The Washington times., 1906-05-10
KENTUCKY SPEECH
IS PUREST ENGLISH
British Savant Gives Palm
10 Blue Grass State.
LoNDoNER NOWHERE AT ALL
Ohio Valley People Come Iearest to
AddisoniOn Standard, Says Sir
Jonathan Williams.

CHICAGO. May 10-From the investi-
cation OF an English savsnt. Sir jon
athan Williams. it appears that the
purest English is spoken in the State
OF Kentucky rather than in London or
any other part OF the British isles or
possessions. Sir Jonathan, who is
retired physician with ample means. be-
came interested I'm the question Of the
purity Of the English tongue several
years ago and has since spent much
time in investigating English as she
Is spoke In many parts OF the world.
de has trave ed through Australia. all
OF the different counties OF England.
Ireland and Scotland and through many
or the States or the Union. examining
the peculiarities Of the different pro-
nunciatiOns. and II IS his conclusion that
SO FAR as his researches have extended
the English which is nearest the correct
standard Is spoken by the citizens OF the
home Of fast horses. good whisky and
fair women Whether the whisky, the
horses or the fair women have the most
TO do with the purity OF the tongue as
spoken In the neighboring common
wealth 10 ne south Sir Jonathan de-
clined TO state
DlsappTOves of the Londoner.
Il have been interested in diaIectical
English for many years. said Sir jon
athaH on the occasion Of a short visit to
Chicago on his way 70 San Francisco.
Your ordinary Englishnan Of the isles
is above all dillecuicaI The Londoner
sticks a totally misplaced p on the end
Of words ending with "a such as idea
which Is TO hi. 1dear' The same IS
true OF your New England. The South
lands Of America have a drawl which IS
totally misplaced. the north lands OF
your country nasal twang which is a
joke 70 Englishmen
1T is only on the middle ground here
I'm America that I have found the true
English. the English OF Shakespeare and
Dr. johnson, unmiXed with dialecticaI
absurdities or with peculiarities Of ex-
preston. Slang as such I do not find IN
Kentucky and the nsighboring regions
along the Ohio and Missouri rivers. Nor
We're the crudities of your western
Americanisms so apparent there. The
clipped and halting speech OF Scotland
comes nearer 70 the Kentucky English
than any have heard in my investiga-
tons Australia Is overlsid with a slang
which Is worse than the worst Of your
West. Your East is initiative Of cock
neyisms. unnatural and therefore un-
English.
Louisville in Front Rank.
In the island itself the best English
IS not that OF Oxfordshire or Of cam
bridgeshire. but OF Kent and southern
downs This. however. does not an
proach in purity Of diction. cIearness Of
enunciatiOn and adhesion to classical
forms the English OF your Middle West
which IS neither your North nor your
South, your East nor your West I have
found in the city OF Louisville a pro-
nunciation snG use Of terms which IS
nearer in my mind 10 Addison and the
English ClasSicists than anything which
the counties OF England. the provinces
OF Australia or the marches Of Scotland
can offer
When asked what he considered the
reasons for the purity Of the English of
the ohio valley Sir Jonathan was az
somewhat Of a loss. u cannot eXplafn
cles have had less effect there. the peo-
pie read fewer slangy books. are closer
students OF the older classics and mold
their home language accordingly. An
other influence iNay be the climatic
force, TIE ceTt-aI Zones tending less 10
extremes. eithr-- Of dictSOn or pronunCfa-
ton. than the outlying portions l have
no doubt that the increasing dampness
OF the climate OF England has had some
e1ecJ on the deterioration Of the Eng
lish speech In the islands. Perhaps these
same climatic conditions. combined with
q ideally English conditions obtaining
In YOUR more central States. have made
this state Of affairs possible"