cases, of course, people do not know the value of certain letters in certain words. Is the c in enunciate, for example, given the s or the sh sound? If a person is uncertain about any word which he meets in his reading, or which he has occasion to use in his speaking, he should consult a good dictionary at the earliest opportunity, and make frequent use of the word for a time thereafter to fix it in his memory. If he is not within reach of a dictionary at the moment, he should jot down the word in a pocket note-book kept for that purpose, or even on the back of an old envelope. That is the third step in improvement: getting the dictionary habit. Whatever may be said about being guided in pronunciation by "good usage "the standard set by those who speak the language well- the practical, because available, guide in the vast majority of cases is a good dictionary. Still, the fourth suggestion is that the student take advantage of the pronunciation which he hears. Reference was made above to those words about the pronunciation of which a person is uncertain. In such cases the need to consult the dictionary is clear. But other words he habitually mispronounces without any question as to his correctness. The only chance of remedying such mistakes lies in hearing a different pronunciation, which points to the necessity of looking the words up. Careful observation of the speech of others for the purpose of checking up one's own pronunciation is of great value.

Next in difficulty to giving the correct vowel and consonant values in the pronunciation of words is the placing of accent. It is claimed by some that a knowledge of Latin and Greek is of assistance in this matter. But

our language has been drawn from so many sources besides these, and has been so vigorous and diversified in its development, that classical scholarship fails to solve one's accenting problems. One or two general principles may be helpful in case of doubt. The first of these is that English polysyllabics tend to receive the accent on the first or second syllable (declamatory, despicable, aggrandizement, etc.) but this is only a tendency, for a large number of words are at variance with the principle (manufacture, pronunciation, pertinácious, etc.). Perhaps a more stable principle is that dissyllables having the same spelling for the noun and the verb usually take the accent on the first syllable for the former, and on the last syllable for the latter (accent-accent, conductconduct, convict-convict, etc.). There are, however, numerous exceptions such as reply, answer, defeat, etc., which have the same accent for noun and verb. In the main, the student must depend for correcting misplaced accents upon the general suggestions already given for bettering his pronunciation.

Another fault of common occurrence is the sounding of letters which should be silent. The chapter on consonant sounds pointed out a number of cases wherein certain letters are always silent in specified positions. To cite a few illustrative instances, b is generally silent when preceded by m or followed by t in the same syllable (dumb, numb, debt, doubt, etc.); h is silent after initial g or r (ghost, ghoul, rhubarb, rheumatism, etc.); k is silent before n and after c in the same syllable (kneel, knock, rack, sack, etc.); initial p is silent before s, sh, and t (psalm, pshaw, ptomaine, etc.). The student can very readily familiarize himself with such instances. But beyond the classifiable cases there are a

number of words containing letters which are silent on no fixed principle. For example, the i in business is not sounded; nor is the a in extraordinary, the second a in parliament, the t in often, etc. When a letter is uniformly silent in a given position, the principle should be taken advantage of, but in the irregular cases the words must be learned outright.

A fault of much more frequent occurrence than the above is the omission of sounds which belong to words. The sounding of silent letters is almost invariably due to ignorance of the correct pronunciation; the omission of requisite sounds, on the contrary, is in the majority of cases, due to carelessness or too rapid utterance. A person who sounds the t in often probably does not know the correct pronunciation, but if he says goverment for government, reconize for recognize, etc., the probability is that he is simply careless and slovenly in his manner of speech. This fault may occur at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of words ('ome, forme'ly, nex' for home, formerly, next).

There are some instances in which the clipping of sounds is sanctioned by good usage. This occurs chiefly in the joining of pronouns and verbs, such as How d'you do? Let's try, etc. Such legitimate shortcuts, however, are not to be confused with the unwarranted and indiscriminate omissions previously pointed out.

Carelessness in speech, which is largely responsible for the fault under discussion, may at first be a conscious "let down" for convivial purposes. But it very readily fastens upon a person as a confirmed habit, just as does the use of slang. Those who on the street or in the park adopt the C'mon-Jim,-this-'sno-place-f'rus

style of pronunciation soon display the same illiterate mutilation of the language on all occasions.

Two things will go far toward relieving one's pronunciation of this deplorable fault of clipping. The first is to take a sufficient amount of pride in one's speech to banish carelessness. There are enough mispronunciations due to uncertainty or ignorance without multiplying the number by mistakes in words which the average child knows. A second guard against clipping is to speak with sufficient deliberateness to include all the requisite sounds. The common habit of rapid utterance is altogether uncalled for. There are rare occasions when people are obliged to "talk fast"; but they are not so eternally engaged in catching trains or dodging automobiles as to explain or excuse the large number of dismembered words which are heard.

The addition of an extra sound to certain words constitutes another type of mispronunciation. This is often due to incorrect observation, to a mistaken image of the words. That is, the person who adds such sounds, usually, though not always, misspells the words concerned. The following examples will serve to illustrate the error; film pronounced fillum, grievous pronounced grevious, elm pronounced ellum, and athletic pronounced athaletic. This fault can in great measure be corrected by giving more attention to the words which one reads, and by observing carefully the pronunciation of those who speak well.

This same method of correction is applicable to another type of mispronunciation: the transposition of a vowel and a consonant. Fortunately, this error is confined to relatively few words, but its commission constitutes a glaring fault when it does occur. Examples

are: calvary for cavalry, perduce for produce, areoplane for aeroplane, etc.

The final short-coming of pronunciation to be noted is over-accuracy. The person who pronounces laboriously is open to the charge of affectation, and is a subject for ridicule. Moreover, he is committing a fault of speech more serious than an occasional mispronunciation in that he constantly distracts attention from the thought to the manner of utterance. Good pronunciation is not only correct, but it is also easy, free from apparent effort on the part of the speaker. Such pronunciation cannot be assumed for special occasions and neglected for all ordinary purposes. If a person has it at all, it is because he has been brought up with it, or has cultivated it as consistently as an athlete would cultivate his muscles for a contest.

Probably such a thing as a perfect pronunciation does not exist; all circumstances considered, it is hardly within the scope of practical realization. The best of speakers make occasional mistakes. But the rank and file make a great many mistakes, most of them unnecessary. And it is greatly to the student's interest that he reduce his errors to a minimum by following the suggestions presented. To summarize these suggestions briefly: read with attention to words to note their composition; listen carefully to the pronunciation of those who speak English well; investigate those words wherein their pronunciation differs from your own; cultivate the persistent use of the dictionary, preferably with the aid of a note-book for your new acquisitions; have done absolutely with careless, indifferent speaking; habituate yourself to correct pronunciation by its constant observance so that you will not suggest a long