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.
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