The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-12-28
ODD THINGS ABOUT WORDS.
David H. Dodge, in the Sunday Maya
zine.

him curiously. Suddenly William look
ed up.
How do you pronounce r-o-o-t?" he
replied after a moments thought.
Henry looked surprised. Il usually
pronounce IL TO rhyme with 'scoot,
he replied after moments thought.
Gould 1t rhyme with foot ?" asked
William.
ut might, II you wanted it to very
much" answered Henry. ut depends
upon who is reading what you are
writing. Poetry as usual, suppose"
he added.
LAS usual" said william. good-hu-
moredly. Laying down his pen. he
continued: did you ever read a poem
by Charles Batteil Loomis, ! think
illustrating the difficulties encountered
by Frenchman in pronouncing the
different English words ending in
o-u-G-h?"
Yes. I've read It, Why?"
well, there are lots more hard ones
In our beautiful language-not?'
mot hard ones?" queried Henry.
mo, not beautiful language. You
know what l meant Why can't we
have all our terminals pronounced
equally, 1 wonder? For instance,
boot goes on a foot. but they don't
rhyme"
well. a hat goes on a head" re-
joined Henry, ''and a tie goes on a
neck, but they don't rhyme, either.
And a watch goes on time, and
Very humorous-very humorous, In
deed said William: 'tbut let's get at
the subject. It's worth discussing. Now,
/ was writing verse the other day
no, not poetry, Just verse-and want
ed rhyme to doll All l could find
was 'loll' though there are other words
ending similarly. like Scroll stroll"
roll and toll"
1T was a shame said Henry. "You
might have called her 'Moll."
1T was a shame. Here's another
curious thing. Take the word friend
Remove the n, and you get word
sounding quite differently. Take
arm prefix a w and Il won't rhyme"
BY the way said Henry that re-
minds me. I've noticed myself how
w at the beginning of many words
already formed changes the pronun-
citation OF them. 'Barn--warn. ant
want catch-watch,' 'hat--what,
'asp-wasp, 'ash-wash,' 'art-wart.'
and so forth"
and 'scarf-dwarf,' added will
liam. "Or wharf, IL you like that bet
ter"
Exactly So" said Henry. ut Is
rather interesting, after all. The
words song and among don't rhyme
either"
Nor bleak and break nor
touch and crouch, nor meat and
great nor breath and heath"
That's right. 'Draught' and
caught don't also" said Henry, get
nor leaf and deaf"
Hold onl" said William. Some
people pronounce deaf to rhyme with
leaf"
"Wen, that's their lookout" replied
Henry with not much point. But
head doesn't rhyme with 'read'-not
with the present tense of 1t anyway.
Or better, 1t doest rhyme with lead
Oh. yes, II does, counfound II, when It's
a lead-pencll. Well 1t doesn't rhyme
with mead anyway"
leave does not rhyme with
have" suggested William.
Here was short pause
Does boss rhyme with c-r-o-s-s2"
asked Henry at length.
Hard to say" responded William.
Most people make c-r-o-s-s almost
rhyme with horse though for that
matter. a good many pronounce boss
as 'bawss. +"
81 once saw poetical advertisement
in the cars" said Henry, lin which II
stated that It was impossible to be
cross when you were eating some-
body's beans with tomato sauce l
thought at the time that the rhyme
was enough to drive away the blues.
ooh, that rhyme wasn't so bad said
william. rive seen worse IN the
magazines, and in hymn books.
Gloom and room are analogous to
what we were talking about. Gloom
rhymes well with boom but II you
make r-o-o-m rhyme with 1t, you must
change the word to r-h-e-u-m. There's
quite "A shade Of difference"
"Cow' and snow don't rhyme,
said Henry suddenly.
"Nor dew and sew retorted Will
liam, "nor our and your BY the
way, house ought to rhyme with
rouse but It doesn't"
II see no duty In the question" said
Henry. "'Combine' and marine new
err speak as they pass by, In well-edu-
Gated poetry, you know"
mo. but it's often a nuisance. Here's
another curious thing: Though words
OF the same termination don't always
rhyme, have you noticed how different
Examinations often do?"
och. yes" said Henry, but don't
let's go into that We might as well
60 through the dictionary at once"
THAT'S all right. But listen to this
instance. Take the three words
birch. perch and church There
nre three different vowels. having
when alone three different sounds. but
when I'm front of the same letters they
have the same sound. Doesn't that
strike, you as queer7'
"Fairly So" said Henry. There are
other threes like them. though. 'Dirge.'
verge, and-r-'urge. for instance.
Wait a minute, I can give you four
samples of the same sort, with diff
ferent vowels before the same conso-
nants. Listen: Bird herd word
and h-e-a-r-d."
And absurd" added william:
that makes a fifth. Here's a word
came across this morning: u-s-q-u-e-
b-a-uRg-h. DO you know what X is?"
"U-s-a-u-e-b-a-u-g-h repeated Hen
ry. IT'S an old-fashioned gun, isn't
mo. little one" replied William.
patronizingly: you're thinking Of ar
quebus. 'Usquebaugh' Is a whisky;
but Il doesn't rhyme with laugh
though the ending Is the same"
ut probably ends with a headache
instead OF a laugh" remarked Henry.
'But take the word laughter and
put an S at the beginning OF II, and
see how plainly the pronunciation OF It
changes"
1--WE got a queerer specimen than
that" said william. IT'S one Of the
curiosities OF the English language. It's
the word plague. II rhymes with
vague, and is a word OF one syllable.
But take of the first two letters and
you get a word Of two syllable. alto
gether different"
"oh. pshawl" CALCULATED Henry with