OUR MOTHER TONGUE

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 226, 20 June 1936, Page 7

OUR MOTHER TONGUE

Various Queries

(By Pbofessob Arnold Wall.) -Oxford Accent.” . . ~ A correspondent asks if lie is justified in holding that it would be more accurate to speak, of “Public School’ accent than “Oxford” accent, as he has observed that men who have acquired a distinct accent at the University tend to lose it later on and especially in moments of stress or excitement. The question is too big to be dealt with fully here, but I say: (1) That, in my opinion, most English public school men do not change their speech at either Oxford or Cambridge; (2) that the exaggerated and affected “Oxford English” is confined to the few, and (3) that a form of speech which has been acquired comparatively late, as in post-school days, does tend to be dropped again easily, and especially when the speaker is off his guard.

“Maudlin Drink.” “Magdalen” and “Maudlin. —I am asked why Magdalen College, Oxford, is pronounced “Maudlin.” (The same is true of. Magdalene College, Cambridge.) The reason is that “maudlin” is the old, true and traditional pronunciation of “magdalen.” The old spelling is preserved in the adjective ‘•maudlin,” which acquired its sense of “lachrymose,” etc., from old pictures of Mary Magdalen, or Magdalene (Luke vii, 37).

“Trv And.” "Try and” for “try to.”— l am invited to put this idiom into the blaok list. No, I cannot oblige, for “try and,” though considered colloquial, is perfectly good English, and in some phrases has a sense distinct from that of “try to.” And after discussing the case,,Fowler observes wisely: “It is . . . colloquial; if that means specially appropriate to actual speech; but not if colloquial means below the proper

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standard of literary dignity. ... It is an idiom that should not be discountenanced. but used when it comes natural.” Foreign Intruders. “Nazi.”— ln German, “Nahtsee,” but. usually anglicised as “Nahzee.” As in “zinc,” “zeppelin,” and other loanwords from German, we give the “z” its English value. Be careful to get the “z” and the “t” in the right order; we don’t want another war. “Il Duce.”— Pronounced “Eel Dootchay,” with stress on “Doo—.” “Mussolini.”— Pronounced “Mussohleenee,” with “Muss” like ‘‘puss,” and all four syllables fairly stressed.

“Vaudeville.”— Both “vodeveel” ami “vodevil” are permitted, the former being the closer approximation to the French.

“Continuity,” “ambiguity.”!— Both stressed on the first and third syllables.

“Les Miserables.”— Pronounced “Lay Mizerahbl,” with final s’s silent.

Idioms Criticised. A correspondent finds fault with these,- but asks for a ruling:—“He was frightened of” instead of “afraid of.” This is correct, but colloquial. “Afraid of” is really the same, “afraid” being the participle, “affirayed,” of the old obsolete verb “to affray.”

“Cut in half,” not “lialves.”—Perfectly correct, and over 10. years old. “A pact between A, B and ll.”— This is quite legitimate; there is do other convenient way of expressing the idea. “The original restriction to relations involving only two limits, etc., still tends to be observed whenever •among’ is adequate for higher numbers,” (Oxford dictionary.)

“Opposed to then! striking,” etc. — This is ungrammatical and vulgar.

“They travelled quicker.”—This is perfectly good, and allowed, e.g., by the Oxford dictionary.

“There were less people in the street.” —This is incorrect, for “fewer.” “Banks’ ” instead of “Banks’s.”—Until recently “Banks’” was considered correct,, but authority now favours “Banks’s.” Many printers of newspapers still keep the older form. “None” as a plural, “none were present,” etc.— My correspondent is right in maintaining that “none” may be used with a plural verb. Wherever the sense requires it, the plural is correct. . ■ . . :

“Monies” for “moneys.”— The old form “monies” is now definitely disused.

. “Universal 40 hours week,” etc.— This use of “universal,” though often complained of, is quite correct, falling well with the definition “of or belonging to or done, etc., by all persons in the world or in the class concerned.” (Oxford dictionary.) This applies also to “universally.” “They got married,” etc.— This use of ‘got,” practically as an auxiliary, is quite correct, the sense of “procure,” “obtain,” etc., having been here indefinitely extended, though in some phrases it is colloquial. “Sophisticated.”— My correspondent would restrict the use of this word to senses which involve or imply “sophistry,” but the actual-sense is much wider than that—“deprived of simplicity,” “made artificial.” (Oxford

“Victoria (r) Avenue,” etc.— The insertion of the “r” is, of course, a mere vulgarism.

“Mesdames.”— Unlike the singular form "Madam,” this word is correctly pronounced as French, approximately “maydahm,” with neither "s” sounded. It is often anglicised as “niez,” like “fez,” and “dames,’ as in English, but authorities do not countenance this;

Typiste Again. “Typiste."— l am asked once more whether it is correct to distinguish a feminine “typist” by the spelling “typiste.” Certainly it is not. No such word as ’‘typiste” is recognised in English at all. People seem to imagine I hat in French- the addition of "e” to “ist” makes a feminine, whereas in French- the termination “Ist” is unknown, and "iste” : Is used for both masculine and feminine. And, anyhow, “typist” is not French.

“Vulgar Parlance.” “You better.”— My attention is drawn to this vulgarism for “you had better” or “you’d better,’’ and my correspondent provides an example from "Journey’s End,” where .Stanhope says to Trotter, “You better go ... ” The omission of “had” or “’d” is merely slovenly, both in speech and in writing. The full idiom, "you had better go” is old and good, and lids peculiar use of “bad” is good also with “rattier” and “sooner.”.