Correctly spoken English is quite as important as correctly written
English. Errors in pronunciation, modulation and general expression are
of frequent occurrence, and it sometimes seems that the erroneous
utterance of whole classes of words league the tongue and ear against
their right use. An improved standard of pronunciation, therefore, is
the safest bulwark against a permanent deterioration of our language, as
well as a positive influence in advancing individual culture of speech.
=Five Fundamental Rules.=--The essential steps toward securing the
unconscious ability to speak correctly may be set down as follows:
1. To thoroughly study the elementary sounds, and their mode of
representation.
2. To observe the current usage of the best speakers with regard to such
words as are most liable to be mispronounced.
3. To note the standard of pronunciation and expression of the best
dramatic theaters.
4. By forming the habit of frequent reference to the dictionary and
learning to interpret at sight the authorized pronunciation.
5. Ample practice in the reading and application of the leading
principles of pronunciation that give words their true spoken values.
=The Organ of Speech.=--The mouth is the organ of speech; and the manner
of production of the various sounds is of the first importance in the
cultivation of correct pronunciation.
The sound uttered depends upon the form of the mouth. Change the form
and you change the sound. Each particular sound is produced from a
particular position.
Not more than one sound can be produced from one position of the mouth.
To produce a different sound you must change the position.
Each sound should be clear and precise. There should be no slurring.
The muscles must be under perfect control so that the mouth (lips and
tongue included) may readily assume the position necessary for the
emission of the required sound.
The proper use of the lips is the great factor in fluent speech.
It is from inability to use or negligence in using the muscles of the
organ of speech that Americans are such indifferent linguists and
frequently even incapable of distinct utterance of their own language.
The manner of production of the various sounds is of the first
importance in the cultivation of correct pronunciation.
=Vowels.=--Pronounce the following words: moor; meer; merry; marry; mar;
more. The whole compass of the mouth is brought into exercise by these
words.
The first sound is produced from the lips. The second comes from a point
just inside the mouth. The third sound point is farther back still. The
last vowel is uttered from the throat.
If the sound _a_ (long) as in bare, fair, is included, we have a scale
of seven sounds produced by a gradual opening of the mouth, the sound
point receding note by note from the front of the lips to the back of
the throat, thus: moor, meer, merry, Mary, marry, mar, more.
In cultured English centers and in some parts of New England, the long
sound of _ä_, No. 4, appears in such words as dance, France, glass,
castle, cast, past, grasp, grant, etc.
In pronouncing the four words--meer merry, marry, mar--the mouth is
gradually opened. The four separate “sound points” may be clearly
recognized.
Repeat slowly:
1 2 3 4
meer merry marry mar
mee mé mâ mä
ee é â ä
_O_ is a single sound. In conversation, however, it usually becomes
double, being combined with the sound--oo (as in too, tooth, woo)--thus:
so is pronounced so-oo
no is pronounced no-oo
go is pronounced go-oo
The short _o_ sound is pronounced as in hot, pot, nod, God.
_O_ followed by a double consonant is short:
off not awf
office not awfice
coffee not cawfee
cross, dross, loss, toss
The sound _oo_ unites with the open sound _ä_ to form the double sound
in such words as--cow, how, now:
cä-oo cow
nä-oo now
dä-oo-n down
ä-oo-t out
The sound _u_ is a peculiar combination of at least three sounds. It is
really a continued flow from _ee_ to _oo_.
The letter is pronounced exactly as the word _you_. Speak the vowel very
slowly.
The intermediate sound of û may be represented thus:
u is ee-û-oo
duke is dee-û-oo-k
tube is tee-û-oo-b
mute is mee-û-oo-t
The same sounds occur in such words as few, new, mew.
The middle sound is the most important, and the first and last must be
cut very short for a good style.
_Ru_ and _lu_. When _u_ is preceded by _r_ or _l_, the first portion of
the triple sound is omitted and a double vowel sound is heard--the last
part also being cut very short.
=Consonants.=--Speak slowly and pronounce every letter.
INITIAL CONSONANTS.--Of these only two require special attention:
_th_ and _sh_ followed by _r_.
Children frequently say:--one, two, _free_; and grown-up people will
speak of--shrimps as _srimps_.
Examples: three, shrimp; thread, shrill; throat, shrink; thrush, shroud;
through, shrew.
FINAL CONSONANTS.--The slurring or omission of final consonants is a
greater fault than the mispronunciation of vowels, for it points
directly to carelessness and indolence on the part of the speaker.
_R._ It is sometimes stated that there is no _r_ sound in English.
In singing the _r_ is always made distinct.
It should also be apparent in conversation. Thus: _father_ and _farther_
are quite distinct. So, too, _ma_ and _mar_.
The _t_ belongs to the preceding syllable and the words should be
pronounced thus: nat-ure, feat-ure, pict-ure, premat-ure, creat-ure,
fut-ure, indent-ure, nurt-ure.
The consonant values of _w_ and _y_ are never terminal in a syllable,
but are followed in the same syllable by a vowel. In attempting, for
phonic practice, to sound either of these consonants apart from its
vowel, make it continuous, not abrupt.
_H_ cannot be separated from its accompanying vowel. Pronounce _ha_,
_he_, _hi_, _ho_, _hu_, _hy_. Notice that the office of _h_ is _to cover
the following vowel with breath_. It will be seen, on careful
examination, that any attempt to sound _h_ alone will result in
whispering a vowel with it.
_Wh_ has for its initial sound simply unvocalized breath, poured through
the lips placed in position for _w_. As a whole the digraph is sounded
as it would naturally be if the order of the letters were reversed,
thus, _hw_; as, _when_, _while_, _whip_, pronounced _hwen_, _hwile_,
_hwip_.
Lisping children and Germans need to carefully observe the sounds of _s_
and _th_.
The sound of _s_ is formed by forcing unvocal breath between the tip of
the tongue and the upper gum.
_Th_ is produced by placing the tip of the tongue between the teeth or
against the upper front teeth, and forcing vocal or unvocal breath
between the tongue and the teeth. If vocal breath is used, sonant _th_
is heard, as in _this_; if unvocal breath, then non-sonant _th_ is
produced, as in _thin_--this last is the sound made for _s_ by those who
lisp (lithp).