Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1885-08-27
Gieanings from Errors in Pronun-
cia tfOn.

Errors in pronunciation are of
such frequent, everyday occurrence,
that it would seem as If few persons
wished or cared to pronounce cor
rectly.
In looking over the pages Of a
little work styled, ga system of die
tionary work for common schools"
we find that the author recommends
as the most essential step TO a cor
,ect pronunciation, "A necessity of a
thorough study of the folty-four ele-
mentary sounds of the language.
This leads us to begin at the begin
ming of the alphabet with the letter
"a Most of us pronounce it's name
we'll enough, but the short ga, that
little delicate vowel which is so pret-
ty in "at', how we do lengthen it
into "aa", and how we do put it in
the wrong place, using it instead of
the broad "an or sab" sound And
how many of us pronounce the saw"
sound so that it seems TO have an "r"
in it, as if talking were "tawrking,"
and walking "warking," and saying
"gawrne" until our bearers heartily
wished that we were "gone"
The comes poor little soft OBJ, to
be treated lightly. How many of
us, instead of opening our lips
quickly to pronounce his name, let
them drop apart slowly as if they
were gummed together, and feebly
say "0-bb e., making any word in
which he occurs seem as boneless IS
canned lobster. "CH does not suffer
much, although some lazy ones
soften the hard sound by trying to
produce it behind their teeth instead
of in their thtoats. sd : aud "t' are
the victims Of both the Ignorant aud
indolent, and have an "h" added to
them half the time.
The short sound of 'e' is often
pronounced like short "a', but other
wise this second vowel is usually
treated with reasonable fairness.
"F' is spoiled by the same persons
who spoil "b' and "p"; they will
not separate the upper teeth and
under lip snartly aud sharply, but
"g", unless it occurs ut the end of
word usually gets It's due and just
deserts, and there are few young
scholars who have not been admon-
ished for saying Gin" for "ing." "H"
is added where it should be omitted,
and omitted where it should be
used. We sometimes laugh Mt our
Cornish brethren for these blunders
when they say "wat" for what,
"were" for where, "wen" for when,
etc, yet how many Of us know how
to pronounce stumble, humor, hos
pital" correctly? "l", as you know,
is a combination Of the sounds "ah"
and Gee" some persons say "ahyee'
for !, especially if speaking slowly.
Short ''i' becomes dee" with many
persons, although quite easy to pro-
nounee. -" is never called out of
his name and has no complaint to
make. "KP has the same story to
tell as hard "c', but 81" seldom su
fers at the hand Of anyone. an" is
softened like "b" and opp, but "n"
is usually the best enunciated letter
Of them all.
so" becomes Gao" and "ou" when
some persons attack it, and some
times short "u" as in the case Of
home which the Yankee calls "hum."
500" is shortened until it cannot be
distinguished from "u" in full. go"
is not often injured by the most
careless speakers, but "r' is slurred,
curtailed and frequently dropped
altogether. "S'' is Kissed unpleas.
fntly. "U" is made "you" in disag-
greeabe fashion. ~" is like "f'
and "w" is pronounced "hw", but
*, "y" and "z'' escape Scott free,
seldom meeting with any msnomer.
T1,,N, (f..,.yrsvu fInuphaV