Eaton Democrat. [volume] (Eaton, Ohio) 1843-1856, 1856-02-28
Correspondence.
For The Democrat.


For the Democrat.
Mn. EDIroR- Supposing you 10 he 0 man Of
larHin' aud good %lasie,l have came 10 The
conclusion that you are the proper petson OF
whom to make Inquiries respecting some mat
Fiers in which we are all interested. ! wish
10 know, sir. why iNs that a portion Of our
community in spea king and pronouncing GET
lain words In our language, give them q pro-
nunciatioH quite different from long establish
ed practice 7 Why Is il. sir, that many letiers
in our alphabet are given sounds, mol Tecog-
nised by any OF our photographers We
hear every day OF our lives, examples Of The
following kind :-''W-h-e.re pronouReed,
tokahr; there thahr; poor poohr; sure suhr;
half holt, al intend rt iurhning home IN The
Ecabts"-"It is so wahm 10 day that | feel
yeby faint indeed"-'Fawihath has a vehy
Sc web pain in his shm"-"He was behr This
sftahnoon"-"wahk into tina pahlohr, sub
'have YOU read the mawning papahf No
sub, but | intend doing so 10 q shaw time"
The letter :, poor little crooked thing, is
scarcely sounded q; ell, or OF most is merely
given the sound OF aw, talmost AWFUL Now
sir, is this manner Of pronouncing words ard
sou noiag the letters Of our alphabet according
10 our long established rules OF Oflhoepy and
tOnhography2 IL not why Is il so used and
tolerated7 II certainly adds nothing 10 The
beauty aud harmony OF the language. Blu on
1.-The contrary gives il a miserably sickly and
paid cast. One half OF the force Of NJ ex-
pression is entirely lost, by bDtchefing the pro-
nunciaiion. 10 MOI this mode OF Pronunciation
msking serious obstruction IN the way Of DIS
seminaiing o eoIrect understanding Of our Ian.
euage among us7 A Webster employed oil
The powers Of q master mini, and spent the
paImiest days Of his useful life in hard and la
II ; ,ms toll and r~eseatclI, in order that o sys-
j.. Of rules should be given TO the people OF
Ameriea for The purpose OF demonstrating and
fixing the ptonunciali n o. every wor ~ our
beloved language correctly. Can il be that
lof us have fallen into The error, that The rules
OF Webster are 10 be discarded because The
are common, and that 10 give cast aud cbarac-
Ter 10 society, o new system OF proEuncistion
must be adopted with peculisri;its quite diff
ereEl from that used by the commonerS IL
there are any who use the patent accent for
this purpose, they should be hooted from soci-
ely as ignorant bOors, so that their influence
an,! example would not be n stumbling block
in the way OF otheIs. Answer me the above
interroga,ories, Mr.. Editor, and il The ne o
fangled touch is proper, let US abandon ourol
avs, and endorse the new. Buff Webster
is correct, let US oil follow him, at least until
. more brilliant star TEAMMATES our literary
hor lion, and let The spirit OF the Press frown
down al attempted innovations OF The laws Of
IOrthogiaphy as laid down by The great father
Of English literature. Hoping 10 hear from
you PARTICULARLY upon this subject,
| ienlain yours, very truly,
SPECTATOR.
1--WE hope that some Of our fashionable
ladies or gentlemen, who are in the hebit OF
tw isting lie english language into such horri-
BILE shapes, will answer the inierrogatorles Of
our correspondent. We profess 10 be nothing
but o plain spoken Pennsylvania dutchmon,'
and are moi able perhaps, 10 answer them cor
rectly. We suppose, however, that tbrie is
no reason for the effected pronunciation used
by many persons in our community. Those
who make use OF it suppose perhaps, that i;
gives a kind of bon ton character 10 Their con
versation, a little different from 'the rest OF
maAkind," and no doub:, feel happy under
the impression. How they may be iewed BY
the real Merati OF our country, is o question
we may answer at some other tire. Were
ga I'd the rules Of Webster os being correct,
and any knowing deviation from he m for Pc
culiarities sake, as mere alIectat:on, and the
person using il more 10 be pitled Than feared.
as the person who will adopt and follow such
whimical ph0nioms, as o, geneIal thing. will