THE COLONIAL. AGENT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 311, 30 December 1908, Page 4

THE COLONIAL. AGENT.

SOME CAUSES AMI) A REMEDY.

An>oiig the arrivals in Auckland by the Victoria from Sydney ;\vas Mr. Edward Reeves, professor of elocution of the Elder Conservatorium, Adelaide University. Speaking to a Herald representative, he had something interesting to say on the question of the colonial accent.

"The question of the Australian accent," said Mr. Reeves, "lias been one which has been, brought very much under my attention, and I. have no doubt that the trouble we experience there with regard to it is very much the same as that which has been, referred to your columns with regard to the New Zealand accent. There is a general tendency in the growth of all communities —until counteracted hv particular attention to the speech arts—towards deterioration or dialectism. if 1 may put it that way. For instance, there is a general tendency towards the transformation of the vowel sounds, such as the pronunciation of *i' for •«,' as 'inie' for aim, 'a' for V as 'bane' for bean, 'oi' for "i,* as 'tonne' for time, 'o\v' for 'o,' a.s 'towld' for told. Then what are called the secondary vowels are al3o , mutilated very much on the same lines. [This is due,in.my opinion, to a want of knowledge of the proper position of the cnunciatory organs in the formation of these sounds, and can only be rectified by a thorough system of instruction in vowelisation in the schools. Ido not doubt that the teachers here are doing good work, but the system wants v,o be thorough throughout, Sol' the Education Department, to grapple with this diilieulty. Then there is the question of consonant formation, which is a matter more of distinctness of enunciation than of accent. This also arises from a want of knowledge of the proper action of the organ is percussing the consonants.

"Of course I do not know what 111 1 ' peculiar difficulties of New Zealand speech are, but I sliould infer Unit tliev are very much the. same as in Australia, with siiglit modifications, perhaps. I do not wish it to be inferred from this that English is moro defective in the colonies than anywhere else. When we renumber all the different dialects U7id provincialisms which are to be found in the Old Country, I am rather inclined to the, opinion that the accent ill Australia is, on the whole, quite as pure as it is there, but, as 1 said before, there is a general tendency with the "rowlli of a community to the perversion of accent by the rising genciatioi, unless it is counteracted by special elocutionary training. Of course, there arc many other causes, such as climatic influence on the vocal organs, which tend to accentuate these, deteriorations, luit I think I have indiated the mam causes in regard to the. vowelisation.'