Oxford Democrat., 1915-07-20
Common conversatlonal Errors.

/ IL ID easy 70 PICK Out ites VI ueh
hundred words which are frequentl!
misspelled. many of which seem to b,
stumblingblocks even to we'll educatet
people and trained writer's. There ar'
other errors, mispronunciations, gram
matical inaccuracies, misuse OF terms
etc., which are 80 common In converse.
ton or in print that they have acquired
sort Of pseudo o-standlng In the Ian
guage. Their use IL by no means con-
fined to the ignorant, but some OF them
heard and seen in the communication
of people of education and culture.
TO consider few Of the most common
and most glaring cases OF mispronounceo
words: That which would be entitled tc
the largest award of damages for abuse
is the common word, the use OF which II
constantly increasing, hospital. 1t is
safe statement that not one person IN ten
pronounces it correctly. 1t 10 generally }
called hospittle, though occasionally the
more flagrant offence OF horspittle roii'
from the tongue.
A close second 10 program. In q recent
convention of q social and educational
nature, | did not once hear the word cor.
rectly pronounced, and In conventions OF
teachers, and of those who have reached
such high rank that they have ceased TO %
be teachers and become educators" II
ia not uncommon to hear 1t abused.
whether the second syllable 10 spelt with
the final silent letters OF the original
form, or in the simpler form, 1t should De
gram and not grum.
Two other words which are not far be.
hind in their misuse are garden ana
mitten. The in these words Is silent,
and thew should be pronounced gardn
and mittn, instead of which they are al
most universally made gardin and mitt'n.
Then 1t seems difficult for people 20
understand that ou can have the souna
of in rule. They pronounce oouquet
with the same vowel sound % IN 60:
When they find the same combination OF
yowels in tour, they have perverse IN
clination to pronounce 1t tower, but Wnen
two other syllables are added to make
the word tournament, they switch to
still another vowel sound and make II
turnament. In the same way they make
courier into currier. People who visit
Paris and are attracted by the gems
mined in town, but have little acquaint-
ance with the name as spoken, almost
invariably inquire where they can hno
dealer in turmaleens.
Milady who provides delicious 70.
fresbm ents for her guests has NO tnougnt
that bet has any sound othor tnan tna'
which it seems to have, but with four
letters prefixed she changes the sound'
and serves sherbut. =.
Acacia is not common member OF
the vegetable kingdom in this part OF the
world but It may be familiar term to
some. Correctly pronounced, the second
has the long sound, as in cake, YET rel
erence to a sprig Of accassia is not In
fro queptly heard.
Sometimes the mispropounclation
takes the form of interpolating an addi-
tional syllable. Why is 1t that the short
monosyllable golf-in which the oess
usage even makes the silent-rolls on
the tongue of most novices as goiiui!
There's another common word, even II
the thing is not so common In this part
of the country, prairie, which seems 70
inspire to superfluous exertion to such
an extent that it is all too often called
Doubtless from the similarity OF form,
arrears, which has the accent on the
second syllable, is often pronounced ex'
actly like areas.
Allied to these errors, though not just
the same, is the easily e1plainable fault
of coming the word maintenance when
m aintenance Is meant.
Numerous other examples might be
given. but let two suffice. We are get
ting into the deeper water Of polysylla-
bles. but there is no need even OF found.
ering, if we have learned the simple and
easy method of dividing the word into
syliables and pronouncing each separate
". Try it with the much tortured word,
neuralgia, and you will not again COM
NIT the popular sin Of newralogy. The
second Is much like unto the first. Use
the same process with the name OF that
common shrub, hy-dran-ge-a, and you
will find that it is really no more difficult
than the hyderanjer which is so nearly
universal.