Over-Refined Pronunciation

— In the September number of the Contributors’ Club, in the article Impressions of the Theatre, a writer says : “ Her enunciation, whether she spoke or sang, was perfect, — clear and well defined. When she came to the word ‘ maiden,’ for example, the two syllables ‘ mai-den ’ must have dropped like pearls in the remotest corner of the upper gallery. In fact, her whole performance showed long and careful training,” etc.

Of course, enunciation is not pronunciation, but does not the writer of the words quoted imply that “ mai-den ” is a good pronunciation of “maiden”? As a matter of fact, however, is not such a pronunciation as objectionable as “ hea-ven ” for “ hev-vn,” “ e-vil ” for “e-vl,” “ dĕ-vil ” for « dev-vl” ?

Is not over-refined pronunciation more objectionable than careless pronunciation ? We all know persons who say “ a-gāin ” with frightfully exact inaccuracy. “Citizen ” is another word that suffers in a similar way, and there are those who make a religion of “at all.” Cannot some new and ingenious form of torture be invented as a punishment for those ignorantly exact eacoepists who inflict such sufferings on their fellow-beings ?