OUR MOTHER TONGUE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22819, 28 August 1937, Page 4 (Supplement)

OUR MOTHER TONGUE

Random Notes and Little Problems

By PROFESSOR ARNOLD WALL

« TEADFAST." The question is whether the "fast" is to be pronounced with the usual sound which it has when it stands alone or with the short obscure* sound which it has in "breakfast." The answer is that the "obscure" sound is correct, though the other is often used by those Who try to talk "line." "Fidelity." This is one of a very large and extremely puzzling group. In most of these, as in this word, the old sound was "fid," with short i, not "fide.' But during tho nineteenth eenturv the long sound was prcfoncd in nearly all of them. Tho best authority still recommends the long i in "fidelity," but others prefer "fidd," and neither is wrong. The tendency now is to return generally to the old short 1; for instance, the 8.8.C. recommends it in "dilemma," "direct," "finance," in all of which the long i is also correct, and is preferred by many good speakers. 8.8.C. Influence It looks as if there never would be peace in this company unless the example of the 8.8.C. should prove able to introduce and maintain it. Certainly this body and similar bodies in other countries have got a chance which no previous authority has ever had, and if only the British people were not so selfwilled and so conservative one might hope that in the long run the iuflueneo of theso bodies would make and keep the peace. "Women." it is easy t« answer the inquirer who asks for a ruling on tho pronunciation of "women," which all j.uthoritics agree upon: "wimmin." But it is not so easy to answer his further question, why we have this i sound in the plural only; in fact, 1 may oven say that no one knows for certain. The history of "woman" and "women" is interesting and instructive. "Woman" stands for "wifeman"; plural, "wifomen." During the Middlo Ages, "wonmn" became ono of tho many forms which this word assumed. The f disappeared early, tho long i was changed into u, spelt with o or 00, and this u was shortened, producing the modern word as we know it. No Agreement But all the intermediate foj-ms also survived, except that the f is everywhere absent. For a very long time there was no agreement about tho "correct" form, and tho different authorities prescribed five pronun-

ciations which may be thus spelt: "wuman" (the present form), "wooinan," with long u as in "womb," "wumman," "ooman," with short u, spelt o, and "umman"; all these are still current in provincial dialects. So much is clear, but these facts do not explain the retention of the i sound in the plural, but that does not explain the differentiation. Tho Oxford Dictionary suggests that it is due "to the associative influence of pairs like foot and feet." 1' should prefer to say that the preference for i in tlje plural is due to the subconscious influence of the vowel o in "men," both i and o being "front" vowels. "Cultivated" Pronunciation This is in accordance with tho action of other well-known sound laws. It will bo noticed that many people do not know that they pronounce "women" as "winnnin"; some writers use this spelling when recording vulgar speech, as if tho "cultivated" pronunciation wore something different, which it is not, though some prociso speakers are inclined to pronounce the e as a clear e instead of i. Eeally, when the stress is so very light short i and e are almost indistinguishable. "Splenic." This unfamiliar word must be pronounced "splennic." with short o. Hero we have one more example of the notorious inconsistencies which our language permits, for the closely parallel "scenic" must be "scenic" according to the best modern authorities. "Splenic," though' it has been in use for over 000 years, has been so strictly confined to medical literature that it is hardly known to the plain men and is not always included in our dictionaries. "Splenetic," of course, we all know, "ill-tempered" or "peevish," one of those curious temperamental words, whose meaning derives from old mistaken theories about that much misunderstood organ, the spleen. Corroboration Sought A correspondent draws my attention to what lie calls tho "invariable" pronunciation by announcers at a certain wireless station of such words as "imperial." "severe," etc., with a sound like "air," as though spelt "expairicncc," and so on. Though I have had exceptional opportunities I cannot say that 1 have noticed this irregularity, at any rate, in tho speech of announcers, and I should be obliged if any reader of theso notes could inform mo further. If no corroboration is forthcoming I must conclude that my correspondent's car is at fault, or possibly that it is too acutely sensitive.