The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-07-04
UNTIDY SPEECH.
A Brief Exhibit Of Winters CouspiCueus
Onenses with e."


To THE EDITOR or The SUN-Sn: The
Communications that have appeared from
time to time In The Sun on our untidi-
nees OF speech we're sometimes edifyinG.
occasionally interesting. frequently amusing
OF all literary personages II was most appro-
pirate that Mr.. Henry James, being himself
| a distin guished example OF that whereof ne
spoke. should have been spiritually moved
to lecture US.
True. there is a good deal OF 1t; and not
little OF 1t imported from the mother country
duty ee.-whence Mr.. Henry James. Much
OF 1t. however. is Of native growth. prov,n-
clal with ourselves. Southerners have been
revtled because Of their AfricanlEed untldl'
ness of speech. Westerners have been ridi-
culed because OF their preppsterous. unt'dy
metaphorto exaggeratlons Of our common
tongue. Easterners and Northerners have
been persistently indicting each other on
numerous counts for criminal violations OF
the laws Of our language. amounting to until
diness in Its superlative degree.
New York. pluming itself in this. as In all
else. as sans reproche, clumsily adopts the
Chinese syllable system. in which the phonetic
| function Of our letter r" Is not to be found.
She has. accordingly. eliminated that tip
tonguing cultural from her Manhattan ese al
phabet. She consequently calls herself moo
fawk" and speaks Of all outsiders as "coun-
! ivy bwed customehs with theih fathahs and
mothas wecently awived in Moo Yawk to DO
| some shoppin' and sightseein' heah In Bwoad-
! way an up in Fourteenth sweet an awound
Union Squah." This. and such as this. Is Man
hattanese English. pure and undefled. and
for this untidness Boston holds her In derision
| and scorn.
Now, untidiness Is the antonym OF neat
ness. and is therefore the synonym OF SLOW
enliness. And it is this latter manner or
speech that New York, retaliating, persist
Of al %ev 4
That canstic t esnic yolspt sam slick. shs nose
speeehNsthe very p porch s q the temple =
Mr.; Slick proclaimed that prominent facial ,ss
bs Hnse i to ths
venientiy uttered through that special organ
hence, 70 say 'shootLn'. and .hpn.n a, and
an. TspH %rtip @nd and iE opS.3n and Fesa'n
the rest Of mankind that Boston LONG, ago
Ths Athsp. s " Sf Course those
American Athenians spoke Greek-.pure Bos-
tSi T
doigg, this, whereas New York had repudi;;
letter 0n Boston ' ehivsi H Corrected
! pudiated letter back into our language; out
where Il had never belonged. Thereby. In
Bostonian Greek such of our words IN saw,
became sawr; law. lawr; draw. drawn; and
Unfortunately, this untidiness not only
pervaded their common Bostonian apeech.
poet John G. Whittier, whom we ali admire
the ss % IL and
| cdly accepted this Bostonan Greek rho
ephelkustikon for poetic euphony. :, Hence
it happened that this form Of, untdiness is
unfortunately found repeatedly in some Of
his poems. generally % remarkable for their
! Dec" Is found this:
When the cruel rod OF war
Blossoms white with righteous law-dawr'.
Again, in his brussels Convention this
| occurs:
sa5. H With sn T Ss s sr sss c Var
SO, too, in his "Mlscellanies" II is written:
For Ensland's Charter, Aifreds law-dawr
Wage In your name their ancient war.
And in his Panorama" this appears;
| And held a brute in practise, as In law-0awr)
Becomes In fact the thing he's taken for.
Other instances Of this untidiness OF speech.
Ssh Is not to Sama ARE but oa sns IN am
perverted use Of the phonetic r as In Tho
| Merrinack":
And au,urnn's rainbow tinted banner
! Hangs lightly DER the Susquchhnna --(hanner1.
Again, in his "Mscellanies, this 10 found
| Dry thy tears for holy Eva-(Evcr)
| With the blessed angels leave her.
And this is continued through the refrain
Eva" is SO pronounced as 10 be made to
rlme with leave her." give her, river"
receive her." never" "greve her. be
! lieve her"
| submit that this Is not English: II Ia Bos-
tonian Greek and British Cockney. 1t is to
be regretted that Whittier fell into this I'm.
I is no word We would change, not line to
erase. i. }. ALLEN.
| MoRRIsTowN, July 1.