The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-08-08

To decide a wager a dozen men, mostly
lawyers Of distinction, were asked to read
aloud a sentence in which the word
"spontaneity" held an inconsplcuous
place. More than half read 1t 'spon-
tanighity" The discoverer Of this pernic-
ious laxity. says the New York Sunday
Advertiser. is a young lawyer who has
induced number Of the younger menu
bers Of the Lawyers club to vows of re-
formation in the matter Of pronunciation.
There is more need of a reform in
English pronunciation than in English
spelling" he said yesterday. II do not
care to advertise myself as a reform
crank, but l saw an examination paper
at the custom house that made me trem-
bic for the future Of the English tongue.
One of the applicants who was examined
by the local board for a place in the gov
eminent service answered nearly all the
questions correctly, but it was plain that
he had learned what he knew about
words by hearing rather than by sight
His spelling was atrocious, but there was
a horrible likeness between his misspelled
words and the slipshod pronunciation Of
educated persons"
Taking a slip of paper from his vest
pocket he pointed to the applicants SPELL
ing Of the names Of some states and
cities, thus: Michigan, Owio, Maysuri
Shecogo Ghe S being partly erased for
c., Buffio. Cincinnatta. In Washing
ton there was no ''g," and the ID" was
invariably absent from the word and"
For moral he wrote "mOrl"
GU can see" said the amateur re-
former, that in nearly every instance
the slipshod pronunciation of intelligent
persons is reproduced phonetically in this
spelling. This man spelled words as they
are commonly mlspronounced, and 1t is
the best evidence in the world that reform
is needed. Nearly everybody sounds "a
in Chicago as if it were an % and not
even Murat Halsted calls the name Gin
cinnad correctly. The spelling reform
that has been urged for so many years
involves phonetic spelling, but if words
are commonly mispronounced and if
everybody is careless about il the spelling
reform could not go very far and could
not be worth much.
Not Now Dependent on Lecturers.
There are several reasons why the
English language is undergoing some
very undesirable changes We are not
cultivated men as they used to be in
AAA4S ldllhB anu pronunciation Is HUI dE-
sisted by reading. The reader sees no
reason TO pronounce the "a i'm match
and watch differently. Pronunciation
is not taught in the schools. and school
teachers make as many blunders as 9TH
er people. A good many people grow
carelss because they fear if they pro-
nounce some words correctly they may
be accused of affectation and be classed
with those who are painfully precise
as TO appear finicaL The accuracy of
these persons in saying did you is so
extreme to drive a man into saying
'didje' in very defiance. Sometimes,
too, it is dangerous. Out in Nebraska
they cali the town of Beatrice Beat
tresS, with strong accent on the sec
ond syllable. The natives killed young
man from Boston who called it 'Ba-ah-
tree-cha.
yet why should so many persons say
spontanightity instead of spontaneeity?
Why should nearly everybody in the
West say cal-li-ope short ID for CALI
opel long ID, and apparah-tus instead Of
apparatus? Ease of expression is not
i'm favor Of the corruption in any of these
instances. OF course the most common
error is in ignoring the true sound of u
in such words as tune, which most of
us call toOn, and duty, which we call
dooty, etc. A vast majority of us say
noozepaper. To-day, and the like. Per-
hapS we know that in most words Of
this class, except where u follows r.
there should be the sound Of YOU but
we pay no attention to it. 1t is strange,
too, that sometimes a person who does
not give u its first sound in tune does
give il in rule. where ii should not be.
"A man may be excused for calling
charlotte russo Charley Ross and blanc
mango blue mango, for these are for
eign words, but there is no excuse for
saying ap-pricot for apricot, or address
for address, or eck-quable for ec-quable,
or ERIN for Erin, or asafidity for asa
fetida, or Madeira for MADEIRA, or Ven
zu-ee-la for Ven-e-Zu-el-a, or Adon-is
Short o. for AdO-nis Gong o., or Dian
ma for Diana dong az, or day-po (ac-
cent on the first syllable), for day-po
Webster authorizes; or mat-tron or pat
tron. and so on. 1t may not be easy to
put the accent on the last syllable In
romance but it is just as easy to ac-
cent the last syllable as the first in pre-
tense Some persons call bomb. boom
in stead of bum because the spelling
seems to warrant it, but when they call
tedious 'tejus' they have no such appar-
ent warrant In the West and South the
Il in isolate is made long, and nearly
everywhere educated persons say truck
u-lent for true-cu-lent, a-men-able for
a-meen-able. lev-ver for lee-ver, and give
the sound of u in up instead of Il in
it in such words as squirrel, stirrup, and
sirup There are many words in which
the accent is persistently misplaced by
persons who know better. 1t is common
10 nut the accent on the second syllable
of peremptory instead of on the first, on
the first instead Of the second syllable
of couuetry, on the second instead of
the first syllable of exemplary, ETC.
Many persons place the accent on the
first instead Of the second syllable of in
auiry and do not give the i its proper
length. The accent in gladiolus should
he on the second syllable, with a long
q. but many place it on the third. They
say hy-meen-e-al with the accent on
the 'meen,' when it should be hy-mee-
mccall. with the accent on the nee
What Exasperates One.
"The exasperating thing about about it
is that some of these persons who are so
careless about common words take the
utmost pains to learn how to pronounce
Bouguereau, and are convulsed when
they hear anybody mispronounce Chopin
and Beethoven. Recently they broke out
with vawz for vase, though the weight
Of authority is against it. Knowles alone
allows it. Webster authorizes only one
pronunciation, the long "a and Kissing
s. Worcester prefers the y sound. but
not the 'aw.' The improper use OF the
sounds of "a is most serious. Those who
have the courage to use the Italian or
the modified Italian "a often use it I'M
Ia wfully, as in cawn't and rawther. The
proper sounds of %, particularly in God,
dog and some other words. are widely ig-