HOW TO SPEAK ENGLISH [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.]
Sia,—Is not Miss Rose Macaulay's horror of pronouncing a word as it is spelt rather exaggerated ? Most people today get the greater part of their vocabulary from the printed word, and if people are left to themselves, to pronounce words as they are written is exactly what they do. A theory of pronunciation rather more stable than usage, which obviously varies enormously, can be built on the recognition that the first spelling of all languages was probably phonetic, though the rules vary with different languages: Simple words should be pronounced as nearly as possible in the way they are written : bearing in mind the language of origin. Com- binations of them should preserve the pronunciation of the main words that make them up. Where the application of these rules still leaves doubt there must necessarily be more latitude. The determining considerations will then be euphony and ease of enunciation. By these tests the B.B.C.'s dispittants and deadent carry the day.—I am, Sir, &c.,
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