Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-12-31
SPELLING AND SOUND
VARIATIONS BETWEEN WRITTEN
AND SPOKEN LANGUAGE.
Usually There is Some Reason for the
Difference - Amusing and
Conspicuous Cases.
From the London Globe.


into which vast numbers OF foreign words
were gradually Incorporated, 1t L. natural
enough that such importations into the yo-
catuiary should have undergone good
many structural alterations during the pro-
cess Most Of the changes 30 effected
were, no doubt, occasioned by the difficulty
found by the uneducated classes In pro-
nouncing words which were unfamiliar to
them. but which they found themselves
compelled to use: either they had no other
equivalent for them. or else because the
corresponding term went out Of fashion
and became unpopular. But In several
cases it was not the common people who
took words from the language Of their rul-
ers. but the latter who found 1t necessary
to borrow from the former. And when this
happened 1t must have followed quite ire
quently that the borrowers suited their
own fancy in adapting the borrowed WORD
to its new uses by mispronouncing It. Be-
fore the original Aethelred could have be
come Ethelred, or the Eealdorman could
have been transformed into alderman.
considerable change in pronunciation must
have taken place. But the Anglo-Saxon
words, when once definitely adopted by
court and ruling class habitually speak
ing Norman French, would before very
long assume throughout the land that mod
flied shape and form which kings and
courtiers had given to them. especially as
they had almost always on the way been
simplifed, and, from the phonetic point OF
view, improved.
Hotel and Hospital.
Hardly any better examples can be found
of these sort Of notifications than In the
history of those aspirated words. such as
''hotel" and hospital" which have been
Anglicized. The old term, "inn," held Its
own for centuries, and only by slow de-
grees was supplanted in popularity by its
more pretentious French equivalent. And
for long time even after "hoter' had
been SO completely adopted into English as
to be written without any accent over its
first syllable, the best people pronounced
the word without an aspirate, acknowledg-
ing thus tacitly its original nationality. It
Is only lately that this word, and others
like 1t. have practically ceased to be pro-
nounced as IL they were exotic. The names.
both Of places and families, have often OBJ
stinately retained in themselves mispro-
nunciation for which the caprice Of fashion
seems to be answerable. This, too, in the
teeth of some strenuous opposition on the
part Of the questionable world, which re-
fused in many cases to stultify itself by
pronouncing a word otherwise than as 1t
was spelled. Thus to quite large proper
ton Of the Engiish-speaking world the
derby IL still the derby with an "e," and
not with an "a" Outside that portion Of
society which occasionally consults peer
age, such names as Leveson and Wemyss
and dozen more are commonly read in
way which would not be at all approved
OF by the owners.
Tea and Tay.
Occasionally the struggle between two
modes Of pronouncing the same name Is SO
obstinate and protracted that the makers
Of maps are sadly perplexed about the cor
rect photography. Such is the not uncom-
mon name, "Wyke." which, being derlva-
ton. through the Norman French, of the
very simple Latin "vicus," was certainly
originally pronounced in England as
week" That pronunciation has long been
out of fashion. and the places are called
wick" or "wike." as chance may ordain.
But plenty of maps are extant where some
Of them are marked clearly week" In
other cases the wordy battle RACES right
house in dispute. Such is the rivalry be-
tween Shrewsbury as it Is written and the
once locally favorite Shrewsbury. In Ok
ford. within a stones throw of Magdalen
heard allowing three full syllables to he
name of that place Of learning, whereas
not one of the members Of 1t would dream
of giving 1t more than two. The different
styles adopted by different classes in the
matter of pronunciation tend, of course,
slowly to disappear. and the day is already
forgotten when shot over" was written
chateau vert" or "Beefeater" was written
| WOulQ prODdDly De useless
to remind any one how tea was originally
pronounced had it not been for the telltale
lines Of Pope:
When thou. great Anna, whom three realms obey,
Dost sometimes counsel take, and sometimes-tay.
Liberties With Language.
Affectation and desire to parade as a
fashionable person have from time to time
led to the taking of great liberties with our
English language. For a long time the
comedies, and later still, the comic papers,
have immortalized a good many of the IL
suits to which the poor words have been
subjected. Generations to come will find 1t
difficult to believe how the "swells'' Of
John Leach's time or the "beaus' who
preceded them could have distorted their
native language to the extent imputed to
them A century ago the pattern of an
egotistical coxcomb, exhibited by Sheridan.
talked of his brother as TAM" "philasa-
piers" and of "thausand paunds Nor