The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1907-02-07
sloVENLY SPOKEN ENGLISH
AS Heard by an Observer Afsar
Years Of Absence.


prolonged residence in England. the
careless crudity of speech, with tha
uncutured intonation of the Amc:i-
can voice, smites unpleasantly on the
ear attuned to the cultivated modula'
tons of the English voice, the well
chosen expressions of speech, tho
beautifully rounded, cloanly enunci-
alton of each word, the soft "r's," tho
broad as" and the invariably correct
grammar of the Englishman, says
writer in the New York Herald.
For, alas! yes, 1t is even quos-
tion of incorrect grammar with us, az
well as inexcusable slovenliness OF
pronunciation. 1t is an indisputablc
fact that more bad grammar Is perpe-
trated by the average American in
one month than the average English
man is guilty of in one year. This in
spite of the proud boast of the United
States of the superiority of its edu-
cational advantages, which are at tho
free disposal of the humbest citizen!
On all sides. even from the lips OF
the college graduate, such expressions
as amt 1t" and don't he" and be-
tween he ana |" are constantly heard.
| And what shall be said of the very
frequent Il havn't got nothing" and
you seen" Ct the boys and girls OF
fourteen and fifteen years of age who
are in attendance at the public
schools?
Such glaring grammatical errors az
| these are seldom heard in England
| nor do EnSlishmen mar their speech
| by the corruption of don't you" into
don't chew" yes" into "yeh," or
| coarsen 1t by the adoption of such ex-
| pressions as an awful lot" instead OF
"a great DEAL" etc. The use of tho
word "ain't," for instance, is a pure
Americanism--one of the numerous
corruptions of the English language
found in the vocabulary which con-
tributes toward the picturesqueness of
the American language" If not to its
purity.
Surely there is nothing defective in
the school system of codntry q
lar'e proportion of whose educated
pee Die pronounce the word been" az
though its spelling were ben"
probably" as ''probly," institution"
as 'institootion," dew" as "dco"
and whose speech is distinguished by
The gross abuse and misapplication Of
such adjectives as superb" "gor-
geous," grand" etc.
Primarily, the strictest severity
should prevail in the grammar classes
of our schools, and in the reading
classes slovenly, careless pronuncia-
tions should meet with the utmost
rigor. The soft English rendering Of
the letter r." in such words as her"
more" cart" murder" etc., should
be insisted upon by our school teach
ers, and thus would be eliminated one
of the most unpleasant characteristics
of the American speech. To make of
| the soft and liquid letter 'r" harsh
mouthful is to give ones speech The
| hallmark of crudity
More important still, the adoption
| of the broad "a should be absolutely
| obligatory. 1t is sin against the
English language that children should
be sent forth from our schools with
that distressingly fiat pronunciation
of the letter "a" in such words as
"half." last" calf" cant" which
is so laughed at as a crude Yankee
ism" in England. To the majority of
Americans the adoption of the broad
"a seems like an affection. To the
| English the American fiat "a" CRATES
in the ear as uncultured.
Humiliating as it may seem to our
| national pride, we have to acknowl-
| edie that whatever the English may
! De earning from us in business meth
DDS and in sporting matters, lessons
which they are taking as bitter pills
| and with a wry face, we can sit at
their feet and learn the English lang
uage.
| To that class of words in which the
letter "r' plays prominent part,
many of which words the Americans
| contrive to pronounce as though they
were spelling with 'u'' (for instance
the word bird" rendered in this
country as though spelled "burd'D, l
| would add that other class of English
| pronunciation which at first i'm
presses us as peculiar-the shortened
and compact rendition of such words
as circumstances, Obligatory" "li-
brary," dictionary" etc.
One feels impelled to crticise a col
lege course which permits our young
people to graduate with a knowledge
Of the higher mathematics at their
fingers tips, their brains teeming
with philosophy and science, and yet
with their speech too often slovenly
and careless and interlarded with fiat
as" and crude RS" which would
seem to indicate the possession of but
slight educational advantages.