AndyHall
Colonel
- Joined
- Dec 13, 2011
Do you go to reenactments and hold forth with a lusty "Huzza!" when the occasion strikes? According to the Journal of the American Revolution, you're doing it wrong.
In the English speaking world from the late sixteenth century to the mid nineteenth century, the dominant cheer was Huzza! (spelled Huzza, not Huzzah or Huzzay).[1] During the period of the American War for Independence Huzza! appears so frequently, and to the exclusion of other cheers, in letters, diaries, newspaper articles, orders and literature as to make it the predominant, if not universal cheer on both sides of the Atlantic.
It is always tricky to attempt to replicate the pronunciation of words as they were pronounced centuries ago. A cheer is a vocalization. Accents, inflections and pronunciations constantly evolve. In the absence of direct evidence from audio recordings, ancient pronunciations can be questioned. And the eighteenth century spelling, “Huzza,” is ambiguous regarding pronunciation. There are at least forty different ways in which the word “Huzza” might be pronounced in the English language.[2] Which of these forty-plus possible pronunciations was in use in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries?
In the case of “Huzza!” there is compelling evidence from period dictionaries, poetry and song that the common, indeed virtually universal pronunciation among English speakers was “Huzzay!” to rhyme with words such as “hay,” “day,” “pray,” “say,” “may,” “away,” “delay” and “play.”
It is always tricky to attempt to replicate the pronunciation of words as they were pronounced centuries ago. A cheer is a vocalization. Accents, inflections and pronunciations constantly evolve. In the absence of direct evidence from audio recordings, ancient pronunciations can be questioned. And the eighteenth century spelling, “Huzza,” is ambiguous regarding pronunciation. There are at least forty different ways in which the word “Huzza” might be pronounced in the English language.[2] Which of these forty-plus possible pronunciations was in use in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries?
In the case of “Huzza!” there is compelling evidence from period dictionaries, poetry and song that the common, indeed virtually universal pronunciation among English speakers was “Huzzay!” to rhyme with words such as “hay,” “day,” “pray,” “say,” “may,” “away,” “delay” and “play.”
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