The Washington times., 1901-09-29
ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION.
The Britons Admit That Some of
Their Dialects Are UnintelIigibIe.

| During the last few days we have pub
lished a number of letters complaining OF
prevalent errors in the pronunciation OF
| English. Our correspondents point out
that consonants and voweis are constant
ly so clipped and slurred over-not always
by uneducated persons-that their speech
| is either unintelligible or very disagree
able to listen to. These sins against the
richest and, on the whole the most de-
scriptive, If not the most musical, of mod
ern languages. are exceedingly offensive
to the sensitive ear, and are in an en-
tirely different category from mere pro-
vincialisms. which are often historically
and philologically interesting, even when
they are harsh or uncouth. Local pro-
nunciations are, ideed, always with us.
There was a Co.krey dialect, as readers
of 'Pickwick'' VIII remember. three-auar-
ters of a century ago, though it differed
considerably from that now in vogue.
Put it down we, My Lord" has ceased
to be appropriate. The elusive letter
which is whispered in heaven and NUT
tered in helI' is, perhaps. less generally
overlooked than once it was, but If the
modern Cockney manages to avoid Sam
Weller's troubles with certain sounds, he
| falls quite as constantly into others which
are distinctly more offensive. 1t is impos-
sible to save ones ears from such words
as 'lydy' and "Benk."
The trouble, however, goes deeper than
this. Not only are vowels pronounced
| wrongly, but consonants are dropped. and
whole words slurred over Some corre-
spondents blame the teachers in the
schools. but, after all, their pronuncia-
ton, though on the whole much better
than that of the children, can hardly be
perfect, and, in any case, they have to
struggle in few hours of class time
against the permanent influence of home
AS the parents speak, so do the children
except that they contract additional
faults from the lower educational plat
form of the street. Children are born
mimics, and, unfortunately, are more
prone to initiate the wrong than the right.
Even in the most refined household IL is
difficult to prevent them copying the faul-
ty pronunciation of the servants. So sub
tie is the influence of the ear that even
adults do not fad 1t easy to keep quite
free from local intonation. Even peers,
bishops. and highly educated dlgnitaries
sometimes retain traces of the accent of
their native county; while that of Scot
land and Ireland is yet more persistent.
The modern method of pronouncing Eng
Iish, even by the best standards, no doubt
lays careless speakers peculiarly liable
to solecisms. Our pronunciation has un-
questionably undergone serious changes
during the last two or three centuries;
and, whatever may once have been the
case, English is now spoken upon a sys-
TEN entirely different from that of the
Continental tongues
Most of the European languages give
the proper value to every syllable, almost
to every Lottery. Where so much of a
word is correctly silent, ignorance and
carelessness are certain to extend the
liberty. English is by no means unmusic-
al, when it is treated according to its de-
serts. 1t lacks, it is true, the melodious
sweetness of Russian, or what Charles V
is reputed to have considered the love-
making qualities of Italian; but, on the
other hand, it certainly is not a lam
guage in which to swear at horses" As
one of our correspondents justly remarks,
our consonants no more get their due than
vowels. People have long acquiesced in
maItreating the latter; but of the two,
ccnsonants are the more important for
distinctness in speaking, as everyone
who has any familiarity with modern lam
guages derived from Latin will admit. To
Glide as much of word as possible is not
merely to speak !ndistinctly and urgrace-
fully. but to help that clipping process
which, it is likely enough, was at one time
almost unknown in English pronunciation.
Some correspondents blame the clergy for
defective speech, and not without justice,
to a great extent But it is often more
difficult TO understand the words used lin
choirs and places where they sing than
those which come from the pulpit OF the
lectern. The truth is that all classes of
society sin in this respect, chiefly, no
doubt, from sheer carelessness and inabil-
ity to appreciate the difference between
graceful speech and slurred sentences
London Standard