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English - wrote good, spoke crook!

By Ian Nance - posted Tuesday, 4 November 2008


I remember, fondly, my high school days way back in the era when language studies were mandatory. Students tolerated language lessons with differing degrees of enthusiasm, while some were motivated to absorb the culture of the country whose idiom was being learnt.

My form was particularly lucky to have an inspiring Latin teacher. Regularly, he required us to chat exclusively in Latin, except when seeking his guidance. If there was no English word or phrase equivalent, we had to create one and justify our reasons for doing so. Needless to say, learning was fun!

This mentor awakened the desire to study the history and application of aspects of Roman civilisation; such things as its legal system, imperialism, and the army. I found myself borrowing and reading books in Latin on these subjects: it just seemed a natural thing to do, and I understood the language well. This led to my observing the grammatical rules of other languages and bettering my skill with English. Schooldays awareness of etymology gave an understanding of our dialect and its syntax, and raised awareness of poor or sloppy use.

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I feel sorry for those who cannot properly use the expressive, complicated, enormously artistic power of English, which prevents their applying its potential for excellent communication.

I speak Chinese, in which word meanings depend on inflection; in this language, tone is critical. Some of its words are like our homonyms except that meaning is often less subjective, less dependent upon sentence positioning than on intonation.

In English, there is a difference between the noun “book” and the verb to “book”, and the distinction in meaning of the written word “bow”, whether used as a noun or verb. A printed sentence might read: “I’m going to throw the book at you. You’re booked! Now tie your bow tie properly, and bow out!” To make sense of that sentence demands an awareness of homonyms, as well as an understanding of structure. For listeners, all languages are tonal to varying degrees, underscoring the relationship of correct pronunciation to interpretation.

Today’s educational problems include literacy, which is affected by wrong grammar and incorrect speech. Americanised English has a high impact on us.

No stage or film actor, or those directing them, would accept the delivery of words in a way that did not suit the mood and gist of the script.

Word emphasis, as well as inflection, controls the meaning of a sentence. There’s an old gag, used to demonstrate this, based on the song: “What Is This Thing Called Love?”

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It can be spoken as: “WHAT! Is this thing called LOVE?”, or: “What is this THING called love?, even: “What is THIS thing called, love?” What you stress is what you imply.

Voice-over artists and commercial producers heed emphasis to achieve an advertising aim during recording. There is a big difference between; “BUY now while stocks last”; “buy NOW while stocks last; and “buy now while stocks LAST”. The first is an imperative; the next declaims immediacy; the latter highlights availability.

When Cole Porter wrote “Anything Goes”, he could have been writing about current trends in English usage.

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About the Author

Ian Nance's media career began in radio drama production and news. He took up TV direction of news/current affairs, thence freelance television and film producing, directing and writing. He operated a program and commercial production company, later moving into advertising and marketing.

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