Society for Pure English, Tract 05 - The Englishing of French Words; the Dialectal Words in Blunden's Poems by Society for Pure English
page 30 of 45 (66%)
page 30 of 45 (66%)
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Here _churning_ is a mistake; we are sorry to begin with an
animadversion, but the word should be _churring_. #Churr# is an echo-word, and though there may be examples of echo-words which have been bettered by losing all trace of their simple spontaneous origin, this is not one. It is like _burr, purr,_ and _whirr_; and these words are best spelt with double R and the R should be trilled. The absurdity of not trilling this final R is seen very plainly in _burr_, because that word's definition is 'a rough sounding of the letter R.' This is not represented by the pronunciation b[schwa]:. What that 'southern English' pronunciation does indicate is the vulgarity and inconvenience of its degradations. _Burr_ occurs in these poems: 'There the live dimness burrs with droning glees'. (23) #Burr# is, moreover, a bad homophone and cannot neglect possible distinctions: the Oxford Dictionary has eight entries of substantives under _burr._ Our author also uses _whirr_: 'And the bleak garrets' crevices Like whirring distaffs utter dread', (26) and again of the noise of wind in ivy, on p. 54, and 'The damp gust makes the ivy whir', (48) _whir_ rhyming here with _executioner_. |
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