The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1896-04-11

English transplanted upon Irish soil al
ways remained an exotic, and never Hour
ished there as II did In its own habitat IN
England. ~
Now. one can well perceive. II h Is at
all conversant with linguistic principles.
that the transplanted English would not
develop and keep pace in Its growth with
that on English soil II Ireland had first
been depopulatod and then colonized ny
the English, the differences would have
been very much less marked, even II
they had existed at all. But that was
not the case. Those conditions came
much nearer being fulfilled here In Amer
lea. when the Puritans came over here 10
New England and settled. bringing win
them practically the same English as that
takn 10 Ireland for the first English set
Element on the Massachusetts Bay was
made about 162s which was practically
the time that the English colonists set
tied in Ulster But the English language
I'm America was not contaminated by
contact with the Indian language. and SO
Is to-day much nearer the mother tongue.
az spoken In England. than the Irish dia-
lect is. and this - simply because the
conditions here were entirely different.
The language here IN America has had a
land. though they were both emigrated
languages. But their environments were
different, and hence they differ very
much now. However, the American vul-
garisms betray the affinity Of the speech
Of the early settlers Of America TO THAI
OF the early settlers OF Ireland. Witness
hero a number Al words which follow.
our rustics and the Irish alike speaE
OF a chist, instead Of chest and they in
variably call a locomotive an milne. and
If 1t is not like the usual type. they say
# Is very QUAR- The reader perhaps TO
calls the story Of Pats first encounter
with the tortoise. while ditching how he
told the farmer Of the quar- haste that
CLAIM swaller'd It's own hade. The l0ike o.
what he had nlvver yit seen afore. 80
both the Irish and our rustcs say they
are afeared o. concealed weepins (wea
ponsl. Though they do not loike sparits
(spirits) much, they have no objictiOn ID
thaim that comes I'm kags, especially II
not a dhrop has inthered Their lips since
yistherday. but cowld wather. The
praicher, they think. rassels with the
divii in his sarmin. and by sarching out
things has become very larned. So they
both speak OF the arth an arrant Ger
randi. raisins (roasons and say of one
whose hearing is duh that he is def IS
a post. because he can't hear.
There is one marked Ilbernicism
which has now passed far beyond the
Irish dialect. Probably many OF those
from whose delicate mouths we hear fl
so frequently are not aware OF its irish
origin. Now Heaven forfcnd as from
innocently bringing down upon our own
heads the Walls of feminine wrath c1l
mighty rage can IN soft hosoms dwellD.
70 censure this pronunciation with sto-
zeal cynlcism would be almost az heart
less an act as that of the infatuated
young chemist. who, when his sweet
hearts beautiful eyes filed with tears
ruthlessly bottled them and exclaimed:
Tears. | have decompOsed them. they
contain a little phosphate Of lime, chic
ride of sodium, mucin. and water
Many of our most refined and cultivated
female graduates here i'm Virginia are
very careful TO say cyril. and We think
they say II charmingly. but they would
repudia,c scyar for scar gyar-
den for garden. cyart for cart, as de-
cdedly antiQuated. If not vulgar.
Now. we are not making even a modest
impeachment of this charming pronuncia-
lion. Tor girls reserve the right Of chang
Ing their name 10 what they please They
may, then, remind as this is q matter OF
taste. and. as the Roman matrons before
hem maintained, de gustlbus non dis
)utandum. And so we waive this mat
ter as falling in the domain Of aesthetics.
and now recall a few - those surviving
which cannot claim sucn
high authority for their usage. only this
.vening we heard gyarlic FOR garlic, and
At other times have heard cyarye for
,arve. one or two Of these have de-
,ided nasal twang such as kyOw for COW,
and nyow for now. which strikes a slight
81 feline note. il uttered i'm falsetto.
But TO recur 10 that charming gyirl,
his pronunciation is very widespread,
md is really a Virginia shibboleth Of
hose Ito the manor born" though Mr.
lowell tells us it occurs also IN Ne~
england. This pronunciation is perhaps
he sole case where a Hibernicism has
leen exalted 10 a place OF honor In del
ate mouths. The Irish pronunciation OF !
ure extends far beyond that jargon now.
the reader recalls the story Ct !
he good parsons wife, who twitted her |
husband about saying shore for sure, ana |
Who. when reminded that she pronOunc- |
d the word the same way. Indignantly |
eplled. why. 10 be shore, do not"
Fl must not be- inferred from what has |
cen said that the English spoken |
hroughaut the whole of Ireland IL uni /
Orm. on the contrary IT IS decldedly |
ifferent and varies with the locality. In |
ONE parts. indeed. English is not spoken |
& all But where 10 is spoken. il bears
marked resemblance. as We have seen. TO /
he English of the times Of Dryden and
'ope. which has been fossilized by emf
ration. The "brogue" IS due 10 the Gel
lc habit Of utterance. ana consists most
y I'm the intonation (which appears" ac-
ordlng TO Murray. fun OF violent ups
nd downs. or rather precipces AMI
hasms Of force and pitch almost dis
using the sound to English ears"
EDWIN W. BOWEN.