CORRESPONDENCE 



To the Editor of Science Progress 

 MALEDUCATION AND MALPRONUNCIATION 



Sir, — In his reply to me on this subject in the current number of Science 

 Progress the writer of the original Note seems to have missed my point. He 

 mistakenly attributes to me the view that " a wrong course is justifiable where it is 

 easy and pleasant." My contention was that in a certain stanza of poetry the 

 rhyming of patria with away was correct according to long-established usage 

 among English classical scholars ; while he condemns this rhyme, and styles the 

 stanza " doggerel," on the ground of his belief that the rhyme is " wrong" because 

 the ancient Latins pronounced patria quite differently. 



The question of the ancient pronunciation of Latin is not one of " right " or 

 " wrong," but merely one of opinion. No amount of discussion about this matter 

 would be at all relevant to my assertion that the rhyme so grievously inculpated 

 by the writer of the Note is perfectly correct, and the verse not "doggerel." 



Yours obediently, 



H. Bryan Donkin. 



REPLY 



SIR, — 1 may be excused if I have mistaken Sir Bryan Donkin's meaning, because 

 I must confess that it is very difficult to extract. The fact that patria would be 

 pronounced in the same way in Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Rumania, and 

 probably Greece, Germany and almost every other European nation but England, 

 gives a statistical presumption amounting to millions to unity that the Romans 

 pronounced the word in the same way. On the other hand, that the ancient 

 Romans should have given the vowel a in this word the unique and indeed 

 eccentric values which the modern English attach to it, is about as unlikely as 

 that they played cricket in top hats. In fact the betting is almost infinity to unity 

 against the correctness of Sir Bryan Donkin's supposition. He therefore asks us 

 to reject the theory which is almost certainly true for the theory which is almost 

 certainly false. My original Note in Science Progress of July 1916 implied 

 that the persistence of this barbarism showed how little the teaching of Latin in 

 the schools is really concerned with poetry as distinct from grammar. I once 

 read somewhere a satire on our pronunciation of French, which contained the 

 couplet : 



With that he said to her 



"Ou voulez-vous aller?" 



To make patria rhyme with away is an equal monstrosity. Sir Bryan Donkin 

 (who, I observe, completely ignores the decision of Milton on this subject which I 

 quoted in my last letter) may, of course, pronounce Latin as he pleases ; but that 

 such a pronunciation should continue to be taught in our schools is proof only of 

 the badness of our modern education. I think that I did quite understand Sir 

 Bryan Donkin's contention, but consider that it is not seriously arguable. 

 Yours faithfully, 



The Writer of the Note. 

 481 



