Contents
-SUBJECT INDEX -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD
H.L. Mencken (1880–1956). The American Language. 1921.
Page 219
and their speech on the American stage. In the speech of many, perhaps of most, Americans there is scarcely any trace of diphthongal quality in the sound.” Usage in the pronunciation of
u still differs widely in the United States. The two sounds, that of
oo in
goose and that of
u in
bush, are used by different speakers in the same word. The
oo-sound prevails in
aloof, boot, broom, food, groom, proof, roof, rood, room, rooster, root, soon, spook, spoon and
woof, and the
u-sound in
butcher, cooper, hoof, hoop, nook, rook and
soot, but there are educated Americans who employ the
oo-sound in
coop, hoof and
hoop. In
hooves I have heard both sounds, but in
rooves only the
oo-sound.
Rooves seems to be extinct in the written speech as the plural of
roof, but it certainly survives in spoken American. In words of the
squirrel, syrup and
stirrup class Americans commonly substitute a
u-sound for the
e-sound used by Englishmen, and
squirrel becomes a monosyllable,
squr’l. In words of the
com class, save
company, Americans substitute a broad
a for the
u used by Englishmen; even
compass often shows it. The English are far more careful with the shadowy
y preceding
u in words of the
duty class than Americans. The latter retain it following
m, f, v and
p, and usually before
r, but they are careless about it following
n and
g, and drop it following
l, r, d, t, th and
s.Nyew, nyude, dyuke, enthyusiasm and
syuit would seem affectations in most parts of the United States, and
ryule and
blyue would be impossible.
30 Schoolmasters still battle valiantly for
dyuty, but in vain. In 1912 the Department of Education of New York City warned all the municipal high-school teachers to combat the
oo-sound
31 but it is doubtful that one pupil in a hundred was thereby induced to insert the
y in
induced. In
figure, however, Americans retain the
y-sound, whereas the English drop it. In
courteous the English insert an
o-sound, making the first syllable rhyme with
fort; Americans rhyme it with
hurt. In
brusque the English give the first syllable an
oo-sound; Americans rhyme it with
tusk. In
clerk, as everyone knows, the English change the
e into
a,
