Every-Day Errors of Speech Part 25

A lady in "Love's Labor's Lost;" also the name of a lady loved by Romeo before Juliet.

=Rosamond, Fair=--roz'a-mond, not ro'za-mond.

=Rozinante=--roz-i-nan'te, not ro-zi-nan'te. Don Quixote's famous horse.

=Ruggiero=--rood-ja'ro, not rug-gi-er'o or ruj-ji-e'ro. A knight in "Orlando Furioso."

=Sakhrat=--saK-ra', not sak'rat. A sacred stone of great powers, in "Mohammedan mythology."

=Stephano=--stef'a-no, not ste-fa'no. A drunken butler in "Tempest;" also a servant of Portia in "Merchant of Venice."

=t.i.tania=--ti-ta'ni-a, not ti-tan'i-a. The wife of Oberon, king of the fairies.

=Tybalt=--tib'alt, not ti'balt. One of the Capulets in "Romeo and Juliet.

=Ulrica=--ul-ri'ka, not ul'ri-ka. An old sibyl in "Ivanhoe."

=Ursula=--ur'su-la, not ur-soo'la. An attendant in "Much Ado About Nothing."

=Viola=--vi'o-la, not vi-o'la. The disguised page of Duke Orsino in "Twelfth Night."

ORTHOEPICAL ERRORS OF THE PROFESSIONS.

Although errors of speech are at all times to be deprecated, and are generally criticised without much leniency, it must be admitted that unless they are very gross, reasonable excuses are to be taken for those who have never made their language a subject of close study, and whose only use of words is entirely impromptu in the business affairs of life, in the home circle, or in the social gathering.

Though a person's descent from Belgravia or Billingsgate is in a great measure revealed by the propriety of his discourse, yet this refers princ.i.p.ally to those words that are employed by the ma.s.ses in the every-day conversations of life, rather than to technicalities and words related to particular professions, the use of which is generally confined to the specially instructed. But when a man stands forth as an orator, a teacher, a minister, or a professor of some college, it is certainly not unreasonable for those that sit under his instruction, to expect and demand that his speech should be almost free from errors.

One occupying such a position may well be excused for occasional embarra.s.sment, poor voice, unpleasant address, hesitation of delivery, and various failings and peculiarities that can not be overcome, but little or no allowance can be made for constantly repeated errors.

Probably there has never been a public speaker so perfect in diction, that he has not in moments of embarra.s.sment, or when much absorbed in his subject, been guilty of grammatical inaccuracies or mistakes of p.r.o.nunciation; and doubtless he is as often aware of them as his listeners are, as soon as they drop from his lips, but it would be foolish to call attention to them by going back to correct them. But when these offenses are so glaring and so frequently repeated that it is evident the speaker knows no better, it is no wonder that the educated hearer often thinks that the teacher had better leave his position and submit to being taught.

What allowance can an intelligent congregation make for their minister who has nothing else to do but prepare his sermons, if, besides a mult.i.tude of common English mistakes, he p.r.o.nounces more than half of his scriptural names in a manner that is not sanctioned by any authority?

When the orotund medical professor stands up to address his students, or to engage in the discussions of a convention, and rolls out technicality after technicality p.r.o.nounced in a manner that would be disowned by the original Latin or Greek, and is totally at variance with established usage, who would not ask for a little less elegance and a little more education? If it required a great amount of labor outside of the usual course of study for professional men to acquire a knowledge of the p.r.o.nunciation of words peculiar to the professions, the subject might be treated with more tolerance; but as the definitions and the orthoepy might be so readily learned together during those years of daily reference to books that are required before one should be considered competent to stand as a guide to others, it certainly seems that they do not properly appreciate the dignity of their position by thus laying themselves open to public criticism.

Many a student, in order to become instructed in certain branches, has been compelled to reluctantly sit for months or years at the feet of those that he felt were far inferior to him in common school education, hearing hourly such violations of orthoepy and syntax as would be a discredit to school children. And, doubtless, many such students have had such a charity for their teachers that they have wished to direct their attention to their faults, but have been restrained on account of the fear of enmity, expulsion, or of lessening the chances for pa.s.sing the final examination.

The bare thought of being so criticised should be so galling to any one bearing the dignified t.i.tle of "professor," that he ought to be stimulated to endeavor to make himself an authority concerning the proprieties of speech.

The study of orthoepy was held in such high esteem by the accent Greeks, and their delicate ears were so offended by any violation of its rules, that if an orator misp.r.o.nounced a single word, the entire audience immediately hissed him.

During the present state of p.r.o.nunciation it would indeed be embarra.s.sing to the public speaker, if such a custom existed in this country. Let us imagine, for instance, our friend Professor Abdominous Gynaecophonus, with his face ebullient with smiles of self-conceit, arising to address such an audience. "Gentlemen: I have listened patiently to this op'po-nent (_hisses_) of al'lo-path-y (_hisses_) and now arise to make a few remarks and in'quir-ies (_hisses_). In answer to his objections against hy-os-cy-a'mus (_hisses_) as an anodyne and so'por-if-ic, (_hisses_) I would say that in cases of cough and sleeplessness, I have long used hyoscyamia combined in tro'chez (_hisses_) without any of those effects that the pat'ron (_hisses_) of ho'me-o-path-y (_hisses_) mentions. And having made almost a specialty of the treatment of fac'i-al (_hisses_) neuralgia or tic-dol-o-roo'" (_hisses_)--and it would certainly be time for him to dolorously sit down, although he might raise the question--

"What's in a name? that which we call a rose, By any other name would smell as sweet,"

and argue therefrom that the p.r.o.nunciation of a word should make no difference so long as its meaning was understood. Amongst professional men, it has been observed that physicians and dentists are by far more p.r.o.ne than others to orthoepical errors. Attention is requested to a few of the more common of these in addition to those found in the preceding vocabulary connected with words that are alike used by the professional and the unprofessional, such as: _abdomen_, _acclimated_, _alb.u.men_, _animalcula arabic_, _citrate_, _embryo_, _excrescence_, _fetid_, _fetor_, _forceps_, _homeopathy_, _hydropathy_, _jugular_, _jujube_, _nasal_, _pharmacopia_, _purulent_, _spasmodic_, _sulphurous_, _tragacanth_, etc. The authorities appealed to are Dunglison, Thomas, Webster and Worcester. Notwithstanding the superior merit of Dunglison's Medical Dictionary, as far as the comprehensiveness and reliability of its definitions are concerned, it is evident that it is almost useless as an orthoepical guide. The princ.i.p.al accent is in many cases marked, but the p.r.o.nunciation of preceding and succeeding syllables can not be determined, and there is no attempt at syllabication.

Dr. Thomas' dictionary, though less comprehensive, is equally reliable in its definitions, and is excellent authority in regard to orthoepy; though it is to be regretted that in some words important syllables are not sufficiently marked. For instance, take the words _as-bes'tos_ and _bis'muth_; how can it be determined whether the first should be p.r.o.nounced as-bes'toss or az-bes'toz or the latter biz'muth or biss'muth? Webster and Worcester are undoubtedly good authorities for the p.r.o.nunciation of the medical words they give.

In the following vocabulary all of the authorities that mention the words may be considered as agreeing, unless notice is made of their disagreement.

MEDICAL AND DENTAL WORDS.

[In Latin and Latinized Greek words, the English sounds of the vowels are given as those used by the majority of professional men. If any one, however, prefers to adopt the continental method, sounding _a_ as in _father_, _y_ and _i_ as _e_ in _veto_, etc., and consistently applies it to all such words, no one, of course, has a right to object.]

=Adipose=--ad'i-pose, not ad'i-poze.

=Ala=--a'la, not al'a. =Alae=, plural.

=Alis=--a'lis, not al'is. This as a termination of many words, such as =abdominalis=, =digitalis=, =frontalis=, =lachrymalis=, =transversalis=, etc., is often erroneously p.r.o.nounced al'is.

=Alumen=--al-u'men, not al'u-men.

=Alveolus=--al-ve'o-lus, not al-ve-o'lus. Plural, =alveoli= (al-ve'o-li). =Alveolar=--(al-ve'o-lar). Alveolus is the name given to the _cavity_ in the jaw that is seen upon the removal of the root of a tooth, and it possesses no more tangibility than a pinch of air; almost daily, however, we hear dentists speak of extracting a tooth with a piece of the _alveolus_ attached. What a curiosity for preservation in a museum is a tooth with a piece of a little hole fastened to the root! What is meant is a piece of the _alveolar process_, or portion of bone around the alveolus.

=Anaemic=--a-nem'ik, not a-ne'mik. Dunglison gives the latter.

=Andral=--ong-dral', not an'-dral.

=Aphthae=--af'the, not ap'the.

=Aqua=--a'kwa, not ak'wa.

=Arcus Senilis=--se-ni'lis, not sen'i-lis.

=Areolar=--a-re'o-lar, not a-re-o'lar.

=Aris=--a'ris, not ar'is in the termination of =angularis=, =medullaris=, =palmaris=, =orbicularis=, =pulmonaris=, etc.

=Asarum=--as'a-rum, not a-sa'rum.

=Asbestos=--as-bes'toss, not az-bes'toz.

=Attollens=--at-tol'lenz, not at-to'lenz.

=Azygos=--az'y-gos, not a-zy'gos.

=Bagge=--bag'geh, not bag.

=Bimana=--bi-ma'na, not bi-ma'ni-a.

=Bis.m.u.th=--biz'muth, not biss'muth.