The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1898-06-08

BRITISH PROPER NAMES.

1t cannot be too strongly insisted that
no one knows how to pronounce a
British proper name unless he has been
accustomed to hearing it properly pro-
nounced by an Englishman or unless
he has looked 1T up recently in pro-
nouncing biographical dictionary.
Many names common to England and
the United States serve only to in
crease the confusion, for the Ameri-
cans, with rare exceptions, permit the
spelling to govern the sound, as is
only too usual with us; while the Brit
ons seem to regard the letters of
which any name is composed as some
thing to be avoided in so far as they
have any ortho-epical meaning. In
other instances, the Americans accom-
plish the same thing by making the
spelling conform to the speech-Secre-
tary Window, for example, had his own
name Wyndham; while Vice President
Hobart 81 name is pronounced exactly
like the name Hubbart ortHubbard in
the old country. The publication re-
Gently of a. long tablesof speculiarly
pronounced proper names" in who's
Who, 1885, revives interest in this
study of British eccentricity, though
the list is full of inaccuracies which
mark too hasty an acquisition of the
knowledge it purports to impart.
Gladstone, it is rather generally known,
has the name pronounced as if the last
syllable were spelled stun rather
than "stone," and this Is true of Black
stone, Blackstone and many more with
the same ending, the two given being
also spelled Blaxton and Buxton.
Generally speaking also, names ending
in coke" are to be pronounced as if
spelled "ook'-Broke and Brooke, Coke
and Cook, Roke and Rock, being in
stances of variant means of conveying
the same sounds. Pore, Poor, More,
Moore are of the same kind.
The endings "ys' and "Is' generally
have the simplest sound of So or "z''-
as if the vowed were not there at all.
Charters, Charities and Charters are
the same name: so are Knollys and
Knowles, Sandys and Sands, Wemys
and Weems, Pepys and Pipps, some
times peeps and peps, while les" shows
a variation between Innes and Innfs,
dissyllable, and Sondes and Robartes,
where the "e'' is silent Err Is almost
invariably to be sounded as if tar.'
| Berkeley. barkly; Derby, darby; Ker,
Kerr car; Hervey, harvey; Hartford
| herford; Jervis, jarvis; Clerke, clark;
Merchaunt, marchant, are a. few in
stances of what may be laid down as a
rule with rare exceptions.
"Wode" Is ''wood" in Chetwode and
| Wodehouse, and "fote" Is foot in
Pauncefote. "Burgh' is 'buro' in
Jedburgh, Edinburgh, Yerburgh (yar)
and Scotch names generally; but the
| Scotch ~ presents more difficulties
| being "y'' as a rule; Dalzell is dee-ul
Menzies, meen-yes, and there are one
or two more which bear testimony to
the practical identity of the black let
| ter "z'' and 'y."
| A whole series of names ending with
a double letter which are accented or
| the last syllable in America are given
| the first on the stress abroad. Among
these may be mentioned Barnett, Bur-
nett Burdett, Buzzell, Frizell, Meynel
| (menne1), Parnell and many more
This American accentuation has grown
up within the English and American
| pronunciations were not at variance.
| The British accent these trisyllabie
names on the middle syllable: Achon.
ry (aconry), Arbuthnot (arbuthnut)
Athenry, Bolitho (bo-ly-tho, with the
eth" as in "then'), Breadalbane (bred.
awlbin), Cadogan (caduggan), Carmi-
| chael, Carnegie, Clanrickarde, Duma
resp (doomerrik), Fermanagh German.
MAJ, Kilmorey (kilmurry), Montgomery
! (mungumry), Montresor (montrezur)
| Rathdonell, Tredegar (tredeegar)
while these are accented on the first O.
| their three syllables: Acheson, Bag
GALAXY (baggally), Beaconsfield (bec
| conzfield Bellingham (bellinjum)-s
complete exception, Boisragon Cborra
gon), Bolingbroke (bolinbrook), Chal
Toner, Devereux (either deveroo or dew
crook, Du Buisson (dewbisson), Dyne
vor (dinnevor), Feversham (favver
shum), Leveson-Gower Qoosun-gore)
Mainwaring (mannering), Majendie
Molyneux (molinoox), Pennpcuicl
| (pennicook). Saumerez (summery)
Thesiger (thessijer) and Western;
| (westernray).
Occasionally entire syllables ar
dropped out-and there is no rule what
ever for this-as in Abergavenny (aber
1 genny), Bicester (bister), Cholmondeley