The marble quarry at Tatlock, Ontario, courtesy of Gary Sparkes.
History
The letter Q is derived from the Greek koppa and Semitic qoph. The original meaning of qoph is most likely a “cord of wool” and the original representation, a knot. Another suggestion is that Q represented the eye of a needle with a thread. A similar word in Arabic suggests that it might mean “nape” and represent the back of a head and nape of the neck. Yet another suggestion is that Q represents a monkey. I rather like that one.
Q is for quatrain and quintain
In poetry, a quatrain is a four-line stanza and a quintain (or quintet) is a five-line stanza. These are usually part of a longer poem and may be variously rhymed.
There is something quieter than sleep
Within this inner room!
It wears a sprig upon its breast,
And will not tell its name.
— Emily Dickinson, from “Time and Eternity”
Exercises
Write your own quatrain or quintain using at least one Q word. Which form is easier to write?
Special reading assignment
The quintessential quiet in the quarter acre was accentuated by the murmur of quaking aspens.
The Mute Swan is a species introduced to North America. This male is patrolling a pond in Woodbine Park, Toronto.
The sound of S
The sound of S is generally a sibilant or hiss, similar to a soft C.
salmon
silly
situations
super
Exception
Sometimes the letter s takes on the sound of sh.
measure
sugar
Exception
Sometimes the letter s takes on the sound of z. Words ending in —ise, —ize, and —yse or —yze have the same zee sound. The following words are always spelled with an —ise ending.
advise
arise
clockwise
exercise
revise
Note
Some words are invariably spelled with —se, some with —ze. There are others where the —se ending is preferred in the UK, and the —ze ending in the USA. Canadian English is variable. Use only one dictionary to maintain consistency in the way you spell these words.
agonise [UK]; agonize [US and Oxford English Dictionary]
analyse [UK]; analyze [US]
catalyse [UK]; catalyze [US]
dialyse [UK]; dialyze [US]
paralyse [UK]; paralyze [US]
standardise [UK]; standardize [US and OED]
Special reading assignment
Horse seven from race six was scratched.
Cirrus clouds scudded across the sky.
Note
If you like swans, you may like this book, available on Amazon Kindle:
This rock cut is located on Highway 7 west of Ottawa, Ontario.
R is for rhyme and rhyme scheme
A rhyme is the repetition of the same or similar sounds, most often in the final syllables of the final words in lines of poetry or song. Rhyme is also a verb, used even to describe how someone made an unintentionally poetic statement.
Rhyme is a poetic device. One common type of poetry features rhyming couplets.
All the stream that’s roaring by
Came out of a needle’s eye;
Things unborn, things that are gone,
From needle’s eye still goad it on.
— “A Needle’s Eye,” William Butler Yeats
A rhyme scheme is the pattern of the rhymes ending the lines of a poem or song. In English, different rhyme schemes have names, e.g., a limerick is AABBA.
Here is another example of rhyming couplets, using letters to mark the different rhymes.
He with body waged a fight, A
But body won; it walks upright. A
Then he struggled with the heart; B
Innocence and peace depart. B
Then he struggled with the mind; C
His proud heart he left behind. C
Now his wars on God begin; D
At stroke of midnight God shall win. D
— “The Four Ages of Man,” William Butler Yeats
Rhyming Mnemonic
Rhymes are also used as a mnemonic to aid memorization.
Thirty days hath September,
April, June, and November;
All the rest have thirty-one,
Save February, with twenty-eight days clear,
And twenty-nine each leap year.
— Anonymous
R is for rhythm
Rhythm is the regular beat of sounds and silence in speech, prose, poetry, or music. It is as natural as walking and breathing; our hearts beat in a rhythm. In music, the upbeat and downbeat correspond to the metre in poetry, which is measured in feet, e.g. da DUM, which is an iamb.
Iambic pentameter is a common rhythm in poetry, consisting of five iambs per line.
And I do love thee: therefore, go with me;
I’ll give thee fairies to attend on thee,
And they shall fetch thee jewels from the deep,
And sing while thou on pressed flowers dost sleep;
(Act 3, Scene 1)
—“A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Shakespeare
Exercises
Do you have a favourite poem? What is its rhyme scheme and rhythm?
Do you know any mnemonics used as memory aids? Do they rhyme?
Special reading assignment
Rock cuts are a feature of Canadian landscape, especially in the north.
Rest assured, Rosemary has rated the recipe for roasted radishes.
Toronto, Canada, has a large population of raccoons. Sometimes they get into mischief.
Prefixes
re— stands for “again” or “go back”. Sometimes, especially when the root word begins with R or RE, there is a hyphen. Also, if you make up a word starting with RE, you ought to use a hyphen.
react
redo
regrow
re-release
re-roof
rerun
restore
retry
Note that a hyphen may indicate a different meaning.
redress vs re-dress
reform vs re-form
rhodo— means “red” or “rosy”.
rhodonite
rhododendron
radio— indicates a relationship with radio or radiation.
radioactive
radiowave
Suffixes
—er creates an adjective or adverb indicating more, by comparison.
bigger
faster
higher
stronger
—er designates someone (or something) who does or is something.
banker
foreigner
New Brunswicker
swimmer
2-wheeler
cutter
—re is sometimes preferred over the more common —er, most often in words that originate from French or Latin. This is one place where spelling variations occur, especially in the USA.
chevre [from French] (cheese)
goitre, goiter [US]
litre, liter [US]
louvre, louver
metre, meter [US]
sabre, saber [US]
theatre, theater [US]
—ry, —ery designate a place for something, a class of something, a state or condition of something, or a quality or characteristic of something or someone.
bakery, tannery
finery, mastery
cheery, misery, slavery
snobbery, watery
Exercises
Find a paragraph in a newspaper or online and look for all the words containing the letter R. How many of them contain a prefix or suffix beginning with R? What is the root of these words? Does the root make sense on its own?
Write down as many verbs as you can think of. Place the prefix re— in front. Do the verbs still make sense? Try to use them in a sentence.
Special reading assignment
Raccoons are native to North America but have spread around the world.
Raccoons do not make good pets. Do you know anyone who has tried to make a pet of one? What happened?
Note: This blog post is an excerpt from a book, “English Manual: Letter by Letter,” to be published in the summer of 2015.
Bush roses with simple flowers are close to Shakespeare’s “eglantine.”
The sounds of R
In English, the letter R has two sounds: an “are” sound, the same as the name of the letter; and an “rr” sound, a short, vowel-less noise. In some languages (e.g., Spanish) the letter R has a third sound, a trill. In Canada this trill is featured in a funny Tim Horton’s promotional ad,
Rrroll up the rrrim to win!
Silent Rs
The letter R may be silent in some dialects (e.g., Boston (US) and some British), where the R is pronounced only if a vowel follows it.
Silent Rs before a consonant (dialect only)
fork
garden
party
Silent Rs at the end of a word, except when the next word begins with a vowel (dialect only)
butter
finger
hear
mother
Note: Students learning English ought to pronounce these Rs.
Fun R words
raggamuffin
rattlesnake
rearrange
reboot
re-record
restraint
revenue
reward
reword
right-of-way
Special reading assignment
’Round the rugged rock the ragged rascal ran.
Raspberries are as well-received as roses in midsummer.
“Leaves of three, let it be.” Poison ivy may be a low, sprawling plant, a climbing vine, a tallish bush, or individual small plants scattered amongst other vegetation.
Sounds of P
The sound of P is a sudden breath (a plosive) made by closing and opening the lips.
pat
pet
pit
pot
put
PH is a digraph
The Greeks invented the letter phi to represent a sound not present in the Phoenician language. It was written as ph when the Romans adopted it into their alphabet. Phi was originally pronounced with an extra breath, as in uphill or loophole, but eventually was changed to an f sound in Latin and Greek. French also adopted the f sound for ph. English was influenced by these other languages, whereas some other European languages have not adopted ph; they just use f. English words with ph are often of Greek or maybe Latin origin.
alpha
gopher
nephew
phase
phobia
telephone
sphinx
trophy
Silent Ps
The letter P is silent in words that start with pne— or psy—.
pneumatic
pneumonia
psych
psyche
psychic
psychotic
Exceptional silent Ps
corps
coup
psalm
receipt
Exercises
Look at the P words in the lists. Are they nouns or verbs? Could you use one as an adjective?
Can you make a compound word using one of these words? Use that word in a sentence.
Look for a word containing ph. Is it a compound word or does it contain the ph digraph?
Define the words containing a silent P.
Special reading assignment
The philosophy of the first Pharaohs formed a phantom phalanx.
Please note: poison ivy does grow in cities in North America. Poison ivy is extremely variable in its height, size, and growth pattern. Learn to know the pattern of its leaves and stay away. Every new contact with this plant increases your susceptibility.
Note: This blog post is an excerpt from a book, “English Manual: Letter by Letter,” to be published in the summer of 2015.
English Manual: Letter by Letter 