Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1864-03-22

Common Errors In Speeches aud COuversa-
tion---RxnmplesO OF AllspronnucinIion and
the Use Of Words in Wrong aIeanins.
A person anxious to observe the laws of
speech, to whom correct pronunciation and
an intelligent use Of words seem by no
means vslueless sttsinments, must fre-
quenfly have his taste offended by the mis-
pronuncistions which are so constantly
made, even by men Of fair education. It
is By no means impossible that in the.
course Of conversation Of half an hour
with man Of intellect and refinement,
one should hear half dozen words mis-
pronounced, and perhaps, though this is
Of course less probable, some words used
entirely out of their proper sense.
frequently in listening to sermon Of
thirty minutes in length we will hear
dozen words grossly mispronounoed.-
And some Of our best popular orators, men
who would deem themselves greatly insult
ed if sccussed Of q misuse Of their native
tongue, will fall into grave blunders in
this particular. For example, the word
romance, is almost universally pronoueed
by some men-Well educated men, too,-Rs
though the secent were upon the first syl-
AhD4Ss NAAA0 bAo kLuo pIOuuulihLtOA ul
the word, the mere sentiment Of which is
sufficient argument for it, requires the so-
eentstion Of the last syllable. In other
words il is not romance, but ro-mGnes. The
word detail, too, we frequently hear pro-
nounced ss II it were detail, whereas it
should be detail And so examples might
be cited without end, such IS advertisement
often mispronouneed advertisement, mis-
chieTous (though this is q Vulgsrism, which
cultivated men seldom or never use)
wrongly pronounced as miseheUous. We
will give Just now but one more example
Of common error in this respect. Some
elegant young ladies, whose elegence is Of
a very precise order, are especially addict.
ed to the pronunciation Of the word my
ss If it were written me. Thus, Hmy NAM
ma, "my pspa," are tortured by their ell
egsnt lips into "me mamma" "me papa"
II we are correctly informed, however,
this pronunciation exists only at a GER
tain period Of young ladies culture, and
by certain class must be passed through
ss teething is passed through by children.
One instance OF the misuse of words
with reference to their Significance occurs
to US just now, against which any person
ofany intelligence whatever should guard.
1t is the use Of the word "learn" for teach,
as i learnt you better grammar "Will
you learn me geography 2" This error Of
speech has been often pointed out but
without sny perceptible improvement
Those who use the word in this sense, how
ever, may be grstifed to know that some
Of our classics sre sometimes guilty of the
same error.
Thus Shakespeare, in Cymbeline, says ::
Have not been
Thy, pupil iongi Hast thou not learned me
To msks perfumesi
And again, in Troilus and Cresids;
"Toad-stool, learn me the proclamation"
And so slso in others Of our earlier
English anthoTs, We find the word used in
this sense. Buff we take the pains TO re-
feet that our Language has undergone, in
many respects, great revolutions since the
time Of Shakespeare, we shall derive little
consolation from the fact of such use.