NEW ZEALAND SPEECH

New Zealand Listener, Volume 36, Issue 916, 1 March 1957, Page 5

NEW ZEALAND SPEECH

Sir,-I enjoyed A. R. D. Fairburn’s article "Speech! Speech!" in your issue of February 8, though I do not altogether agree with some of his statements. He appears to be of the opinion that there is a definite and. recognisable New Zealand accent, which differs from something which he calls "Standard" English, and which is therefore bad and to be deplored. Having lived in different parts of New Zealand as well as overseas, I am of the opinion that the average New Zealander speaks as well as the average Australian, Englishman or Canadian, each of whom has a national accent which is recognisable. In the south of New Zealand there igs a distinct flavour of the Scottish accent which is absent in the north, though provincial accents have not developed enough here to be recognisable, possibly owing to the New Zealander’s habit of moving about his country. So far as I can judge, the average New Zealander uses English very similar to that used in the south of England. I have frequently been impressed, when attending meetings at which many people have spoken, with the high standard of the English used by the speakers, and the absence of the: sort of deviation from "standard" pronunciation to which Mr. Fairburn refers. However, there is a definite tendency in New Zealand to produce the voice in the back of the mouth, where the Eng-

lishman, or at least those who use a cultivated type of voice, uses the front of the mouth. The result is "oi" in New Zealand, and "ai" in England. This seems to me to be the main cause of whatever deviation there may be. It is fairly obvious that physical characteristics are influenced by the country in which we live. There is a definite Australian type, for instance, and the original stock from England would, I fancy, be found to be a different shape and stature from their present descendants, as well as having a different speaking voice. In New Zealand we appear to be gradually becoming more like the Maori in physiquea rather long and strong torso, with shortish, strong and heavy legs. Note also the Moa! This was impressed on me when there were parades of American and New Zealand troops during the war. The Americans were long and thin in the leg and not so strong and heavy in the body and the buttocks as the New Zealanders. This difference in physique between a battalion of Yanks and a battalion of New Zealanders, when on the march, was most noticeable, though between individuals the difference was not so noticeable. The white: New Zealanders appeared to be much better matched with the Maoris. Could this influence of environment be also present in voice production? The Maori produces his voice well back in

the throat, and that is what the white New Zealander has a tendency to do. Years ago, the popular conception of the Yankee was a long-legged individual who spoke with a pronounced nasal drawl, The ones we have seen of late years, both in films and in the flesh, seem to have largely lost the nasal effect, but we can easily recognise the American accent. We find difficulty in differentiating between'a man from the States and one from Canada so far as voice production is concerned, though I believe there is a difference which Canadians, at least; claim to be able to recognise. : I do not see that there is anything to be ashamed of if New Zealanders develop their own type of English, as well as their own type of physique. There has been plenty of criticism in England of what is called "BBC" English, and the difference between the language spoken in London and _ that spoken in Devonshire or Lancashire, is a great deal more noticeable than the difference between New Zealand English and the English used by the late King George the Fifth, for instance, Certainly I think that, if New Zealand children were encouraged to speak more from the roof of the mouth than the back of the throat, they would speak more pleasantly than they do, but there is one language for the school and another for the playground and the home, and I am inclined to think that we will, as one generation succeeds another, go on developing our own native method of speech as influenced by our environment, rather than by the example of the other English speakines nations.

P. L.

PORTER

(Heretaunga).