An English Pronouncing Dictionary [antikvár]

EDITOR'S PREFACE It is a great satisfaction to me that I am privileged to include in my Modern Language Series an English Pronouncing Dictionary by Prof. Daniel Jones, whose reputation as a phonetician extends far beyond the limits of this country. It is a work of permanent value as the record, by a competent and careful observer, of a certain type of English speech in the first part of the twentieth century. Prof. Jones, in his introduction, indicates clearly the class of people whose speech is represented. His concern has been to represent it faithfully, and as far as I 'am able to judge his eJfforts have been successful. It may be pointed out that this form of speech is very widely used by educated people in Southern England, and that those whose home is elsewhere, and whose dialect differs from it considerably, often make concessions to it, in order that they may be more generally understood. This has been the case, to a marked degree, in the ' great public schools ' where this kind of speech prevails; and the influence of these schools has been a very great (but, I believe, neither the only, nor even the greatest) factor in rendering acceptable what Prof. Jones has sometimes called 'public school pronunciation.' I am disposed to ascribe the considerable extension of this form of speech since the middle of the nineteenth century chiefly to the influence of women in the home, to the increased attention paid to speech in our educational system, and to quickened intercourse among members of the English-speaking world. There are many who think that for the purposes of social intercourse and of various kinds of public speaking (such as the pulpit and the stage) we require a ' standard speech ' and that, when a language is spread as widely over the world as ours is, a generally recognized form of speech is no less desirable than a common Hterary language. Every dialect has its interest and its appeal ; but one who knows only his dialect finds himself at a disadvantage, if he should be called upon to pass beyond the limits within which that dialect is spoken, and it may well be doubted whether his aesthetic appreciation of our literature is not impaired. If in our schools we regard it as desirable to deal with the pupils' speech at all, we must have some idea of the kind of speech we wish them to acquire ; and the clearer that idea is, the more effective will our efforts be. My own feeling is that our aim should be to secure a form of speech that shall be not merely intelligible but pleasing to the greatest number of educated speakers of English ; and that implies not only an unobjectionable pronunciation but good voice production. Those who take an interest in these problems will find that Prof. Jones's dictionary supplies them with an admirable basis for discussion; and it will help them to realize (what they tqo often fail to realize) that before expressing views as to how people ought to speak, it is well to have some knowledge of how people actually do speak. It is a fatally attractive subject for dogmatizing; but the assumption of infallibility PREFACE TO THE EIGHTH EDITI ON This eighth edition is a reprint of the seventh edition of 1945 w^ith the following additions and alterations. A sentence has been added at the end of the paragraph numbered (6) in section xiv of the Explanations (p. xvii), and the reference to an intermediate between o: and o (now very uncommon) has been deleted on p. xxii. Corrections have been made in the entries Basra (h), Ffoulkes, Gawain, harem, ideal (now replaced by two entries), Kilchuirn, manageress, O'Rourke, sisal, illogicality, strobilion. The entry Kilchurn has been deleted from the Supplement (p. 486), as the name is already in the body of the book (p. 244). Pentameron has been changed to pentamerous, and the following names have been added in the Supplement: Benoliel, Bevin, Frizinghall, Lydgate, Soutbsea. The Dictionary now contains 56,285 words, of which 13,915 are proper names. d.j. London, February 1947.