Monotonous N.Z. Speech
New Zealand speech is monotonous and lacks vitality and stress in words, according to an Auckland teacher of speech, Mr John N. Thomson. In an address to the Takapuna Rotary Club he said that in polysyllabic words like “incalculable” New Zealanders tended to place equal stress on all syllables. One only should be stressed. Monotony was also caused by poor use of the vocal range, which had 16 notes, and by an unvarying pace. “Variation helps to keep interest,’ said Mr Thomson. “Hard voices hurled at us in buses and trams, woolly voices and thin, highpitched voices are a misuse of the voice. The mutilation of certain sounds is also a weakness.”
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Press, Volume XC, Issue 27397, 9 July 1954, Page 6
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115Monotonous N.Z. Speech Press, Volume XC, Issue 27397, 9 July 1954, Page 6
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