War Words: Recommended Pronunciations 9780231899406

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WAR WORDS Recommended Pronunciations W. CABELL GREET Associate Professor of English in Barnard College, Columbia University CBS Speech Consultant

Published for the COLUMBIA BROADCASTING SYSTEM by COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS

•

NEW YORK

COPYRIGHT 1 9 4 3

First Printing, January, 1943 Second Printing, February, 1943 Third Printing, April, 1943 Fourth Printing, June, 1943 COLUMBIA

UNIVERSITY

PRESS, NEW

YORK

FOREIGN AGENTS: OXFORD UNIVERSITV PRESS, H u m p h r e y

Milford, Amen House, London, E . C . 4, England, AND B. I. Building, Nicol Road, Bombay, India MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

TO THE CBS S T A F F A N N O U N C E R S 1937-1943 "Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth .. ." j u d g e s 12, 6

PREFACE

of these lists is to assist speakers of the Columbia Broadcasting System. Between two-thirds and three-quarters of the items are not included in any publication generally available. The pronunciations are given in two keys, in the hope that the one may identify the other for readers who consult in haste and are not accustomed to diacritical markings. No phonetician can take pleasure in preparing lists of foreign names in which he cannot employ a broad form of the International Phonetic Alphabet. Particularly irritating are the difficulties I encounter with 6 and I, oo and 66, a and 5, and the corresponding devices in Key 2: ee, i, 00, u, ay, e. The ideal dictionary would probably employ IPA in a key for the learned and a simple respelling according to English conventions in a key for the unlearned and fearful. As a matter of fact the continental values of IPA vowel-symbols are not far removed from the so-called short vowels of English, but attention has been focused upon the English "long" vowels and these are very different indeed. However, the requirements of radio speakers and the difficulties of the times determined the form of these transcriptions. They have proved useful in spite of their defects. It is a pity that the busy professors and consular agents whose work I have interrupted by perplexing questions cannot receive the immediate thanks of the harassed speaker who is faced, three minutes before air-time, by the strange name of a tank town in Southern Russia or Central China. Included with the names that the War has made prominent are certain common English words whose alternative pronunciations cause domestic conflict of a different order. The debates as to which pronunciation is "correct" can be settled only by future generations, for in 1943 these words actually have two or more pronunciations and each of them is held by millions of Americans to be "correct." It is not the province of CBS to regulate the English language, but it is desirable to avoid the awkwardness that conflicting pronunciations on one program may cause. A choice therefore has been made in the light, I hope, of common sense, guided by the fact that CBS is a national American network. Without T H E PURPOSE

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seeking to impair any citizen's right to be his own professor of English, I look for what is national, contemporary, and reputable. The material of this study first appeared in separate bulletins issued by the CBS Production Department under the title Recommended Pronunciations. Requests for the mimeographed list of July 1, 1942, so far exceeded the number of copies available that it seemed desirable to publish this revised and cumulative edition. I am especially indebted to Professor Elliott V. K. Dobbie, Managing Editor of American Speech, who read the proofs and made many helpful suggestions. Mr. Ambrose Tensing, Curator of Egyptology, Metropolitan Museum of Art, has been most generous of his time and learning. Mr. Vladimir AlexieS has given invaluable assistance. Professor L. Carrington Goodrich and Professor Cyrus H. Peake, Department of Chinese and Japanese, Columbia University, have shown the patience of the East before my many queries. I wish to express to these kind gentlemen and to many others my sense of obligation. Professor Frederick Pottle, the Boswellian, reminds me that Dr. Johnson was pleased that a prayer had been offered for the makers of dictionaries. Even the maker of a handbook is in need of such kind offices, and may well ask the forgiveness of specialists whose fields he invades. W . CABELL GREET

Columbia University January, 1943

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INTRODUCTION IN the first column is the word to be pronounced. In the second column the pronunciation is given by a simplified Websterian alphabet, and in the third column by a phonetic respelling without special accents. The phonetic keys will be found on pages 14 and 15. The symbols of the second column, except a, should present no difficulty to those who are familiar with American dictionaries. The symbol a, which is named schwa, is used for unstressed vowels, however spelled, which in speech are sounded "uh"—for example, about, taken, pencil, lemon, circus. The spelling of the third column should be self-evident. With only two or three exceptions the letters have customary English values. "Th" (italic) is the initial sound of then: "th" (roman) is the initial sound of thin. The separate bulletins were often prefaced by explanatory remarks and these passages are here arranged in alphabetical order according to the language discussed. In Webster's New International Dictionary (2d ed.), pp. liv-lviii, are convenient accounts of the pronunciation of Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French, German, Spanish, and Italian. Of great value, because of the International Phonetic Alphabet transcriptions, are Cassell's dictionaries of French-English and German-English (Funk & Wagnalls Co.). It is well to remember that even our foreign pronunciations must acquire in an English sentence some degree of English quality.

ARABIC

The pronunciation of names on the African front was determined after consultation with Mr. Ambrose Lansing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Mr. Amin A. Dahab, Vice-Consul of Egypt, New York City. It necessarily represents a compromise between various dialects of Arabic, Italian, French and the resources of American English. The diphthong ei is subject to various renderings; the best general rule is to pronounce it a (as in Beirut). [7]

AUSTRALIAN The boldness and good humor of Australian pronunciations will please most Americans. Note that Derby is pronounced as it is spelled but that Warwick has defied the influence of spelling (as it has indeed in some parts of the United States).

CHINESE The phonetics of Chinese are so different from English phonetics that we should gratefully accept the English pronunciation of all names that have acquired an English pronunciation. Fantastic as some of these pronunciations are, they are no stranger to the Chinese than some of our unlearned attempts to give a "Chinese" pronunciation of their familiar names. The modern ideal that in English the "correct" pronunciation of a place name is that current in the place itself is never more severely tested than in the case of China; here it is sometimes absurd. English-speaking traders and travelers have given English pronunciations to seaports and river ports, to provinces and many large cities, and radio speakers may wisely adopt them, just as we use English pronunciations or names of Paris, Rome, Florence, and Munich. The old capital Peiping is an exception, for we pronounce it in Chinese fashion ba-plng (bay-ping), probably because as a new name of political importance it was described in the news a few years ago. These English pronunciations are, or were, current in Chinese railroad and steamship offices, and we may expect to hear them from our correspondents in the East. However, the wide choice of pronunciation that a Chinese name affords—even in China, because of the variety of dialects—makes a forecast uncertain. As the most reasonable course under the circumstances the following list gives English pronunciations wherever they are acceptable. The Chinese names that have not acquired English pronunciations are transscribed in the conventional Mandarin style of Western dictionaries. English speakers should try to pronounce Chinese names with level stress, giving to each syllable a full share of force and time. The list has been prepared in consultation with Professor L. Carrington Goodrich, head of the Department of Chinese and Japanese, Columbia University. Unfortunately our periodicals and popular books omit the diacritical marks necessary for the interpretation of the Roman spelling of Chinese. The reader therefore cannot distinguish sounds almost as different as p and b, I and d, and so on. The value of a scholarly work like Herrmann's [8]

Alias of China (Harvard University Press, $5.00) is that the accents are marked and the place names located on maps. The index of the Atlas can serve fairly well as a pronouncing dictionary of Chinese place names, if the following rules are observed. Rules for the Pronunciation of Non-Anglicized Chinese Names When Chinese is spelled in our alphabet, with appropriate accents, the symbols have approximately these values: VOWELS

a as in father e as in let 2 like the w of cut i as in machine eh has sometimes the value of e Get) and sometimes of i (cut) ih like the vowel of bird shui is sometimes pronounced skwec and sometimes skway

o as in potato (but sometimes like the u of cut) u as in rule ü like German ü or French « ü like schwa, or practically unpronounced ao like the ow of now on like the o of go ho and ko (also spelled he and ke) like the u of cut

CONSONANTS

Aspirated

Unas pirated

ch' as in Eng. chin k' as in Eng. coop p' as in Eng. pay t' as in Eng. too ts' and tz' like the ts of Patsy

ch like the 7 of jin k like the g of gun p like the b of bay t like the d of do ts and tz like dz

j is a uvular sound like the "Parisian r" and the j of Spanish. English r is a poor rendering but almost inevitable with English speakers. hs is properly pronounced as though spelled hsh, but for convenience it is equated to sh. sh and the other consonants are pronounced much as in English. Stress The syllables should be pronounced with level stress. Without special training we cannot attempt the Chinese tones. The CBS Production Department has a limited number of copies of "A Practical Romanized List of Words and Syllable Sounds for Aid in [9]

the Pronunciation of Chinese" by Harry S. Aldrich, U.S.A. It will be useful to anyone who has access to publications in which the accents are marked, and it will be sent to any station that requests it. CZECHOSLOVAK The accent is always on the first syllable. DUTCH In Dutch, oo has the value of English o as in go. The oe is pronounced 60 as in boom. With lack of stress it tends to become o& as in book; it should not become the ii of but. The diphthong in huis is here transcribed 01 (cei), a sound reminiscent of ot (as in oil) pronounced by some New Yorkers. Dutch ui is often Anglicized to oi, but Professor Dobbie and Dutch friends insisted that we should try a diphthong combining the vowel of urn and the vowel of hit. The Dutch diphthongs ei and ij are transcribed 5 (ay) rather than I(ai). ENGLISH Radio news reporters wish to employ the pronunciations that will be expected of educated Americans in conversation that is both familiar and somewhat formal. The doctrine of "levels of usage" has contributed much to modern thought on usage. We ask not only what is correct, but correct for what occasion. To the styles appropriate for the pulpit, the Supreme Court, after-dinner speaking, conversation, familiar speech, and so on, we must add the styles appropriate to radio. Radio is peculiar: though the subject matter may be serious and formal, the radio receivers are located in the familiar rooms of homes. Agreeable pronunciation is one element of an agreeable oral style. The following reference books are all but indispensable for a study of pronunciation: British Broadcasting Corporation, Broadcast English (London, 19321939). Seven pamphlets prepared for the BBC by A. Lloyd James. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Handbook for Announcers (Ottawa, 1942). For Canadian place names. Columbia Encyclopedia, The (New York, 1935). Funk, Charles E., What's the Name, Please? (New York, 1936). Funk and Wagnail's New Standard Dictionary (New York, 1925). Holt, Alfred H., American Place Names (New York, 1938). [10]

Jones, Daniel, An English Pronouncing Dictionary (4th ed., New York, 1937). Kenyon, J. S., American Pronunciation (6th ed., Ann Arbor, Mich., 1935). Krapp, G. P., Pronunciation of Standard English in America (New York, 1910). Mawson, C. O. Sylvester, International Book of Names (New York, 1933). Thorndike-Century Senior Dictionary (New York, 1941). U. S. Geographic Board, Sixth Report, 1900 to 1932 (Washington, D. C., 1933). Webster's New International Dictionary (2d. ed., Springfield, Mass., 1934), as interpreted by its prefatory "Guide to Pronunciation" (pp. xxiilxxviii). Consult also the files of the journal American Speech. The English Pronunciation of Foreign Names Just as the names of the older countries and the principal regions of Europe have English variants—as, Germany, Italy, and Spain for Deutschland, Italia, and Espafia—many European cities, provinces, and rivers have, during the centuries, acquired English pronunciations and even English spellings, which are commonly preferred in English contexts. But of course for the most formal occasions and for musical programs, and also in the case of foreign speakers the nuance of foreign pronunciations may be desirable. Announcers should know both. Although the Anglicized forms are stable, there is here, as in all other aspects of language, the possibility of change. Nowadays the "French" pronunciations of Marseille and Lyon are probably better American usage than the Anglicized Marseilles and Lyons. We now pronounce Prague in the French style, ignoring the time-honored English variant, as well as the Czech and the German. One sign of the falling off of classical studies is a general ignorance of the English pronunciation of Greek place names. The press reports usually give English spellings which don't quite make sense if they are pronounced as modern Greek, as, for example, Piraeus and Athens. If the classical traditions grow even weaker, such forms may be displaced. Piraeus, especially, gives trouble now. News announcers when faced with the necessity of choosing between English and foreign pronunciations should of course use the pronunciations commonly employed in the comfortable English of educated people acquainted with the place and the subject. Names that are not on these lists probably have no English pronunciation, and they should be pronounced in foreign style. We cannot be so conservative (or so radical?) as the English family who, according to Mr. Calmer, spoke of happy holidays in Brittany and pronounced Saint Michel as if it were English

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Saint Mitchell. There must be some foreign pronunciations, but for the sake of good English they should be no more than necessary. FINNISH The accent is always on the first syllable. FRENCH It is the practice of American dictionaries to indicate accent of French words; however we should remember that from the point of view of English speakers, French words have practically a level stress. See Webster's (1934), Sec. 272, p. lv, for an account of the stressing of French phrases. Words pronounced separately may have a slight lift on the final syllable. LANGUAGES OF INDIA In Sanscrit and related languages, often a has the sound of the u in but or of schwa (the first sound of about and the last of sofa). The symbol of schwa is s. The syllables are almost equally stressed. In Burmese, however, there is a marked tendency to stress the last syllable. JAPANESE In the "Roman" spelling of Japanese, the vowels have values similar to those of Spanish and Italian. They may be approximately rendered in English as follows: a as father, e as in men, i as in machine, o as in go, u like the vowel of pool. There is no strong accent, and the best rule for speakers of English is to pronounce the names with level stress, giving to each syllable a full share of time and force. This may prove difficult if not impossible in an English sentence, but for the sake of attaining something like uniformity CBS speakers should not emphasize the stresses they add. Names of four syllables like Yokohama will fall into the pattern of ' x ' x, stressed, unstressed, stressed, unstressed. There is dialectal variety, but / may be pronounced as in jam, g as in go, ch as in cheap. The combinations ae, ai, oi, ui are not true diphthongs but two separate vowels with the second weaker than the first. However, it is not unreasonable for us to pronounce both ae and ai as "long I." The pronunciations were prepared with the assistance of Professor Cyrus H. Peake, Department of Chinese and Japanese, Columbia University. [12]

KOREAN The names should be pronounced with level stress, each syllable receiving its full share of force and time.

RUSSIAN There is frequent disagreement over the pronunciation of Russian names. The transcription of the Russian symbols into our alphabet is not always helpful. For example, Russian has the sound of ch in Scots loch. In our orthography of Russian it is written kh. English has not the sound, which lies "between k and h." In this list it has seemed better to give k as the pronunciation rather than h or kh. The letter v is pronounced / when final and when before sk and k. (A similar exchange was observed in Old English and we have it preserved today in staff and staves. Compare off and of.) The Russian a, stressed and unstressed, is here transcribed a, though its quality may approach 0, the vowel of but, especially as pronounced by an Englishman. Whether the spelling o is to be rendered in phonetics 6, 6, o, or fl is a problem that has confused makers of dictionaries. This editor has tried to follow a consistent practice, stressed o being usually rendered as o, unstressed o as 0. Many phoneticians would prefer the use of