THE ENGLISH TONGUE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22827, 11 March 1936, Page 3

THE ENGLISH TONGUE

SLOVENLINESS IN SPEECH IN NEW ZEALAND REPRESENTATIONS TO THE MINISTER OF EDUCATION Mr G. W. Johnstone, of this city, has addressed an open letter to the Minister of Education (Mr P. Fraser) strongly urging upon him the desirability of securing a clearer and more musical speech as a national asset in New Zealand and emphasising the responsibility that rests on the teachers in the primary and secondary schools to stem the drift towards the hybrid vowel which, Mr Johnstone eays, exists in the Dominion. In the course of his letter Mr Johnstone eays:—

“ That certain very undesirable features have crept into our speech is obvious to any person at all qualified to form a judgment on the matter. From time to time visitors to our shores comment freely upon our speech, but, interesting as these may be, few of them have any particular value. Some say we have a Cockney accent, others a marked colonial accent —whatever that might be—we have no accent, our speech is uncultured, it is better than Oxford, it is worse, and so on ad infinitum.” Mr Johnstone holds that the time is ripe for action if our speech is to improve and we are to be known ns a people who speak English clearly and musically—a people of musical speech. We have, he says, many advantages. One of the greatest of these is our isolation, others a reasonably high standard of general education, our climate, our excellent physique, and the fact that we pride ourselves in being 99 per cent. British in population. Strictly speaking, there can bo no such thing as a standard speech. There must be room for personality in all speech, but all speech should bo clear, rhythmic, and full of the music of pure vowel sounds, and it is here that the emphasis should be placed in our schools—and placed continually by every teacher, in season and out of season. It should not bo too much to expect that every teacher in the land whose privilege it is to impart knowledge to the rising generation should see to it that he or she is adequately equipped for the task, and no teacl r is so equipped who is not a distinct speaker. Generally speaking, Mr Johnstone says, the speech of the country it quite fair. Taking a broad view, be would not be inclined to place it higher than that, and that is a reason why it should lie very much better. We have, however, one very ugly sound which, if corrected, would add enormously to the beauty of our speech. He refers to the “ow ” ns in “ down,” “ cow,” “ town.” It is, of course, a diphthong formed by combining the two sounds “ah ” and “ oo.” To form the intial “ ah ” the lower jaw must drop. Not a very difficult matter, and yet the neglect of this simple movement plus thoughtful tone-placing and a slack tongue is the cause of our very ugly contraction of the sound which so mars our speech. Ask any boy or any girl for that matter to say “ow,” and eight out of 10, unless they have received skilful instruction, will begin with the sound of “ a ” in “ hat ” instead of the “a ” in “ art.” This percentage is much too high. That is where the trouble lies and, if corrected, is sufficient alone to place our speech upon a definitely higher plane. The “i ” vowel is drifting towards “oi.” “Night” becomes “ noight,” and for practically the same reason—a lazy jaw. “ Shall ” is drifting towards “ shell,” while the rounding of that very musical “o ” sound which for character and sonority ia incomparable, is fast degenrating into “ow”—“now” for “no.” All these imperfections are in the direction of hardness and aridity of tone, and, if corrected, would place our speech on a euro and safe foundation, and we may in the process of time come to bo known as New Zealanders by the excellence of cur speech. Our aim, Mr Johnstone holds, must be natural speech artistically delivered, and this can only proceed from an acquired technique as in any other art. He suggests that the Education Department must set a stern face against pedantic, affected or extravagant utterance, which is all too urevalent in certain uninformed Quarters, and Work for unforced expression of thought and feeling, with the knowledge that the perfect voice can express any human emotion. He instances that type of speech which insists on articulating the initial “<1” in “Wednesday,” which over-emphasises the “ day ” in “ Monday,” and which produces an ugly uvular “r ” in ‘ father ” and 1 mother.” There is a tag which says “ Take care of the vowels and the consonants will take care of themselves.” Like most tags, it is not true, but it is true that the vowels are the music of our speech and the consonants tire, as a general rule, for neatness, tidiness if one likes. It is also true that children learn speech sounds from those with whom they live. Later, at a very impressionable age from 5 to 17, that is through their primary and secondary school course, they are influenced by their teachers. That is a point which cannot be too strongly emphasised. In a school whore all teachers speak with a due regard for the educated and cultured usage of their time the improvement will be most marked, and is it too much to expect this standard from them? The teacher is the real power in the land and that applies equally to all teachers of arts or crafts who are carrying out their work with skill and enthusiasm in the physical, mental and spiritual development of those under their guidance.