The Sounds of Spoken English (Illustrated)

As the title of this book is ambitious, and the sub-title may not suffice to indicate its limitations, it is well to warn the reader that he will find no exhaustive treatment of English speech sounds. That would have required knowledge greater than mine, and more space than was at my disposal. The little book is an attempt to gain fellow-workers in a field which is unduly neglected, yet full of promise. Fascinating indeed are the problems afforded by the speech of those around us; perplexing often, stimulating to further inquiry.

It was in teaching the pronunciation of foreign languages that I first realized how important it is to acquire a knowledge of the sounds of the mother tongue. Before the learner can acquire the fresh habits of speech peculiar to the foreign language, his teacher must know clearly what distinguishes the new sounds from those familiar in the mother tongue, for only then can the foreign pronunciation be imparted in a methodical way. It has been shown convincingly that it is vain to trust altogether to imitation, however correct and clear may be the pronunciation of the teacher.

The book may therefore be useful to the teacher of foreign languages; but it is intended also for a larger circle. In our Training Colleges, noted for earnest work, the importance of the spoken language has long been felt, and much attention has been devoted to the cultivation of the voice. My object has not been to write on voice production, though occasional reference to the subject has been made. It has not been my aim to say how the language ought to be spoken, to improve upon the ordinary speech of our day, but to represent it to the best of my ability, and to enable others to distinguish speech sounds when they hear them. If it be desirable to improve upon our speech, its present condition and tendencies must first be determined.