Page:Transactions NZ Institute Volume 18.djvu/83

Rh Fyne, and who kept his passengers in roars of laughter during the journey, chiefly from imitations of Cockney tourists. One of his stories was of a Cockney, in affected tones, asking: "Coachman, which is the way to Straechur?" the ch pronounced soft; "Strachūrr, Sir, I suppose you mean."

When an Englishman is remonstrated with on his pronunciation oi the name of a foreign place, he is apt to say, "Would you pronounce such names as Paris and Calais as the French do?" This shows a want of appreciation of the point. Pronouncing the s in Paris and Calais is quite legitimate, as bringing the names into reasonable accord with English; but if we should say Paeris or Paerais, or Caelais, in accordance with what is often done, the damage is evident. A single vowel ought never to be employed to express a diphthongal sound. We must not have i to represent ai, nor u, iu. In English ew is used to represent iu in mew, pew, stew, new; consequently we find this clumsy arrangement applied to Tewfik, which ought to be spelt Tiufik.

One may hear educated Englishmen say that every nation has its own way of pronouncing Latin. This, as an excuse for English pronunciation of that language, is nonsense. Each foreign nation makes some slight variation, but each has fixity within its own lines. Thus we know how an Italian pronounces u, and how a Frenchman modifies the sound; but it is not varied within the nation. In Engiish Latin no one can tell how u, or any other vowel, is to be pronounced. The English are generally supposed to be sensitive to a sense of the ridiculous; but how an educated Englishman can venture to quote Latin in the presence of a foreigner baffles comprehension. The effect must be inexpressibly ludicrous, on the supposition that the foreigner can comprehend the utterance. Possibly he takes it for some unintelligible gibberish. The difficulty of teaching a correct pronunciation of Latin lies with the masters. I remember the attempt being made at a New Zealand College, but the false system had become so engrained in the masters that they seemed incapable of throwing it off. One of them, a graduate of Cambridge, told me that they had improved ego into eggo! Out of the frying-pan into the fire. If the masters once learnt their business there would be no difficulty with the pupils.

The Latin of any Continental nation is understood by the scholars of any other: that of the English is intelligible to none.

One point in the reform of English spelling is very important, and would tend to obviate many changes. This is, instead of altering the spelling, to revert to a correct pronunciation. Apart from such matters as the pronunciation of Scripture names, I would instance such words as natal, fatal. Instead of altering the spelling to naetal, faetal, would it not be much better to pronounce them correctly, with the broad a. It is