Pronunciation

“ Our pronunciation and accent, peculiar in themselves, varying, moreover, to distraction over the English-speaking world, are just as serious stumbling-blocks to others, as, say, French and German accent and pronunciation are to us. ”

“ It is worth remembering that the change in pronunciation of a host of words like heat, meat, eat, ease, sea, speak, cheat, dream, deceit from hate, mate, ate, ase, say and so on is not in the nature of a sound change, but is merely the abandonment of one type of pronunciation, and the adoption of another, a very common phenomenon. ”

“ The experience of every one proves how different is the impression which the sound of a foreign language makes upon the ear, when spoken by another, from what it makes upon the eye when read even by one who is perfectly acquainted with the theory of pronunciation. ”

“ But as the laws of metre are included in the idea of grammar, I have thought proper to insert them.
PROSODY comprises orthoepy, or the rules of pronunciation; and orthometry, or the laws of versification.
Pronunciation is just, when every letter has its proper sound, and every syllable has its proper accent, or, which in English versification is the same, its proper quantity.
The sounds of the letters have been already explained; and rules for the accent or quantity are not easily to be given, being subject to innumerable exceptions. ”

“ But, before we endeavour this restoration, we should consider, that contracting the sound of the simple, when it acquires an additional syllable, is an idiom of pronunciation to which our language is extremely prone; nor is it certain that crossing this tendency would produce any real advantage; at least, not sufficient to counterbalance the diversity of pronunciation which must for a long time prevail, and which must necessarily call off our attention from things to words. See Enclitical Termination. ”

“ Many writers on English pronunciation are accustomed to pour undiscriminating censure on the growing practice of substituting for the traditional mode of pronouncing certain words an ‘artificial’ pronunciation which is an interpretation of the written form of the words in accordance with the general rules relating to the ‘powers’ of the letters. This practice is especially common among imperfectly educated people who are ambitious of speaking correctly, and have unfortunately no better standard of ‘correctness’ than that of conformity with the spelling. ”

“ On the contrary, we find that there are others, whose pronunciation depends on the particular application and use of every part of the mouth, as the teeth, the lips, the tongue, the palate, etc. which yet cannot make any one perfect sound but by their union with those vocal sounds ”

“ If I may borrow an allusion from music, I might observe, that there is a certain tune in every language to which the ear of a native is set, and which often decides on the preferable pronunciation, though entirely ignorant of the reasons for it. ”

“ There is no better way to cultivate a perfect pronunciation; apart from association with cultivated people, than by getting a small pronouncing dictionary of words in ordinary use, and reading it word by word, marking and studying any that you use frequently and mispronounce. ”

“ The pronunciation of the words which are strictly English, has been gradually changing for ages, and since the revival of science in Europe, the language has received a vast accession of words from other languages, many of which retain an orthography very ill suited to exhibit the true pronunciation. ”

“ When we place the accent on the first syllable, say our opponents, we give a kind of subordinate stress to the third syllable graph: by which means the word is divided into its primitives ορθὸς and γράφω, and those distinct ideas it contains, are preserved, which must necessarily be confounded by the contrary mode; and that pronunciation of compounds, say they, must certainly be the best which best preserves the import of the simples. ”

“ Only then can he pronounce an unfamiliar English word with any assurance of propriety.
Notwithstanding the fact that every educated man has his favorite dictionary, it is probably true that no man’s pronunciation is in entire accord with the dictionary he habitually follows. ”

“ Variations of pronunciation, in fact, are like the variations we observe in plants and animals, and if any variation becomes marked and is rendered popular and general from some cause or other, it brings about an alteration in the form of words. ”

“ Let your pronunciation be bold and forcible. 3. Acquire a compass and variety in the height of your voice. 4. Pronounce your words with propriety and elegance. 5. Pronounce every word consisting of more than one syllable with its proper accent. 6. In every sentence distinguish the more significant words by a natural, forcible and varied emphasis. 7. Acquire a just variety of pause and cadence. ”

“ I have taken particular [Pg 141] notice of the pronunciation of people in every part of America, and can testify that, in point of numbers, the practice is in favor of analogy. The people at large say admi'reable, dispu'teable, compa'reable; and it would be difficult to lead them from this easy and natural pronunciation, to embrace that forced one of ad'mirable, &c. The people are right, and, in this particular, will ever have it to boast of, that among the unlearned is found the purity of English pronunciation. ”

“ Such are the mischiefs of innovation! Fortunately, the corrupt pronunciation of sceptic, has made little progress in this country; and in this, as in many other words, if we can be permitted to think and reason for ourselves, we may still preserve the purity of our language.
We have some classes of words received from the Latin through the French, to which a final e was anciently affixed, either for the purpose of forming a syllable or to soften a preceding vowel, in conformity with the established pronunciation of the French. ”

“ The chief compensations of the language are its simple and unvarying rules of pronunciation, every syllable being evenly accented, every vowel making a syllable, and, pronounced as continental vowels are, giving music to every word. ”

“ It is but natural, therefore, that men with greater or less claim to culture and education should take it upon themselves from time to time to determine the supposed standard of pronunciation. Thus as far back as the beginning of the eighteenth century we find that the orthoepists of that period undertook to ascertain and record the pronunciation of English as practiced in polite society. ”

“ Even language and expression, and personal carriage are reduced to a common formula. I closely watched the pronunciation of thorough-bred men, and often drew them into classical quotations, to observe their delicacy in prosody, and their manner of pronouncing the Latin. I prefer very much the German or Italian theories of classical orthoepy; but for mere longs and shorts, there is no such adept as an English tongue. They carry it into the vernacular, however, against all analogy, and often startle an American by what seems elaborate pedantry and affectation. ”

“ In the course of a critical investigation of the powers of the letters in the foregoing principles, there is scarcely a word of any difficulty or diversity of sound which has not been noticed, and the true pronunciation, with the reasons and authorities for it, pointed out; so that if the inspector should not meet with sufficient information in the Dictionary under the word, let him consult the Principles under the vowel, diphthong, or consonant, he wishes to be explained, and it is highly probable he will meet with the satisfaction he requires. ”

“ Wherever a foreign name has become so familiar to the English world as to have obtained an established English pronunciation, in speaking English we give it that pronunciation, without any regard to the usage of the people who live on the spot. ”

“ Whenever it is essential to distinguish spelling from pronunciation, italic type is used for the former, Roman for the latter.
· (under a vowel) : close quality. ̧ (under a vowel) : open quality. ̄ (over a vowel) : long quantity. ̆ (over a vowel) : short quantity. ̑ (under a letter) : semivowel, not syllabic. ́ (over a letter) : stress. ́ (after a consonant) : palatal pronunciation. ✱ (before a word) : conjectural, not found. > (between words or letters) : derivation, the source standing at the open end. ”

“ Our method tries to employ many means which mutually support each other. The pronunciation is not learned merely by the teacher’s saying the word and the pupils repeating it, or by the pupil’s guessing at it through the orthography and the teacher’s correcting him. ”

“ Sometimes apostrophes are used to indicate a neutral or connecting vowel. Where the accent of a syllable indicates clearly its pronunciation, no attempt is made of respelling the word. This is true of most common English words and words which are plainly pronounced as they are spelled. ”

“ One or two authors affect to pronounce human, and about twenty other words beginning with h, as tho they were spelt yuman. [57] This is a gross error. The only word that begins with this sound, is humor, with its derivatives. In the American pronunciation, h is silent in the following, honest, honor, hour, humor, herb, heir, with their derivatives. To these the English add hospital, hostler, humble; but an imitation of these, which some industriously affect, cannot be recommended, as every omission of the aspirate serves to mutilate and weaken the language. ”

“ But the mastery of a large vocabulary is readily secured only through attention to the common laws of pronunciation, and familiarity with the sound units. Thus far every word has been presented as a new unit. Now the children should learn that these words are like many others in form, and [72] that the pronunciation of one serves as a key to the many. Knowing book, all monosyllables ending in ook can at once enter their vocabulary of recognizable words ”

“ With equal reason it might be said that inasmuch as good speakers, and even lexicographers, differ in the pronunciation of words, therefore each speaker should make his own taste and judgment the standard for correct pronunciation. ”

“ These are every day also put to the proof in regard to pronunciation. At the recitation in spelling where the word has more than one syllable, they must all seek for the pronunciation and then it is soon found by the test, though they know how to spell properly, whether through mispronunciation they are unfit to be so soon put at reading. ”

“ It is a source of much satisfaction to know that many words, as albumen, address, coadjutor, divan, horizon, harass, idea, incisive, inquiry, leisure, opponent, etc., have only one authorized pronunciation, and that all other pronunciations are without any authority whatever. ”

“ Pulicóse. The variety of accentuation which this sketch exhibits, sufficiently shows how uncertain are our Dictionaries where usage is obscure. From the decided prevalence of the accent on the last syllable of these words, we may easily guess at the analogy of pronunciation, and, with very little hesitation, determine that the accent ought to be placed on the last syllable of them all. ”

“ In pronunciation be very cautious of imitating the stage, where indeed nature should be represented, but where in fact we find too much strutting, mouthing, rant, and every kind of affectation. The modern pronunciation of our language on the English stage iz, beyond mezure, affected and ridiculous. ”

“ The following admirable observations on emphasis are worthy of attention.
“In every sentence, and clause of a sentence, there is one or more words which require to be pronounced with a greater degree of force than the other words. Without knowing and marking the accented syllables in words, we cannot give them their proper pronunciation; nor can we bring out the full meaning of a sentence, unless we know and mark the emphatic words. The accented syllables of words we learn by imitating the pronunciation of correct speakers ”

“ The fact is, that in spite of many cognate words and constractions, each member of the group has peculiarities of pronunciation and vocabulary which distinguish it often very strikingly from the rest. ”

“ The pronunciation and accentuation are marked in a manner greatly to facilitate the task, especially to a foreigner; whose greatest difficulty, when attempting to teach the language without the aid of a native master, is exactly what these initiatory lessons are so well calculated to obviate. ”

“ It can scarcely be supposed that the most experienced speaker has heard every word in the language, and the whole circle of sciences pronounced exactly as it ought to be; and if this be the case, he must sometimes have recourse to the principles of pronunciation when his ear is either uninformed or unfaithful. ”

“ Besides this advantage, foreigners would be able to acquire the pronunciation of English, which is now so difficult and embarrassing, that they are either wholly discouraged on the first attempt, or obliged, after many years labor, to rest contented with an imperfect knowlege of the subject. ”

“ This vulgar pronunciation which was a thorn in the flesh to the eighteenth century lexicographers, it is instructive to note in passing, was not the result of mere caprice, but was warranted by an old variant spelling of the word. ”

“ It may be first observed, that the exertion of the organs of speech necessary to produce the accent or stress, has an obvious tendency to preserve the letters in their pure and uniform sound, while the relaxation or feebleness which succeeds the accent as naturally surfers the letters to slide into a somewhat different sound a little easier to the organs of pronunciation. ”

“ In those cases where a character enters "seated" or "asleep," I have substituted the verb "appear" for the verb "enter"; yet I am not sure that this concession to realism is wise.
The system of transliteration which I have adopted is intended to render the pronunciation of proper names as simple as may be to the English reader. The consonants are to be pronounced as in English, [3] the vowels as in Italian. ”