Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 11.djvu/132

 122

NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. xi FEB. 13, 1915.

165. Before the words heir, herb, honest* honour, hospital, hostler, hour, humble, and humour* and their compounds, instead of the article a, we make use of an, as the h is not sounded. . ..

225. Jalap is of great service : pronounce jalap exactly as it is written : NEVER jollop.

227. He is gone on a tour : pronounce tour so as to rhyme with poor, never like tower.

233. They laid their heads together, and formed their plan : say, They held a consultation, &c. ; " laid their heads together " savours of SLANG.

241 Rinse your mouth : pronounce rinse as it is written, and NEVER rense. "Wrench your mouth," said a fashionable dentist one day to the author of this work. .

245. Webster's Dictionary is an admirable work : pronounce Dictionary as if written Dik- shun-a-ry : not, as is too commonly the practice, Dixonary.

250. The prologue is well written : never pro- nounce prologue, pro-log, but prol-log.

252. She is a pretty creature : never pronounce creature, creeter, as is often heard.

253. We went to see the Monument : pronounce Monument exactly as it is written, and not as many pronounce it, Moniment.

254. Watercresses are very wholesome : pro- nounce cresses as it is written, and not creases.

262. They are at loggerheads : say, at variance.

275. Remove those trestles : pronounce trestles exactly as written, only leaving out the t : never say trussles.

276. He is much addicted to raillery : pro- nounce raillery exactly as written, only leaving out the i : never say, rail-le-ry.

278. His mother was a marchioness : pro- nounce marchioness as if written march-un-ess, NEVER marsh-un-ess.

281. " Mistaken souls, who dream of heaven " : This is the beginning of a popular hymn : it should be, " Mistaking souls, &c." Mistaken wretch, for mistaking wretch, is an apostrophe that occurs everywhere among our poets, particularly those of the stage ; the most incorrigible of all, and the most likely to fix and disseminate an error of this kind.

286. I never saw his nepheiv : never say nevvey for nephew, which is very often heard.

290. Who has my scissors ? never call scissors, sithers.

306. He was born in January and she in Febru- ary : pronounce January as it is written, and not Jennivery, and beware of leaving out the u in February, or of calling the word Fcbbevery.

308. He turned him into ridicule. Never indulge in ridicule : NEVER say, redicule.

311. Ho keeps his chariot : pronounce chariot in three syllables, and beware of calling the word char- r>'i.

314. He threw the rind away : never call rind, rine.

318. Sussex is a marilime county : pronounce the last syllable of maritime so as to rhyme with rim.

321. He hovered about the enemy : pronounce hovered so as to rhyme with covered.

330. An American Reviewer expresses himself thus, in reference to Webster's Dictionary of the English Language : " It is the most complete, accurate, and reliable Dictionary of the Language." As an attempt is being made to introduce " reli- able " to our notice, in the absence of a single word

conveying the same idea, the writer of these page* would suggest as a slight improvement the word " RELIONABLE." By-the-by, as the words " com- plete " and " accurate " imply the superlative degree without est or most, would not the Reviewer have expressed himself better had he said, " It is a complete and accurate Dictionary of the Language, and one on which implicit reliance may be placed."

332. Lavater wrote on Physiognomy : In the last word sound the g distinctly, as g is always pronounced before n, when it is not in the same syllable ; as, indignity, &c.

333. She is a very clever girl : pronounce girl as if written gerl : never say gal, which is very vulgar.

349. Broccoli is a species of cabbage : beware of pronouncing " broccoli " brockylow, which is so- often heard.

354. Never say o-fences for offences ; pison for poison ; co-lection for collection ; voiolent for violent ; kiver for cover ; afeard for afraid ; debbuty for deputy (the last three examples very common in the City of London).

356. I was necessitated to do it : a vile expres- sion, and often made worse by necessiated being used : say, I was obliged, or, compelled, to do it.

358. Gibbon wrote the ' Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire ' : pronounce Rise, the noun, so as to rhyme with price ; Rise, the verb, rhymes with prize. [It is refreshing to find our author tripping in the matter of the title.]

360. Have you been to the National Gallery ? Never pronounce National as if it were written Nay-shun-al, a very common error, and by no means confined to the lower classes.

MARGARET LAVINGTON.

THE PRONUNCIATION OF POLISH.*

IN the rules stated below, the Polish sounds, expressed within quotation marks, corre- spond with the sounds, expressed in capital letters, in the English or French, if marked (Fr. ) words following the sign =. The word " generally " means cases not within the rule stated just before. If only approximate, the comparison is marked (appr. ). But a foreigner, to pronounce quite like a Pole may require some practice.

2. " %," before 6 or p = OM ; before d or t = ON ; generally = (Fr. ) trOMpONs.

3. " c "=TSeTSe (appr.) : even before a, o, u (cf. rules 5 and 25).

4. " ch "= strong H ; but not so guttural as in loCH.

5. "cz " = CHarity.

6. "e"=Editor (it should never be dropped).


 * A letter on this subject appeared in The ,

December 12, 1914, and an article will soon be published in The Geographical Teacher.