NATION'S SPEECH.

Otaki Mail, 7 November 1923, Page 4

NATION'S SPEECH.

ENGLAND’S MAD MEDLEY. The United Kingdom is p.n amazing menagerie of dialects (writes j "A.H.A.” in the ’‘Sydney Sun”). Every j country, and often each hamlet, has its definitely defined dialect, the product of ages of stagnation in the home village or the home shire. The Eng- , lish language was formed from eelituries. The lack of communications and the reluctance to travel led to this wonderful efflorescence of varied dialect's. The idea of speaking English pure and unfleflled was never conceived. The different dialects were ilready formed before llie art of print, ng attempted to standardise the language. And when England became , modernised its dialects were the last j to feel the impulse. Indued, that im- , pulse wuis frowned upon. Tho English© < cherish and reverence anything that is. old and native to the soil I NOISES OF NEW YORK. “Yes,’ ’said the English squire, with pride, “there is an old mar. in this village who speaks the dialect so-well that I feel sure that you wouldn’t wulevstand a word he says!” And he Ju'.j p'n.v chuckle." And even the squire. ; despite all his education, speaks with his country’s accent. Not only is a dialect common to all the natives of one country, but immediately over the border of these little sections of English soil, you meet a totally different intonation. Old England is a mad medley of dialects still. America has not only hundreds of different languages, and thousands of dialect's, but there are certain . accents that are distinctly marked, such as the soft southern accent, the staccato western accent, and the middle western accent. There is no accent in New York; tho inhabitants merely make assorted noises through their noses.

| Australia, however, is a continent | with a. universal accent, or, perhaps, a a continent without an accent. The 9 Australian drawl is noticed by over* 1 seas visitors; but they do not detect any varieties of the drawl. Australians distort- their vowel sounds almost as shockingly as the cultured English do. It is recorded as a fact that the only place in the United Kingdom wheie the English language is perfectly and correctly spoken is in Dublin. But then the Irish have an instinct for beauty of sounds. Whether Dublin is still speaking beautiful English or hurling bombs is doubtful; but if Professor Higgins (the article is based on Shaw's “Pygmalion”) wants to find forgotten • English pronunciation of perfect EugSlish, he need merely journey to New Zealand. That Dominion, "more English than tho English,” as Northcliffo , said, speaks the common tongue with a clearness and beauty not to be found in Oxford or the British Parliament. 1 A New Zealander in Sydney is often mistaken by his enunciation for an Englishman. ONE FLAG —ONE SPEECH. During the war Diggers were always able to identify the. different. State battalions. That, however, was not due to accent, for all our accents ar e the same, but to divergences slight but definite, in type. The lanky Queenslander offered a decided contrast to the stocky Tasmanian. It is asserted that the Queenslander has more of a draw than have the inhabitants further south; but that distinction may have a wider scope. The man out back is more casual and perhaps lazier in his speech than the city j dweller. Ho doesn’t talk so much, ' S and when lie docs talk he doesn't I hurry. 11l accent and speech there |is only tho minutest difference beI tween the citizen of Melbourne and r Sydney. Each, of course, blames the ! I other for his dreadful accent. j •I In a country so blessed with a uniformity of language and accent, and so free from dialects, it is deplorable , that our schools . State and public which do attempt to make our youth j speak correct English, neglect so j shockingly the equally important mat | ter of accent. The Australia " twang," which is the natural human dislike to | effort in pronunciation, resulting In n ' I 3 lengthening of tho vowels, is, unfortunately, taught to our receptive youth by teachers who are unconscious, of their own twang. - Yet every nation’s speech is affectI ed by its climate: and it can be clalm»ed that, compared with England ana ] America, we are the nearest in accent 1 and in homegeneity of speech to the [ ideal.