NOTE. Clear and distinct articulation

in forming a good reader.

2. Of inflections of voice.

are

indispensable

DEFINITION. Inflections of voice are modifications in the slides of sound, rising above or falling below that key tone on which we commence reading or speaking a sentence. The several inflections of the voice are indicated by the following characters, viz:

The upward slide of the voice.

The downward slide of the voice.

-The monotone or continued sameness of sound.
The circumflex, or undulated tone.

NOTE 1. Although each of the above characters indicates an inflection of voice the same in kind, yet in degree, intensity, and significant expressiveness, there is a great variety of shades.

NOTE 2. Whoever wishes for the most perfect specimen. of all the natural inflections of voice, will find it by conversing with children of sprightliness and vivacity, from three to five years of age, or by listening to animated conversation between two intelligent individuals.

RULE 1. The rising inflection is always used in such direct questions as may be answered by yes or no; while the answer to such questions requires the falling inflection.

EXAMPLES.

Will you go to day? No.

Will you go to morrow? Yes.

Do temptations surround you? Trust in God.

Did Clodius way-lay Milo? He did.

Was that George Washington? It was.

Will he come to dáy? No, but to morrow.

RULE 2. Words and clauses connected by the disjunctive or, require the rising slide before it, and the falling slide after it.

EXAMPLES.

Was it from heaven, or of men.

Shall we remain, or depart.

Is this book yoúrs, or mine.

Shall I come to you with a ród, or in lòve.

RULE 3. When a negative clause precedes an affirmative, the two being in opposition to each other, the former has the rising, and the latter the falling slide.

EXAMPLES.

I do not read for amusement, but for improvement.
He did not come here to remain, but to depart.
He will not go to dáy, but to mòrrow.

I did not say a bétter soldier, but an èlder.

RULE 4. The pause of suspension between members of the same sentence, requires the rising slide.

EXAMPLES.

The beauty of a pláin, the greatness of a mountain, the ornaments of a building, the expression of a picture, and the composition of a discóurse, are to some persons matters of little or no interest.

RULE 5. The expression of tender emotions inclines the voice to a gentle upward slide.

Is

EXAMPLES.

your fáther well, the old man of whom ye spáke? Is hé yet alive? Jesus saith unto her, Máry.

My mother! when I learn'd that thou wast déad,
Say, wast thou conscious of the tears I shed.

RULE 6. The last pause, but one in a sentence closed by a falling inflection, usually has a very slight upward slide, by way of contrast with the closing cadence.

EXAMPLES.

The minor longs to be at âge, then to be a man of business, then to make up an estàte, then to arrive at hónors, then to retire.

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself.

RULE 7. The indirect question, not answered by yes or no, together with its answer, has the falling slide.

EXAMPLES.

Where is boasting then? It is excluded.
What sort of a place do I inhàbit? A dèsert.
Who can forbear to smile with nature?

How shall I learn to meet those tèrrors?

At whose breast was your dagger aimed? Your's. RULE 8. The language of authority, surprise, denunciation, exclamation and terror, in most cases require a very slight falling inflection.

EXAMPLES.

How shocking must thy summons be, O dèath!
Wo unto you, Pharisees; wo unto you, scribes.
Oh, happiness, our being's end and aim.
Angèls! and ministers of grace defènd us.
Hark ye, it was the roar of cannon.

RULE 9. An emphatic succession of particulars; an emphatic repetition, and the final pause, require the falling slide. (Except as see Rule 6th.)

EXAMPLES.

Thrice was I beaten with ròds; once was I stoned; hrice I suffered shipwreck; a night and a day have I een in the deep.

You wrong me every way, you wròng me, Brutus. The sentence is passed; you are condemned to die. RULE 10. An emphatic succession, becoming more ind more intensive, requires an increasing stress of voice, Joth in the upward and downward slides.

EXAMPLES.

I tell you, though

from

heaven,

you,

though all the

world,

though an angel

should deciare the truth of it, I could not believe it. Sliding from a tone above the key to one

The testimony was given not by narrative, but by inter

below:

rogatories.

Sliding from the key upward to the close:

Did he dare to propose such interrogatories?

RULE 11. Every sentence naturally closes with a fall of the voice; but this natural cadence is frequently overruled by such other inflections as are indispensable to the

sense.

11.

EXAMPLES.

Children should treat their parents kindly, not treat them

You were paid to fight Alexander, not to ráil at him. If we have no regard to our own character, we ought to have some regard to the character others.

NOTE. The common faults against which teachers should guard their pupils in the final cadence are, 1st. Such a uniformity as becomes monotonous; and 2d. Beginning the cadence too soon and sliding it down gradually.

THE CIRCUMFLEX.

DEFINITION. Circumflex is a slight undulation of sound By which we combine the falling and rising slide, in uttering a syllable or word. It is a delicate inflection of peculiar significance.

RULE 1. The circumflex is mainly confined to hypothetical and ironical language, or such as implies contrast.

EXAMPLES.

Shall they be blameless, while we are condemned? The sun is up; but sleep on, tǎke your rest.

They tell us to be moderate; but they, they are to revel in profusion.

And the High Priest said, are these things so?

EMPHASIS.

DEFINITION. "Emphasis is a distinctive utterance of words which are especially significant, with such a degree and kind of stress as conveys their meaning in the best manner."

NOTE. Changing the emphatic words changes the sense.

EXAMPLES.

Did you give an apple to Tom?
Did you give an apple to Tom?
Did you give an apple to Tom?
Did you give an apple to Tom?

No, Sam gave it to him.
No, he stole it from me.
No, I gave him a pear.
No, I gave it to John.

RULE 1. That word which marks the import of the expression must be spoken emphatically.

EXAMPLES.

Study not so much to show knowledge, as to acquire it. It is not so difficult to talk well, as to live well. The wise man is happy, when he gains his own approbation; the fool, when he gains that of others. The mind that would be happy must be great.

I that deny thee gold, will give my heart.

RULE 2. Strong emphasis always requires corresponding intensity of inflections.

EXAMPLES.

The fault, dear, Brutus is not in our stárs, but in ourselves. Dare you approach that foe?

We must take heed not only what we say, but what we do. It is not only possible, but probable.

RULE 3. The utterance of a .succession of emphatic words, or an emphatic clause, must be deliberate; while the degree of stress, with the intensity of inflections, must be governed by the sense.

EXAMPLES.

They have beaten us, openly, uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison, and now, do they thrust us out privily? The young are slaves to novelty, the old to custom. Heaven and Earth shall witness, IFROME-MUST-FALL-that we are innocent.

NOTE. To know when the emphatic word takes the rising, and when the falling slide, see Rules under inflections.

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