THE JEWELLER'S WINDOW

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29798, 14 April 1962, Page 18

THE JEWELLER'S WINDOW

(Specially written tor “The Prefs" by

ARNO LD WALL)

Professor Arnold Wall, in the present series of articles, discusses the origin of many familiar names, expressions, and phrases. He wishes to make it clear that he cannot undertake to reply personally to readers who may comment on any of them. This article is the thirtieth of the series.

You may notice that Jane Austen regularly spells our “choose" as “chuse”; her books were published between 1811 and 1816. and the spelling "chuse” occurs very rarely, if at all, after that time It was, however, the more usual form during the eighteenth century. By 1818 Walker pontifically decided in favour of “choose” —"sometimes improperly written chuse which is a needless departure from its French etymology in choisir." There he was mistaken: “choose” does not come from "choisir.”

The full story is hard to unravel, but it is certain that "choose" descends, though irregularly, from the AngloSaxon verb spelt "ceosan" <“c” as “ch-" and "eo” long) which normally should have become "chese" and actually did so, though this medieval form was lost in the competition with “choose.”

I do not feel that "choose” is correctly derived, as by the Oxford authority, from a sort of “side-form" of "ceosan.” Of course the noun and adjective “choice” does come from French, modern form “choix." French has Germanic words in its vocabulary, attributable to the old Frankish language which the Franks dropped after their conquest and occupation of Gaul when they adopted the broken Latin of the conquered race Hence such occurrences as this meeting m English of “choice” and “choose," first cousins. And all this does not explain “chuse" which is distinctively French in form and must represent a French dialectal woid. A real “kettle of fish.” isn't it?

Battles Long Ago “Design” is now universally pronounced with the “s” as “z”—nobody says “dessine." It was not always so. The pronunciation with “ss,” not “z.” was prescribed by 11 lexii cographers from 1732 to 1844. : and among these were Dr. Johnson (1735) and John Walker (1791). Only five during that period supported “dezine," yet it was to be preferred in the long run. Walker (1791) was quite hot in his condemnation of “dezine”: he always looked upon it as “vulgar" and some others were equally hard upon it. Yet Walker prescribed the “z" in “resign." It is hard to be consistent when dealing with our mother tongue, isn't it? “Hospital” now must have its “h"; “ 'ospital" and “aws- | pital” are vulgar. Of the ; authorities from 1720 to 1800. ] eight demanded the “h." while [six, from 1791 to 1849, pre- [ ferred “ospital." Two only [prescribed the long initial | vowel “awspital," and one of I these was the Irishman [Sheridan (1787). John Walker (1791), who was always so dictatorial, was among the I “ospitallers" and here, as so often, he proved to be a bad I prophet. i Under the heading of [ “Battles Long Ago" you may [ see from time to time [ examples of conflicts which [ raged among the pundits long ago and are now forgotten and entombed in the old dictionaries. Here are two which lie cheek by jowl in the cemetery “Yea" is now "yay ; nobody says “yee." But during the eighteenth century the authorities were about equally (divided on this point. The best of them all, John Walker | <1791) favoured “yee” ana gave reasons for his preference. one of which was that "unless my memory fa.ls me it is always yee in the Scriptural text “let your communications be yea, yea. and nay, nay’: but Walker was a bad prophet if judged by this dictum. “Yeast,” now never . challenged, was formerly also “yest.” with short “e" and so sometimes spelt Dr. John- ’ son and seven other authorii ties down to 1827 both. spelt ,’and pronounced it “yest. j while five of the lexicograiphers spelt it “yeast" and pro:i pounced it as we do now. One. Kenrick, 1773. spelt it j“yest” but pronounced it ' “yist." Walker again decided (Unfortunately in favour of the

spelling and pronunciation “yest.” He notes, too, that ":he vulgar" often pronounce it “east" without the "y.” All three forms are still current in various English dialects, "east." “yeast." and “yist" But the ordinary speaker of Standard English knows them not.

Colonel “Captain or colonel or knight at arms." There’s one of those unlucky lines which changes in pronunciation have ruined; Milton could not foresee that his trisyllable “colonel” would lose a syllable; to do him justice you have to say col-o-nel and feel rather foolish. The stress in Milton's line is on the first syllable. COLonel, but it was often placed on the last. coIoNEL. When first introduced in 1588, its form was “coronel" from French “coronnel.” By 1580 it had become “colonel" as Milton wrote it. It was contracted to “colnel" and later, by 1780. to “curnel,” which is thought to be founded on the earlier "corronel” rather than .on “colonel." The form “curonel" was prescribed by Bailey in 1732 and Dr. Johnson in 1755. But from 1780 onwards “cumel" reigned supreme.

Commendable '■ "Tis sweet and commendable in your nature" (Hamlet) As you see, Shakespeare expects “COMMendable," no: as we say, comMENDable So his metre has been destroyed in this as in very many other cases. From about 1720 many lexicographers prescribed the stress on “mend” but certain die-hards clung to the old stressing of “COM-” —as late as 1791, when John Walker dismissed the matter and said boldly that the “accent on the second syllable is grown vulgar and there needs no other reason for banishing it from polite society and polite pronunciation.” This decree of banishment was, however, as we see. not obeyed. This is only one of dozens of words whose changed pronunciation has wrought havoc in the writings of the Elizabethan and Seventeeth Century poets