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How to Speak and Write Correctly
HOW TO SPEAK AND WRITE CORRECTLY
By JOSEPH DEVLIN, M.A.
Edited by THEODORE WATERS
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I REQUIREMENTS OF SPEECH Vocabulary. Parts of speech.
Requisites.
CHAPTER II ESSENTIALS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR Divisions of grammar.
Definitions. Etymology.
CHAPTER III THE SENTENCE Different kinds. Arrangement of words
Paragraph.
CHAPTER IV FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE Figures of speech. Definitions and
examples. Use of figures.
CHAPTER V PUNCTUATION Principal points. Illustrations. Capital
letters.
CHAPTER VI LETTER WRITING Principles of letter writing. Forms. Notes.
CHAPTER VII ERRORS Mistakes. Slips of authors. Examples and
corrections. Errors of redundancy.
CHAPTER VIII PITFALLS TO AVOID Common stumbling blocks. Peculiar
constructions. Misused forms.
CHAPTER IX STYLE Diction. Purity. Propriety. Precision.
CHAPTER X SUGGESTIONS How to write. What to write. Correct speaking
and speakers.
CHAPTER XI SLANG Origin. American slang. Foreign slang.
CHAPTER XII WRITING FOR NEWSPAPERS Qualification. Appropriate
subjects. Directions.
CHAPTER XIII CHOICE OF WORDS Small words. Their importance. The
Anglo-Saxon element.
CHAPTER XIV ENGLISH LANGUAGE Beginning. Different Sources. The
present.
CHAPTER XV MASTERS AND MASTERPIECES OF LITERATURE Great authors.
Classification. The world's best books.
INTRODUCTION
In the preparation of this little work the writer has kept one end in
view, viz.: To make it serviceable for those for whom it is intended,
that is, for those who have neither the time nor the opportunity, the
learning nor the inclination, to peruse elaborate and abstruse
treatises on Rhetoric, Grammar, and Composition. To them such works
are as gold enclosed in chests of steel and locked beyond power of
opening. This book has no pretension about it whatever,--it is neither
a Manual of Rhetoric, expatiating on the dogmas of style, nor a
Grammar full of arbitrary rules and exceptions. It is merely an effort
to help ordinary, everyday people to express themselves in ordinary,
everyday language, in a proper manner. Some broad rules are laid down,
the observance of which will enable the reader to keep within the pale
of propriety in oral and written language. Many idiomatic words and
expressions, peculiar to the language, have been given, besides which
a number of the common mistakes and pitfalls have been placed before
the reader so that he may know and avoid them.
The writer has to acknowledge his indebtedness to no one in
_particular_, but to all in _general_ who have ever written on the
subject.
The little book goes forth--a finger-post on the road of language
pointing in the right direction. It is hoped that they who go
according to its index will arrive at the goal of correct speaking and
writing.
CHAPTER I
REQUIREMENTS OF SPEECH
Vocabulary--Parts of Speech--Requisites
It is very easy to learn how to speak and write correctly, as for all
purposes of ordinary conversation and communication, only about 2,000
different words are required. The mastery of just twenty hundred
words, the knowing where to place them, will make us not masters of
the English language, but masters of correct speaking and writing.
Small number, you will say, compared with what is in the dictionary!
But nobody ever uses all the words in the dictionary or could use them
did he live to be the age of Methuselah, and there is no necessity for
using them.
There are upwards of 200,000 words in the recent editions of the large
dictionaries, but the one-hundredth part of this number will suffice
for all your wants. Of course you may think not, and you may not be
content to call things by their common names; you may be ambitious to
show superiority over others and display your learning or, rather,
your pedantry and lack of learning. For instance, you may not want to
call a spade a spade. You may prefer to call it a spatulous device for
abrading the surface of the soil. Better, however, to stick to the old
familiar, simple name that your grandfather called it. It has stood
the test of time, and old friends are always good friends.
To use a big word or a foreign word when a small one and a familiar
one will answer the same purpose, is a sign of ignorance. Great
scholars and writers and polite speakers use simple words.
To go back to the number necessary for all purposes of conversation
correspondence and writing, 2,000, we find that a great many people
who pass in society as being polished, refined and educated use less,
for they know less. The greatest scholar alive hasn't more than four
thousand different words at his command, and he never has occasion to
use half the number.
In the works of Shakespeare, the most wonderful genius the world has
ever known, there is the enormous number of 15,000 different words,
but almost 10,000 of them are obsolete or meaningless today.
Every person of intelligence should be able to use his mother tongue
correctly. It only requires a little pains, a little care, a little
study to enable one to do so, and the recompense is great.
Consider the contrast between the well-bred, polite man who knows how
to choose and use his words correctly and the underbred, vulgar boor,
whose language grates upon the ear and jars the sensitiveness of the
finer feelings. The blunders of the latter, his infringement of all
the canons of grammar, his absurdities and monstrosities of language,
make his very presence a pain, and one is glad to escape from his
company.
The proper grammatical formation of the English language, so that one
may acquit himself as a correct conversationalist in the best society
or be able to write and express his thoughts and ideas upon paper in
the right manner, may be acquired in a few lessons.
It is the purpose of this book, as briefly and concisely as possible,
to direct the reader along a straight course, pointing out the
mistakes he must avoid and giving him such assistance as will enable
him to reach the goal of a correct knowledge of the English language.
It is not a Grammar in any sense, but a guide, a silent signal-post
pointing the way in the right direction.
THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN A NUTSHELL
All the words in the English language are divided into nine great
classes. These classes are called the Parts of Speech. They are
Article, Noun, Adjective, Pronoun, Verb, Adverb, Preposition,
Conjunction and Interjection. Of these, the Noun is the most
important, as all the others are more or less dependent upon it. A
Noun signifies the name of any person, place or thing, in fact,
anything of which we can have either thought or idea. There are two
kinds of Nouns, Proper and Common. Common Nouns are names which belong
in common to a race or class, as _man_, _city_. Proper Nouns
distinguish individual members of a race or class as _John_,
_Philadelphia_. In the former case _man_ is a name which belongs in
common to the whole race of mankind, and _city_ is also a name which
is common to all large centres of population, but _John_ signifies a
particular individual of the race, while _Philadelphia_ denotes a
particular one from among the cities of the world.
Nouns are varied by Person, Number, Gender, and Case. Person is that
relation existing between the speaker, those addressed and the subject
under consideration, whether by discourse or correspondence. The
Persons are _First_, _Second_ and _Third_ and they represent
respectively the speaker, the person addressed and the person or thing
mentioned or under consideration.
_Number_ is the distinction of one from more than one. There are two
numbers, singular and plural; the singular denotes one, the plural two
or more. The plural is generally formed from the singular by the
addition of _s_ or _es_.
_Gender_ has the same relation to nouns that sex has to individuals,
but while there are only two sexes, there are four genders, viz.,
masculine, feminine, neuter and common. The masculine gender denotes
all those of the male kind, the feminine gender all those of the
female kind, the neuter gender denotes inanimate things or whatever is
without life, and common gender is applied to animate beings, the sex
of which for the time being is indeterminable, such as fish, mouse,
bird, etc. Sometimes things which are without life as we conceive it
and which, properly speaking, belong to the neuter gender, are, by a
figure of speech called Personification, changed into either the
masculine or feminine gender, as, for instance, we say of the sun,
_He_ is rising; of the moon, _She_ is setting.
_Case_ is the relation one noun bears to another or to a verb or to a
preposition. There are three cases, the _Nominative_, the _Possessive_
and the _Objective_. The nominative is the subject of which we are
speaking or the agent which directs the action of the verb; the
possessive case denotes possession, while the objective indicates the
person or thing which is affected by the action of the verb.
An _Article_ is a word placed before a noun to show whether the latter
is used in a particular or general sense. There are but two articles,
_a_ or _an_ and _the_.
An _Adjective_ is a word which qualifies a noun, that is, which shows
some distinguishing mark or characteristic belonging to the noun.
DEFINITIONS
A _Pronoun_ is a word used for or instead of a noun to keep us from
repeating the same noun too often. Pronouns, like nouns, have case,
number, gender and person. There are three kinds of pronouns,
_personal_, _relative_ and _adjective_.
A _verb_ is a word which signifies action or the doing of something. A
verb is inflected by tense and mood and by number and person, though
the latter two belong strictly to the subject of the verb.
An _adverb_ is a word which modifies a verb, an adjective and
sometimes another adverb.
A _preposition_ serves to connect words and to show the relation
between the objects which the words express.
A _conjunction_ is a word which joins words, phrases, clauses and
sentences together.
An _interjection_ is a word which expresses surprise or some sudden
emotion of the mind.
THREE ESSENTIALS
The three essentials of the English language are: _Purity_,
_Perspicuity_ and _Precision_.
By _Purity_ is signified the use of good English. It precludes the use
of all slang words, vulgar phrases, obsolete terms, foreign idioms,
ambiguous expressions or any ungrammatical language whatsoever.
Neither does it sanction the use of any newly coined word until such
word is adopted by the best writers and speakers.
_Perspicuity_ demands the clearest expression of thought conveyed in
unequivocal language, so that there may be no misunderstanding
whatever of the thought or idea the speaker or writer wishes to
convey. All ambiguous words, words of double meaning and words that
might possibly be construed in a sense different from that intended,
are strictly forbidden. Perspicuity requires a style at once clear and
comprehensive and entirely free from pomp and pedantry and affectation
or any straining after effect.
_Precision_ requires concise and exact expression, free from
redundancy and tautology, a style terse and clear and simple enough to
enable the hearer or reader to comprehend immediately the meaning of
the speaker or writer. It forbids, on the one hand, all long and
involved sentences, and, on the other, those that are too short and
abrupt. Its object is to strike the golden mean in such a way as to
rivet the attention of the hearer or reader on the words uttered or
written.