Book Reviews [pp. 221-224]

Book Reviews.
lege use, upon the whole subject of English pronun ciation, scientifically treated. Its chief defect is that
it is somewhat too long for its subject: the warmest
friend of correct pronunciation and vocal culture can not expect many hours to be taken from a college or
high school course for this certainly important but
still minor matter. The preface observes, rightly
enough, that the exact ground of this manual has
never been covered: the existing books are either
mere lists of words usually mispronounced, or ex haustive scientific treatises upon some one branch of
the subject, as Tyndall on sound, or Meyer on the
physiology of the vocal organs. We should think,
however, that for practical purposes the ground here
covered was too wide. After many general remarks
in an introduction, there are taken up, chapter after
chapter: the physical nature of sound, with consid eration of media, wave motion, musical tones, pitch,
intensity, timbre, echo, and resonance; the physiol ogy of the vocal organs and leading principles of their
use, and the organ of hearing; an analysis of artic ulate sounds; of English sounds; alphabetic sym bols, with account of their historical devolopment
and present varieties; the English alphabet, its de fects, and diacritical marks; and three chapters more,
in which the subject of English pronunciation is spe cifically treated. While we think that much of this
should have been left to physics or philology, where
it belongs, and that the introduction of matter only
allied to the subject cumbers a special treatise, and
wearies instead of interesting the pupil, we must not
fail to say that it is all good, if it were in its place;
and of the most of it, not even this qualification need
be mrade.
Mr. Phyfe sets down the number of sounds that
vocal organs could make, and a trained ear distinguish, at over a thousand (including indistinguishable
shades, the vocal organs can produce an infinite
number). A thousand seems a high number, considering that Mr. Ellis, whose ear must be highly trained,
has distinguished only four hundred. Even this will
seem to be an enormous number, when one remembers that most alphabets contain only twenty-odd
letters, which were originally supposed to cover the
sounds of their respective languages. In fact, however, the inadequacy of the alphabets is not so ridiculously great, for not more than a hundred sounds
are practically used in human language, and not more
than forty are apt to be used in any one language.
The fundamental sounds, common to all languages,
are some twenty, and upon these the alphabets are
based. English, with an alphabet of twenty-four
letters (for c and q are purely superfluous), has fortytwo sounds. Thirty-six of these are recognized by
every one, but six are "shade-vowels," which are
not merely undistinguished in the speech of all but
the educated, but, we venture to say, absolutely undistinguishable by the ear of the majority of the English-speaking people; even among educated people
it is only those of fine and highly trained ear that
can readily distinguish tle whole six-as, for in stance, the difference betwaeen "ur-gent" and "er mine," between o in "only" and in "old."
The book closes with a list of one thousand words
frequently mispronounced. Some of these mispro nunciations are solecisms too gross to be properly in
the list, such as "'ar'tic" for "arctic," "tr-e" for
area ": the most of them are not uncommon, even
among educated people who have taken no special
pains to ascertain the best usage, and have had less than
the very best opportunity to hear it; thus "ar'oma"
for "ar6ma, " cayenne as "ki-en " instead of" ka-en,"
(cayenne) "chasti'sement "for "chas'tisement," "op' -
ponent" for "opp6nent ": some of them are only tech nically mispronunciations, being such according to
the dictionaries, but not according to usage. In some
instances the dictionaries fix unaccountably upon pro nunciations M hich are even grotesquely out of accord
with the usage of most educated people, as for in stance, Worcester's preference of "banana" over
"banana,' Webster's of "apurn" over "aprun"
(apron), and the "Ashea" (Asia), and "dizonest" (dis honest), of both dictionaries. Nor is it of any use for
the dictionaries to try to enforce the traditional pronunciation "bwoo-y" (buoy), so long as vocal organs
remain constituted as at present; nor have years of in sistence persuaded English-speaking people to say
either "dog" or "God." The folly of attempting to
prune one's speech according to thedictionary, no matter how much against the grain, is evident from the experience of those who train themselves to say "dy'namite," only to find that the next edition of the dictionary makes their achievement an affectation, and
the customary " dy-namite" correct. Our author,
however, is not responsible for the dictionaries; and
it is, indeed, a great satisfaction to have grouped together in this list all the cases in which one mrust
refuse submission to them, as well as a very great
number in which they are undoubtedly to be obeyed.
Briefer Notice.
The Philosophy of a Future Statel, a thin pamphlet, gives a brief, direct, and intelligent summary of
the philosophic objections to current beliefs as to immortality.- Mr. Augustin Knoflach's ingenious and
serviceable series of German lessons2in periodical installments already noticed in THE OVERLAND, has
reached its eighth number. The pretty series of
"Contes Choisds," published by William R. Jenkins,
has taken a somewhat new departure in its fifth
number: instead of a French reprint, an original
American story (in the French language, of course)
is issued, P]cipino, 8 a tale of Italian life in New York,
1 The Philosophy of a Future State. A Brief Demonstration of the Untenability of Current Speculations.
By C. Davis English. Philadelphia: Edward Stern &
Co. Boston: Cuppies, Upham & Co. x885.
2 German Simplified. ByAugustin Knoflach. New
York: A. Knoflach. x885.
8 Peppino. Par L. D. Ventura. New York: William R.Jenkins. x885.
1885.]
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