Of Syllables and Words
A Syllable is a sound, or a combination of sounds, uttered by a single impulse of the voice: it may have one or more letters; as a, bad, bad-ness.
A Word is either a syllable or a combination of syllables; as, not, notion.
A word of one syllable is called a Monosyllable; as, man.
A word of two syllables is called a Dissyllable; as, manly.
A word of three syllables is called a Trisyllable; as, manliness. Words of more than three syllables are called Polysyllables.
Accent is a stress of voice placed upon some one syllable more than the others. Every word composed of two or more syllables has one of them accented. This accent is denoted by a mark (‘) at the end of the accented syllable; as, mid’night, a ban’don.
A Primitive Word is one which is not derived from any other word; as, man, great, full.
A Derivative Word is one which is formed from some other word by adding something to it; as, manful, greatness, fully.
A Simple Word is one which is not composed of more than one word; as, kind, man, stand, ink.
A Compound Word is one that is composed of two or more simple words; as, ink-stand, wind-mill.
Spelling is naming or writing the letters of a word.