SIGNIFICANCK OF KKRORS IN SPKKCH. 33 



general cause arising from the inequalities of the individuals of 

 the community both in mental equipment and physical con- 

 formation of the vocal organs. The same word never means 

 absolutely the same to different individuals nor is it pro- 

 nounced the same. Practically, these differences are negligible. 

 But the}' constitute an unstable condition in the operation of 

 speaking and hearing, giving play to the motives that tend to 

 var>' the forms of language. 



The evolution of language, then, is Imitation modified by 

 Increasing Significance and Decreasing Effort. 



The unstable conditions are not uniform throughout the 

 forms of the language or amongst all the people speaking it. 

 The Imitation may be maintained here and modified there. In 

 evei-y community there are localities, occupations and social 

 grades where the imitation continues pure, or nearly so, long 

 after it has been modified in the intellectual or more active 

 centres of population. Hence, the provincialism and the 

 archaism. When the Irishman says inischaiv'ous and our 

 grandparents tnischiev' ous , they maintain the Imitation, while 

 the word has been modified in the standard to viis' chicvous. 

 Mischaiv ous, miscliiev' oiis and mis' chicvous are three successiv^e 

 stages in the development of the word. Each was or is cor- 

 rect in its time. The two older forms have become errors, not 

 because those who use them mispronounce, but because other 

 speakers mispronounced them and their modification has now 

 become legitimate. Such errors are not careless variations of 

 correct speech : they are simply instances of Imitation main- 

 tained too long. The progress of the language has left them 

 behind. The same process accounts for contra' ly and blasphc' - 

 ino2(s. Indeed, to many of us now, " a con'trary person " is 

 decidedly not so much so as "a contra'iy person , " and the 

 jingle of ''Mars', Mary, quite contra'ry " can hardly be for- 

 gotten . 



The Irish brogue is largely of this character. Its mate for 

 meat, tay for tea, obleeo;e for oblii^e, belave for believe, are the old 

 pronunciations maintained in English Ireland, while the imi- 



