When a title-word is of two or more parts of speech, or when two or more title-words are spelt just alike but are of different parts of speech, or of different origin, or are for any other reason treated separately, the oldest part of speech, or the oldest title-word, is placed first, the others following somewhat in the order of their first known appearance in the literature of the subjects treated in this book.
Definitions. When several definitions are given, their order is in the main historical, the oldest sense being placed first, with the more recent senses following in the sequence of their temporal development. Fortunately this sequence is often closely identical with the sequence of their logical development.
Pronunciation. The pronunciation of the title-words is in every case indicated by a full respelling. Under each title-word are given, in somewhat normalized or universalized form, its most acceptable or proper natural pronunciation or pronunciations current today in the English-speaking world at large.
Where several pronunciations are given without classification, the forms following the first form are usually to be considerd as individual, local, or functional variants in good usage.
Fonetic Notation. The sounds of speech are noted in this dictionary by means of a system of letters which, for convenience, are arranged in the order g, k, etc. This system of letters, so arranged, I have named gammakap (from gamma and kappa), by analogy to the word alfabet, which denotes a system of letters arranged in the order a, b (or alfa, beta), etc. The system is a modified, amplified, and improved form of the international alfabet which sprang into special prominence about the year 1885 thru the efforts of Paul Passy, of Paris, and others, and which has since that time been fosterd and developt by the International Fonetio Association (20 rue de la Madeleine, Bour-la-Reine, Seine, France).
