be unsound. It is well enough to record a dialect, nor will any one
grudge him credit for his observation and diligence, but to reduce a
dialect to theoretic laws and then impose those laws upon the speakers
of it is surely a monstrous step. And in this particular instance the
matter is complicated by the fact that Southern English is not truly a
natural dialect; Mr. Jones himself denotes it as P.S.P.=Public School
Pronunciation, and that we know to be very largely a social convention
dependent on fashion and education, and inasmuch as it is a product
of fashion and education it is not bound by the theoretical laws
which Mr. Jones would attribute to it; while for the same reason it is
unfortunately susceptible of being affected by them, if they should be
taught with authority. These phoneticians would abuse a false position
which they have unwarrantably created. This Southern English, this
P.S.P., is a 'fashionable' speech, fashionable that is in two senses;
and Mr. Jones would fashion it.

[Sidenote: judged by practical effects.]

But I wish to put my case practically, and, rather than argue, I would
ask what are the results of learning English on Mr. Jones' system?
What would be the condition of a man who had learnt in this way?

[Sidenote: His three styles.]

I shall assume that the pupil has learnt his pronunciation from the
dictionary, the nature of which is now known to my readers: but they
should also know that Mr. Jones recognizes and teaches three different
styles, which he calls the A, B, and C styles, 'A, the pronunciation
suitable for recitation or reading in public; B, the pronunciation
used in careful conversation, or reading aloud in private; and C, the