It has become imperative to take a second look at phonetics as the science concerned with pronunciation and the presentation of speech sound. Owing to our regional dialectic influence, or incursion as it affects the language of mass communication, English, we tend to pay less attention, if at all, to phonetics which involve the study of human organs used, or responsible for the production of sounds and how they are composed.
Understanding that English is not our mother tongue, or borrowed language, as some would say, yet, efforts should not be spared to emphasise both the written and spoken words in the school curriculum. But, here in Nigeria, as in most English speaking countries, we concentrate more on the written English to the detriment of the verbalised words. Here is the problem. In many of our schools, from secondary to tertiary, for instance, oral English is relegated to the background, at worst, it’s never taught or mentioned in the school’s time table. Let’s also not forget that English functions as a unifying factor, where, for example, in Nigeria, with over two hundred million people and different languages and dialects, English has helped to bring together different ethnic groups in a precarious union called “Unity in diversity.” Similarly, English, whether we accept it or not, is Nigeria’s official language used in all sectors of the economy. Above all, English is the language of the media and communication.
English has come to stay and remains the global language. We as a people drawn from diverse ethnic backgrounds, should not only internalise it but externalise it with the nuances of a universal language. In other words, speak to be understood beyond our borders; especially so by top government functionaries who represent us at international fora. Take for instance, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, Nigeria’s former Commonwealth Secretary General, and Abubarka Tafawa Balewa, the country’s first Prime Minister, shortly after Nigeria’s independence in 1960, were icons famous in the usage of the Queen’s English to address global audiences. Listen to the living legend, Chief Anyaoku speaks, his phonetics and stresses are not only deep but entertaining.
Don’t wait until one finds his or herself speaking to the microphone to speak right. It starts from the basics. Everybody, particularly those in the business of interacting with the audience one-on-one, or through the mass media, radio and television, to learn the ropes. It is becoming glaring that most Nigerians, especially the academia and media schools, down to Mass Communication Departments of some institutions don’t care a hoot how students fumble in engaging phonetics to stand out of the crowd populated by the less sophisticated, who have little or no business romancing with the standard English. I recall vividly, one recent incident that took place on a popular radio station in Lagos where some youths in a debate were wrongly schooled on pronunciation of certain words in the course of their arguments to convince the moderators and judges.
In the post mortem after the debate, a Lady’s voice, who, I presumed, was the presenter or among the panel of judges reeled out the errors in pronunciation the debaters committed while the programme lasted to include, “this, that, mother, father,” among others. These are words commonly linked with linguistic noise in phonetics. One needs to pay attention to get them right. But as I said, many people don’t seem to care about the rightful and wrongful verbalisation of the pronoun, “this” and the definite article “the.” According to the lady on the fateful day, “the” article, and pronoun, “this” should be pronounced with the tongue shoot out in between the teeth. But I beg to differ. The tongue should rather be behind the teeth jam together to give us the idea of “dis,” plural “diz.”
