New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-01-10

INGLIsH SPEECH ~ AZ AMERICAN CC3l
NiTN.
TIP ITHACA III NLFCT. \ STUDY or TIE PEi>E% 7
ENDIlsIl. nv Oliver Fairar Emerson. il-tni'tOr IN
English. to.n'li uycr.ity. Up. l1J. bO,ton J. =
Cushug 4 90.

rHF ITHACA III NLFCT. STUDY or TIE pHi>E%r
INDLl'll. ~ oliver faIrar Emcrson. Instructor In
tI-1,h to.n'H HNcrli}. Up. Ia. bo'ton j. =.
Cushing 4 Go.
\ Doctor, ihc-.s f., usually q Interest to very
row circle Of student beside hc candidate hi, cNamn-
r., and hi, friend. Iut an exception ought to be made
in IN. case ~ Or. Finer ou'S book. Undoubtedly. OILY
the specialist IN dIphthoug~." of whom Pro- .s,or
Cildcr-lccvc tou- "a, VIII hlliy appreciate it. d.
competent Ia ~ n judgment on IT, yct the l',> pl0fr-
,ional reader Of pathological lit ratrrc. who
nnv not recognize a Of Svarahhahl, must make
hi, Xenophon explain Ecthnrsis should take note Of
the material and method I'm TIL, ~ scholarly study.
A. may be gucss from the subtitle the Ithaca Of
the book the stony Isle of far wandering Odl ,~cil.
but IN. pleasant among the hills Of fentrl New.
York. which boasts itself the seat of torncll Uni
VT itr. And even thore English and not Greek. /,
tin The Vcrnacuiar. Moreover tn word dialect IS not
used In quite IN" sense which might Doe assumed
Ordinarily the Oddities tn cAtravagnnccs Of speech
considered the chief feature In dialect. and when
these are not pr sent IN spicuous number we
not wont 10 the term 10 describe the language Of
a locality. In examining the material collected from
the lips of the thachns many readers viii doubtless
experience something o: the feeling OF the man who
discovered that he had been talking prose all hi,
lfc. For Dr. Emerson uses IN word. the
iori,y of quite familiar with dialects from
either having learned them in childhood. hearing
them continually on tn tongue Of the uncarncd
Thanks 10 our hauit at shining or homes, 10 our
common schools with their tendency to the written
and not the spok. word the Of speech
our American dialects are in general kept from
becoming very noticeable We seldom meet with
Hosea Biglow- that the word dialect Is apt 10 bring
with It associations with Uncle Renus Truthful James
or Mr.. Cable, mciiu0us murd rcrs Of pure
American speech. In the we'll marked territories
where these latter hold sway. tlicr have been not
lacking explorer, less animated by scientific
spirit So too have the Pennsylvania Dutch and III,
Canadian French attIaccd more than one explorer 10y
thdr striking linguistic phenomena. Hut If Dr.
Emerson was not the first TO field he seemed
10 he the first 10 enter In aud take possession. The
language which has been made the subject study
retoforc Ia, been either the artificial speech Of The
educated or dialects which bizarre enough to at
| tract attention. What has been most needed and
most ignored is cord OF the language II lives
the lips Of thc common people. and clear state
mcnt OF the laws which called II Into existence. Dr.
Emcrsons study is the first ait .mpt to supply this
| with any funess and with scientific accuracy; his
success Ought 10 put "dlaec,Ology" a new basis In
this country and. incidentally, to show the necessity
Of doing again much Of the work already performed
! with "a less rigorous method
| Tie speech island" Of Ithaca wa, selected as II
| community homogeneous and little disturbed by
currents of travel reasonably be expected I'm
| America. ON the innocent prctcnco OF STUDYING the
| history Of the place. Or. Emerson enabled to
gather some thousand ordinary words from that part
Of the community least exposed TO the lvellng ten
dcncy Of the schools taking T. secure the un.
affected pronunciation of common speech. To perform
| this task to secure results Of any value for
| scientific study is not easy mlght he imagined
IT dcma'.ds mt only quick and well trained ear but
! also thorough mastery Of modern phOnelcs. That
DR.. Emerson Is well equipped by nature and elucatlon
| for such work must be evident from his results Tie
curious reader will perhap wonder whether some Of
the finer gradatons Of sound here recorded BE- not after
all only the "muscac volltantes7 Of conscientious
ear but those of us who stil cherish the memory Of
Trench On Words" will not feel able 10 dispute the
statement, for example that q certain vowel is mid
back forward lowered and not - be described In
fewer terms The words thus collected are present ID
! In twofold arrangement hut treated In each case