Note Footnote [D — ‌ANALYTIC SUBSTITUTIONS. ANOTHER METHOD FOR REMEMBERING DATES AND FIGURES.

Pupils who have a poor ear for sounds sometimes fail to note when “n” sounds like “ng” and so means 7 instead of 2. Let them study the words “ringer” (474), “linger” (5774), and “ginger” (6264). The first syllable of “linger” rhymes with the first of “ringer” and not with the first of “ginger;” it rhymes with “ring” and not with “gin;” and if the first syllable of “ringer” is 47, the first of “linger” must be 57; but the second syllable of “linger” is “ger,” while the second syllable of “ringer” is only “er.” So “linger” is pronounced as if spelled “ling-ger,” the “n” sounds like “ng.” “Ringer” is pronounced “ring-er,” and “ginger” as if spelled “gin-ger.” [Return from footnote D]