conference
confidence, -ent
confluence, -ent
consentient
consequence
consequent
consistence, -ent
consistency
constituent
continence, -ent
convenience, -ent
corpulence, -ent
correspondence, -ent
currency, -ent
deference
delinquency, -ent
dependence, -ent
deponent
descendent (adj.)
despondency, -ent
difference
diffidence, -ent
diffluent
efficiency, -ent
eminence, -ency
eminent
excellence, -ency
excellent
existence, -ent
expediency
feculence, -ent
flocculence, -ent
fluency, -ent
fraudulence, -ent
imminence, -ent
impatience, -ent
impellent
imprudence, -ent
impudence, -ent
incipience, -ent
incumbency, -ent
independence, -ent
indolence, -ent
inference
inherence, -ent
intermittent
iridescence, -ent
lambent
latency, -ent
leniency, -ent
magniloquence, -ent
malevolence, -ent
mellifluence, -ent
mollient
obedience, -ent
occurrence, -ent
omniscience, -ent
opulence, -ency
opulent
patience, -ent
pendent (adj.)
pendency
penitence, -ent
permanence, -ent
permanency
pertinence, -ent
pestilence, -ent
poculent
portent
potency, -ent
precedence, -ent
preference
prescience, -ent
presence, -ent
presidency, -ent
proficiency, -ent
prominence, -ent
proponent
providence, -ent
prudence, -ent
purulence, -ent
quintessence
recurrence, -ent
reference
refluence, -ent
repellent
residence, -ency
resident
resolvent
resplendence, -ent
respondent
reverence, -ent
sentient
solvency, -ent
somnolency, -ent
subserviency, -ent
subsidence, -ency
subsistence, -ent
succulent
superintendence
superintendency
superintendent
tendence, -ency
transcendence, -ent
transcendency
transference
transient
transparency, -ent
transplendency, -ent
turbulence, -ent
vicegerency, -ent
virulence, -ent

Nearly all other words of this type take the a form.

The instructor should drill the pupils in spelling not only these “catch” words, but a wide range of English words. These lessons may be taken to advantage from some of the books mentioned in the list for supplementary reading, from any other good spelling book, or even from the pages of any well printed book or magazine. The words should be given out orally and written down by the pupil. A good exercise is the reading of a paragraph from any good book, or some stanza of poetry, the passage read to be taken down by the pupil with care to spell, punctuate, and capitalize properly.

A number of topics sometimes treated under the head of spelling will be found discussed in the “Printer's Manual of Style” (No. 41).

PRONUNCIATION

The English language is a difficult one to pronounce as well as to spell. This arises from two causes. The English language has some sounds not generally found in other languages, such as w and th. As has already been pointed out, the alphabet fits the language very badly. Careful lexicographers indicate no less than seven sounds of a, five of e, three of i, four of o and six of u, as shown in the following table:

ā as in āle
[Ia] as in sen[Ia]te
ă as in ăm
á as in ásk
[a:] as in [a:]ll
ä as in fäther
(a) as in fin(a)l

ē as in ēve
ĕ as in ĕnd
[Ie] as in ev[Ie]nt
ẽ as in fẽrn
(e) as in prud(e)nce

ī as in īce
[Ii] as in [Ii]dea
ĭ as in pĭn

ō as in ōld
[Io] as in [Io]pen
ŏ as in ŏdd
ô as in ôrb

ū as in ūse
[Iu] as in [Iu]nite
ŭ as in ŭp
[u:] as in r[u:]de
[u=] as in f[u=]ll
û as in ûrn

In addition to these there are diphthongs, combinations of vowel sounds pronounced as one syllable, such as

ou as in out
oi as in oil

There are also a number of digraphs or combinations of vowels or consonants which have but one sound, such as

ai as in rain
eo as in people
ou as in soup
ou as in soul
ph as in phalanx
ch as in chorus or chair

C has two sounds, hard before a, o, and u, as in cat, cot, and cut, and soft before e, i, and y, as in cell, city, and cycle.

G has two sounds, hard before a, o, and u, as in gate, gone, and gun, soft before e, i, and y, as in gem, gin, and gyve, although it is sometimes hard before i as in girl.

Ch is sometimes soft as in chair and arch, and sometimes hard as in choir.

Th has two sounds, soft, or surd, as in thin and death, and hard, or sonant, as in then and smooth.

S has two sounds, soft, or surd, as in soft and this, and hard, or sonant, as in has and wise.

We have, therefore, twenty-six letters with which to express fifty or more sounds, not counting the digraphs and diphthongs.

Correct pronunciation depends upon three things, correct sounding of the letters, correct division into syllables, and correct placing of the accent.

A syllable is the smallest separately articulated, or pronounced, element in speech, or one of the parts into which speech is broken. It consists of a vowel alone or accompanied by one or more consonants and separated by them, or by a pause, from a preceding or following vowel. This division of words into syllables is indicated in dictionaries by the use of the hyphen thus: sub-trac-tion, co-or-din-ate. It will be observed that in the first of these examples the vowels are all separated by consonants, while in the second two of them are separated by a pause only.

The English language has the further peculiarity of using l and n as vowels in syllabication, as in middle (mid-dl) and reck-on (reck-n).

The division of words into syllables for pronunciation is generally, but not always, the same as that which should be followed in case the word has to be divided typographically. As these text-books are intended to help the apprentice as