OUR MOTHER TONGUE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23691, 24 December 1938, Page 4

OUR MOTHER TONGUE

By Professor Arnold Wall RANDOM NOTES I have received such a large number of queries oh doubtful pronunciations that I find it necessary to deal with most of them in the briefest possible manner, merely stating, in nearly all of these cases, what the pronunciation is that is prescribed by the best authorities without going deeply into detail. A good many of them have previously been mentioned in this column. "Irene." This name must be pronounced in three syllables, "Ireeny," " Ireen "is a vulgarism, yet a certain yacht of this name is so universally pronounced " Ireen " among the yachting fraternity that I cannot blame the announcer who so pronounces it. "Negotiation." The question is whether the first t is to be pronounced as "s " or " sh." Both are allowed according to the Oxford Dictionary, but as Daniel Jones and the 8.8. C. prescribe " sh" this is to be preferred. If this decision conflicts with any previous statement of mine I can only •apologise for what must have been a misprint or an Oversight. " Respiratory."—This is pronounced either with the stress on " spir" with the i long as in " respire" (Daniel Jones); or with stress on "resp"—the i short as in "spit," and the a long as in " rate " (Oxford Dictionary) Both can claim authority. "Miniature" and other words in '" —ture."—The 8.8. C. recommends " minnicher." It is suggested to me that, though we are directed by authorities to pronounce a final " —ture " generally as " cher," we ought to make exceptions in the case of rarely used words such as " entablature." I think we should treat all these words alike; it would not be possible to draw a satisfactory line-between the two proposed classes. "Meteor."—This is treated by Jones like the words in " —ture "; the ordinary spelling would be "meecher," but he also records " meetyer," which seems to me preferable to the other. "Piano."—A critical student remarks that he (or she) has never heard this as " pianno " with the stress on " ann." which is the pronunciation prescribed by the 8.8. C. and recorded by Daniel Jones as the most usual I agree with these authorities. "Natural."—l am asked whether I approve the pronunciation "natchral." I do; of " transizhon," for " transition," I do; of " hozher " for " hosier," I prefer "hozier"; of "allwuz" with the obscure vowel for "always." I prefer " allwiz "; of " maskut" for " mascot," I do, but prefer to hear the o; " dutchiss" for "duchess." I do; of "granjer " for " grandeur," I prefer " grandyer" (the Oxford Dictionary allows both); of " yooer " for " your," I prefer " yore." which most of use say. SLURRED E I am offered the following words as a group with the question whether the e is or is not to be sounded in them: " tolerable," " camera," " every," " general," "several." I should say that it is sounded, but very lightly, and obscurely, in " tolerable," " camera," " general," but not in " every" or "several." This dictum accords with the indications given by Daniel Jones, but is simply based on my own practice. " Concern."—The same critic is puzzled by the treatment of this and many similar words by Jones, who gives the o in " con" as the obscure vowel with short o as an alternative, thinking that the alternative to the obscure vowel should rather be the short sound of o as in " hot," than that of o in "mole." I agree that the symbol for short o as in "hot" would be the correct one to use. But discussing such points without the use of phonetic symbols is like producing Othello with a troupe of Eskimos. "Accusatory."—The stress is on " cuse." " Comminatory."—The stress is on " comm." "Adulatory."—The stress is on " add." " Patronal."—Both " pattronal " with stress on " patt" and " paytronal " with stress on "payt" are allowed, but " patroanal" with stress on " troan " is unauthorised. Of the two permitted alternatives I prefer " pattronal." according as it does with " pattronage " and "pattronize" recommended by the 8.8. C. " Koala."—Asked whether this is correctly "koahla" with stress on "ahl" I can only say that to the best of my knowledge it is so, but I can quote no authority; the word is as yet unrecognised in any English dictionary that I know. A CRITIC JUSTIFIED " Photograph " and its group—A critic points out that in Daniel Jones's Pronouncing Dictionary long a is recommended for the "graph" in "telegraph," but the short a in " autograph and "photograph," and suggests that the long sound should be prescribed in all three. That this is a good suggestion is proved by the fact that in the new edition of Jones's Dictionary (1937) all three are given with the long sound—a change which I welcome. But I fear that the short sound will continue to prevail in all these words in this country. " Year."—Two pronunciations are recognised: "yer" with the long sound, of course, and " Yee-er, almos. in two syllables. lam asked which I prefer. I must prefer yer which Jones records as the most usual. I dislike "vee-er" intensely and regret that it seems to be well nigh universal in New Zealand. " Quarter."— Either my ear is .at fault or my opportunities of hearing imperfect speakers are very restricted as I have never heard "quarter pronounced as "korter," nor . quart as "kort" but one observer informs me that "most people" say "korter in her experience. There is no authority or excuse for this slovenly mispronunciation. a real HORROR " Recitalist."—This vile word has been collected in the columns of a New Zealand paper. What is the matter with " reciter "? The thing itself is bad enough, and to call it by this pretentious title is only to add insult to injury. Even if it be formed from "recital" in the sense of "an instrumental musical performance by. or of works of, one man" it is. in my judgment a blot on our Mother Tongue.