1. Orthoëpy or Correct Pronunciation, is the utterance of words with their right sounds and accents, as sanctioned by the best usage. It depends principally upon Articulation, Syllabication, and Accentuation.
2. Articulation is the distinct utterance of the elementary vowel and consonant sounds of the language, whether separate, or combined into syllables and words. In pronouncing a word its elementary sounds should be correctly articulated.
3. The more common faults in articulation are:—
(1) Omitting a vowel sound, or substituting one vowel sound for another, in an unaccented syllable. Of all faults in pronunciation probably this is the commonest. As a rule it results from carelessness in utterance. Examples of it are:—pronouncing—arithmetic, ’rithmetic; library, līb’ry; literature, lit’rature; geography, j’ography; barrel, barr’l; below, b’low; family, fam’ly; violent, vi’lent; history, hist’ry; memory, mem’ry; regular, reg’lar; usual, ūzh’al; alwāys, alwŭz; afford, ŭfford; abundant, abundŭnt; eatable, eatŭble; America, Ameriky; childrĕn, childrin; modĕst, modŭst; commandment, commandmŭnt; judgment, judgmŭnt; moment, momŭnt; kindness, kindniss; gospĕl, gospil; pockĕt, pockit; ēmotion, immotion; charĭty, charŭty; opposĭte, oppozŭt; potatō, pŭtatĕh; patriŏt, patriŭt; ōbedience, ŭbediĕnce; accūrāte, ak’er-ĭt; particūlar, partikĭlĕr.
(2) Substituting one vowel sound for another in an accented syllable or a one-syllabled word. This fault may result, not from carelessness, but from want of knowledge, for the correct pronunciation of the vowel sounds of words must be learned from some correct speaker, or from a dictionary. Examples of this fault are:—pronouncing—āte, ĕt; cătch, kĕtch; săt, sŏt; găther, gĕther; băde, bāde; was, wŭz; father, făther or fawther; says (sĕz), sāz; get, git; kettle, kĭttle; deaf (dĕf), deef; creek, crick; rinse, rĕnse; bŏnnet, bŭnnet; bosom, bŭzum; frŏm, frum; just, jĕst; shut, shĕt; new (nū), noo; dūty, dooty; redūce, redooce; because, bekŭz; saucy, sāssy; point, pīnt; instead, instĭd; route, (rōōt), rout.
(3) Omitting a consonant sound, or substituting one consonant sound for another; as in pronouncing—yeast, ’east; February, Feb’uary; and, an’; old, ōl’; acts, ac’s; slept, slep’; depths, dep’s; fields, fiel’s; winds, win’s; breadths, bre’ths; twelfth, twel’th or twelf’; asked (askt), as’t; mostly, mōs’ly; swiftly, swif’ly; government, gover’ment; Arctic, Ar’tic; products, produc’s; consists, consis’; commands, comman’s; morning, mornin; strength, strenth; length, lenth; shrink, srink; shrill, srill; height, hīth; Asia (A’she-a), A’zhe-a; chimney, chimbly; covetous (cŭv’ĕt-ŭs), cŭv’e-chŭs; fortūne, forchin.
(4) Introducing in the pronunciation of a word a sound that does not belong to it; as in pronouncing—drown, drownd; drowned, drownded; often (of’n), of´ten; epistle, (e-pis´l), e-pis´tel; elm, el´um; film, fil´um; height, hīt’th; grievous, grēv´i-us; mischievous (mis´chĭv-us), mis-chēv´i-us; column, col´yum; once (wŭns), wŭnst; across, acrost.
(5) Misusing the sound of r; as in pronouncing—Maria, Mariar; idea, idear; widow, widder; meadow, medder; farm, far-r-m; warm, war-r-m; war, wa’; door, do-ah; garden, gä’den; card, cä’d; warm, wä’m; forth, fo’th; hundred, hunderd; children, childern.
(6) Misusing the aspirate (h); as in pronouncing—happy, ’appy; apples, happles; whence, wence; which, wich; what, wot; whirl, wirl.