The American Language
includes such fabulous monsters as these: continuous, recurrent,
neutral, definite, indefinite, secondary, incomplete, inchoate, short
and long.
[11] By W. F. Webster and Alice Woodworth Cooley; Boston, 1903; rev.
eds., 1905 and 1909. The authors are Minneapolis teachers.
[12] /Op. cit./ p. 8.
[13] Bulletin No. 2; Washington, 1917.
[14] The Middle American, /American Magazine/, March, 1907.
[15] /Cf./ White: Every-Day English, p. 367 /et seq./
[16] /Cf./ Sweet: New English Grammar, vol. i, p. 5.
[17] Dr. Charters' report appears as Vol. XVI, No. 2, /University of
Missouri Bulletin/, Education Series No. 9, Jan., 1915. He was aided
in his inquiry by Edith Miller, teacher of English in one of the St.
Louis high-schools.
[18] You Know Me Al: New York, 1916.
[19] /Saturday Evening Post/, July 11, 1914.
[20] /Bin/ is the correct American pronunciation. /Bean/, as we have
seen, is the English. But I have often found /ben/, rhyming with
/pen/, in such phrases as "I /ben/ there."
[21] See p. 209.
[22] Seldom used. /Get/ is used in the place of it, as in "I am
/getting/ old" and "he /got/ sick."
[23] /Burned/, with a distinct /d/-sound, is almost unknown in
American. See p. 201.
[24] Not used.
[25] /Cotched/ is heard only in the South, and mainly among the
negroes. /Catch/, of course, is always pronounced /ketch/.
[26] But "I /drew/ three jacks," in poker.
[27] /Fotch/ is also heard, but it is not general.
[28] /Fit/ and /fitten/, unless my observation errs, are heard only in
dialect. /Fit/ is archaic English. /Cf./ Thornton, vol. i, p. 322.
[29] /Glode/ once enjoyed a certain respectability in America. It
occurs in the /Knickerbocker Magazine/ for April, 1856.
[30] /Hanged/ is never heard.
[31] /Het/ is incomplete without the addition of /up/. "He was /het
up/" is always heard, not "he was /het/."
[32] Always so pronounced. See p. 236.
[33] See pp. 57 and 202.
[34] Always used in place of /rinse/.
[35] Always used in place of /roil/.
[36] /Sot/ is heard as a localism only.
[37] See /set/, which is used almost invariably in place of /sit/.
[38] /Thunk/ is never used seriously; it always shows humorous intent.
[39] See pp. 201 and 211.
[40] /Cf./ Lounsbury: History of the English Language, pp. 309-10.
[41] English As We Speak It In Ireland, p. 77.
[42] The Science of Language, vol. i, p. 166.
[43] The last stand of the distinct /-ed/ was made in Addison's day.
He was in favor of retaining it, and in the /Spectator/ for Aug. 4,
1711, he protested against obliterating the syllable in the
termination "of our praeter perfect tense, as in these words,
/drown'd/, /walk'd/, /arriv'd/, for /drowned/, /walked/, /arrived/,
which has very much disfigured the tongue, and turned a tenth part of
our smoothest words into so many clusters of consonants."
[44] A New English Grammar, pt. i, p. 380.
[45] History of the English Language, p. 398.
[46] And still more often as an adjective, as in "it was a /boughten/
dress."
[47] You Know Me Al, p. 180; see also p. 122.
[48] /Cf./ Lounsbury: History of the English Language, pp. 393 /et
seq./
[49] Remark of a policeman talking to another. What he actually said
was "before the Elks was /c'm 'ere/." /Come/ and /here/ were one word,
approximately /cmear/. The context showed that he meant to use the
past perfect tense.
[50] These examples are from Lardner's story, A New Busher Breaks In,
in You Know Me Al, pp. 122 /et seq./
[51] You Know Me Al, /op. cit./, p. 124.
[52] The Making of English, p. 53.
[53] /Cf./ /Dialect Notes/, vol. iii, pt. i, p. 59; /ibid./, vol. III,
pt. iv, p. 283.
[54] Henry Bradley, in The Making of English, pp. 54-5: "In the parts
of England which were largely inhabited by Danes the native pronouns
(/i. e./, /heo/, /his/, /heom/ and /heora/) were supplanted by the
Scandinavian pronouns which are represented by the modern /she/,
/they/, /them/ and /their/." This substitution, at first dialectical,
gradually spread to the whole language.
[55] /Cf./ Sweet: A New English Grammar, pt. i, p. 344, par. 1096.
[56] Before a noun beginning with a vowel /thine/ and /mine/ are
commonly substituted for /thy/ and /my/, as in "/thine/ eyes" and
"/mine/ infirmity." But this is solely for the sake of euphony. There
is no compensatory use of /my/ and /thy/ in the absolute.
[57] The Making of English, p. 58.
[58] /Cf./ The Dialect of Southeastern Missouri, by D. S. Crumb,
/Dialect Notes/, vol. ii, pt. iv, 1903, p. 337.
[59] It occurs, too, of course, in other dialects of English, though
by no means in all. The Irish influence probably had something to do
with its prosperity in vulgar American. At all events, the Irish use
it in the American manner. Joyce, in English As We Speak It in
Ireland, pp. 34-5, argues that this usage was suggested by Gaelic. In
Gaelic the accusative pronouns, /e/, /i/ and /iad/ (=/him/, /her/ and
/them/) are often used in place of the nominatives, /sé/, /si/ and
/siad/ (=/he/, /she/ and /they/), as in "is /iad/ sin na
buachaillidhe" (=/them/ are the boys). This is "good grammar" in
Gaelic, and the Irish, when they began to learn English, translated
the locution literally. The familiar Irish "John is dead and /him/
always so hearty" shows the same influence.
[60] Pp. 144-50.
[61] Modern English, p. 300.
[62] A New English Grammar, pt. i, p. 339.
[63] History of the English Language, pp. 274-5.
[64] Modern English, p. 288-9.
[65] /Cf./ p. 145n.
[66] A New English Grammar, pt. i, p. 341.
[67] It may be worth noting here that the misuse of /me/ for /my/, as
in "I lit /me/ pipe" is quite unknown in American, either standard or
vulgar. Even "/me/ own" is seldom heard. This boggling of the cases is
very common in spoken English.
[68] A New English Grammar, pt. i, p. 341.
[69] The King's English, p. 63.
[70] "Hon." Edward E. Browne, of Wisconsin, in the House of
Representatives, July 18, 1918, p. 9965.
[71] /Cf./ Vogue Affixes in Present-Day Word-Coinage, by Louise Pound,
/Dialect Notes/, vol. v, pt. i, 1918.
[72] The Speech of a Child Two Years of Age, /Dialect Notes/, vol. iv,
pt. ii, 1914.
[73] A New English Grammar, pt. i, pp. 437-8.
[74] The King's English, p. 322. See especially the quotation from
Frederick Greenwood, the distinguished English journalist.
[75] Report of Edward J. Brundage, attorney-general of Illinois, on
the East St. Louis massacre, /Congressional Record/, Jan. 7, 1918, p.
661.
[76] The King's English, /op. cit./
[77] Oct. 1, 1864.
[78] /At all/, by the way, is often displaced by /any/ or /none/, as
in "he don't lover her /any/" and "it didn't hurt me /none/."
[79] See the bibliography for the publication of Drs. Read and Pound.
[80] The only book that I can find definitely devoted to American
sounds is A Handbook of American Speech, by Calvin L. Lewis; Chicago,
1916. It has many demerits. For example, the author gives a /z/-sound
to the /s/ in /venison/ (p. 52). This is surely not American.
[81] Maryland edition, July 18, 1914, p. 1.
[82] /Cf./ Lounsbury: The Standard of Pronunciation in English, p. 172
/et seq./
[83] /Stomp/ is used only in the sense of to stamp with the foot. One
always /stamps/ a letter. An analogue of /stomp/, accepted in correct
English, is /strop/ (/e. g./, /razor-strop/), from /strap/.
[84] Our Own, Our Native Speech, /McClure's Magazine/, Oct., 1916.
[Pg242]
VII
Differences in Spelling
§ 1
/Typical Forms/--Some of the salient differences between American and
English spelling are shown in the following list of common words:
/American/ /English/
Anemia anaemia
aneurism aneurysm
annex (noun) annexe
arbor arbour
armor armour
asphalt asphalte
ataxia ataxy
ax axe
balk (verb) baulk
baritone barytone
bark (ship) barque
behavior behaviour
behoove behove
buncombe bunkum
burden (ship's) burthen
cachexia cachexy
caliber calibre
candor candour
center centre
check (bank) cheque
checkered chequered
cider cyder
clamor clamour
clangor clangour
cloture closure[1]
color colour
connection connexion
councilor councillor
counselor counsellor
cozy cosy
curb kerb
cyclopedia cyclopaedia
defense defence
demeanor demeanour
diarrhea diarrhoea
draft (ship's) draught
dreadnaught dreadnought
dryly drily
ecology oecology
ecumenical oecumenical
edema oedema
encyclopedia encyclopaedia
endeavor endeavour
eon aeon
epaulet epaulette
esophagus oesophagus
fagot faggot
favor favour
favorite favourite
fervor fervour
flavor flavour
font (printer's) fount
foregather forgather
forego forgo
form (printer's) forme
fuse fuze
gantlet (to run the--) gauntlet
glamor glamour
good-by good-bye
gram gramme
gray grey
harbor harbour
honor honour
hostler ostler
humor humour
inclose enclose
indorse endorse
inflection inflexion
inquiry enquiry
jail gaol
jewelry jewellery
jimmy (burglar's) jemmy
labor labour
laborer labourer
liter litre
maneuver manoeuvre
medieval mediaeval
meter metre
misdemeanor misdemeanour
mold mould
mollusk mollusc
molt moult
mustache moustache
neighbor neighbour
neighborhood neighbourhood
net (adj.) nett
odor odour
offense offence
pajamas pyjamas
parlor parlour
peas (plu. of pea) pease
picket (military) piquet
plow plough
pretense pretence
program programme
pudgy podgy
pygmy pigmy
rancor rancour
rigor rigour
rumor rumour
savory savoury
scimitar scimetar
septicemia septicaemia
show (verb) shew
siphon syphon
siren syren
skeptic sceptic
slug (verb) slog
slush slosh
splendor splendour
stanch staunch
story (of a house) storey
succor succour
taffy toffy
tire (noun) tyre
toilet toilette