NASALISATION

Hokitika Guardian, 17 July 1931, Page 5

NASALISATION

AMERICAN USE IN SYDNEY

SYDNEY, July 8

The complaint of an elocution authority that Sydney is suffering from what he expressively terms “nasalisation” because of its closer tough with American visitors and American speech than the other capital cities of Australia, is not without a big measure of justification. Sounds uttered partly through the nose, otherwise known as nasal twang, are common in Sydney. Purists in the science pf language- see also in Sydney a t sb^kipg: tendency towards Americanisation in speech. ‘‘O.K., Chief” is now a common expression in Sydney, although not, of course, in cultural circles, but ip offices it is quite an accepted form of speech among employees in their less serious moments. A flapper, for example, tells her girl friend that she is going “to make whoopee,” otherwise enjoy herself, although, in strict Americanese, it connotes usually a night of unbridled revelry. The better-class Americans in Sydney, however, are never guilty either of the slang of their country or of its r -commonly-aecepted nasal twang. They are less conspicuous, in fact, for the idioms of speech" than is the average 'Australian.