JULT 26. 1851.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



55 



University of Lund, is now in course of pub- 

 lication. Of this, twelve volumes liave appeared; 

 and although the first edition consisted of no less 

 than two thousand copies, the whole have been 

 sold off, and a second edition is in preparation. 

 Pi'ofessor Hagberg's translation is most lavourably 

 spoken of by tliose wlio are qualified to judge of 

 its merits. W. J. T. 



ON THE ELISION OF THE LETTEK " V." 



Through the medium of "Notes and Queries" 

 I would be permitted to invite attention to a pe- 

 culiar pronunciation that has extensively prevailed, 

 though unnoticed I believe in print, of many 

 words wherein the letter v occurs between two 

 vowels. 



While resilient in the countrj', when a boy, I 

 was struck with the singular manner in which the 

 names of certain places, having a v so circum- 

 stanced, were pronounced, for the v was wholly 

 silent, and occasionally the latter vowel also ; but 

 as this was chiefly among uneducated people, I 

 was led to regard it as a provincialism. However, 

 as I became further acquainted with the names of 

 places, I did not fall to observe, that it was by no 

 means limited to any particular part of England. 

 Thus, for ctample, tlie provincial pronunciation 

 of Cavendish (Suffolk) is Ca'cndish; of Daven- 

 try, Da'entry; of Staverton and Coverley (AVar- 

 wickshire), Sta'erton and Co'erly ; of Evesham, 

 E'eshani ; of Davenhaui (Clieshire), Da'enham ; 

 of Lavington (Lincolnshire), La'enton or Lenton ; 

 of Avebury (Wilts), Abury ; of Lavenham and 

 Cavenliani (SulTolk), Lanham and Canham ; of 

 Overton (Leicestershire, Westmoreland, and 

 Cumberland), Orton ; and the Principality gives 

 us Aberga'enny for Abergavenny. Ivilchester 

 has become Ilchester, and Tovecester (now written 

 Toweester) is pronounced To'ecester; while Ilove- 

 den (Yorksliire) is called lio'eden, or Howilcn, 

 as it is now commonly spelt. Similar examples 

 might be multiplicil. Sometimes a succeeding 

 consonant has umlergone a change, as Pe'emsey 

 for Pevensey, and Rochester for Rovecester or 

 Rofecostcr. Numerous as the instances arc, there 

 has been some apparent caprice iu the matter, not 

 easily explained. For though, as we have seen, 

 Staverton and Coverley iu Warwickshire, and 

 Daventry on the borders of that county, undergo 

 thi.s change, yet, as far as I can learn, Coventry 

 was ever tVu-c from it: and in like manner Twiver- 

 ton in Devonshire is called Twcrton, yet I believe 

 Tiverton was never Terton. There may Jiavc 

 been something in the original forms or meanings 

 of Coventry, Tiverton, and the like, that occasioned 

 the V to be rclaineii. 



Many examples of the omission of this letter 



might be adduced from surnames, did space per- 

 mit ; iiideeJ, several of those given above ai^e 

 surnames, as well as names of places ; and some 

 readers may recollect the chann;e noticed in Sel- 

 den's l^itlrs of Ilonnnr, of Roger Wendover into 

 Roger of Windsor, the first step having been to 

 write Roger of Windorc. 



Nor is the practice confined to names. All are 

 fiimiliar with such contractions as cer, neer, oer, 

 e'e«, and sennight. AVe have also ill tor evil, and 

 the Scotch have dcil for devil, and ecniiig for 

 evening. In like manner have we derived lord from 

 the old English loverd or loiierd; lark from lave- 

 rock (Anglo-Sa.Kon lauerc) ; huick from the 

 Anglo-Saxon liafoc or haunc ; and head from the 

 Anglo-Saxon heafod or heaund; for the f or w 

 in Anglo-Saxon, when representing our v, became 

 subject to this elision. Time was, too, when 

 shovel was pronounced shovel, and rhymed with 

 oivl ; as is exemplified in the nursery lay of the 

 death and burial of poor Cock Robin. 



Without now attempting to account for this 

 usage of speech, which seems to imply the preva- 

 lence of a former pronunciation ofv very dilTerent 

 from the present, I will briefly notice that the like 

 elision is of frequent occurrence in Latin, chiefly 

 in the perfect tenses and their derivatives, as 

 amurunt tor aniaverunt, and audisset for aiidivis- 

 set; occasionally, too, in nouns, as labrum for 

 lavahrum. ; and also in the compounds of versus, 

 as retro rsum. It is found, I may add, in a few 

 French words derived from the Latin, as ancle 

 from avuncidiis, and cite from civitas. In the 

 several languages above mentioned the v between 

 two vowels Is also found passing into w or u, 

 especially after a or o, the second vowel being in 

 such cases dropped, thus Indicating the connexion 

 that existed between v and v, which letters we 

 know were in times past written indlfll>rently for 

 each other. The discussion, hov/ever, of this con- 

 nexion is beside my present purpose. 



The Latin contractions that I have adverted to 

 are well known, and often noticed ; and it is re- 

 markable that the manner in which this treatment 

 of the V has affected the pronunciation and ortho- 

 graphy of our own language, should have almost 

 escaped observation. An acquaintance with it 

 has been found of service when considting ancient 

 writings and the ijubllshed records ; for those 

 who woidd use such sources of information with 

 advantage, sliould be prepared not only to recog- 

 nise, but also to anticipate, the various changes 

 which names of persons and places have under- 

 gone. W. S. W*****i>. 



ANTHONY MUNDV. 



A few weeks since some manuscripts were placed 

 in my hands belonging to the Hon. Yj. M. L. 

 Mostyn, M. P. (removed from the librai-y at 



