Читать книгу THE ART OF PUBLIC SPEAKING - J. BERG ESENWEIN DALE CARNAGEY - Страница 20

Herbert Spencer remarked that "Cadence"--by which he meant the

modulation of the tones of the voice in speaking--"is the running

commentary of the emotions upon the propositions of the intellect." How

true this is will appear when we reflect that the little upward and

downward shadings of the voice tell more truly what we mean than our

words. The expressiveness of language is literally multiplied by this

subtle power to shade the vocal tones, and this voice-shading we call

_inflection_.

The change of pitch _within_ a word is even more important, because more

delicate, than the change of pitch from phrase to phrase. Indeed, one

cannot be practised without the other. The bare words are only so many

bricks--inflection will make of them a pavement, a garage, or a

cathedral. It is the power of inflection to change the meaning of words

that gave birth to the old saying: "It is not so much what you say, as

how you say it."

Mrs. Jameson, the Shakespearean commentator, has given us a penetrating

example of the effect of inflection; "In her impersonation of the part

of Lady Macbeth, Mrs. Siddons adopted successively three different

intonations in giving the words 'We fail.' At first a quick contemptuous

interrogation--'We fail?' Afterwards, with the note of admiration--'We

fail,' an accent of indignant astonishment laying the principal emphasis

on the word 'we'--'_we_ fail.' Lastly, she fixed on what I am convinced

is the true reading--_We fail_--with the simple period, modulating the

voice to a deep, low, resolute tone which settles the issue at once as

though she had said: 'If we fail, why then we fail, and all is over.'"

This most expressive element of our speech is the last to be mastered in

attaining to naturalness in speaking a foreign language, and its correct

use is the main element in a natural, flexible utterance of our native

tongue. Without varied inflections speech becomes wooden and monotonous.

There are but two kinds of inflection, the rising and the falling, yet

these two may be so shaded or so combined that they are capable of

producing as many varieties of modulation as maybe illustrated by either

one or two lines, straight or curved, thus:

[Illustration of each line]

Sharp rising

Long rising

Level

Long falling

Sharp falling

Sharp rising and falling

Sharp falling and rising

Hesitating

These may be varied indefinitely, and serve merely to illustrate what

wide varieties of combination may be effected by these two simple

inflections of the voice.

It is impossible to tabulate the various inflections which serve to

express various shades of thought and feeling. A few suggestions are

offered here, together with abundant exercises for practise, but the

only real way to master inflection is to observe, experiment, and

practise.

For example, take the common sentence, "Oh, he's all right." Note how a

rising inflection may be made to express faint praise, or polite doubt,

or uncertainty of opinion. Then note how the same words, spoken with a

generally falling inflection may denote certainty, or good-natured

approval, or enthusiastic praise, and so on.

In general, then, we find that a bending upward of the voice will

suggest doubt and uncertainty, while a decided falling inflection will

suggest that you are certain of your ground.

Students dislike to be told that their speeches are "not so bad," spoken

with a rising inflection. To enunciate these words with a long falling

inflection would indorse the speech rather heartily.

Say good-bye to an imaginary person whom you expect to see again

tomorrow; then to a dear friend you never expect to meet again. Note the

difference in inflection.

"I have had a delightful time," when spoken at the termination of a

formal tea by a frivolous woman takes altogether different inflection

than the same words spoken between lovers who have enjoyed themselves.

Mimic the two characters in repeating this and observe the difference.

Note how light and short the inflections are in the following brief

quotation from "Anthony the Absolute," by Samuel Mervin.

_At Sea--March 28th_.

This evening I told Sir Robert What's His Name he was a fool.

I was quite right in this. He is.

Every evening since the ship left Vancouver he has presided over

the round table in the middle of the smoking-room. There he sips

his coffee and liqueur, and holds forth on every subject known

to the mind of man. Each subject is _his_ subject. He is an

elderly person, with a bad face and a drooping left eyelid.

They tell me that he is in the British Service--a judge

somewhere down in Malaysia, where they drink more than is good

for them.

Deliver the two following selections with great earnestness, and note

how the inflections differ from the foregoing. Then reread these

selections in a light, superficial manner, noting that the change of

attitude is expressed through a change of inflection.

When I read a sublime fact in Plutarch, or an unselfish deed in

a line of poetry, or thrill beneath some heroic legend, it is no

longer fairyland--I have seen it matched.

--WENDELL PHILLIPS.

Thought is deeper than all speech,

Feeling deeper than all thought;

Souls to souls can never teach

What unto themselves was taught.

--CRANCH

It must be made perfectly clear that inflection deals mostly in subtle,

delicate shading _within single words_, and is not by any means

accomplished by a general rise or fall in the voice in speaking a

sentence. Yet certain sentences may be effectively delivered with just

such inflection. Try this sentence in several ways, making no

modulation until you come to the last two syllables, as indicated,

And yet I told him dis-

__________________________

(high) | tinctly.

|___________

(low)

tinctly.

____________

And yet I told him dis- | (high)

_________________________|

(low)

Now try this sentence by inflecting the important words so as to bring

out various shades of meaning. The first forms, illustrated above, show

change of pitch _within a single word_; the forms you will work out for

yourself should show a number of such inflections throughout the

sentence.

One of the chief means of securing emphasis is to employ a long falling

inflection on the emphatic words--that is, to let the voice fall to a

lower pitch on an _interior_ vowel sound in a word. Try it on the words

"every," "eleemosynary," and "destroy."

Use long falling inflections on the italicized words in the following

selection, noting their emphatic power. Are there any other words here

that long falling inflections would help to make expressive?

_ADDRESS IN THE DARTMOUTH COLLEGE CASE_

This, sir, is my case. It is the case not merely of that humble

institution; it is the case of _every_ college in our land. It

is _more_; it is the case of _every eleemosynary_ institution

throughout our country--of _all_ those great charities founded

by the piety of our ancestors to alleviate human misery and

scatter blessings along the pathway of life. Sir, you may

_destroy_ this little institution--it is _weak_, it is in your

hands. I know it is one of the lesser lights in the literary

horizon of our country. You may put it out. But if you do you

must carry through your work; you must extinguish, one after

another, _all_ those great lights of science which, for more

than a century, have thrown their radiance over our land!

It is, sir, as I have said, a small college, and yet--there are

those who _love_ it!

Sir, I know not how others may feel, but as for myself when I

see my alma mater surrounded, like Cæsar in the senate house,

by those who are reiterating _stab_ after _stab_, I would not

for this right hand have her turn to me and say, And _thou,

too_, my son!

--DANIEL WEBSTER.

Be careful not to over-inflect. Too much modulation produces an

unpleasant effect of artificiality, like a mature matron trying to be

kittenish. It is a short step between true expression and unintentional

burlesque. Scrutinize your own tones. Take a single expression like "Oh,

no!" or "Oh, I see," or "Indeed," and by patient self-examination see

how many shades of meaning may be expressed by inflection. This sort of

common-sense practise will do you more good than a book of rules. _But

don't forget to listen to your own voice._