4.  Correct the division of the following words, and give to n before k the sound of ng:  “ank-le, bask-et, blank-et, buck-le, cack-le, crank-le, crink-le, east-er, fick-le, freck-le, knuck-le, mark-et, monk-ey, port-ress, pick-le, poult-ice, punch-eon, qua-drant, qua-drate, squa-dron, rank-le, shack-le, sprink-le, tink-le, twink-le, wrink-le.”—­Cobb’s Standard Spelling-Book.

5.  Correct the division of the following words, with a proper regard to Rules 1st and 3d:  “a-scribe, bland-ish, bran-chy, clou-dy, dus-ty, drea-ry, eve-ning, faul-ty, fil-thy, fros-ty, gau-dy, gloo-my, heal-thy, hear-ken, hear-ty, hoa-ry, lea-ky, loung-er, mar-shy, migh-ty, mil-ky, naugh-ty, pas-sing, pit-cher, rea-dy, roc-ky, spee-dy, stea-dy, stor-my, thirs-ty, thor-ny, trus-ty, ves-try, wes-tern, weal-thy.”—­Emerson’s Spelling-Book, 17-44.

CHAPTER III.—­OF WORDS.

A Word is one or more syllables spoken or written as the sign of some idea, or of some manner of thought.  Words are distinguished as primitive or derivative, and as simple or compound.  The former division is called their species; the latter, their figure.

A primitive word is one that is not formed from any simpler word in the language; as, harm, great, connect.

A derivative word is one that is formed from some simpler word in the language; as, harmless, greatly, connected, disconnect, unconnected.

A simple word is one that is not compounded, not composed of other words; as, watch, man, house, tower, never, the, less.

A compound word is one that is composed of two or more simple words; as, watchman, watchhouse, watchtower, nevertheless.

Permanent compounds are consolidated; as, bookseller, schoolmaster:  others, which may be called temporary compounds, are formed by the hyphen; as, good-natured, negro-merchant.

RULES FOR THE FIGURE OF WORDS.

RULE I.—­COMPOUNDS.

Words regularly or analogically united, and commonly known as forming a compound, should never be needlessly broken apart.  Thus, steamboat, railroad, red-hot, well-being, new-coined, are preferable to the phrases, steam boat, rail road, red hot, well being, new coined; and toward us is better than the old phrase, to us ward.

RULE II.—­SIMPLES.

When the simple words would only form a regular phrase, of the same meaning, the compounding of any of them ought to be avoided.  Thus, the compound instead is not to be commended, because the simple phrase, in stead of, is exactly like the other phrases, in lieu of, in place of, in room of, in which we write no compound.

RULE III.—­THE SENSE.

Words otherwise liable to be misunderstood, must be joined together or written separately, as the sense and construction may happen to require.  Thus, a glass house is a house made of glass, but a glasshouse is a house in which glass is made; so a negro merchant is a coloured trader, but a negro-merchant is a man who buys and sells negroes.