Chapter 2
Section 2 of 1001 Questions and Answers on English Grammar. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Theoden Humphrey.
1001 Questions and Answers on English Grammar by Benjamin Hathaway. Section 2. 1. Of what does orthography treat? Of the nature and properties of letters, and of the art of writing words correctly. 2. What is a letter?
It is a character used to represent some sound or combination of sounds of the human voice. 3. How many letters are there in the English language, and what are they called? There are 26 called the alphabet. 4. How many speech sounds do these 26 letters represent? Webster gives 45, but the number of possible speech sounds represented is many more.
5. How are letters classified, usually into vowels and consonants? 6. What is a vowel? A letter that represents a vocal or little interrupted speech sound. 7. What is a consonant? A letter that represents a much interrupted speech sound, therefore the subvocals and aspirates.
8. Name the vowels. A-E-I-O-U and sometimes Y. W is no longer considered a vowel. 9. What is a semi-vowel? Those letters which represent sounds that in the degree of their modification stand on the borderline between vocals and subvocals. They are W, Y, L, N, and R.
10. What is a diphthong? A combination of two vocals or vowel sounds in one utterance. It may be represented by two letters or one as O-I in oil, A in ate. 11. What is a syllable? A vowel sound that alone or in combination with other elementary sounds
forms a word or separable part of a word. 12. What is a word? A spoken or written sign of an idea. 13. What is spelling? The act of naming the letters of a word.
14. What is the use of silent letters? Many are useless. Others perform somewhat the function of diacritical marks. Final E usually indicates the long sound of the preceding vowel as E in meat. 15. What words should begin with capital letters? 1. The first word in every sentence.
2. Proper names. 3. Titles of honor. 4. The pronoun I and interjection O should always be capitals. 5. The first word in every line of poetry. 6. Appalations of the deity.
7. Names of objects personified. 8. Names of the days of the week and of the months. 9. The first word in every direct quotation. 10. The chief words in the titles of books, headings of divisions of books, chapters, etc. 11. Words derived from proper names.
12. All words of special importance. End of section 2.
