, 1879-07-06

thereby diminish the purchasing power ol
wages.
! THE FLAT "a" OF OUR FATHERS.
| The production in this country Of {
nautical bur]esque, which it is unnecessary
| to specify further here, has had one effec
entirely unforeseen by the photographers
In the bur1esque aforesaid the word "aunts
is made to rhyme with "plants," t'taunts,
and "grants," and all are pronounced with
the broad ia" sound. The pronunciation
Of "taunts could not be. differently given.
The most hardened Westerner would be I'LL.
willing to deprive this word Of its "u" in
speaking; and the usage in this case has
been permitted to govern all the rest Of the
play.
The broad "a" has thus gained an intro
duction to the people. It has even been
recommended to their affections. "Let me
make the ballads Of people, and care not
who makes their laws" WAS the saying Of a
wise man. And how much truer is it that
the songs Of the people avail more
than the rules Of the orthoepy I!
Sir Joseph Porter has more influence
over the common speech than WEBsTER,
WORCESTER, and all the other dictionary
makers combined. Sir Joseph and his fe-
male relatives teach precept by example,
while the latter have nothing to say except
to the few who specially consult them. .
We are not sure that the broad Ha ought
to supplant the flat "a" in our language.
Surely the former ought not to be adopted
hastily, or without due reflection. It is not
native growth Its foreign birth is against
it. It cannot cry "Abba Father" to this
land Of the beautiful and good, at least it
cannot so cry in tones familiar to American
ears. It is difficult to see why "a" ss in
father should be more sacred than SO as in
mother. The British people, while they
broaden their "a's," clip their SOS" aud
all their other vowels. If We follow their
example in one case, consistency will
require us to do SO in all. We
may even be carried farther, and asked to
initiate the Continental pronunciation Of
SO" and "i."' The only good argument in
favor of the broad "a is that it is more in
accordance with the analogy Of the language
than the other. And where may not analogy
compel Us to go?
A sufficient objection to the adoption Of
old vowel-sounds at the instance of British
purists is that imitation Of foreigners would
tend to destroy the individuality of our Ian
guage. We are American, thank Heavenl
And we speak American We make our own
language, just as We manufacture our own
cotton and raise our own pork. We are
growing and changing people, and need
language to suit the peculiar circumstances
Of the soil and climate. There will be
Great Britain, and others not dreamed
Of there, in recording the history Of this
country. The vowe1s must be in perfect
condition if they are to fulfill their destinies
in America. At the late National holiday
the use of the narrow :a," if we may call it
so, could not well be abridged. It resounded
from one side of the Continent to tho other;
and when our orators spoke of the ship of
state gliding into the "cam sea Of peace
after the stormy times of the Revolution, or
the "sam" of victory rising up and uniting
with the celestial chorus, we knew and ap-
plauded what they meant, lphatever the
mocking satirists of the Old World may say
about it. ...
One may have the broad "a " and still be
very far from the Kingdom Of Heaven. It
is possible that q person who says "cawnt"
and tsshawnt," ts and is related to R1cHARD
GRANT WHITE, may talk through the nose.
We have known such people--in New En-
gland. English people are physically inca
pacitated from pronouncing such words as
e. .Cholmondeley," "Pall Mall, " "Magdalen"
(College), est. John," st Marylebone,"
q Derby" aud Worcester. The common
people and cockneys Of England have the
broad ssa :" letter perfect, but cannot aspirate
their his. It is q grave question whether
persons who aspire to the broad
ga" do not run the risk of
losing mora ground than they make,
Constant pronunciation Of that vowel may be
injurious to the throat and the nasal pas
sages. In no other way does it seem pos
sible fully to account for the 1amentab1e con-
sequences Of using the broad 'a y in New
England. At any rate, We would recommend
the heads of families who, for the sake Of
their offspring, may think of changing
!" as" to be extremely careful how and when
they exhibit their requirements in public. |
A sudden change from the broad to the fiat
I" {" f" has 1udicrous effect. i
There are good many reasons for prefer |
ring the ga" of cur fathers to any other. |
A vowel that Was good enough for them
ought to be good enough for us. Their |
gowel-sounds were modified, if at al, in
obedience to some principle Of natural selec- |
lion. It will be better to let Nature have |
her way in this as in all other matters Of !
speech.
The fact that his [TALNAQE QEal PfeabyteEY diYfde1