SKILL IN LANGUAGE AND UTTERANCE IS PRICELESS

I THANK the readers who take time to consider and respond to what I say, even if it is to disagree. I do not need to be right, but I want to be left to enjoy the fruits of the fight for equity, justice, clean government, housing for the people and the end of the pandemic.

It is my considered opinion that the push towards raised literacy is a worthwhile goal.

I am referring to literacy in all languages. You cannot pay a man a greater compliment than to address him in his home language, or mother tongue. It affirms his self-concept and shows recognition of his self. This is a sacred notion that beats in the pulmonary system of every decent human being.

I understand that we cannot all be polyglots. But in our country we recognise 11 languages, plus the 12th, which is sign language. But our country has been colonised many time over, so we also have Francophiles, Lusophones and a plethora of other languages that sustain and disseminate so many other cultures.

Most times, the crossover is rudimentary, reaching no further than cooking or fashion terminology. Sometimes it includes sports and faith practices.

It is here where one sees the genius (or cunning) of my language of choice.

I write in English, although my professional qualifications attest to proficiency in both official languages from the hoary old days.

I got into trouble while studying in America in 1989 when I suggested that they should be speaking the language of 65% of the American population, to wit, Spanish. I was lightly reprimanded and reminded that America didn’t have first and second languages like the then already-toxic Nationalist government of yesteryear.

A lot of attention is paid to what we say. Too little attention is paid to how we say it.

There is too little focus on refining articulation. I am not making a case for accent. That is too fatuous and too shallow. But there is an ignored connection between emotion and utterance. Misunderstanding doesn’t only come from what we say, but how we say it.

We can tell a lot from the way a man expresses himself. Apart from the obvious indicators of anger or pleasure, agreement or confrontation, much of the emotive content resides in the manner in which a thing is said.

This is a barometer for refinement, empathy and a willingness to listen. It sounds almost simplistic, but skill in utterance can be refined just by moving the word that is stressed at the time.

An instruction to a child could be: Eat your food now. Move the stress across the sentence, starting with the first word.

There are at least four different ways this utterance is received. It follows that there will be several levels of success in terms of communication. Try it in your daily discourse. It could enable you to tell someone who deserves it to go to hell in a nice way.