Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1872-12-17
ror the nspltp.
The observation-disclosures - AZ
fectations of Learning.


sorting what the Anglo.Saxon tongue
now is, and how it should be spoken.
1t was hoped that putting standard
dictionary in the hand Of every
learner, would insure that the use of
our mother tongue should be every
where tolerably accurate, uniform
and unchanging. 1t was even ex-
pected to arrest some of the unwar-
ranted changes of speech, so that
those who learned to speak English
well in youth would not in age be
called ignorant and old fashioned by
those who adopt fashionable corrup--
tions of pronunciation.
Webster's Speling-book rude and
simple old book. gave the vowels GER
tain "long sounds" as in ale, pine, etc. F.;
and no one then thought it any harm
to sound them in their proper place,
in all the ancient flatness and vulgar.
ity. And that old elementary SPELL
ing book was carried over to Eng
land two.score years ago, and adopt
cd and used in the schools of London,
as we have been informed. People
then accepted those long sounds as a
part of the language, aud knew no
better.
But now the tendency is, to drive
them cut of polite society as fast as
possible. "a little learning is dan.
gerous thing" when would-be schol.
ars feel bound to corrupt their own
language aud adopt the --latest styI les
from Pah.ree" in their speech, to
strike as dumb with admiration and
put on a "diStingae" air. To do this,
the most common trick is TO become
ashamed of long a, Q, i, o, etc and
substitute short sound; it gives such
an air of foreign travel, of French
mess and superiority. Here are few
instances, designating the long sound
heard in ale, eel, pile, pole, tube and
try, by italic letters, for wait of
the usual marks.
Some of these persons who strain
after style have lately been heard to
use the words lenient, aquafortis, md
MIA, sagacious, as if they were spell
cd lennient. acquafortis, MAMMA, sa-
gash-us. What did they mean, tam>
pering with heir own tongue in that
way? What authority have they
Then we hear clergyman trying
not only to preach bat to pronounce
to suit the fashion so he reads;
"Eahs have they, but they heah not,
nythah speak they though
theiah th'oat'; and we are led TO
think the letter "r" obsolete at
"Ann Ahbah, And(vah, Hahva'd and
everywhah else"
Here comes O professor too. who
puts on style and defes dictionaries
By saying onnyx for onyx, plahno--
convex for plano-convex, chlorreet
for chlorite, calceen for calcine or
calcin, trillobite for triIobite, deame-
ter for diameter, saleen for saline, be-
ography for biography, dieddral for
diedral, and so on at his own sweet
will, imagining himself standard of
pure English far above Worcester.
The medical man also wishes to
keep up with the times so, while he
l.
his medical dictionary agree on the
long vowels in farlna, carditis, laryn-
gitis, cGput, gastritis, quinine, car
mine, etc, he prefers TO revel in the
luxury of French sounds, by saying
fareena, cardeetis, larnygeetis, cab
put, gastreetis, keneen, and carmeen.
The schoolmaster too, is sometimes
a fraud in bis profession when he
takes the prevailing complaint be has
it very bad, by virtue Of his exalted
position. He holds man an ignor-
anus who says lava, patron, patriot,
fms, portrait, either, legend, Nissou-
ri, or tomato for he, the teacher, says
lahvah, patron. patriot, finnis, porr-
trait, ither, ledgend, Mezoorah, and
to- mahto while none Of the former
are wrong. He further betrays his
snobbish ignorance by saying troffies
for trophies, Argenteen for Argen>
tine, apparatus for apparatus, vol
cahno for volcano, caneen for canine,
deeurnal for diurnal. He even calls
the words hiatus and Hlawaths, hee.
ah>tus and Hee ah.watha, from an
asinine idea that these euphonious
words should begin with "hee- haw. 4"
The lawyer dare not say quasi, tai
esman, facias or faro, lest he be
thought one who, like necessity,
knoGS no lac; so he says quahsee,
tahIesman, fash>us, and faro, al at
the sacrifice of sense and accuracy t.
style.
The "precosshus" young lady
points with great "oomplassency" TO
her flowers and mentions the dielee-
ira and porrchu.lse-ca, little aware
that she mispronuunoes q vo wei 10
dieIytra and makes three mistakes in
BSt buA&O1
What are we coming to ? What
does all this mean? Have we a Ian
G uage of our own, of whose real
sounds we are not ashamed 3? Or
must we adopt foreign tongue in
partP Shall the Anglo-Saxon be put
down, and the French be forced upon
US, as by William the Conqueror and
his successors, eight hundred years
ago? Has there been another Nor
man Conquest? Where will this rev.
olution end? What shall we do with
our Unabridged Pictorials when they
no longer represent good English
Will the pulpit orator in a few
years hence be obliged to speak of
"deveen worship" Of "Sahtau," AMI
the "Sahvior," in order to be UNDER
stood by "polleet congregation" =?
Seriously, some leading men in the
many departments of science and
learning, are TO be blamed in this
matter. They introduced a new-
fashioned pronunciation of Latin and