OUR MOTHER TONGUE

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 242, 9 July 1938, Page 9

OUR MOTHER TONGUE

Random Notes (By Professor Arnold Wall.) “The duplicate will be forwarded with the list, together with a certificate, as done with wages.” An inquirer sends this quotation from a newspaper aud asks whether the words “it is” are understood between “as” and “done.” No, the sentence as quoted is certainly incomplete, but “it” is unnecessary. The proper expression in my judgment would be “as is done.” “As done” is lazy; “as it is done” is redundant. The Die-hards

A critical reader of this column, referring to a note in which I observed that most of ns now' say "yore,” for "your” instead of the traditional “yooer,” says that three dictionaries tell him that the pronunciation is “yure,” finds my dictum “not at all convincing,” maintains that “it is quite possible for most of ns to be wrong,” aud asks me for a reference to a higher authority. In reply I give the authority of Daniel Jones, who records as the most usual among the best-educated speakers the pronunciation (in phonetic symbols of course) “yaw,” with three variants as less usual. My critic is quite right in saying that we are most of us often wrong, but he ignores the fact that a certain amount of •change in our sounds is natural and inevitable in a living language, and that, when change is in progress, a time comes when the authorities must face the facts and decree the new sound to be correct; all depends upon the size and weight of the majority. It is for this reason that, as I observed before, the standard dictionaries are not always to be relied upon in respect of rapidly changing sounds, while the work of Jones or other experts who live in the linguistic centre and specialise in this direction is more trustworthy. There arc nearly always diehards who insist on retaining the old-

fashioned pronunciations, like my critic, and like Tennyson who gets up from the table and goes round to shake the hand of the mini who has said "knowledge” with the “ow” long. Aud this is not all. for the standard dictionaries usually ignore altogether the “weak”. or unstressed sounds which so many of our common words quite legitimately have. For instance, the word under discussion, "your,” has its weak form, often spelt “yer,” and Jones gives two variants of it, neither of which can be well represented without the use of phonetic symbols. Stan.dard dictionaries cannot well spare space for these.

in ii ii uh it iiiriimiiti mi ir 111 in mi iriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin i min }Veek-end radio programmes on Page 10 of the Second Section, iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitifiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiHiiiiifiiiiiiiiiiin

Confession of. Failure I much regret that I am unable to give, ms'. requested by a correspondent, thejcorrect uses of “woke,” “waken,” 'awaken.” “awoke,” etc. In respect of i both form and meaning the whole group seems to be in a state of hopeless confusion. The little that can be said with certainty is that “woke,” in the intransitive sense—“l woke”—is losing ground; "awaken” is unnecessary, for “wake” can do its work; "waken” and “awaken” fend to be restricted to the transitive sense: “wake” alone has the sense “to remain awake.” These are Ihc chief points in Fowler’s summary of the present state of affairs. All languages seem to have their special weaknesses—poverty here, redundance there, and our mother tongue is no exception. “Ireen”

A correspondent risks me to give the correct pronunciation of the name "Irene,” which I have already done in these notes.. The answer is that it should lx? pronounced in three syllables,. “Ireeny,” but the pronunciation in two, as “Ireen/’.is regrettably frequent. It may be argued that as a Christian name it is the property .of the bearer, who may pronounce it as she pleases, and in actual fact this is what happens. A yacht of this name is so commonly pronounced in this unorthodox way that it would seem to be hopeless to protest, against it. Another name which is often docked of its last' syllable is “Salome.” but this is less important, as it is not in use, or very rarely, as a Christian name. - 1 have heard of many bitter quarrels ever “Irene,” which is the Greek word for "peace”! “A” or “An” Once More

Referring to a note of mine on “honorarium,” a correspondent remarks that we ought logically to use “a,” not “'an,” before long 11, “a university,” not "an,” observing that nobody uses “an” before, for example, "Jew,” where the sound is the same. This is quite correct, and the tendency now is always to use "a” before this sound, whether it be spelt with u or with “eu.” as "a eulogy.” The same applies to words like “one,” whose spelling ignores the consonantal w in the sound, and we st\v and write “many a one.” If we go back far enough in the history of our speech we shall find that the old use of "an”, in these cases is amply justified, for. until the seventeenth century the uin words of French origin was pronounced approximately as it was. and is, in French, while the eighteenth “one” was pronounced with an ordinary long o, as it still is in the words “only,” “alone” and "atone” (to make at one). Being thus well abd legitimately established, "an” was maintained by the gieat silent force of tradition, which, if you choose, you may stigmatise as ‘'reactionary.” A Question of Taste

A correspondent complains of the pronunciation of "espionage,” as if spelt "espionidge,” with stress on "esp” and the "ion” as in “campion.” I dislike this as much as he does, but it seems that we must put up with it, at any rate for the present, for the authorities, though disagreed, do allow this, and some even prescribe it. No doubt it should be Anglicised, but I should prefer the i long and stressed as in “inviolate.” The same critic has heard over the air "Aeneas,” stressed on "Aen,” and “Carthage,” with the second syllable as ‘age” instead of "idge.” "Aeneas” is, indeed, too often to be heard pronounced in this sinful way; it should be “Eeneeas,” stressed on “nee” as in Latin. As for Carthage, this has long ago been Anglicised and pronounced like auj other English word ending in "age”—“message.” “image.” etc. Status of Jazz

I am asked whether “jazz”- is in the Oxford Dictionary. The answer is yes and no. It is not in the main work, for the J portion appeared too early to net it, but it is in the Concise 0.D., and <s there defined to mean “syncopated music and dancing, of U.S. negro ori/ .■in," with several senses derivative rum this. The origin is said to be unnown: I bad always Imagined it to ~ a vile pronunciation of "chasse,” as s used in dancing. But t would not died my blood, or even my ink, in defence of that etymology.