rXGrtJ THE NORMAL School ^arterly Series i October, 1902 Number j Faulty Articulation and Exercises for its Correction By AMELIA F. LUCAS PUBLISHED BY THE ILLINOIS STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY, NORMAL, ILLINOIS JNIVERSITY OF JLLINOiS NORMAL SCHO OL Qt/4:gIE^T Published by the Illinois State Normal University, Normal, Illinois Series 1 OCTOBER, 1902 Number 3 Faulty Articulation and Exercises for its Correction. Perfection in articulation is rare. Peculiarities in speech are the rule, not the exception. Unless, how- ever, these peculiarities seriously affect the flow of speech they are not usually considered defects or faults, but only characteristics which help to reveal the individual more completely to his fellows. But since the function of speech is primarily to reveal thought, and since the life of spoken languag'e becomes extinct in the utterance, and the thoughts born of it are vivid or hazy, depending to a great degree upon the clearness with which the words are articulated, it will be claimed that any peculi- arity, whether annoying or not, which calls attention to itself away from the thought, is a fault, and should be eliminated for the thought's sake. A perfect articulation assists the transference of thought and its accompanying emotion. A distinct ar- ticulation meets the requirements of the ordinary busi- ness of life, but for public speaking, impersonation, the reading of poetry, impassioned prose, the drama, and various dialects, simple distinctness is inadequate, and, The Normal School Quarterly, indeed, may be a fault. The sharp cutting out of the consonants in some of Ophelia's insane speeches would change the sweet melancholy into coquetry: *'Fare you well, my dove." The situation demands that the muscles take the above words up gently, pass smoothly over them, and leave them lingeringly. Sharp consonantal formation, if used in rendering many speeches of Lady Macbeth in the sleep walking scene, wouldput a wide awake part into the mouth of the guilty queen and destroy the charm of the master's work. From an artistic point of view, when simple clearness is de- manded, any appearance of effort is unpardonable. This is especially true in ordinary conversation. Test the effect upon the following: **She (the mother) was glad that she (Carol) had gone as she had come, on the wings of song, when all the world was brimming over with joy; glad of every grateful smile, of every joyous burst of laughter, of every loving thought and word and deed the dear last day had brought. ''* On the other hand there are times when this biting articulation reveals thought more truly than can an}?' other: "Girll nimble with thy feet, not with thy hands! Curled minion, dancer, coiner of sweet words! Fight, let me hear thy hateful voice no more!"t Even a drawling articulation, so wearisome ordinarily, has its uses: *The Bird's Christmas Carol. fSohrab and Rustum. Faulty Articulation and Exercises for Its Correction. 3 *'When the ^reen gits back in the trees, and bees Is a-buzzin' aroun' agin, In that kind of a lazy go-as-you-please Old gait they bum roun' in, ****** I kind o' like jes' a loferin' roun' When the green gits back in the trees ****** When the green, you know, gits back in the trees. "J Moreover, the articulation must be capable of instan- taneous change; in fact, as often as the emotion varies, the articulation should change to agree with it. Notice the following from "Twefth Night:" Malvolio. — * *And then to have the humor of state; and after a demure travel of regard, telling them I know my place, as I would they should do theirs, to ask for my kinsman Toby — " Sir Toby.— ^^Bolts and shackles!" The change, tho less abrupt, should be clearly appar- ent in the reading of the first stanza of *'The Vision of SirLaunfal:" "Over his keys the musing organist, Beginning doubtfully and far away, First lets his fingers wander as they list, And builds a bridge from dreamland for his lay; And as the touch of his loved instrument Gives hope and fervor nearer draws his theme, First guessed by faint auroral flushes sent Along the wavering vistas of his dream."? ' A perfect articulation, then, is one which completely serves the speaker; it is a clear, free, slow, rapid, pol- ished, muddy, fumbling, dainty, ponderous, or sprightly JRiley. ?Lowell. The Normal School Quarterly, articulation, or as many of these in rapid succession as the case demands. It is dependent upon muscles which have become strong*, flexible, and exceedingly responsive to the speaker's mental states. Of the faults which we meet, it is no doubt true that lack of clearness is the most serious. Children learn to talk at home. They imitate the peculiarities of the speech of their parents and playmates, and, if these be good, they carry to school at the age of six, habits which may remain for life; if the peculiarities imitated be bad, the result is unfortunate, and the teacher's work is doubled. But occasionally children even of intelligent, clear-speaking parents, do not articulate well. This may be due partly to the fact, that, being petted for their ineffectual baby efforts they conclude that it is un- necessary to speak as grown-ups do, and that if they should, they would lose the sweets of commendation; and it may be due partly to asking children to pronounce words and repeat messages of whose meaning they have no knowledge, and with whose oral form they have but slight acquaintance. If a habit of indistinct speech has been allowed to remain until the age of ten years, it is probably true that, whatever the original cause, the muscles are now the offenders. The experience has come to many teach- ers of finding a particularly bright boy able to lead the class in thought preparation, whose oral work was far below that of the average, because of indistinct speech. Probably he never was expected to speak clearly at home, and his teachers had failed to inspire him to the formation of better habits. Perhaps it is not possible Faulty Articulation and Exercises for its Correction. 5 for the teachers to correct the speech of a child of that age without the aid of vigilant assistance from the par- ents. After the age of seven, or possibly eight, indis- tinct speech is usually caused by muscular rigidity or too much nerve tension during phonation; but occasion- ally we meet cases of just the opposite nature, where the stimulus is too slight to easily move an over-large, heavy muscle. But whatever the cause from which the indistinctness has come, it is safe to say that, when this fault exists, the forms of the sounds as made by the muscles are incorrect— especially the consonantal forms. Consonants are the framework of language — the bony structure upon which the individuality of words depends. Of these sounds the surd and sonant mutes are most dif- ficult. Clearness depends upon the accurate and often sharp action of the muscles in forming this class of con- sonants, especially if terminal, so that one word may be rounded up before another is spoken; if initial, they need often to be attacked vigorously to introduce the oncoming word. But in the correction of indistinct speech, less attention may usually be given to initial than to final consonants because *'the general tendency of language is to pronounce with diminishing force,'* giving naturally to the initial sound the greater promi- nence. The muscles of the lips and tongue must with preci- sion and great rapidity change the shape and size of the mouth cavity, never mixing the forms, altho all may be joined. Slight inaccuracies confuse the speech materi- ally: failure to strongly touch the gum with the point of the tongue for the sound of t; starting the sound of 1 be- The Normal School Quarterly. fore the muscles are in place; the closing of the teeth when pronouncing the sound of n; the failure to com- pletely finish the diphthongal consonant j (dzh); too lit- tle tension in the tongue when y is the sound needed; the drawing in and up of the lower lip when attempting w; too quick and too complete relaxation of the muscles after taking position for the surd and sonant mutes, causing an added explosive akin to ii — all these devia- tions from correct formation produce indistinctness in rapid speaking. Lisping is an example of the failure of the muscles to work accurately. In the lisp the point of the tongue falls too low and is projected between the teeth, causing the sound of th; it should be held easily up just back of the '^teeth rim"^ to produce a perfect s. No doubt many children who lisp are unconscious that they speak differently from others, until attention is called to the defect at school after the habit has become so firmly rooted as to be troublesome to eradicate. Cor- rection of this fault should be begun at home while the muscles are experimenting with sound forms. Rigid muscles do not respond promptly to the will of the speaker. People who think quickly and clearly suf- fer real afiliction if not able to articulate their thought with ease. Such minds do not wait for the tardy articu- lation (tardy if clearness be attempted) but resort to a rapid half formed speech as an alternative. Labored articulation may be due to flabby muscles. Great phys- ical pain sometimes reveals itself in slow, muffled speech. Drawling, when not purposely used, indicates muscular *Sweet: Primer of Phonetics. Faulty Articulation and Exercises for its Correction, 7 laziness. Overdone clearness is sometimes due to over- conscientiousness in league with a stilted ideal. Many of the faults mentioned above may be corrected by a few simple drills, quite general in their nature; but others need specific attention. Some general drills which have been tested repeatedly will now be mentioned. They may be used in any adult class, and in grades six to eight. I. Drills for accurate muscle placing, to secure clear- ness of speech. A, With breathing: a. With the weight evenly upon both feet, exhale as completely as possible; inhale, broadening the body at the waist, while allowing the muscles which lift the chest to respond very gradually. Repeat several times, exhaling as slowly as possible. Hold the fourth inhala- tion a second or two, then give sharply the sound of the letter t, allowing the least possible escape of air from the lungs. Exhale slowly. b. Increase the efficacy of exercise a by giving the same sound t three times using the muscles of articula- tion strongly while holding the breath back. Keep the body steady. c. Repeat a and b, giving the sound t with extreme lightness. For a, b and c, the surd labial and dental mutes are better than other consonants — t the better of the two. d. Monosyllabic words containing frontal initial and final mutes (lift, test, burst, turned, felt) may be used in connection with the breathing exercises instead of single sounds; later, phrases, whole sentences, or complete The Normal School Quarterly. stanzas may be given, speaking the words distinctly but rapidly, without apparent exhalation, while holding the voice on a low pitch to prevent strain. These exercises are used because the muscles which control the flow of breath should be able to do their work without weariness, at the same time that the articulatory muscles act with either force or ease. No reflex of fatigue from the muscles of respiration should ever be felt in the throat or mouth. B, Without breathing: e. Practice carefully upon all the consonant sounds and short vowels, paying close attention to form. /. Incisive drills upon words, phrases, and sentences containing combinations of sonant and surd mutes fur- nish an advance upon e, and are necessary to the carry- ing over of the benefit derived from the drills already suggested into the pronunciation of words and sentences. A few examples may be helpful. Easy words: most, prompt, put, but, might, dust, wasp. Difficult words: burned, round, rubbed, sixths, strength, gold. An easy sentence : ' 'What matter how the night behaved?"* Dif- ficult sentences: **When thou didst hate him worst, thou lovedst him better than ever thou lovedst Cassius. ''f "You sulphurous and thought-executing fires, Vaunt couriers to oak-cleaving thunderbolts. Singe my white head."t The drills for clearness aim to correct lisping, drawl- ing, weak action of the muscles and incorrect formation. II. Drills for smoothness in the actions of the muscles, *Snow-bound. f Julius Caesar. JKing Lear. Faulty Articulation and Exercises for its Correction. 9 the result desired being an easy flow of speech without loss of clearness. The material for drills of this character may be entire sentences, or nouns, adjectives, or verbs which suggest the idea of some form of beauty. Prose will not serve the purpose well; very rhythmic poetry is best. Examples of words: sweet, lovely, delicate, gentle, lapsing, tenderly, murmuring. Sentences: "O a dainty plant is the ivy green That creepeth o'er ruins old; Of right choice food are his meals, I ween, In his cell so low and cold."* The above are somewhat easy but the following are more diflicult: ''With a drowsy sound the forest Whispered round the sultry wigwam; With a sound of sleep the water Rippled on the beach below it. ■X- * -x- ^ -x- -x- **Slowly o'er the simmering landscape Fell the evening's dusk and coolness. ^ -x- * * * -x- "And the waves upon the margin, Rising, rippling on the pebbles, Sobbed, 'Farewell, O Hiawatha."'t A light, dainty touch must be given to the harsher consonants; a soft pressure to the accented vowels, while the lips caressingly form the labials, and all are easily blended. Unaccented vowels must be correctly formed. In conversation these may in many cases be slighted, but never in drill. Webster's International Dictionary cau- tions the speaker always to hold in mind a definite sound *©^6^wniii-g... fLongfellow. 10 The Normal School Quarterly, when voicing obscure vowels. Special stress should be laid upon making an easy transition from one word to another. While the muscles take the words up precisely, they should do so gently. The exercises for smooth speaking should correct overdone articulation, partially relieve rigidity in the muscles, and prevent too much nerve tension. All the drills suggested thus far will have a tendency to slow the speech, yet one should be able to speak rapidly with- out loss of clearness or smoothness. III. Drills for muscular flexibility, the result being the ability to speak clearly, smoothly and rapidly. a. The latter half of drill d for clearness. b. Inhale. Drill upon long rhythmic sentences, keep- ing the swing and pronouncing the words lightly, rap- idly, without another inhalation. "Merrily, merrily whirls the wheels of the dizzying" dances, Under the orchard trees and down the path to the meadow."* "And ere he blew three notes •X- * -x- * * Out came the children running — All the little boys and girls, With rosy cheeks and flaxen curls, And sparkling eyes and teeth like pearls, Tripping and skipping ran merrily after The wonderful music with shouting and laughter. "t c. Rapid drill on the following, from *'L' Allegro," will help secure the flexibility desired, together with a slightly staccato movement: ^Longfellow. fBrowning. Faulty Articulation and Exercises for its Correction. 11 "Haste thee, Nymph, and bring" with thee Jest and 3^outhful jollity, Quips and cranks, and wanton wiles, Nods and becks, and wreathed smiles. Such as hang on Hebe's cheek, And love to live in dimple's sleek. * * * * -x- -x- Come and trip it as you go. On the light fantastic toe."t These drills for flexibility should do much toward overcoming" rigidity and slow, heavy, or drawling articu- lation. The double consonants and the frequent recur- rence of the surd mutes make the lines quoted particu- larly useful for this drill. (It must be understood that while the voice may be affected by these drills, they are not voice drills^ nor are they in any sense true reading, but simply muscle drills for which the voice must be kept in the background and the actions of the muscles be made prominent.) Because of the tendency of children to imitate those about them, the example ot the teacher in the lower grades should act as a powerful agent in the establish- ment of correct habits of speech. His articulation should be correct, clear and smooth. In the first three years, perhaps all that the teacher need do, except for special cases, will be to insist upon correct pronunciation and clear, definite production of the elementary sounds. In the fourth and fifth grades, lists made up of words which have been found difficult may be used for sharp drill. Examples: stalked, thanked, risked (kt); midst, shouldst, (dst); watched (cht); clothes, breathes, thither, whither, tMilton. 12 The Normal School Quarterly. beneath, wreathed, (sonant th). Words containing vowels which are often slighted or those which are diffi- cult to distinguish from others closely related, and con- sonants likely to be carelessly formed may be used to advantage. Examples of consonants: little, and, hath, his, kept. Vowels often slighted: sayest, mountains, curtains, restlessly, traveled, impossible, forest, anvil, real, happiness, difficult. Words containing vowels closely related: cause, cost, lost, laws, taught, tot, dog, daub. Consonants and vowels may be isolated and reg- ular drill be given upon them in any grade, suiting the drills to the advance which the classes are making in phonics. The drills on individual sounds will, however, be of little practical value unless the sounds are after- wards correctl}^ used in words. Short Italian a is much abused. After giving the sound by itself pronounce the following: half, laugh, pass, class, last, calf, can't, ask. Long u requires special attention. In blue the value is i oo — blioo; in beauty long u is yoo — byooty. In mute, pure, view, few, cube, ii takes the yoo form; in tune, duty, lute, new, suit, jury, u is i 60. (See §§ 132, 133, 134, page Ixiv, of Webster's International Dictionary.) Gen- eral drill upon phrases and sentences, for the purpose of benefiting the articulation, in my opinion had better not be attempted lower than the upper fourth or beginning fifth grades. For unusual cases, however, more help will be needed. A boy now in the second grade, and about ten years of age, until within a few months has never spoken clearly enough to be understood by any one except his parents. The cause of his deplorable state we do not know, but Faulty Articulation and Exercises for its Correction, 13 we know that the muscles of the tong-ue and of the lips refused to act except in a most imperfect fashion for the formation of about four-fifths of the consonants, and very tardily and imperfectly produced the vowels, ex- cept the Italian a's, o and o. Some of the vowels were never given. The sentence ^*I can't find my cap" was pronounced ''I son sin my sap" as nearly as it can be in- dicated. The italicized sounds were less distinct than the others, and none of the words were clear. A tutor was appointed for him who had a fairly ac- curate acquaintance with the elementary sounds and the muscular action necessary for each. Two periods of twenty-five minutes each per day were set apart for her work with him. The first step was to secure data. Part of each of the two periods was spent in drilling upon the consonants and vowels which were easy for him with one or two of the harder ones, and the rest of the period was g'iven to reading in the hope that some application of the drill might be made. A game which required conversation containing words somewhat easy for him was used; he was asked to tell of the progress of some public improvements being made in the town; a story was arranged that contained only words which he could pronounce, and he read this regularly for days, trying to give clearness to all words. Sounds which were diflicult were given by the tutor with over-stressed, large muscular action while he watched. For some of the sounds he was told to place the tongue and the lips (by pushing with the fingers) in the proper position. The first sentence that he gave clearly was '*You do, do you? well then, you may." Today after a term of such work 14 The Normal School Quarterly, with one period a day for half of the time, he gives all of the consonants except v, w, r, sh, and th sonant, and all the vowels except a. T, p, and s, are still hard in some combinations. There is general indistinctness yet, especially in conversation; but even in this respect his speech is vastly improved. We hope for success^ but if we fail finally, it will be, partly at least, because we can not secure from the pupil a generous response to the help given. No drill, however well chosen, planned and presented, will clear and polish the speech without the pupil's hearty co-operation. He must have a high ideal and must work with persevering effort to attain it. The desire to make one's self heard easily, is indispensable in this work, and it will often stimulate to more effectual effort than can ever be obtained by the exclusive use of mechanical drills. Faulty Articulaiion and Exercises for its Correction, 15 Calendar for 1902-1903. WINTER TERM, 1902-1903. December 1 — Winter term begins. December 17 — Semi-annual meeting of the Board of Education. December 18 — Annual contest of literary societies. December 20 — Recess of two weeks. January 5, 1903 — Winter term resumes. February 28 — Annual contest in oratory. March 6 — End of winter term. Vacation of nine days. SPRING TERM, 1903. March 16 — Spring term begins. June' 3 — Annual meeting of Board of Education. June 3 — Annual meeting of the Alumni. June 4 — Annual commencement exercises. SUMMER SESSION, 1903. June 8 — First summer term begins. July 20 — Second summer term begins. August 28 — Second summer term ends. September 7 — Beginning of fall term of 1903-04. Address all inquiries for catalogs and information concerning courses to David Felmley, President, Normal, Illinois. Pantagraph Printing and Stationery Co. Bloomington, Illinois ^^----T.SO,^,^ Application made for admission to the United Stares mails at Normal, Illinois, as second class matter.