the sense of "quick-witted" or "adroit" rather than in that of "good-natured." In each of these cases, the English usage appears to be gradually gaining ground in America. "Railway" is used almost as frequently as railroad, and "station "" more frequently, perhaps, than dépôt. Clever in the sense of "good-natured" which it bore fifty years. ago, though still common in rural districts, would be understood by few persons under twenty-five who were brought in Boston or New York. up Many words of foreign extraction have been admitted into the language: e. g., "avenue," "amateur," "prairie," "basrelief," "omelet," "extra," "veto," "phenomenon." Many other foreign words that get into print are not in national use e. g., abattoir for "slaughter-house," concession for "grant," subvention for "subsidy," née for "born," bas-bleu for "blue-stocking," function for "evening entertainment." Words not in national use may give local color or dramatic truth to a narrative; but a writer who uses them freely runs the risk of not being understood by ordinary readers. Reputable Use. A word which is used by speakers and writers of established reputation is in reputable use. Many words that are not in reputable use in the sense given to them creep, nevertheless, into print. Some of these come from business correspondence: e. g., "Billy was always pretty well posted," "The receipts will aggregate ten thousand dollars; " "The balance of the day was given to talk;" "In that merciful ad valorem scale hereafter." Some come from the pulpit: e. g., "The advent of the American hog into France." Some come from the bar: e. g., "This accident entailed the loss of his din""A party in a silk hat.” Some come from mathematics: e. g., "Wordsworth's love for animals is a factor in his philosophy of Nature;" "The two poets are differentiated in certain ways." ner; Good Use.Words that are in present, national, and reputable use are said to be in good use. It is good use which decides what are, and what are not, proper English words. Dictionaries contain words that are no longer, or that are not yet, good English; but it is the business of grammars to record and to classify expressions that are approved by good use, and to discuss questions on which authorities differ. When they undertake to do more, they are useless or worse than useless. The decisions of good use are final. A writer of established reputation may succeed, now and then, in calling back words from the grave; but even the greatest have failed in the attempt. A writer of established reputation may, by adopting a provincial or a vulgar word as his own, help to make it good English; but great authors are not those who are most swift to coin words themselves, or to use those which lack the stamp of authority. "The two most copious and fluent of our prose writers, Johnson and Macaulay, may be cited on this head," says a recent writer; 1 "for the first hardly ever coined a word; the second, never. They had not the temptation; their tenacious memories were ever ready with a supply of old and appropriate words, which were therefore the best, because their associations were established in them." If there were words enough in the language to supply the needs of Macaulay, there are surely enough for ordinary writers. For them the only safe rule is to use no word that is not accepted as good English by the best judges. This rule is well expressed by Pope : In words, as fashions, the same rule will hold; Be not the first by whom the new are tried, 1 JOHN EARLE: "English Prose." London: Smith, Elder, & Co., 1890. In our day, obsolete or obsolescent words are less tempting than new-fangled expressions. For one devotee of old English who insists on writing agone for "ago" or "gone," or inwit for "conscience," or on publishing a foreword instead of a "preface," there are hundreds of "ready writers" who try their hands at the manufacture of new words, or who snap up the manufactures of others. Those who know least of English as it is are precisely those who are most ready to disfigure their sentences with English as it is not. A or An. rant as to say 66 Chapter II OF ARTICLES No one says "an book," and few are so ignoa elephant." Even those who never heard of the rule that "a" should be used before a consonant sound and "an" before a vowel sound, are guided correctly by the ear; for euphony lies at the foundation of this rule, as it does of much usage in all languages. [Throughout this book, the forms of expression given under I. are better than those given under II.] I. He must, in order to stand any This high man, aiming at a Misses a unit. I spoke of such a one. II. He must, in order to stand any chance of getting an appointment in an University, go to Germany to study. This high man, aiming at a million, Misses an unit. I spoke of such an one. "U" in "university" and "unit" sounds exactly like "you" in "youth," and should therefore take the article "a," as "youth" does. "One" sounds exactly like the first syllable in "wonder," and should therefore take "a" before it, as "wonder" does. An author who is guided by his eye only may write "an university" and "such an one," for u" and "o 99 are vowels to the eye; but an author who is guided by his ear as well writes "a university" and "such a one.' It cannot be denied, however, that "an unit," "such an one," and the like, are sometimes written-inadvertently or perversely-by good authors. 66 We properly say "a house," "a humble" (unless we suppress the "h" in "humble," as "umble" Uriah Heep did), but "an honorable," "an honest." When the "h" before a vowel sound is aspirated, we use 66 a; " when it is not, we use "an." better I. An habitual drunkard. An historical retrospect. II. A habitual drunkard. An apparent exception to the rule stated above exists in the preference by many authorities of "an" to "a" before "habitual," "historical," and other words which are so pronounced that, the accent falling on the second syllable, the "h" sound is slightly weakened. The indefinite article ▲ should be used before a consonant sound; AN, before a vowel sound. The or A.. - The definite and the indefinite article have distinct functions. I. He sat in the Council of the Doges, when Venice was a powerful republic. II. He sat in the Council of the Doges, when Venice was the powerful republic. In this example, "a" is preferable to "the," unless the meaning be that Venice was powerful as compared with other republics. When a definite person or thing is spoken of, the definite article THE should be used; when any one of a class is spoken of, the indefinite article a or AN should be used. |