Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1881-05-19
American English.
SOME OF OUR COMMON MIsPRoNUNCIATIoNs
Chicago Times

cation who come 10 tins country are very
much surprised by the numerous differences
in the pronunciation of the English language
which they find here. There are slight diff
ferences in spelling the Old World authors
still cling to "honour" and favour" and
other similar forms which with US are obso-
lete. But the variations in photography are
uncomfortable. while the differences in or
thoepy are really remarkable. To the
ihoughtless American who does not take the
time or trouble To consult standard author
iiv. il is the foreigner who appears To be at
fault The truth is that the so-called
American" English is without warrant; the
differences bstween the pronunciation of
the language in this country and b, the ed
Gated classes of England and the sister is
land are literally "Americanisms, and are
not excused, much less authorized, in any
frst-Class American dictionary.
The miSpronunciaton Of common words
is BY no means limited to our cousins IN
rural districts, among whom quarto dictlon-
aries are suspected to be uncommon many
Of our favorite and effective public speakers,
use the language ahonlinably. and their au-
diences make no complaint because the pre-
vailing faults are American. There is no
country in which the English tongue Is
spoken in which II is woiully missused as
in England the number Of whose dialects
is almost equal to the number of her shires.
In many Of the mining districts the conver-
sation Of the people is quite unintellgIhle
to the Londoner. and, If printed, would re-
quire a glossary. In certain parts of the
highlands Of Scotland and in the extreme
north Of Ireland the mixture Of Gaelic term,
with the colioquial English has produced
singular combination both quaint and humor-
Gus, But the educated classes Of the three
countries speak the language with recognized
uniformity.
In the United States We have provincial
isms peculiar To the various sections and TO
the nationalities which predomnatc in them
The Pacific English is curiously unlike the
New England English. not merely in it~
slang" but in ts sober and serious yocabu-
Larry, Boston English is unlike New York
English and Philadelphia English is unlike
both In Chicago We are cosmopolitan
few tongues known IN any part Of the globe
arr unrcpre~cnted here and wr are a. un-
trammc!lcd IN our pronunciation of English
as in everything else.
These dNer-ItIes OF language reveal their
own cause. The culture Of the country. c,-
pcclally in lis never parts, is still Young and
crude. The struggle for Advancement Of
material interest. is all absorbing. The co-
,cntial~ of life are considered to the cNclu-
SION Of the apparent, unesSentlal. The
mouutaiueer who calls to his companion IN
thr alley To "foi,h thaai THAR hos. up yeah"
knows that his meaning - perfectly uuIer-
-tnod. The ">llug" u' all periods and in
all regions j. amply expressive until il grow,
stale II j. quickly succeeded By new forms
equally AtrocIou, and equal, descriptive
There j, no letter Of th, English language
which j, more frequently mi>prunouuccI
than q. |, j. shortened when il should h,
lon. ard Icn.thrncd when it should ~ short
We hear the drlvlcd ,uc-prrh; but how
long the lit IN which the vowel !, rn1tcd ot
more than half it, rights / IN ,uh,. i, ,h,.
in use Vet We hear only "tnoh." .n
pure j. the same as "a IN !uty bat the latter
1. pronounced as Il the u were oo. In
tune Ai.ude, aptitude, cIriCaturc, conclude,
consume, costume, dcluir. include, induce,
deduce. absolute, di--u!ute. duel. dul,, riu-
sile. erudltlun, rNhumu, vNudr, flute, lc,u-
luton. glue, IIlu>INc, ingenuity, Introduce.
Jupiter, JurNt, lucid. lucltcr. luCrc, ualgrou,.
lukr~arm. minute the adjective multitude,
neutral. nutrimrnt, obtusc. opportunity.
Pcnurpu~, plume, prelude, premature, re-
ciuNc, rrCtItulc. resolution. RESUME, revenue
avenue. sue. >crS rStudt, solution, stupid sub
due, tulip, tumu!t, tutor IN all these the u
should be long as in the word pure But !,
l. Amerlcanized into the sound OF 90 IN
good. There is no defence for this in any
American standard dictionary
But if there is a general disposition 10
snub the in this category there is another
i'll which i gets more than il deserves. In
many word, IN which ii and are associated,
the first Of the partners /, awarded the prof
il, Of the firm. 1t i, another Amrricanlsm
The place where clothes are washed is in the
"old country" laundry, the being silent
We Amtricanize it into lawndry But the
should not be heard in the word at all nor
in taunt, launch, vaunt, jaunty. gauntlet.
gaunt, haunt, faunt, jaunt, jaundice and
other similar words II is American, too.
to pronounce suit as if it were SCOT new a,
if It were moo, dew as If il were doc. flew a,
if it were foo, and Hue a, il it were Just the
same thing.
There are numerous AmeriCanisms in
placing accent. 1t Is American t. saN sner-
Sate Instead Of eaeryate, precedence instead
of precedence, precedent the adjective, in
steau oi Pfe'edeht' ana precedent the noun
instead oil P'ecedeht lhere Is no authority
except careless American usage ior calling
co"strue' c"n"fT"e; there IS no such word a,
the american sq"dior the IN which should .
oe pronounced d 10 way nut the aGJectINe
Is Squai,d. IL Is American to accent the .
hr't syllable oi 'agarieS instead OF the sec
"hd' ana IL is purely American To speak of
somebody being Isolated the word Is - .
oia'eu' iie'h"us IS hueficahized Out OF I
hayhus ihto several other Things ~hue ran.
iery "h!ch should oe pronounced "raiery
Is turned INTO matter oil rails: DEBRIS IS
Amercamzed INTO debree' and debut INTO de
oem out the accent should be on the hrSt
syiiaoie.
1t Is American English TO sound the IN !.
oiten' or eplstle' or apostle TO call apron
aapron-n Is aPurn, as iron is iurn-and ct /
lor ate' IKE het ior not Is exclusively 4
American II Is American not to pronounce /
bomb "bum' ana oomoast "bumOast' and
II IS only an AmeTicanlsm TO encase the
dead IN "kahih. II IS peculiarly Amen-