The consonant sounds occasion serious trouble only for those who do not look

with care at the spelling of words about to be pronounced. Nothing but

carelessness can account for saying _Jacop_, _Babtist_, _sevem_, _alwus_, or

_sadisfy_.

 

"He that hath yaws to yaw, let him yaw," is the rendering which an Anglophobiac

clergyman gave of the familiar scripture, "He that hath ears to hear, let him

hear." After hearing the name of Sir Humphry Davy pronounced, a Frenchman who

wished to write to the eminent Englishman thus addressed the letter: "Serum

Fridavi."

 

_Accentuation_

 

Accentuation is the stressing of the proper syllables in words. This it is that

is popularly called _pronunciation_. For instance, we properly say that a word

is mispronounced when it is accented _in'-vite_instead of _in-vite'_, though it

is really an offense against only one form of pronunciation--accentuation.

 

It is the work of a lifetime to learn the accents of a large vocabulary and to

keep pace with changing usage; but an alert ear, the study of word-origins, and

the dictionary habit, will prove to be mighty helpers in a task that can never

be finally completed.

 

_Enunciation_