New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1873-10-30
Pronunciation 81 Enhcs and
Neither.

Referring to what IL sand IA Words aud
their Uses" az to the best pronunciation OF
those words, (>ttsy and He,tt 70. , DR.. Hall lays
down the law thus
son the contrary the analogy ct cider,
height, and sleight favOrs Tho proISiuCiations
ither aud nilhcr; and 50 either aud neither
are, perhaps, most frequently sounded by
cultivated Engli,hmcn and Lusii,hwomcn.
And in what sense are these prrnun.idtIOn1
a British affcCtatiOn
Th. complex adjudication dklIcth itself
into three contingent particulars; whereof
the first arguetl from analogy, the second
declareth a usage, and the third, 10y way OF
interpellate Interrogation, dcnleth that The
pronunciation Their ni-ther - "a Bit Ia alice
tation Now "a IT, the first, il il the finest
exhibition of What has beeu called braZeu-
| facedness, then brass, then face, and then,
| by refinement and particularly of metaphor,
! check, that |, in the course Of no small ex-
perience of that quality, ever confronted.
| For Of these three words cited as the ground
| Of an argument from analogy for the prOnun
| citation Of ci the first is II foreign word
| much a.. sheik or channels, or nylghau; and
| the second and third are anomalous csccp-
| tons, which have their pronunciation from
! their connection with high and sly. And
| these three words, thus ia the very nature
/ OF things out of court, are, among the very
/ many in our language containing the syllable
/ Ell. all that have the sound Of long i. There
! is not one other. DR.. Hall under these cir
cumstances having produced these three, W.
NAV from that maneuyer judge with what
degree Of candor lac deals.
! To the direct contrary Of hi. assertion,
! there are but TWO analOgical proHunciatiOns
/ Of the eli in either; one ee, the common and
! regular sound, the other Az, name sound OF
a.. There is besides, however, CO!lOquial
! breyiatiOn Of these sounds. OF the first,
| like deceive. ceiling, etc, and OF the second,
| ike eight, freight, heir, obeisaucc, etc, ex-
| ampies will occur ~ every reader. OF the
third are counterfeit, suriet, foreign, leisure,
etc. There being thus positively and ab-O-
lutely no analogcal support whatever IN the
English language for the pronunciation Dt
/ either aud neither with the vowel sound
what shall be said other than what ] have
said OF Dr. Halls " bluiiiu2" pretensiOns ia
that respect.
! Next a. % usage Dr. Hall asserts that
d" so with the sound either aud neither are,
uefhaus most frequently sounded By cult
| yated English men and English women"
| yaIeqt gadnfUn. The "perhap." show,
some doubt and a not unsise cauIiOnary pre-
I yision On the other hand, | have said, not
! exactly 10 the contrary Of DR.. Halls a-saf-
| ton, but that persons Of the best educa,ion
| and highest soC!al position ia England gcneF-
ally say eether and neether. let the asser-
ton stand by the eide Of DIR. Halls. As q
ortheopical authority, which Is " value NO
| less as q record Of the best usage than for lis
weighing of analogy, i is arrayed IN a solid
mass against DIR. Halls position = u ether
/ and ni.thef For On the siIe Of eeiher and
/ nesther, without alternative, are. with three
exceptions, all the ofthoepssts ia the Ian
! guage.-R.elayd Gran. WAi.s In hs Galary fer
NEz.bz.