Page:Transactions NZ Institute Volume 18.djvu/82

52 Archipelago commonly spelt by the English Bally, and substitute for this Bali, we gain much in euphony. We might apply this to Balimahon for Ballymahon, Balishannon for Ballyshannon, &c. The use of y as representing the diphthong ai or uai ought to be abolished.

The change to a correct pronunciation of Latin is sometimes opposed, because people cannot decide upon the Latin pronunciation of the consonants, cannot settle whether or not Cicero is to be called Sisero or Kikero, Caesar or Kaisar. Probably, like the Italians, the Romans pronounced c soft before e and i, and hard before the other vowels. Thus Kaisar would be correct, and Kikero wrong. Now this is matter of comparatively little consequence, and might be left alone; but no doubt the English do make a mess of the consonants as well as of the vowels. Thus, in German we hear them call Schwalbach, Swalback, Schlangenbad, Slangenbad; and when the tourists go to the Highlands in autumn what a burlesque they make of the Celtic names!

The effect of the degradation of the letter a to the inferior sound of ae is to eliminate the basso sounds from the language, and the result is similar to that which would be produced in an opera if all the basso sounds were omitted.

The tendency also to reduce the sound of r to a minimum, particularly in the South of England, diminishes the force of the language. Thus, what must a Roman think when an Englishman calls him a womaeno, with a faint approach to a roll in the middle of the w? Or imagine an Englishman in the days of Lord Palmerston proclaiming himself, in the English fashion, "Saivis womaenus sum!" The force of the expression has evaporated in the feeble and effeminate pronunciation.

For the sake of force, also, it may be regretted that the English have dropped all the strong gutturals, as in such words as light, might, which still retain their old sounds in broad Scotch. With regard to the word height, the Americans give us an excellent illustration of a step in the wrong direction by changing the spelling to hight, thereby converting a diphthong into a vowel. Instead of this they ought to change might, right, &c, into meight, reight. The gh in these words are now of no use, but they do no harm, and serve to show where the gutturals once existed.

I must confess to a liking for strong gutturals. What force there is in such words as Junta, Xeres, Ojos, in Spanish, where the j and the x have the sound of the Scotch or German ch; or, in Arabic, of Hassan, Achmet, Bahr, Mahmoud, wherein the h is pronounced as a very deep guttural. How much force Spanish gains over its sister language, Italian, from which gutterals have been entirely eliminated.

Many tourists may remember John Campbell, who drove the coach from Loch Goil Head to St. Catherine's, in Loch