THE SPOKEN WORD.

Shannon News, 27 September 1929, Page 3

THE SPOKEN WORD.

HOPED THAT “AWFF” HAS “GAWN” FOREVER. - (Sun Special.) LONDON, Sept. 6. An august committee, presided over by the Poet Laureate, Mr Robert Bridges, and including Mr Bernard Shaw; the famous actor, Sir Johnston ForbesRobertson, and some professors, has presented a report to the British Broadcasting Corporation giving its . decisions in the correct pronunciation of many words for the guidance of announcers. The committee decided that the word ‘ ‘ off, ’ ’ which was popularly pronounced “aw:” in many parts of the country, must be pronounced phonetically. Similarly “gone” must be used, and not “gawn.” “It is to be hoped,” says the committee, “that ‘awff’ is ‘gawn’ forever, and also that ‘clawth’ and ‘crawss’ will become for ever ‘cloth’ and ‘cross.’ ” The 'committee spent much time over the correct pronunciation of the word “ass,” and decided that it must rhyme with “lass.”