The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-07-26


tion-or, rather, onomatopeia-mlght oe car
Tied much further. The idea ct bubbllng Is
well expressed by the word, but shakespeare IN
a wellknown verse, adds the Us and b's until,
when read by fine elocutionists, we almost hear
the sound OF the Water:-
"Ror a charm OF powerful trouble
Like hell-Oroth boil and bubble
Double, double toll and trouble,
Fire burn and cauldron bubble"
The description of yielding. wavy motion
is intensified by the sound OF as In the phrase,
'wallowing unwieldy,p used Oy Milton. The
letter r is well used to express harsh, grating,
rafting noises, and has narrower and quicker
sound than !. Thus;-
"Such bursts of horrid thunder,
Such groans OF roaring wind and rain"
Sos,z, sh, zh, express all Kissing and sharp
sounds, as in Collins "Evening:"-
"Save where the weakened bat
With short shrill shrek flies BY "on leathern
wings"
A similar effect in a line of the poet Percival
indicates a curious bluntness of ear, or else
carelessness for music in words In a poem
intended to suggest any ideas rather than things
sharp or Kissing, Percival sings-Or rather
Whistles
"On thy fair bosom, Silver lake,
The wild swan Spreads his Snowy Sail"
A hum, a murmur. the vibration OF harp
string, or any similar sound, is best expressed
by the letters M, n, f1g. sudden surprise seems
to have an association with 81, as In Spenser:-
with staring countenance stern, as one astound,
Had wrought that horror strange and dared his
dreaded power"
So the emotion of fear, in which the voice
sinks to whisper, is better expressed by such
letters as h, p, H. than by o, d, D. g, etc. Long
vowels describe slow motions, as:-
"The loving herds wind slowly o'er the lea"
Short vowels describe quickness, as, for, in
stance, the short in the followlng:-
Therefore do nimbe pinioned doves draw love-
And therefore has the wind swift Cupid's wings"
f,,n - oI.A
express slow motion, IS the commonest illustra-
tration of sound aiding sense, as in Dryden's
"Eneid:"-
Majestic moves along, and awful peace maintains"
Other instances might be given at length.
The ortheopists, it seems, are not yet agreed
as to The sounds in our sommoneSt letters and
words, for Mr.. Caleb Bates Josselyn has Just
published a pamphlet in which is unfolded the
plan OF new pronounclng dictionary. We are
told that in the passage OF the voice from M to
we unavoidably pronounce D. showing that
there Is no difference in the common rapid
pronunciation OF gllmce and glimpse; in the
passage from n to S we pronounce I, showing
sense and cents, false and faults, to be the
same; in the passage from ng to s and ng to th, K
rs developed, making kings and length really
kingks and lenkth. The words combs and limb,
adding TO themselves in the plural, re-
deem their from silence; and would be o. as
above, If the were not tlattened into z. Sb
we are told is sy as in II shell" Qce yelD, II
miss you" Il mishyu.) VIII is really b11, as you
will see by pretxing to wine, and making 1t
hwine, or, as we absurdly spell it, whine. And
so on.
To show the peculiaritles OF pronunciation
among men of different dialects, and among
foreigners attempting to speak our language,
would require too much space to be attempted
in this article. 1t is curious however, to observe
the law of compensation that operates in almost
all cases OF mlspronunciation. The cockney
banishes i from heaven, but gives it place in
earth. The o that is dropped when the wictuals
come upon the table, finds IL local habita-
ton in the vine that is drank afterwards and the
missing 10 had already fitted the gap that was
left by the .. The Dutchman interchanges flor
., I for and p tor b. as was noticed when
worthy adopted citizen was attempting to ex-
plain the difference between two swine, the
smallest of whichtwas the Oldest ''The little
big" he said, ''is the niggest;" His frau inter
posed correction. ''You will excuse him. she
said, ''he no speak coot English. He no mean
the little big is de biggest, but de youngest little
big is de oltest." The countryman enjoys him
self in walking among the meaders with Elizar
by his side; and cannot endure the "airy" Indi-
vidual who, having remained during the Wintah
in the city, takes his country trip in the sum
NAH; yet in the wonderful operation of natural
laws the one uses the RS which the
other passes by without notice. So,
when our country cousin drops a termination
from nothin' and somethin', there are some in
the city who add the wandering nJ to garding
and founting, or in lieu of that give the cur
tailed words a new letter and make them no.
think and somethlnk.
In the mouths OF some speakers aud actors,
with aggravated attacks OF elocution, who desire
to display the sonorous tones of their voice the
sounds OF the language undergo strange contor-
tions The liquids, p, |, m, and n, especially
suffer. The Fourth-ot- uly orator extends his
right arm, rolls his eyes upwards in a fine
fine frenzy" and exclaims: ms:-"Ullovel-y art-ah
thou, oh ealloricus ulland M-mighty, NINA
a-aTeVel-lous and m-magnihcent n-nation! Beyu-
tifu-l beyond powerrr of tn pa-aainIer's pencil
| to picturrre The urrefuge of strruggul-ling hu,
u-manity!n ~ He adds as many new letters as the
boys in their "hog latin" which is made use OF
| to mystity eavesdroppers. A boy asking friend
| to go with him says, "Wig-ge you-ge go-ge wig
ge me-ge" The other, replying in the negative
| says, "Noge, Ige woge."
The ''ah" at the end of the word is peculiar
| to religious speakers; and very many other
! atfe cted pronunciations spring up in the pulpit
| and the prayer.meeting, marring the effect oil
| good teachings and furnishing opportunities tc
scoters. Many well.intentioned laymen think it is
| an evidence OF earnestness to get entirely out
| breath in their prayers making no pauses, and
| drawing in frequent and hasty supplies o.
breath through the medium of those dreadful
obs, which, | think, are worse than those
| dreadful urls" of which Holmes speaks.
remember good and eloquent preacher who
used always TO pray--and ! mention it no
rlyoouslY-in beautiful words of Scripture, as
| toloWs:-''Awake-ah awake ah OH arm o
the Lord an and put on strength. Girdah thol
my SWord.ah to thy thigh-ah, victorious King
and rlde-ah thou forth-ah in thy gaW-aWspe
chariot cong kerring and to cong.ker-ah," ETC.
| bul thP tragedy pronunciation OF the theatre
worse than ALL
when the lorn damsel, with frantic screech,
Or'es, .help' kyind heaven" and dreps upon hel
| On the gTeen-base-beneat the (canvas) trees
| see 10 her side aVengng valoT hy-
'Ha!'ViIam draw! Now, terratorr, yield or diep
Il win be seen that there is a predilection OF