59.   The six short-vowels are written with light dots and dashes as follows:

1.   The sound of a in at, with a light dot in the first-place.

2.   The sound of e in ebb, with a light dot in the second-place.

3.   The sound of i in it, with a light dot in the third-place.

4.   The sound of o in on, with a light dash in the first-place.

5.   The sound of u in us, with a light dash in the second-place.

6.   The sound of 00 in foot, with a light dash in the third-place.

Table Of Short-Vowels.

60. Names of the Short-Vowels. - The names of the short-vowels, like those of the long-vowels, are the sounds themselves.

But as it is somewhat difficult for most beginners to utter these short sounds accurately, except in connection with consonants, a little special practice will be necessary. To get the sound of a in at, say pat several times, then at several times, and then the vowel without the / several times; thus, pat, pat, pat, pat; at, at, at, at; a, a, a, a. Be careful not to change the sound from a to a. To get the sound of e in ebb, say met, met, met, met; et, et, et, et; e, e, e, e (not e, e, e, e). To get the sound of i in it, say pit, pit, pit, pit; it, it, it, it; X, X, X, X (not I, I, I, I). To get the sound of o in on, say c6t, c6t, c6t, cot; ot, ot, ot, ot; o, o, o, o (not o, o, o, o). To get the sound of u in us, say cut, cut, cut, cut; ut, ut, ut, ut; u, u, u, u (not you, you, you, you). To get the sound of oo in loot, say foot, foot, foot, foot; foot, oot, oot, oot; oo, oo, oo, oo (not "double-o" or "two o's"), etc. In Webster's Dictionary the marked letters to denote these short vowel-sounds are a, e, i, o,u, o.

Remark. For examples of words containing each a short-vowel and one consonant, see the first ten words in the reading and writing exercises on pages 22 and 23.

61. All of the Vowels. - All of the sixteen vowel-sounds of the language having now been presented, together with their phonographic signs, a complete table of them is here given.

Complete Table Of Vowel-Signs.

THE VOWEL-SOUNDS AND THEIR "PLACES."

62.   All of the long vowel-sounds are heard, in their proper order by '* places" (that is, lengthwise of the consonant-stem), in the sentence : " Pa gave me all those shoes."

63.   All of the short vowel-sounds are heard, in their proper order by "places," in the sentence : " Pat went in on one foot."

64.  All of the diphthong-sounds are heard in their proper order in the sentence : " My joys, how few ! "

65.   Sounding the Vowels across. -The usual order in which the vowels are sounded is lengthwise of the consonant-stem, from its beginning to its finish ; the six long-vowels being given first, next the six short-vowels, and then the four diphthongs ; thus, ah, ā,ē ; aw, ō, 60; ă,ĕ,ĭ;ŏ,ŭ; I, OI, OW, ew. The learner, however, should make a practice of occasionally sounding them across the consonant-stem, from left to right, and in that way learning all the sounds of each of the three vowel-places by themselves. Thus, first-place, ah, ă, aw, 6, I, ŏ, OW; second-place, ā, ĕ, ō,ŭ; third-place, ē, ĭ, do, dd, ew. This kind of practice will help one in determining quickly the proper position in which to write the outline of any word.

66.   All of the first-place vowel-sounds are heard in the sentence: " Laugh at all of my toys now."

67.   All of the second-place vowel-sounds are heard in the sentence : " They get no cup."

68.  All of the third-place vowel-sounds are heard in the sentence : " We bring you good news."