



Produced by Larry B. Harrison and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net









  PRACTICAL HIGH SCHOOL
  SPELLER

  COMPILED BY
  TOBIAS O. CHEW, M.S.

  SUPERINTENDENT OF CITY SCHOOLS
  WASHBURN, WISCONSIN

  ALLYN AND BACON
  Boston  New York  Chicago




  COPYRIGHT, 1914,
  BY TOBIAS O. CHEW.

  DAAN

  Norwood Press
  J. S. Cushing Co.--Berwick & Smith Co.
  Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.




  Dedicated
  TO THE
  MANY HIGH SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS, PRINCIPALS, AND
  TEACHERS, WHO BY THEIR COOePERATION HAVE
  MADE POSSIBLE THE COMPILATION
  OF THIS BOOK




PREFACE


What are the words most commonly misspelled by the average high school
pupil? In an endeavor to solve this problem, two thousand letters,
with five postal cards in each, were sent to representative high
schools in every state in the United States, requesting the heads of
the various departments to report the words most commonly misspelled
in their classes. From the many thousand replies, this text-book has
been compiled.

The first word in Lesson I was sent in by seven hundred high school
teachers; the other words in this lesson show, by their order, the
frequency with which they appear in the replies. No word has been
considered unless suggested by at least two teachers. This book, then,
built on the judgment of those best qualified to know--the teachers
themselves--contains only the words most frequently misspelled by the
average high school pupil.

A simple phrase is placed after each word, illustrating its use, and
serving to identify it better than would a short, abstract definition.
The division of words into syllables with accent marks will be of
great assistance to the pupil, should there be any question in his
mind as to the correct pronunciation. The typography is based on the
idea that it will be a great help to the pupil in visualizing the
words if he sees them in script as well as in print.

                                                           T. O. CHEW.

    MARCH, 1914.




A FEW SIMPLE RULES FOR SPELLING


When the diphthongs _ei_ and _ie_ are pronounced _[=e]_, _c_ is
followed by _ei_, all other letters by _ie_. Examples: _ceiling_,
_receive_, _siege_, _believe_. Exceptions: _leisure_, _seize_,
_weird_. The word _slice_ will help pupils to remember this rule--_i_
after _l_ and _e_ after _c_ when applied to _believe_ and _receive_.

       *       *       *       *       *

Final _y_ following a consonant changes to _i_ before a suffix not
beginning with _i_. Examples: _busy_, _business_; _dry_, _dried_. When
the suffix begins with _i_, as in _-ing_ and _-ish_, the _y_ is
retained to avoid having double _i_. Examples: _try_, _trying_;
_baby_, _babyish_.

When the final _y_ follows a vowel, the _y_ is retained before a suffix.
Examples: _toy_, _toyed_; _betray_, _betrayed_; _annoy_, _annoyed_.

       *       *       *       *       *

To form the plural of words ending in _y_ following a consonant change
the _y_ to _i_ and add _es_. Examples: _quantity_, _quantities_;
_factory_, _factories_.

When the final _y_ follows a vowel, the _y_ is retained and _s_ added.
Examples: _journey_, _journeys_; _delay_, _delays_; _money_, _moneys_.

       *       *       *       *       *

Monosyllables and words accented on the last syllable, which end in a
single consonant, following a single vowel, double the final consonant
before a suffix beginning with a vowel. Examples: _hot_, _hotter_;
_begin_, _beginning_. Exceptions: (1) _gas_, _gases_. (2) The letters
_w_, _x_, and _y_ are not doubled. Examples: _show_, _showing_; _box_,
_boxed_; _pay_,