1001 Questions and Answers on Orthography and Reading.
by B. A. Hathaway.
LETTERS.
1. _What is Orthography?_ The science and art of the Letters of a language.
2. _Of what does Orthography treat?_ The nature and power of letters, and correct spelling.
3. _From what is the word Orthography derived?_ Two Greek words, signifying "To write right."
4. _What is a Letter?_ A character used to represent an elementary sound, or combination of sounds.
5. _What is an Alphabet of a Language?_ A complete list of its letters.
6. _What is the origin of the word Alphabet?_ It is derived from the first two letters of the Greek Alphabet: Alpha and Beta.
7. _Where did the Alphabet originate?_ The English comes from the Greek, which was brought by Cadmus from Phoenicia, about the year 1490 B.C.
8. _What was the first Alphabet ever used?_ The Hebrew.
9 _How many letters were in the original Alphabet?_ Sixteen.
10. _Where did the other letters originate?_ They have been added since the time of Cadmus, as their use became necessary.
11. _What was the last letter added to the English Alphabet?_ W.
12. _Why was it called W?_ On account of it being composed of two u"s, or a double u.
13. _How many letters in the English Alphabet?_ Twenty-six.
14. _How many in the Latin Alphabet?_ Twenty-five.
15. _What is the difference between the Latin Alphabet and the English?_ The Latin omits the letter W.
16. _What Alphabet has the greatest number of letters?_ The Chinese.
17. _How many letters in the Chinese Alphabet?_ Over two hundred.
18. _What is a Perfect Alphabet?_ One which contains the same number of letters that it has elementary sounds.
19. _Is the English a perfect Alphabet?_ It is not.
20. _How many Elementary sounds in the English Language?_ About forty-three.
21. _What is an Imperfect Alphabet?_ One in which the number of sounds exceeds the number of letters.
22. _What is an Equivocal Alphabet?_ An Imperfect one.
23. _What is an Unequivocal Alphabet?_ Same as Perfect.
24. _Is the English Alphabet Equivocal or Unequivocal?_ Equivocal.
25. _What is a Univocal Alphabet?_ One that has a separate character for each elementary sound.
26. _What is an Alphabetic Language?_ A language in which the characters represent separate articulate sounds.
27. _What is a Phonetic Alphabet?_ One in which there is a separate character for each elementary sound.
28. _Is there any Phonetic Alphabet of the English Language?_ There have been several published, but they are not in general use.
29. _How many letters in the English Phonetic Alphabet?_ Forty-three.
30. _What is the name of a Letter?_ The appellation by which it is known.
31. _What is the difference between a Letter and its Name?_ The letter is the character, and the name is its appellation.
32. _What Letters name themselves?_ The vowels A, E, I, O, and U.
33. _How are the Letters divided?_ Into Vowels and Consonants.
34. _What are Vowels?_ Those letters which represent only pure tones.
35. _Name all the Vowels._ A, E, I, O, U, and in some situations W and Y.
36. _What is a Consonant?_ A letter that represents an interruption of sound or breath.
37. _Why called Consonants?_ Because they cannot be used alone in a word, but must be connected with a Vowel.
38. _How many kinds of Consonants are there?_ Two; single Letters and Combinations.
39. _Name the Consonant letters._ B, C, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, Q, R, S, T, V, W, X, Y, and Z.
40. _Name the Consonant Combinations._ Th, Sh, Ch, Zh, Wh, and Ng.
41. _Name the two Orders of the Consonants._ Mutes and Semi-vowels.
42. _What are Mutes?_ Those letters which admit of no escape of breath while the organs of speech are in contact.
43. _Name the Mutes._ B, D, K, P, T, and C and G hard.
44. _What other term is often applied to the Mutes?_ Close Consonant.
45. _What are Semi-vowels?_ Those letters that admit of an escape of breath while the organs of speech are in contact.
46. _Name the Semi-vowels._ F, H, J, L, M, N, R, S, V, W, X, Y, Z, and C and G soft.