Newspaper Page Text
For A Friend of the Family.
Mr. Editor: In looking over the Api 1 number of the
North American Review, for the present year, I met with an
ably written article on the Pronunciation of the Latin Lan
guage-
Entertaining the opinion that a free circulation of tracts of
this sort would tend greatly to promote the cause of truth, by
disnbusing our minds of erroneous impressions, I have deter
mined to offer it for insertion in your useful Family Journal,
in the hope, that the subject, of which it treats, may meet
with that fair and candid consideration which its importance
seems to demand.
Let it no longer be said of us, that
O
“We know the right, and we approve it too,
Condemn the wrong’, but still the wrong pursue.”
Let us endeavor to attain, as far as practicable, a correct
knowledge of the old, and consequently of the £re,~pronun
ciation of the classic tongues of antiquity ; and, by tins means,
shall we be enabled to restore to them that harmony and ele
gance by which they were once so eminently distinguished.
It is full time that the reign of bigotry and prejudice should
cense; and that innovation, in its rapid strides from bad to
i
worse, should bo arrested.
It is uot pretended that the subject is free from difficulties;
nor is it here maintained, that all the niceties in the pronun
ciation of ancient Greece and Rome are accurately known, or
have been definitively settled ; but because we cannot attain
to the whole truth, shall we, for that reason, reject that por
tion of it which is indisputably within our grasp ? I leave any
candid and unprejudiced mind to answer this question.
I now take leave of the subject, with a recommendation of
llie article to the careful attention of your intelligent readers.
VERA PRONUNTIATIO.
N. B.—l have taken the liberty of adding some things,
which are contained in brackets.
PRONUNCIATION OF THE LATIN LANGUAGE.
“ It is impossible,” says Yolney, “in passing
in review the different alphabets of Europe, to
see without surprise, that nations proud of their
progress in the sciences and arts have remained
so far behind in the most elementary science of
all, the science indeed which serves as the base
of this vast, complicated edifice of civilization.
The alphabetic methods of our Europe are true
caricatures.* Irregularities, incoherences, defi
ciences, redundancies appear in the Spanish and
Italian alphabets, in the German, the Polish, and
the Dutch; as for those of the French and Eng
lish, they are disorder itself.”
The English alphabet is the most confused and
disordered of all. Yet no modern tongue began
its career as a written language under better au
spices than the Anglo-Saxon. The Roman alpha
bet was adapted to this language with excellent
judgment. The characters of this alphabet were
employed to denote the sounds which the two
languages had in common ; while, to represent
those which were wanting in the Latin, charac
ters were invented or were borrowed from other
alphabets. The disorder which prevails in the
notation of our language is not to be attributed to
our Anglo-Saxon ancestors. It is to be ascribed
chiefly to the Norman ascendency in England,
arid to the influence which the superior civiliza
tion of the French gave them over the higher
classes in that country, who not only imitated
their more refined neighbors in matters in which
they were worthy to give example, but—led by
that blind devotion to a vague idea of fashion,
which, it must be confessed, is the weakness of
the English, and. by inheritance, our own—fol
lowed them in their errors with equal zeal. No
where are the effects of this idle subserviency
more evident, or more injurious, than in the dis
order which it has introduced into the notation of
our language. Our alphabet, indeed, ns at pres
ent pronounced,t would appear to be framed for
the service only of that inconsiderable portion of
our language which is derived from the corrupted
Latin ; and we have, in a manner, shut ourselves
out from all chance of detecting and reforming
our errors, by adopting, in our pronunciation of
Latin, all the Frankish corruptions, and by even
adding to these the numerous irregularities and
caprices which —the standard of reason being
once abandoned have continually introduced
themselves unchecked into the English language.
We have already spoken, in a former article, of
the defective and disordered state of the English
alph abet, and of the increased difficulty which |
we experience in the study of other languages,
and in the pursuit of the science of language it
self, from the false and imperfect manner in
which the groundwork of our education is laid.
To introduce at once a radical reform into the
writing of the English language is a task hardly
possible of accomplishment ; and, even if it were
possible, we believe that it is very little desirable
that such a reform should be attempted at the
present time, when the very low state of philolo
gical science among us leaves little room to hope
that such a plan would be judiciously executed.
Amendments in the spelling or pronunciation of
a living language can only take place very grad
♦ An exception should here be made in favor of the Rus
sian and some other of the Sclavonic alphabets. The author
resets to those nations using the Roman alphabet.
f We refer here more particularly to the mispronunciation
• ot the letters which, with the Romans, represented the gut
turals, and which still represent them with us, in all pure
English words, as in can, get, &c. We now attribute toe in
our alphabet the sound of s, though its name in the Roman
alphabet was that which we give to the kin ours. This was
also the sound'which it denoted in all Anglo-Saxon, as well as
in all Latin words. \\ e give to tno g, whose proper sound
in English, ns well ns in Latin, is that which it has in get, give ,
&c.. the sound which is also denoted in our alphabet by the
character j, a soun.J unknown to the Anglo-Saxon, and also to
the pure Latin, though it is supposed to have existed in some
of the rustic dialects.
ually, and are to be brought about only by pucly
a general diffusion of knowledge, as shall bringj
the people, whose property the language is, to a
sense of the necessity of them. A great deal may j
be done to this end by the introduction of a very j
simple reform reeommended by Dr. Ivraitsir. ;
He proposes that in teaching the alphabet, the;
letters shall be called by the names given to them
in the Roman and in the Anglo-Saxon alphabet,
and which express the sounds which these letters
invariably represented in those languages.* By
this means the correct pronunciation would be the
rule, and the deviations from it would be known
as the exceptions. Another advantage arising
from this reform would be, that it would draw
attention to the derivation of our words ; the very
defects of our alphabet would, in this way, become
instructive ; the discrepancy between the char
acter and the sound would suggest the history of
the mispronounced word, and even the common
reader would readily trace the affinities between
our Latin-derived words, and the older and more
original part of our language, from which they
now appear almost wholly disconnected.
Dr. Ivraitsir proposes another measure of re
form, yet more easy of introduction, since its
adoption depends upon the more educated class
es. This is the restoration of the correct pronun
ciation of Latin in our schools. The Latin is a
language of the utmost importance to the student
of philology. Forming, as it does, the ground
work of p.n important class of the languages of
modern Europe, and being, at the same time, in
timately allied with the ‘Teutonic and the Celtic,
it forms the connecting link between these several!
classes; and as these have each contributed to j
the formation of our language, a correct knowl-j
edge of the Latin is peculiarly important to the
English student. But, by forcing upon the Latin
lhe corruptions which have found place in the
languages derived from it, we destroy its utility
in this respect, while at the same time, we rob it
of all that its antiquity should give it of venerable
and dignified.
The restoration of the correct pronunciation of
the Latin would also be found of great advantage
in giving a knowledge of the true nature and pur
pose of an alphabet.
The learning to spell and pronounce any one
language correctly would, indeed, have a great
effect in clearing from our minds that perplexity
in regard to all matters connected with the study
of language, which, involving them, as it does,
from earliest infancy, is a fatal hinderance to “our
progress, clogging every step wiih doubt and in
security. The ancient languages offer greater
advantages, in this view, than any modern tongues
that come within the ordinary compass of our
study; inasmuch as the notation of sounds in
them is regular and consistent, the same character
never being employed to represent articulations
belonging to different classes. For, with the an
cients, the office of letters was truly—as Quinti
lian expresses it—to preserve sounds, and render
them up to the reader, as a pledge entrusted to
their care. But we lose entirely the benefit we
might derive, in this respect, from the study of
die ancient languages, and more especially of the
Latin, carrying into our pronunciation of that
the errors and ‘inconsistencies that
perplex our own. We introduce the'same 4 con
fusion among the vowel sounds.f The character
which, in one position, represents the short sound
of one vowel, in another position, denotes the long
sound of quite another.! We pronounce and b
ihongs as simple vowels, simple vowels as diph
thongs.]! C andg, when they come before c and
i, no longer stand for gutturals; the proper sound
of c is displaced by a sibilant; that of gis changed
to a harsh palatal.§ We give to i wh n t
stands before a vowel, the same harsh sound.
* The proportion which the Teutonic part of the Engl'sh
language bears to that which is taken from the Latin, and the
modern languages derived from it, is somewhat more than
that ot three to one. When, from the foreign portion of our
language, we deduct those words in which the root letters
remain uncorrupted—the gutturals retaining, even in Latin
and French-derived words, their original power before three
of the vowels, and before the liquids l and r—it will be appa
rent, that it is only to a very small portion of our language that
our alphabet, as at present pronounced, is applicable.
t In the Roman alphabet, the a has the sound which we
give it in ah ,* the e as the a in came j thez as we pronounce
ein be. The diphthongal sound which is given to i in the
English alphabet was denoted in Latin by ~ae, and, more an
ciently, by ai, as in the Greek.
t Thus i npava, we give to the a, in the first syllable, the
long sound of e; in the second its own short sound/ In
decern, the first e is pronounced as i; the secoud has its proner
|i The i of dico is pronounced ai ; the ae of caedo, i. In
primaevus , the diphthong and the simple vowel are made to
change places. The simple vowel i in the first syllable be
coming a diphthong ; the diphthong ae, in the second syllable,
taking the sound of i. J
§As in duc-o, duc-ere ; which we pronounce duco, du
scre ; leg-o, leg-ere. which we pronounce lego, lejere.
IF As in iung-o, iung-ere , pro nounced by us, jungo, junjere.
It is impossible to imagine a more unpleasant combination of
sounds than that heard in these words and the English ones
directly derived from them; as junction, Ac. The older
English words from the same root still keep the original sound:
as yoke, Ac. This mode of pronouncing the i consonant is
likewise a fertile source of perplexity to ffie y > un "“nt!
who attempts to fathom toe mysteries of scanning. lie is
told, for example, that the a of magis is short; but that the a
of major (manor) islong, in virtue of tho consonant wffiich fol
lows it. Yet he is taught to give to the jof the one, and he
<goi the other, the same sound. Major or maiior is in fact the
regular comparative of magnus ; (the n os magnus being cas
nal,) the g softened into i (as in royal from regalis) makes a
diphthong with the vowel a, and it is this which gives its loiw
quantity tathe first syllable. The sound which the iin Latin
had before a vowel is represented in English by y • as Lat
Cugum ; Goth, juk ; Eng., yoke. The only word, we believe’,
in which we still represent this sound bv j, is hallelujah.
The barbarous manner in which the Latin lan-|
guage is pronounced by the English has long been
the subject of the animadversion ol foreigners,
and the regret of their own scholars. It is allowed,
on all hands, that this pronunciation of Latin not
only carries into that harmonious language many
harsh and discordant sounds which are wholly
foreign to it, but that it perplexes the student with
a vast number of irregularities that have no place
in the language itsell; and that it is destructive
of the beauty of Latin poetry, since it is absolutely j
incompatible with the just quantity of syllables, j
These objections to the mode oi pronouncing j
Latin now prevalent in England and this country
are obvious to all who will yield an unprejudiced
attention to the subject ; there are other evils in
volved in it, which lie deeper, and which, in the
view of the philologist, are yet more serious.
To be Continued.
~~~ B&I&KE’S INTENT,
FI RE-PROOF PAINT, FROM OHIO.
n.xHis singular and valuable Substance is sold in fine powder, j
A then mixed with linseed oil to the consistency of thick paint,
and applied with a* brush, and after an exposure of a few months to
the atmosphere, this coating becomes a perfect slate or coat of mail
protecting whatever is covered from the action of the weather and
horn lire.
It is a mineral substance, and has been found upon analyzation
by Dr. Chilton, of the city of New York, to consist ot larger pro
portions of Silicia Alumine, Prot. Oxide of Iron and Magnesia,
with lesser of Lime and Carbon. It is used extensively for cover
ing roofs of i ither shingles, matched boards, tin, zinc,sheet iron or
thick paper, if your shingles have been on for years, you have only
to sweep off the moss and lint, with a stiff broom, and cover with
two or three good coats, and in a few months you hav e a perfect slate I
roof, impervious to the action of the weather and /?re. There is j
nothing equal to it for steamboats and car decks, for all kinds of iron, |
it forms a coaling nearly as hard as the iron itself, and never cleaves j
off. It should boused for everything that you wish to protect from
fire and weather.
In -o me places a spurious article has been sold as the genuine,
therefore purchasers should be careful to buv of authorized Agents.
Every Bbl. is marked BLAKE’S FIRE PROOF PAINT.
The above Paint is for sale by C- A. L. LAMAR
sept ]3 ts Savannah, Ga.
FALL AMD WINTER CLOTHING;
TO the Merchants of Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ala
bama and Florida.—The subscribers having established a
house in this city for the sale of READY MADE CLOTHING in
connection with an extensive Manufacturing establishment in New
ark, N. J., where one of the firm gives his personal attention en
tirely to tha manufacture, while the other devotes himself to the
receipt and sale of the same in Savannah. Possessing these advan
tages, we flatter ourselves that we can compete with any establish
ment in the United States in Price, style and workmanship, We
w receiving our Fall and Winter supply, to which we invite
entionof merchants, planters, and the public in general,
sept 6 1 PIERSON & HE IDT.
~r7~s. hard wick & cookeT
FACTORS & COMMISSION MERCHANTS,
Savannah, Ga.
y | HIE Undersigned have associated themselves, under the above \
A style, in the business above specified. Mr. Hardwick is a
Planter of Hancock county, and, of course, identified infeelmgand
interest with his brother Planters. Mr. Cooki: is a citizen of Sa
vannah, and is thoroughly acquainted with all the branches of the
Commission Business.
We are prepared to make liberal advances on produce instore,
and will fill orders for Plantation and Family Supplies with scrupu
lous care.
We arc mutually bound not to speculate in Cotton or any other
article of Merchandise.
We respectfully solicit patronage and pledge ourselves to deserve
it by faithful attention to the business entrusted to us.
R. S. HARDWICK,
aug 23 J. G. COOKE.
Staves.
PERSONS in the country desirous of engaging in getting out
Staves, are informed that the preparation required for foreign
export is as follows :
To be made either out of White Gakov Water Oak Trees.
Length, from 42 to 44 inches.
Breadth, not less than 4 or more than 7 inches.
Thickness, not less than I or more than inches on the thincst
part of the thinest edge.
The back and edge of the Stave should be dressed down to the
same thickness—should have a clear cleft or split, and be free from
knots, crooks, and worm-holes.
Staves prepared in conformity with this specification will be re
ceived al the fuil market price during the ensuing autumn and
inter. I lcsenf \alue, thirty-five dollars per one thousand pieces
- AN DR’ W LOW & CO.
JAM E S SULLIV AN,
WHOLESALE AND RETAIL MANUFACTURER OF
TIN WARE,
Sheet Iron, Copper and Zinc, and dealer in Ja
fl panned, Britannia and planished Ware, also in all kinds of
SIO\ Some of the best and most approved patterns of
COOKING STOVES will be kept on hand during the season, as
well as a variety of other Stoves Stove work of all kinds will be
piompliV attended to. Bathing tubs and Pans, also Hand Shower
Baths for sale. All orders for Tin Ware are solicited. Casbpur
chasers will be supplied at prices as low as thev can buy in New
Y ork or anywhere
Au £ _ No. 12 Whitaker-sf reet, near Bay.
JOHN A. GEORGE.
PLATE, SHEET fflO GOFFER,
ZINC AND LEAD WORKER,
No. SO, St. Julian Street.
r nilE S ibscriber wou;d inform the public that lie engages no
L hands but those who are fully competent to turn out work in dil I
branches of his business faithfully and workmanlike, at the s ortest
notice. Particularly Ship and House Plumbing. A Go >d Wso t
ment of Manufactured Tin Ware will hereafter be kept constantly
on hand at low prices for Cash.
Orders from the County punctually attended to. ]y aug 2.3
PAIN I AND OIL STORE, west sinn of monument!
square. JOHN G. FALLIGANT invites his friends and
the public generally, both from town and country, to call and ex
amine his stock before they purchase. Every article is selected by
himself and will be warranted of the best quality, and he will sell
at low prices and on accommodating teims.
W r HIiE LEAD.—IO,OOO LBS. Atlantic White Lead, war
ranted pure ; 4000 English do. do. do. For sale by
J. G. FALL IGA NT,
W ,NDO JL^ S 1 lES , ANO miNOS.Zr.OOO iishh.rtby 10
oas/i , _OOO d° ] 0 by 12 do; 1000 do assorted sizes: 100
pair \ enetian Blinds, assorted sizes. For sale by
Au - 2 J G., FALLIGANT.
Window {>< lass.
TfM) E -°o E , S A™?!' -an and Fr-nch Window Glass, from
n it oiZ L to ,, IGX rl 8 ’ lo',I o ', ‘* o ’ do ’ Coacf > and Picture do.
n lo 2xlß to 3ux44. I’or sale bv
Au S- ‘ j. G. FALLIGANT
Tiirpeitiiise.
“I BARRELS City Distilled, for sale bv
JLSJ Aug J- G. FALLIGANT.
SITUATION WANTED
A S £™c.S^ EEPEEI b - V a ntan. Good
Apply auhis Office! * “ y pe "° n t ■ —ice.
HOWARD HOUSE,
MARIETTA, GEORGIA
WE are gratified to inform the public, and especially t rav i,
from the low country, that the Howard House
passed into our agency, we are determined to do away v\iH Vln *
complaints that Marietta does not afford the requisite convex ! **
by which visiters would be induced to sojourn in this delightful
cality. Ul ,0 *
The Howard Mouse is now renovated, and accommodations
pared which cannot tail to please. ’1 he chambers are pleasant
conveniently furnished. The table will be amply supplied ’T
every luxury the country affords. Attentive servants are e n^V
In short, if agreeable quarters, a well spread table,
! attention, joined with moderate charges, can phase, we assure
patrons that they will be found at the Howard House.
sep t> DIX FLETCHEfI
IKisslon A Webster.
DEALERS in Groceries Provisions, Forei^
and Domestic Liquors, Oil, Gunpowder, Shot Prii j,
and wrapping Paper. Corner of Bay and Whitaker-street®
Savannah, Georgia.
EDWARD SWIFT, ALLEN A. DENS LOW, JOSEPH W. WKBsTv
July 25 ‘ *’
FALL AND WINTJHt C^OTHJNgT
JUST received per brig Clinton, a splendid assortment of Tu e
Coats, Frocks and Sacks, fancy Cass. Pants, fancy Si\k
Cass. Vests, together with a large assortment of Twilled t'l
Pants and Jackets, Satinet Pants and Jackets, Cordemy p a ,
Beaver Coats, Sacks, Blanket and Flushing Coats and Over-Sacli
For sale, very low, wholesale and retail, at No. 10 Whitaker-strj.
sept 0 PIERSON & HEIDI.
P A NCOST has removed to Bryan street, East side Men
/ ument square, near the State bank, where he may be sou
at all hours, night or day, lullv piepared to wait upon his fri ends &
the public generally.
JN. B. Aiuf'cial teeth inserted from one to a whole set, and
u red to give s,. ‘sfa-etion to tlie wearer.
N. B. Charges greatly reduced. 6rno aug j)
A CAKiK
rpHE undersigned having re-opened, with an
JL entire New Stock of DRUGS, CHEMICALS nnd
FANCY ARTICLES, at No. 139 (South side) Broughton
sireet, (formerly Walkers Marble Yard,) is now readyt 0
furnish any thing in liis line, at the shortest notice.
WATER, made in his own peculiar way, sent to any part ,*
the city, and always to be had at the store, in the highest stt
of perfection.
Prescriptions put up with care nnd despatch.
The subscriber having served the public long and faithfully,
respectfully solicits a share of their patronage.
apr 2G ‘ TIIOS. RYERSON.
the and iTrmcrs ofkouth
Carolina, Ceorgia, Alabama, Henn
esssa and Florida
[ AM THE AUTHORIZED AGENT for the
J- sale and purchase of the CAMELINA SATIVA or
GOLD OF PLEASURE SEED, a native of Siberia.
I am now ready to fill all orders for the seed, and being mi
thorized by the Company to purchase the same, I will pay the
| highest market price fur nil that lnav be shipped to me in
i Savannah. WM. HUMPHREYS, Jr.,
may 31 Agent for the Company of New York.
Til A “YOUNG MAN, as Clerk or Book keeper,
jLT good references can be given to any person needing las
services. Apply office. m,iv ::j
piEILsON & HETDT offer for sale Clothing,
J Wholesale and Retail, at New York prices. No. 10
Whitaker-street. apr 26
To ISae Public,
THE Subscriber, having entered extensively
into the making of BRICK of a superior quality to any
manufactured in this city, is prepared to till orders at the short*
est notice, and as low as any establishment of the kind in or
near Savannah. WM. 11. LLOYD.
June 21
ROBERT N. ADAMST
CABINET-MAKER AND UNDERTAKER,
No. 93 Broughton St., Savamuih, Ga.,
TS prepared to execute all orders in his line at
JL the lowest prices, with dispatch. Orders from the count!}’
promptly attended to. Ready-made coflins always on hand,
and made to order at short notice.
June 28 3mo
ill. A. 1 ohvsi.
(Late of the firm of S. Solomons Cos.)
mimm ‘m forwauhm bermt.
savannah, ga.
Agent for steam packets 11. L. Cook and Ivanhoe.
MARSH & WEBSTER,
.ATTORNEYS AT LAW,
- 175 Bay-Street—Up-Stairs.
SAVANNAH, GEORGIA.
M ulfgrd Marsh. Andrew M. W ebster
BOOK AND JOB PRINTING,
jOf all kinds, executed at ilsiw Oilscc, with ncafnrM* M*
<leii>nteh.
HAYING lately put our Office in complete or (Id
and made large additions to it, we have now the most ft
tensive Job Printing Office in the City and are
execute all kinds of PLAIN AN i) FANCY PRINTIN'-
with nearness and despatch, and on the most accomodat#
terms. Office 102 Bryan-street, entrance on Bay Lane.
Savannah, March 22d, 1849. EDWARD .T.” PURSE
A FRIEND OF THE FAMILY.
A WEEKLY SOUTHERN NEWSPAPER, PUBLISHED
EVERY THURSDAY, BY
EDWARD J. PURSE.
T ERMS:—T WO DOLLARS A Y’ EA K
I hree C opies for one year, or one copy three years, &
Seven Copies, 10 C
Twelve Copies, lo l1i)
Advertisements to a limited extent, will be inse rfP1 ‘
at the rate of 50 cents for a square of nine lines or
the first insertion, and 30 cents for each subsequent iosuu
Business cards inserted for a year at Five Dollars.
A liberal discount will be made to Post Masters
will do us the favor to act as Agents.
Postmasters are authorized to remit money to Publish
arid all money mailed in presence of tho Postmaster*
duly forwarded by him, is at our risk.
All communications to be addressed (post-pakD t* 1
E. 1. TCK.SE, Savannah. *•