Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1899-12-07
OUR HABITS OF SPEECH.
Points of Difference between TINS
Country and England.

petvraa, mere persons the comparison
If language is a harmless and even a
friendly thing. by reason of the pleasure
of telline their own minor customs, OF
which many men and women are sehsl-
tive. and which they may enjoy WheheNei
they find some one willing 10 hsten-aho
he is willing TO listen who Is permitted
t0 return a like description ot MS own
lesser habits. But between nations there
l. inuatience and even indignation,
whereas Americans and English might
do something better than quarrel or play,
for they might mend certain things that
have gone astray between them, and that
might with some reciprocal gain be set
tied midway.
For instance. q letter needs no post
mark when 70 bears the sign Of its origin:
II should like TO have you come" 1t IS
ID phrase no one uses IN England, but n
IS also q phrase that one small word
would change into pure English Of good
time "TO have you come IS more
modern than we can endure, yet II would
have Won to come seems % be somewhat
more ancient than we have courage for
why do we fear f.? The phrase has q
healthy sound, is homely, and yet may be
made ceremouiOus with all ornamental
measures Of address by means Of the con-
text. But Il should like 10 have YOU
come" with all lis faults Is surely better
than the most uncOuih OF phrases, which
is current English use, az that Is current
Amorican-.I should like you 10 come
While We refuse the Americanism, can
we ask the Americans TO take into use
our Anglicism? IL IS something 70 their
credit that they never either speak or
OF write IT, for it is singulariy ineiegant;
only less so than II want you TO come"
which We all say though we may not
write II, but which I'm America. or. at
least. IN New England they hardly mend
by Il want you should come"
Again. the same note Of few lines
that IS so American with its have YOU
come" IS equally un-Engish in the
phrase. Write me-" 1t muse be owned
mat this sounds III 10 us albeit / am
,old IT has become usual here also I'm let
iers Of affairs; but 80 seems TO De the in-
yariable form on the other side OF the
ocean. There is assuredly nothing wrong
with IL. except novelty. We make no diff
nculty of write me letter. and yet
Write me by return pOsr we cannot
abide. Why not? me" I'm our monoto-
nous language is as good q dative as It
is an accusative; so that grammar Is not
outraged: and this obviously we acknow-
ledge By orr write me a letter" Sing
mo a song" and GIVE me a book"
I'M fn HILltlF OH lillT interesting lOUlf.
Mr.. William Archer has said that 1.-THE
Americans do not make "a principles Of fol-
lowing the Latin emphasis, else they
would say 'orator-y' and so forth But
as o fact they nearly do say 81. They
make a kind Of compromise. TO hear
them say "oratOry" you would suppose
that I'm the further inland parts Of their
own country they would say oratory
with a quite long o. but they have been
somewhat discouraged by the English
practice. They nearly equalize the syla-
bles as though they We're speaking
French Nor do they ever achieve the ex-
pert English way Of hurrying a syllable
without dropping it altogether which
makes "oratory" a KIND or test OF
English accent. When they say library
they seem 20 Toe remembering the pre-
cepts Of their teachers In childhood. who
had warned them 10 divide the two rs
but not with so distinct an interval. Al
together an American Seems TO speak
with more direct reference 10 his school,
master than We burden ourselves withal
He is apt TO tell YOU how carefully he
was trained to prOnOutce Leigh Hunt
with a rhyme TO "say" for the Christian
name. Nor does he change that fashion
when he learns that Leigh Hunt and his
countrymen used a different vowel sound
On the whole he pronounces with much
more purpose and WEAKNESS. and with
more consciousness of education, than
does the Englishman He has more scrup-
les. lie never writes round uhe adverbl
without an apostroDhe 10 signify the
merely coll0qulal dropping OF the a. And
this word he uses very often because
for some unknown reason although Bib
Heal English is always at hand. and at
least "a familiar I'm the United States
as with u.s. about seems 10 be quite
out Of use. An American may say. that
he will talk ~ you about book" bW'