U has, in a few words, the sound of e; as in bury (pro. ber'ry); or that
of i, as in busy (pro. biz'y).



OF THE CONSONANTS.

The Consonants are those letters which can not be perfectly sounded
without the aid of a vowel. The consonants are b, c, d, f, g, h, l, k, l,
m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, x, z, and sometimes i, u, w, and y. The consonants
are divided into MUTES and SEMI-VOWELS.

The Mutes are those consonants that admit of no sound without the aid of a
vowel. They are b, d, k, p, q, t, and c and g hard.

The Semi-vowels are those consonants that can be sounded imperfectly by
themselves. They are f, h, j, l, m, n, r, s, v, x, z, and c and g soft.

Four of the semi-vowels are called LIQUIDS; viz., l, m, n, and r. They are
called liquids because they unite so readily with other sounds, or flow
into them.



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.