ord as flat as the way they say
"heart"--"haht." And "bone" and "coat"--"bawn," "cawt," to rhyme with awe!

Then South, there is too much salt--rather too much sugar. Every one's
mouth seems full of it, with "I" turned to "ah" and every staccato a
drawl. But the voices are full of sweetness and music unknown north of the
Potomac.

The Pennsylvania burr is perhaps the mother of the Western one. It is
strong enough to have mothered all the r's in the wor-r-rld!
Philadelphia's "haow" and "caow" for "how" and "cow," and "me" for "my" is
quite as bad as the "water-r" and "thot" of the West.

N'Yawk is supposed to say "yeh" and "Omurica" and "Toosdeh," and
"puddin'." Probably five per cent. of it does, but as a whole it has no
accent, since it is a composite of all in one.

In best New York society there is perhaps a generally accepted
pronunciation which seems chiefly an elimination of the accents of other
sections. Probably that is what all people think of their own
pronunciation. Or do they not know, whether their inflection is right or
wrong? Nothing should be simpler to determine. If they pronounce according
to a standard dictionary, they are correct; if they don't, they have an
"accent" or are ignorant; it is for them to determine which. Such
differences as between saying wash or wawsh, ad_ver_tisement or
adver_tise_ment are of small importance. But no one who makes the least
pretence of being a person of education says: kep for kept, genelmun or
gempmun or laydee, vawde-vil, or eye-talian.

=HOW TO CULTIVATE AN AGREEABLE SPEECH=

First of all, remember that while affectation is odious, crudeness must be
overcome. A low voice is always pleasing, not whispered or murmured, but
low in pitch. Do not talk at the top of your head, nor at the top of your
lungs. Do not slur whole sentences together; on the other hand, do not
pronounce as though each syllable were a separate tongue and lip exercise.

As a nation we do not talk so much too fast, as too loud. Tens of
thousands twang and slur and shout and burr! Many of us drawl and many
others of us race tongues and breath at full speed, but, as already said,
the speed of our speech does not matter so much. Pitch of voice matters
very much and so does pronunciation--enunciation is not so
essential--except to one who speaks in public.

Enunciation means the articulation of whatever you have to say distinctly
and clearly. Pronunciation is the proper sounding of consonants