The bare thought of being so criticised should be so galling to any one bearing the dignified title of "professor," that he ought to be stimulated to endeavor to make himself an authority concerning the proprieties of speech.
The study of orthoepy was held in such high esteem by the accent Greeks, and their delicate ears were so offended by any violation of its rules, that if an orator mispronounced a single word, the entire audience immediately hissed him.
During the present state of pronunciation it would indeed be embarrassing to the public speaker, if such a custom existed in this country. Let us imagine, for instance, our friend Professor Abdominous Gynæcophonus, with his face ebullient with smiles of self-conceit, arising to address such an audience. "Gentlemen: I have listened patiently to this op´po-nent (hisses) of al´lo-path-y (hisses) and now arise to make a few remarks and in´quir-ies (hisses). In answer to his objections against hy-os-cy-ā´mus (hisses) as an anodyne and sō´por-if-ic, (hisses) I would say that in cases of cough and sleeplessness, I have long used hyoscyamia combined in trō´chĕz (hisses) without any of those effects that the păt´ron (hisses) of hō´me-o-path-y (hisses) mentions. And having made almost a specialty of the treatment of făç´i-al (hisses) neuralgia or tic-dŏl-o-rōō´" (hisses)—and it would certainly be time for him to dolorously sit down, although he might raise the question—
"What's in a name? that which we call a rose,
By any other name would smell as sweet,"
and argue therefrom that the pronunciation of a word should make no difference so long as its meaning was understood. Amongst professional men, it has been observed that physicians and dentists are by far more prone than others to orthoepical errors. Attention is requested to a few of the more common of these in addition to those found in the preceding vocabulary connected with words that are alike used by the professional and the unprofessional, such as: abdomen, acclimated, albumen, animalcula arabic, citrate, embryo, excrescence, fetid, fetor, forceps, homeopathy, hydropathy, jugular, jujube, nasal, pharmacopœia, purulent, spasmodic, sulphurous, tragacanth, etc. The authorities appealed to are Dunglison, Thomas, Webster and Worcester. Notwithstanding the superior merit of Dunglison's Medical Dictionary, as far as the comprehensiveness and reliability of its definitions are concerned, it is evident that it is almost useless as an orthoepical guide. The principal accent is in many cases marked, but the pronunciation of preceding and succeeding syllables can not be determined, and there is no attempt at syllabication.
Dr. Thomas' dictionary, though less comprehensive, is equally reliable in its definitions, and is excellent authority in regard to orthoepy; though it is to be regretted that in some words important syllables are not sufficiently marked. For instance, take the words as-bes´tos and bis´muth; how can it be determined whether the first should be pronounced ăs-bĕs´toss or ăz-bĕs´tōz or the latter bĭz´muth or bĭss´muth? Webster and Worcester are undoubtedly good authorities for the pronunciation of the medical words they give. In the following vocabulary all of the authorities that mention the words may be considered as agreeing, unless notice is made of their disagreement.