Two weeks ago you will recall that I had walked through George Town. While doing so I had kept a sharp eye on the blue street name signboards for their spellings always provide some rich material. I did think there was something wrong with Humpherson Street but did not pay much attention owing to the general chaos. Last Sunday I was back, and this time at 6.00 am. I had ample opportunity to take a proper look, and this is what I found.
This is not the first time this street name has changed. Strictly speaking it ought to have been Umpherston Street but even in British times, as is evident from the writings of HD Love in his Vestiges of Old Madras in 1913, the street name had changed to Humpherson. An H had been added where none existed, probably because someone felt it was silent, as in honour. This contrasted with the way the Y in Yeldham vanished to make it Eldam’s Road – adding a Y in pronouncing is common in our region when a word begins with an E and clearly whoever was in charge of signboards in the 20th century thought that was wrong.
