O Distraction!
T’S odd how disconcerting a peculiarity of pronunciation on the air may prove. I am sorry to say that I have been quite unable to follow intelligently Professor Rutherford’s talks, Episode’ in the Life of Sir George Grey, solely because he chooses to pronounce the word "governor" as if the first "o" had the same sound as it has in "sovereign." The pronunciation would be of little importance if the word were used only once or twice during a talk, but since the talks are about a governor it recurs continually, together with "govern," "governing" and "government," all treated in the same strange way. The cumulative effect is quite unnerving. The speaker has other peculiarities, too: he insists, for "example, on giving full value to each of the vowels, "ia," in the niddle of the word "parliament." I have veard enough to gather that there is very good material in these talks, and I hope some day to read the biography of Grey which Professor Rutherford is writing, and of which the talks are a by-product. But I cannot listen to him.
R.D.
McE.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19560921.2.34.2
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 35, Issue 894, 21 September 1956, Page 18
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186O Distraction! New Zealand Listener, Volume 35, Issue 894, 21 September 1956, Page 18
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