Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1878-05-04
LATIN PRONUNCIATION ONCE MORE.

msnt. lEd.
LATIN PRONUNCIATION ONCE MORE.
The state university is considered
the leading educational institution OF
our commonwealth. it, professors.
therefore, NAV be regarded as stand
ing ut the head of their respective
sperialties. The Rev. NJ. NJ. Fisher,
d. D., occupies this honorable ana
Responsible position as to the Latin.
In every respect, but one. we thlnk
that he deserves it. He has written
aud published a pamphlet to vlndi-
cate himself as to this single
in his professional reputation. He
uses and teaches the English pronu"-
citation of Latin. We propose as
briefly as possible to review this
brochure, which is at once polcmlc
aud ~apologetic in lis character.
/. He recognizes the Roman, Pho
uetic or reformed system us the great
antagonist to his own aud seeks TO
tI-pht' I ala ~
ton: He says that the evidence i"r
1t belongs to the class known AS prof.
able. We are surprised that froi.
Fisher should urge this, as he does
in several places, as reason for re-
jccting the Roman system. lie
knows that he believes i'll the solar
system, with all its miuutlI OF facts.
upon probable evidence alone. lie
knows that every natural, every
moral, every linguistic science l.
supported by probable evidence
alone. He knows that our divine
Christianity rests upon a basis OF
what is technically called moral or
probable evidence. Ii Is no dIscrcd't
to auy truth OF science that 1t l.
based upon such proof. But a very
small portion OF Il belief rests upon
mathematical. necessary, or lemon
strative evidence. Probable proof
Is of such a character that il admits
of degrees from mere presumption 10
moral certainty. But it is rational,
wise aud proper to believe and act
upon the merest presumption; for
the mind must incline to the weight
of testimony though the baIanc"
barely turn. The Romal rests upon
probable evidence: the English, Prof.
F's system, confessedly upon none AT
all, for he says, Let it be clearly
understood that no one claims that the
English method is the true ancient
pronunciation of the Latin Ii the
probabilities. by a mere p~rc>umploh,
are i'll favor of the Roman 1t should
be adopted. That they are - hy 4
decided testimony, Is the judgment
OF the classic world.
What are these probabilities which
Prot. +. pooh-poohs rs though they
We're mere go>samer? They are, /.
The testimony of the Old L,tln gram
malians from Nrrro 10 Pri>cianue
CRSariehsi-, ,. TIE Gr,ek language,
cognale with the Latin, 3. TIE
modern Romauce languages derived
from the Latin, i. The TRADITION OF
scilul ,rs, and ). Tie face Of the Inl-
guage itself. (See Blair's- Latin Pro-
nuuciati,n. lu;roductiou-) Where
these separate witnesses concur, the
testimony amounts to moral certaIn-
ty; and they DO ucu in all of the
essential points Distinguishing The
g..,, ,In IN,,rIT-I rX1trr,
,. Prof. F'7 second objection to the
Roman pronunciation is That its al
vocates are not agreed among them
selves. This is true to a limited rX-
tent. There are differences amOng
the intelligent ItDmaIists as to a few
minor points. They agree, however.
as to the essential. of the system
The Latins III their golden also
differed. Prof. +. makes a point ct
this. We admit it all. There wa ii,
Cicero's time a speech, '~'pcryGnHenS.
recta, SIMPLER. plenG, cnnOrp, SU"ris,
G ieHiS, ''and there was a"rOr rUSttcG."
Romanisfs now differ slightly.
Therefore, says Prof. F., 'lcarned
men, insis; that there was 10 true
Roman pronunciation, that Cesar
and Cicero did not know how t.
pronounce their own language. ana
that We must do so as thoughtit were
English! Crcdat .JwdoeUS Ipciin
Let US ask Prof. F., DO English
orthOcpist5 and scholars differ in
their pronunciation OF the Eng isl.
language? Do Webster and Wor-
cester, our two American standards.
agree in their pronunciation Open
indlfferently to any page of Worces-
ter, and you will find several words
with regard to which there is a die
agreement. Now, according TO Prof
F., there are two logical Inferrncc-
from these facts: l. That there is DC
true English pronunciation, and =
That we should not pronounce s
controvtrted word like either Wur,
cester or Webster does, but some
third way hat we know to be wrong
That is, we should not say ''l-urn,'
as most photographers advise, no
"i-rou," as a few contend, but mus
call it 'u-ran,' as everybody know.
is wrong! Prof. f. is not the pro
lessor of logic, we believe, in gu.
state university.
8. Prof. f. delights in his pamphlc
TO appeal to the ludicrous, and aC
cordingly rings the changes on som
of the p~eculiarities of the Roma,
pronunciation as they sound to a.
English ear. What does this AVA
with thoughtful men 1t is not "a,
appeal to reason but 20 prejudice AN,
ignorance. To be sure, it sound
queer to us to see riciSSim and hea
it pronounced tCe-hisS-himi; but tina
surely is no reason why such is no
Its true pronunciation. The Ger
mans say boot where we say hat; tn
French .frare, where we say brother
the Greeks, mai, where we say yeS
the Hebrews, bGne, where we sa
son. These are odd to an Englis
ear. but shall wp couteut that W.