268 



DlSCOVIiHY 



tnarians. .iiul [xxts' rhymes leads mo to believe that 

 it was i)ractically universal (luriiit; the 17th and i8th 

 centuries. 



The Verney Memoirs have : scein, missin, bein, 

 comin, beggin, shillins, disoblegin, lodgins ; Cooper, 

 one of the best writers on 17th century pronunciation 

 (1685), says that coughing and coffin, coming and 

 cumtnin are pronounced alike. The celebrated Lord 

 Rochester (died 168a) rhymes farlliing — bear-garden. 

 Lady Wentworth writes lakin, dynin-room, lodgins, 

 buildin, dcvcrdn, prancin along, jardin, mornin, writins, 

 and so on. Pope rhymes gardens — jarlhings (cf. Lord 

 Rochester above). 



Walker, whose authority on questions of pronuncia- 

 tion stood very high in his own day and for long 

 afterwards, asserts in his Rhetorical Grammar (3rd ed., 

 1801), that the best speakers invariably pronounce 

 -in when the body of the word is in -ing, and say 

 singin, bringin, and so on, whereas even in other 

 words they often pronounce -in, though he says that in 

 this case he prefers -ing, ' when the language has the 

 least solemnity,' but considers -in but ' a trifling 

 omission.' 



(b) su- pronounced as shu- 

 We all agree, I fancy, in pronouncing sh- in sure 

 and sugar, but should hardly pronounce suil in the 

 same way as shoot. The 17th century knew no such 

 distinctions. The Verney Memoirs have shur, shewer, 

 but also shuite (of clothes), shewtid ' suited.' Mrs. 

 Basire has ashoure ' assure,' and shut ' suit.' Jones, 

 a most reliable writer on pronunciation (1701), says 

 that sh- is pronounced in assume, consume, ensue, sue, 

 and suet, in addition to the words where we still pro- 

 nounce it. 



(c) -di- pronounced like -dg- or -dj- 

 In words like tedious, immediate we now pronounce 

 a distinct d followed by a short i. Not so our ancestors. 

 One of the Miss Verneys writes teges ' tedious ' = 

 evidently ' te-jus,' and her friend Lady Sussex writes 

 sogers, a pronunciation in which many would still 

 agree with her, e.xcept that they would not now omit 

 the /. Jones indicates an identical pronunciation by 

 the spellings soger, Injan. Lady Wentworth writes 

 emedgetly. Walker says that polite speakers always 

 pronounce edjucate, verdjure, verchew, and that they 

 ought to say ogeous, insidgeous, Injean. Leigh Hunt 

 records that John Kemble the actor still said ojus, 

 hijjus, pcrfijjus. 



(d) Loss of -d- before and after another 



consonant 



Wensday is common from the middle of the 15th 



century onwards, and occurs in the letters of the 



Verneys and Lady Wentworth, besides being noted by 



Jones, who also says that d is not pronounced in 

 friendly, handmaid, candle, handle, kindle, children, 

 and so on. Lunnon for London, which survived as a 

 polite pronunciation far into the 19th century among 

 old-fashioned speakers, is found written Lonan by 

 Mrs. Basire in 1654, is referred to by Gray in a letter 

 to Horace Walpole (1737), and is vouched for by 

 Elphinston (1787), a most meticulous writer on EngHsh 

 pronunciation, who says ' we generally hear Lunnon.' 



(e) Loss of -t- before and after other consonants 

 Wascote ' waistcoat ' is found in a letter of Edward 

 Alleyne the actor in 1593, and as wascott in that of 

 one of the Verneys in 1639. The Verney Memoirs 

 have also Chrismas, Crismus, Coven Garden ; Lady 

 Wentworth ' writes Crismass, Wesminster, crisned, 

 Shasbury ' Shaftesbury.' Jones gives a long list of 

 words in which t is omitted, including Christtnass, 

 costly, ghostly, lastly, beastly, listless, mostly, roast beef, 

 wristband, saltcellar, Wiltshire, etc., etc. 



(f) Loss of final -d 



Numerous examples occur from the 14th century 

 onwards. One of the Verneys has friten as a past 

 participle. Cooper gives thousn as the pronunciation 

 of thousand. Lady Wentworth writes poutt, thousen, 

 dyomons, own ' owned,' scaffels. Jones indicates that 

 -d is not heard in beyond, diamond, scaffold, and many 

 other words. 



(g) Loss of final -t 



The Verneys and their relatives write respeck, gretis 

 ' greatest,' Papeses, honis ' honest,' Mundy nex, ' res 

 of our neighbours.' 



Jones has a list of t-less words, including respect, 

 strict, sect, distinct, etc. He also says that pageant 

 is pronounced pagin. 



Lady Wentworth writes prospeck, richis ' richest,' 

 tex, and her son Peter, strick ' strict.' Baker, a writer 

 on pronunciation (1725), writes Egip, poscrip, etc. 



(h) .iddilion of y- initially before e 

 Y earth is the regular spelling in Edward \T's First 

 Praj'er Book (1549), and this and other forms of the 

 kind are not infrequent in the i6th century even 

 in literary works. The Verneys write ycarncstly 

 ' earnestly,' yeare ' ear ' (a pronunciation which I 

 have often heard from old-fashioned speakers whose 

 English was irreproachable). Cooper indicates yerh 

 and yearth with disapproval, and Lord Chesterfield 

 gives the latter as a vulgarism in his day. 



(i) Addition of d ami t finally after n, 1, s, etc. 

 Spellings such as jaylardes, to past away, lynand 

 ' linen,' wyld ' will,' synst ' since,' and so on are fairly 



