You may recall from a reading of Ezra’s Essays that my eighth grade teacher was a buxom woman named Miss Maxwell.  She was the one who wore high-buttoned shoes and liked to read English poetry to us, much to the chagrin of all the boys of the class.  Miss Maxwell was very intent on teaching us about the particulars of English speech, such as nouns, adjectives, pronouns, adverbs, and even proverbs.  Those lessons more or less glanced off me without penetration.  So it is that I am not really a scholar of the English language.
But there are some thoughts that occasionally occupy what is left of my mind.  One of those thoughts has to do with the British practice of knocking a syllable out of certain words.  For example, an Englishman will pronounce the word “military” as “militry.”   There is another sound that accords with the spelling of military that is called “mil-i-tary.”  But I suspect that no respectable Englishman will ever say that he served in the “military” of the English nation.
Now if those persons of the military type hang around long enough, the chances are that at the end of life they may need a cemetery.  For no good reason whatsoever, the Brits will pronounce that word as “cemetry.”  I have no hope whatsoever of getting the British to pronounce all of the syllables in our common language.
But if you cross the Atlantic westward, you will find that Americans also mangle the language of the Anglo-Saxons that has been handed down to us.  The case I have in point involves the pronunciation of the word “been.”  For example we might say, “I have bin there.”  As a non-student of the English language, I would like to point out the proper word should be pronounced as “been” or, in the spelling as “bean.”  We typically say that “I have bin there” but we really mean that “I have been there.”
When there are young males carrying the names of Benjamin, it is appropriate to call them by their nicknames of Ben.  The proper sentences should read as follows: Ben (the nickname) has been(bean) there.  I am quite aware that the pronunciation of been (bean) might cause someone to accuse the speaker of snobbishness.  But if we are going to purify and glorify the English language, I would propose that there should be a distinction between “bin” and been (bean).  At my age it would not bother me if someone were to accuse me of snobbishness.  In the case of military and cemetery, I pronounce all of the syllables.  But here in the land of the free and the home of the brave, we still say “bin” when we mean “been.”  Americans should be required to say, “I seen him when he done it.”  Perhaps that exercise will cause the word been to be pronounced as the British use it to become more acceptable.
If the English wish to pronounce military and cemetery as “militry” and “cemetry,” that is acceptable to me because I now understand what the Brits mean.  I would only hope that my countrymen would pronounce been as bean, which is the proper pronunciation.
Seriously, Miss Maxwell, my eighth grade teacher who was nuts about fairies and goblins and all of the things that English poetry provided, never tumbled to the fact that been (bin) was so mispronounced in American speech.  If we have no trouble pronouncing seen, why should we pronounce been as bin?  It would do my heart a great favor if Miss Maxwell were to say, “I seen him when he done it.” And “Ben has been here.”
I have no hope of changing the English pronunciation of military and cemetery.  But I hope that my fellow countrymen may encounter the word “been” and pronounce it as “bean” and pay no attention to snobbishness.  If that situation ever comes to pass, I am sure that Miss Maxwell will be pleased as will her erstwhile student Ezra as well.
 
E. E. CARR
December 31, 2011
Essay 609
~~~
Kevin’s commentary: This post is not to be confused with this one of a similar title. There are, in all of Pop’s essays, no less than four essays of approximately this title, which sometimes makes it hard to keep straight. I suggest that for his next essay regarding the language of the Anglo-Saxons, my grandfather should consult with the ghost of Miss Maxwell to divine some new titular phrasing.
To the matter at hand, Pop needs to use his time brokering a language exchange of sorts. We will adopt their pronunciation of “been” if they will acknowledge the 17th letter of the alphabet. Seems fair to me.