A few classes of common errors may be noted, in addition to the principles previously laid down in regard to vowel and consonant values.
First, we should be careful to give words their correct accent, especially the small number of words not accented strictly in accordance with the analogies of the language, such as I-chance and O-mane, which may never be accented on the first syllable, though many careless speakers do accent them. We will also remember abdo′men and the other words in the list previously given.
Second, we should beware of a habit only too prevalent in the United States of giving syllables not properly accented some share of the regular accent. Dickens ridicules this habit unmercifully in “Martin Chuckle.” Words so mispronounced are ter′-ri-to′-ry, ex′-act′-ly, isn′t-best, big-cle, etc. In the latter word this secondary accent is made to lengthen the y, and so causes a double error. The habit interferes materially with the musical character of easy speech and destroys the desirable musical rhythm which prose as well as poetry should have.
Third, the vowel a in such syllables as those found in command, chant, chance, graft, staff, pass, clasp, etc., should not have the flat sound heard in as, gas, etc., nor should it have the broad Italian sound heard in father, but rather a sound between. Americans should avoid making their a's too flat in words ending in ff, ft, ss, st, sk, and sp preceded by a, and in some words in which a is followed by nce and nt, and even nd, and Englishmen should avoid making them too broad.
Fourth, avoid giving u the sound of oo on all occasions. After r and in a few other positions we cannot easily give it any other sound, but we need not say soot′-a-ble, soo-per-noo-mer-a-ry; nor noos, stoo, etc.
Fifth, the long o sound in words like both, boat, coat, etc., should be given its full value, with out being obscured. New England people often mispronounce these words by shortening the o. Likewise they do not give the a in care, bear, fair, etc., and the e in where, there, and their, the correct sound, a modification of the long a. These words are often pronounced with the short or flat sound of a or e (căr, thěr, etc.).
Sixth, the obscured sound of a in wander, what, etc., should be between broad a as in all and Italian a as in far. It is about equivalent to o in not.
Seventh, a, e, i, o (except in accented syllables), and u are nearly alike in sound when followed by r, and no special effort should be made to distinguish a, o, or a, though the syllables containing them have in fact the slightest possible more volume than those containing e or i followed by r. Careless speakers, or careful speakers who are not informed, are liable to try to make more of a distinction than really exists.
In addition to these hints, the student will of course make rigorous application of principles before stated. G and c will be soft before e, i, and y, hard before other vowels and all consonants; vowels receiving the accent on the second syllable from the end (except i) will be pronounced long (and we shall not hear au-dă′-cious for audā′-cious); and all vowels but a in the third syllable or farther from the end will remain short if followed by a consonant, though we should be on the lookout for such exceptions as ab-stē′-mious, etc. (As the u is kept long we will say _tr_ŭ′-cu-lency [troo], not _tr_ŭ_c′-u-lency,_ and _s_ū′-pernu-merary, not _s_ŭ_p′-ernumerary,_ etc.).
These hints should be supplemented by reference to a good dictionary or list of words commonly mispronounced.