The Jeweller's Window "NEW ZILND"

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30342, 18 January 1964, Page 5

The Jeweller's Window "NEW ZILND"

"VEW Zealand is the only ,x ’ country I know of whose inhabitants—-many of them that is, probably a majority, —habitually mispronounce the name of their own country. What they do, and fail to do, is this; after producing that “1” they pass on to the “n” without detaching the tip of the tongue from the palate so that no vowel intervenes, as it should do, between the “1” and the “a.” This is pure laziness, the New Zealander spares himself the minute effort which is necessary if he is to produce the correct sound. The “ea" of “Zea” is also shortened to “i.” It may be maintained, and has been to my knowledge, that the shortening of the ‘eg” to “i” is a natural change according to an old law of sound. The lazy speaker shortens one vowel and abolishes another, the word is, in fact, disen vowelled. If it is true that the “ea” of “Zea” is shortened to “I” in a legal manner then we should find a similar shortening in all such cases. Let us see if this is so. Instead of ‘seasick” we would say “sissick”; instead of “sea-legs,” “sillegs”; of “bee-stings,” “bisstings”; of “flea-bite.” “flibbite,” of “he-goat,” “higgoat,” of “keynote,” “kinnote,” of “tea-pot,” “tippot” and so also “tispoon,” "tilleaves” and

‘tithings.” But do we? I will now give a more detailed account of the mechanism involved in the loss of the vowel. The ‘T’ is pronounced by a slight, gentle pressure of the tip of the tongue to the hard palate just above the teeth or rather the roots of the teeth; at this stage the tongue-tip should be detached from the palate so that a clear passage is made for the vowel, but the tongue does not leave the palate; it moves from the “1” position slightly backward and increases the pressure while opening the nasal passage to produce the “n”; from this point it proceeds normally to the d-position still further increasing the pressure of the tongue against the palate and there you have it. Ibis is a description of an extreme example; actually there are grades of malfeasance for some speakers too hurriedly and ineffectively detach the tongue from the palate after producing the “1” so that a very rapid opening of a very small gap allows the pronunciation of a very short vowel between “1” and "n.” Truly, "the tongue can no man tame, it is an unruly evil.” (The General Epistle' of James, H 1,8.) I A final note: All Newzilnders are males. I have never heard a woman say “Newzlnd” and I hope I never will