OUR PRONUNCIATION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18357, 24 March 1923, Page 1 (Supplement)

OUR PRONUNCIATION.

THE NEW STANDARD.

BT KOTABE.

It is obvious that in the pronunciation of words like " year " New Zealand is bound to take her own line. The recognised English form is deemed ecentric here; our commonest form is not admitted to up-to-date English phonetic dictionaries. But if we chose occasionally, to regard the cultured English pronunciation as an affectation, we resolutely refuse to accept American forms. The broad "a" which in most of America is considered the work of the "highbrow" New Englander, and a sign of subservience to British standards, is the ordinary New Zealand form. We insist on giving the vowel in "grass" the full value of the "a" in "father." The shortened vowel arouses our mirth when we hear it from the stage or platform, on the well-recognised colonial principle that whatever differs from our current usage must necessarily be ridiculous. In the same way, the American "noo" for "new" seems to us an inexplicable eccentricity. Webster maintains that " figure '" should be pronounced "fig-yoor;" one occasionally hears that full-mouthed pedantry in New Zealand, especially among the products of some of our schools of elocution, which conceive that the mouthing of words is the only way to achieve accuracy. But the only accepted English form is also the commonest usage among New Zealanders; we shall always make "figure" rhyme with " nigger." It is the same with other words ending in " ure/' " nature " is " natsher;" both the Oxford dictionary and Daniel Jones agree on that and New Zealand has already fallen into line. " Picture " is " piktsher," and will never be anything else. In the same way we follow England not America in words like "story" and "glory." Webster stands for "stow-ry," an impossible pronunciation both in England and in New Zealand. American Forms. Our fidelity to the English norm is the more remarkablo when we note that New Zealanders are apparently much more familiar with American vocabulary than Englishmen appear to be. In a recent American novel that has risen at a bound to the best-seller class, there is a glossary of American words and phases likely to be unintelligible to the average Englishman. Included in it are many words that certainly require no translation for the New Zealand public. "Gee," "gosh," et hoc genus omne, unfortunately, are as wellknown to us as presumably they are upon the Broadway or anywhere in the Middle West. " Beat it" needs no interpretation, nor "grouch" for "ill-temper," nor "fix" for "arrange." Apparently the Englishman is behind us in his knowledge of American slang, and "Prof" for "Professor," alleged to be Middle Western, has long been the commonest of Now Zealand usages. Surely it is not unknown in English and Scottish Universities. If this glossary is in any sense authoritative, which one has many reasons for doubting, some words have taken a meaning of their own in our Dominion. ,__ For' example, "hoodlum" common enough. here. It boars only one' meaning, larrikin or " hooligan," yet our illuminating glossary announces that the American meaning, is "crank." In the same way, "roustabout," which in a modified form is a commonplace in our back-country stations, is alleged to mean in America, "a revolutionary." It may be so. But what are we to make of "poobah" said to be an Americanism signfying a " Hierophant. l ' Gilbert would have a word to say about that. And somehow "kibosh,",,olaimed as American for "extinguisher," has a, good old Cockney ring. It's a wise father that knows his own child. But however we decide questions of origin, it is plain that if the average Englishman requires an interpreter to elucidate the mysteries, of American vocabulary we have to admit that the average New Zealandw know* the language, though he does i.ot make much use of it. Our knowledge is due to American control of the picture industry, and to our unfortunate taste in American fiction. We know the words by sightrather than by sound. That is something to be thankful for. We still stand for Britain and British usage when there is difference in the spoken word. And every year should see us confirmed in our British allegiance. Clipping the Vowels. There are many other words that show the same tendency to abbreviation we have noticed in "nature" and "picture." The commonest vowel in English is the obscure sound, represented in the International Phonetic Script by an inverted "e." and pronounced as "er" with the "r' silent. The tendency is to slur all vowels but the one bearing the stress. You find it in the last syllable of "furniture," and the medial "i" is only with difiioulty holding its ground. It has given up the struggle in "admiral;" both the vowels after the accent have become 'the handy e(r). The first 'o' in "morose"' has lost all its original sound; "a" in "again" follows the prevailing fashion. In "certain," "ai" is on the way to complete disappearance in pronunciation. In New Zealand, the usual form is "certn;" that is also the commonest English form. Some refuse to go the full distance and convert "tain" to "tin." But the tenure of the "i" is precarious. "Mountain" and "captain" have each reduced their final syllable to "tin" in England; we have gone a step further in New Zealand. In ordinary usage, the final vowel had dropped out altogether. "Jealous" sees New Zealand giving a value to the "ous" that both Jones and the Oxford dictionary declare .it has ceased to have in England. We still keep some trace of the "u" sound; in England there is not a sign of it left. Sometimes we run ahead of English forms; usually we are more prone to clip the vowel sounds; but on occasion we lag behind. The great thing, however, is "chat we are not behind England in an appreciation of the fundamental fact: usage, not the pedantry of the dictionary-maker is going to determine pronunciation. We can pronounce the words as they are spelt, if we wish ; but we cannot hold back the tide. It has set definitely and steadily in one direction, and nothing can turn it back. The slovenly speech that used to be condemned in our young people, the clipping of vowels that was supposed by purists to be mere vocal laziness, turns out to be in the main correct. Dissyllables are being telescoped into monosyllables ; vowels are dropping out altogether. It is useless to teach a stiff formal pronunciation to children in the schools when it has ceased even to hold a place in that last refuge of phonetio conservatism, the dictionary. An Unjust Condemnation. Our defects are obvious. New Zealanders find the greatest difficulty in mastering the two dipthongs ai and an. They are brutally mutilated even in cultured speech. How rarely one hears the correct pronunciation of "Maori," "kauri," "shout," or "mine," "pine." There is much work totbe done here in our schools. Something should be done, too, to determine the precise value of the vowel in "dance," and "grant." But on the whole, New Zealand speech has been condemned by critics more for its merits than for its defects; it is time modern standards replaced the older formal pedantry.