Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 1930. CORRECT SPEECH.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 50, Issue 74, 8 January 1930, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 1930. CORRECT SPEECH.

To the ftieat majority of people correctness' in grammatical form is of more moment in regard to speech than, speaking broadly, is me pronunciation of words according to strict rule. The man who uses a long vjowel where a short one is correct will pass muster in most circles, whereas he who invariably says “I seen him” would find many critics. Hut notwithstanding, the development of broadcasting has aroused considerable attention to the question of standardised English and interest attaches to the judgment on a number of words delivered by the Advisory Committee on spoken English set up by the British Broadcasting Corporation to draw up rules for the guidance of its announcers. If the decisions of the committee do not completely convince everybody, they will at least enlighten many to whom correct speaking is a matter of concern and .thought. Barely used words of two or three syllables of course occupy the major portion of the latest list, but there are included two words of one syllable, in common, everyday use. These are “off” and “ass.” The official announcers ofthe British Corporation have been gravely perturbed by the criticism which their pronunciation of these two words evoked from a considerable body of listeners-in. The word “as's” in particular has proved true to the proverbial stubborn willed nature of the animal it is used to designate. In fhe words of the secretary of the Advisory Committee, it has “failed to make up its mind which way it will go.” The difficulty appears to have arisen out of a peculiarity of the speech of Southern England to lengthen the vowel in all. similar words except “hiss,” which, being more commonly used in-the North, retains its short vowel. The committee, however, decided against the long vjowel and in future, so far as wireless iVnnouncers in Britain are concerned, “ass” will rhyme with “lass.” “Off,” also, it will gladden the heart of tnany a seeker after correct speech to find, is to remain short, although in London it has come to sound dangerously like “awf” or even “orf,” owing fo the influence of purely cockney parlance, which can be heard in words like “orawss” for “cross,” “gawn” for “gone” and so on. For how long “off” is to remain short seems uncertain, hut the committee facetiously expresses (he hope that “awf” is “gawn” for ever.