K before n is silent; as in knave, know, knuckle.  In stead of doubling c final, we write ck; as in lack, lock, luck, attack.  In English words, k is never doubled, though two Kays may come together in certain compounds; as in brickkiln, jackknife.  Two Kays, belonging to different syllables, also stand together in a few Scripture names; as in Akkub, Bakbakkar, Bukki, Bukkiah, Habakkuk.  Hakkoz, Ikkesh, Sukkiims. C before k, though it does not always double the sound which c or k in such a situation must represent, always shuts or shortens the preceding vowel; as in rack, speck, freckle, cockle, wicked.

XII.  OF THE LETTER L.

The consonant L, the plainest of the semivowels, has a soft, liquid sound; as in line, lily, roll, follow.  L is sometimes silent; as in Holmes, alms, almond, calm, chalk, walk, calf, half, could, would, should.  L, too, is frequently doubled where it is heard but once; as in hill, full, travelled.  So any letter that is written twice, and not twice sounded, must there be once mute; as the last in baa, ebb, add, see, staff, egg, all, inn, coo, err, less, buzz.

XIII.  OF THE LETTER M.

The consonant M is a semivowel and a liquid, capable of an audible, humming sound through the nose, when the mouth is closed.  It is heard in map, murmur, mammon.  In the old words, compt, accompt, comptroller, (for count, account, controller,) the m is sounded as n.  M before n, at the beginning of a word, is silent; as in Mnason, Mnemosyne, mnemonics.

XIV.  OF THE LETTER N.

The consonant N, which is also a semivowel and a liquid, has two sounds;—­the first, the pure and natural sound of n; as in nun, banner, cannon;—­the second, the ringing sound of ng, heard before certain gutturals; as in think, mangle, conquer, congress, singing, twinkling, Cen’chreae.  The latter sound should be carefully preserved in all words ending in ing, and in such others as require it.  The sounding of the syllable ing as if it were in, is a vulgarism in utterance; and the writing of it so, is, as it would seem by the usage of Burns, a Scotticism.

N final preceded by m, is silent; as in hymn, solemn, column, damn, condemn, autumn.  But this n becomes audible in an additional syllable; as in autumnal, condemnable, damning.

XV.  OF THE LETTER O.

The vowel O has three different sounds, which are properly its own:—­

1.  The open, full, primal, or long o; as in no, note, opiate, opacity, Roman.