DON'TS IN SPEECH.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 4063, 30 July 1884, Page 4

DON'TS IN SPEECH.

Don't say ain't for isn't, and abovo all things don't say 'taint. Don't say aren't for are not, isn't for is not; and although ain't may by a stretch be considered an abbreviation of "am not,"-it is in bettor taste to speak the words iv full. Don't clip final consonants. Don't say coniin', goin', singin', for coming, going, sinjring. Don't say an' for and. Don't mispronounce voAvcl-sounds iv unaccented syllables. Don't say porsition fcr position, portater for potato, sentunce for sentence. On the other hand don't lay too much stress on these sounds; touch them lightly but correctly. Don't say ketch for catch, nor ken for Don't say feller for folloAV, nor windoe for window, nor nieller for mellow, nor tomorrer for to-morrow. Don't imagine that ignoramuses only make these mistakes. They are often through carelessness made hy people of some education. Don't, thero • fore be careless on these little points. Don't say secatary for secretary, nor sal'ry for salary. Don't fsay histry lor history. Don't say doo for clow or due. Don't say dooty for ditty. Remember to oivo the dipthongal sound of eu Avhercvor It belongs. The perversity of pronunciation in is singular. "A heavy doo fell last night," one rustic willeay. _ ■ Don't say '' just Avait a unnut lor ' ]list wait a minute.". ' • . Don't pronounce route as if it Avere written rowt; it aliould be like root. Don't pronounce tour as if you were speaking of a. tower. Let it bo pronounced as if it were loor. .. Don't pronounce calm and palm as it they Avere rhymed Avith ham. Give the a the broad sound as in father. Don't say sick, except where nausea is meant; say ill, indisposed. - Don't say, I done it; he done it; they done it. "Tins is a very gross error, yet it is often made by people who ought to knoAV better. I did it, he did it, they did it, is, it ought to be unnecessary to say, the correct form.-