220
NOTES AND QUERIES. (12 s. vi. MAY is, 1920.
. asja living instrument inseparably connected with
rthe life and habits of the men and women who
i use it and who live in a world of change anc
- action. Thus we should like to refer our readers
- to Prof. Wyld's illuminating remarks in the
i introductory passages of chaps, i. and iii. and to ! his treatment of the work of the sixteenth-century
orthoepists in chap. iv. The failures of the latter
- are shown in a stronger light in chap, vi., where
- the work of more recent orthoepists is discussed
and criticized, and where a host of problems are t thrown up, which call for early solution if we are
ever to get beyond our present state of conjecture in the matter of Early Modern English pronuncia- tion.
In chap. vi. and the following chapters the > vexed question of occasional spellings, especially with regard to vowels in stressed syllables, r receives able treatment at the hands of the i author, who continues Dr. Zachrisson's pioneer
work in this branch of philology. Much benefit
-would accrue to the study of Middle French by the . application of such a method.
Perhaps the operation of phonetic laws might
- " have been mentioned to explain such cases of the
Joss and addition of final consonants as are
enumerated on pp. 303-311 passim, especially the almost invariable development of t after n and A after m.
The generally accepted pronunciation of falcon, which is quoted on p. 297 as an instance of the " restoration " of I in modern pronunciation, is -surely [fokan].
On p. xv, where a table of phonetic symbols used is given, [ 5] is quoted as giving the sound of g in German sagen. It should have been added that this pronunciation of medial g as a voiced fricative is prevalent in certain parts of Germany only and is not the standard pronunciation.
Is 'prodestant' not an instance of " dissimilation " like 'pantomine,' which is not confined to Irish speakers of English (cp. p. 313)?
We venture to express the hope that historical
English Syntax and English Semantics will soon
form the subjects of treatises as scholarly as the
present one. It is distinctly encouraging to know
that the day is past when we had to wait for
Sweet's " inevitable German " to show us how
1 to tackle English studies. Prof. Wyld can be
i proud of having done pioneer work in this field.
NINETEEN CITY CHURCHES IN DANGER.
[We are glad to print this protest from our correspondent, and are confident that it has the support of all our readers as it has our own.]
IT is to be hoped that all readers of ' N. & Q.' will do their utmost to prevent the recommendations of the Commission being carried through. The Commissioners appointed by the Bishop of London suggest that nineteen churches in the City of London should be demolished, and this after we had congratulated ourselves that they had escaped destruction from the German aeroplanes.
All the churches condemned have historical associations, particularly St. Mary, Aldnrmanbury, and St. Magnus.- London Bridge, but it is difficult to specialise. Nicholas Hawksmoore's church of St. Mary, Woolnoth, is condemned, likewise
St. Michael's, Cornhill, St. Mary-at-Hill, and
St. Nicholas Cole Abbey, all gems in themselves,
most of which contain carving by Grinling Gibbons,
notably the reredos of St. Magnus, London Bridge.
There must be few old families who have not had
some ancestor christened, married, or buried in the
churches scheduled for destruction, and are the
pious memories of the founders and benefactors,
and the sanctified sentiment connected therewith
to count for naught ?
Thirteen of the nineteen are Wren churches. Thomas Carlyle described them "as precious heir- looms, many of them specimens of noble archi- tecture, the like of which we have no prospect of ever being able to produce again," and it is surely our duty to hand them on to our descendants as we have received them from the hallowed past. They form a priceless heritage of architectural beauty second to none 4n the world, and for them to be remove_d for the sake of monetary gain is sheer vandalism. This wholesale rifling of the tombs of the dead to provide for the living, for that is what it really comes to, is too dreadful to think of and must be prevented at all costs. We have lost too many City churches already.
CHAS. HALL CROUCH.
Hermon Hill, South Woodford.
to
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H. (" Chaucer's Christian Name.") " Dan " is an old contraction for " Dominus," and was used as the proper style title of clerkly persons in
haucer's day.
CORRIGENDA. Ante, p. 173, col. 2, 11. 41 and 45, f or "Ham" read Ham. Ante, p. 186, col. J, 1. 14-15, art. "Bellum," for " Theocritus " read Theaet&is, and 1. 18 for " bellius " read bellms.
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