OUR MOTHER TONGUE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23577, 13 August 1938, Page 5

OUR MOTHER TONGUE

RANDOM NOTES v By Professor Arnold Wall "Citrus Fruits."—l am in full agreement with a. paladin who wishes to discourage the use of "citrus" as an adjective in "citrus fruits" and to replr?s it "citrous," which, he contend ecords better than "citrus" wit'., ie practice of our language. It is exactly analogous to "fungous," the recognised adjectival form of " fungusi" " Citrous " has official support, too, being used (" citrous fruits ") in the Orchard Tax Act Extension Order-in-Council of June, 1937. Yet he will not succeed, I fear, in his gallant attempt to introduce this improvement, for " citrus " has already a too strong hold to be easily displaced. The substitution of the unfamiliar form demands a greater effort than the average writer is willing to exert. Fortunately, the pronunciation is not affected. Our usage in respect of such forms is lax and lawless, as may be seen, for example, in " Canada balsam," but " Canadian goose," "China tea," but "Chinese white," "India Office/' "Indiarubber," "India paper," but "Indian ink," in which instance the initial vowel helps. READING THE BIBLE

" For His name's sake."-—I am asked whether, in the public reading of the Bible the words " name's sake" should be pronounced as "namesake" or distinctly in two words. There can be no possible doubt about the answer; the pronunciation as "namesake" is obviously incorrect and is indeed slovenly. It is, of course, a little difficult to pronounce z and s in immediate succession without making a greater break than the sense requires, but a man who is unable to do this ought not to be reading the Bible, or anything else, in public. DOUBTFUL SURNAME'S

I am afraid I cannot spare much • space for the discussion of these puzzling names as, a correspondent would like me.to do; therfi>are hundreds of them;;'many are pronounced in two or even'three ways, according to the spellirij or to tradition; many are very well known, s.uch as Cholmondeley and Majoribanks. I may, .however, mention a few of those which are, as my friend says, commonly mispronounced in this country. Among those which are but rarely pronounced in the traditional way are Menzies (for Mingis), Mcßean (for Mcßain), and Meagher (for Mar). Oddly enough McLean is always McLain. People who bear these names, if they live oijt of Scotland or Ireland, have td.becoine accustomed to the'. faulty pronunciation and many of them -adopt it themselves. If they ivy to insist on the correct sound they. are in' for endless trouble. I sympathise with them for we all hate to be miscalled or misspelt. I can remember that in my eighth year I heard a parson whose name was Stansfeld cbmplain that he was usually sjSelt Stansfield, 'end he recused to ; respond to an appeal for a subscription because his name'was wrongly sbelt in the address—or so he said. A BELATED CQMPLAINT } I am asked to comment'oh the tendency " to-day "to use words" of a classical origin" when Saxon words would,.serve as well Among the examples of which complaint is made are " escritoire!" for "writingdesk," "mirrdr" for " "lookingglass," ' and .'! escalator " for," lift." I need only say that the Same complaint has been made any time these 300 years; that an escalator arid a lift.are not the same thing; that in many cases the two synonyms are a distinct gain to our language; and that the Americans, who are supposed to be so down-right and so plain-speaking, sin this way just as much as we do, preferring,, for instance, " autoriiobile" to "car," "stenographer" to "typist," and "ocean" to "sea." • THE PACIFIC G AGAIN V I receive a question about the pronunciation of the ng in names like Rarotonga and Singapore. Is it to be pronounced as a single sound, as in " singer," or as a double sound, as in " lingef" and "finger "? Very conveniently I also receive a letter from a real expert giving precisely the information required, at any rate as regards Tonga and other names in the Pacific Islands. According to this authority the ng, which is often spelt with g alone, is always to be sounded as in " singer " —the single sound. My informant has resided for 20 years in the islands and speaks Tohgan. Information comes opportunely. This question does not . concern Our Mother Tongue, and I am much obliged to this correspondent. But this does not answer the question regarding Singapore, which is, rightly or wrongly, always pronounced by English sneakers with the as in "single," and is so recorded, by Daniel Jones. Announcers in New Zealand, however, pronounce it with the "ng" as in "sing." My Pacific informant mentions that she has been told that "mango" ought to be thus pronounced too, not as in " mangle," in spite of our universal practice.,, It is unfortunate that this point is generally ignored by Gazatteers and similar authorities, so that reliable information must be sought; from those who. have experience of the language in question. A DIFFICULT CHOICE

I am asked whether there is any difference in meaning or value between " educationist" and ."educationalist." ■' There is no difference in meaning; and, as both are malformed, I see no difference between them in value either. Personally I hate them both, but would prefer the shorter form, as I would prefer a little dose of nasty medicine to a big one. Fowler observes that in the case of this word and "agriculturalist." etc., " the shorter form, besides being less' cumbersome, usual }y corresrxmds more naturally to the sense." The same correspondent asks about the difference, if any, in pronunciation between "moral" and " morale." The answer is that when •" moral" is used in the sense of "moral condition, especially of troops, etc.." the dictionary definition of "morale," the two are pronounced alike, as " morahl," with stress on " ahl." It is a puzzle to decide why we formed the word "morale" at all, or "locale." Or "forte," or "chorale," in all of which the " e " has been added in English. Those, who are interested will do well to read the very useful and enlightening note on the subject in Fowler's Dictionary of Englisn Usage. The addition of the " e : to "typist w and "pianist," fondly imagined by some. to indicate the feminine, has been sufficiently discussed already in these note?. ;'■ It would be a good thing if we all knew a great deal more or a great deal less French than most of uf do.