NEW ZEALAND SPEECH
Sir-A. J. Henderson’s ideas about the evolution of Standard English are highly original, but no more accurate for being that. A standard language does not appear until centralised government
or economic power is established, and then it is the language spoken by educated people in the area of the seat of government. If Winchester had added to its influence through the centuries, Standard English would sound very different to-day from Mr. Henderson’s variety. His naive acceptance of the belief that Standard English of 1944 differs from that of previous centuries in its greater freedom from unpleasant features is reminiscent of the philosophies of the 18th century, before the great discoveries of comparative philology were made. No doubt Shakespeare’s greatest handicap was that he lived more than three centuries too soon, and the Shakespearean actors’ most difficult obstacle to-day is to protect his author from being seen as the boor he
really was.-
W. J. M.
EIDOWNEY
(Christchurch).
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 12, Issue 287, 22 December 1944, Page 7
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160NEW ZEALAND SPEECH New Zealand Listener, Volume 12, Issue 287, 22 December 1944, Page 7
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