SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.
[Notice in this column does not necessarily preclude subsequent review.] English Philology in English Universities. By H. C. Wyld. (Clarendon Press. 2s. 6d. net.)—Professor Wyld's inaugural lecture on the past, present, and future of philological studies in England is by turns witty, informing, and pathetic. He laments the neglect of English philology which, as he says, has been left to Germans and Scandinavians. The truth is that these foreign pundits have scared away the English youth by their incredible dullness. The writer recalls a certain thesis, written by a friend who went to study Early English in Germany, as the most disheartening piece of pedantry that he ever saw. Until the history of the English tongue is taught by Englishmen on English methods, there will be no real advance. Fortunately, there are a few able scholars, like Professor Wright and Professor Wyld himself, who can make even philology interesting, and their numbers will increase. Professor Wyld instances as one result of recent research the discovery that Shakespeare's pronunciation was much the same as ours and that Chaucer's pronunciation differed far less from that of the Londoner of 1921 than is commonly supposed. The scientific study of English dialects might be made both instructive and entertaining if it were pursued in the right spirit.
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