Often, however, the process has worked the other way around, with
pronunciation following spelling. We will see how the changes of spelling in
words like descrivel describe and parfet/perfect resulted in changes in
pronunciation, but many other words have been similarly influenced. Atone was
once pronounced "at one" (the term from which it sprang), while atonement was
"at onement." Many people today pronounce the t in often because it's there
(even though they would never think to do it with soften, fasten, or hasten) and I
suspect that a majority of people would be surprised to learn that the correct (or
at least historic) pronunciation of waistcoat is "wess-kit," of victuals is "vittles, "
of forehead is "Torrid," and of comptroller is "controller" (the one is simply a
fancified spelling of the other). In all of these the sway of spelling is gradually
proving irresistible.
Quite a few of these spelling-induced pronunciation changes are surprisingly
recent. At the time of the American Revolution, husband was pronounced
"husban," soldier was "sojur," and pavement was "payment," .
Until well into the nineteenth century, zebra was pronounced "zebber," chemist was "kimmist," and Negro, despite its spelling, was "negger" (hence the insulting term nigger). Burchfield goes on to point out that until the nineteenth century swore was spoken with a silent w (as sword still
is) as were Edward and upward, giving "Ed'ard" and "up'ard."
Much of this would seem to fly in the face—indeed, does fly in the face—of
what we were saying earlier, namely that pronunciations tend to become slurred
over time. Although that is generally true, there are constant exceptions.
Language, never forget, is more fashion than science, and matters of usage,
spelling, and pronunciation tend to wander around like hemlines. People say
things sometimes because they are easier or more sensible, but sometimes
simply because that's the way everyone else is saying them. Bounteous, forinstance, was in Noah Webster's day pronounced "bountchus"a clear case of
evolutionary slurring-but for some reason purists took exception to it and
bountchus quickly became a mark of ignorance. It is for the same reason
precisely that in modern England it is considered more refined to pronounce ate
as "et."
But without doubt the most remarkable example of pronunciation change arising
purely as a whim of fashion was the sudden tendency in eighteenth-century
upper-class southern England to pronounce words like dance, bath, and castle
with a broad a, as if they were spelled dahnce, bahth, and cahstle. In the normal
course of things, we might have expected the pronunciations to drift back.
But for some reason they stuck (at least they have so far), helping to underscore
the social, cultural, and orthoepic differences between not only Britons and
Americans but even between Britons and Britons. The change was so
consequential and far-reaching that it is not so much a matter of pronunciation as
of dialect.