The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-08-20
NASAL TWANC OF AMERICANS.
Theories by Which Medical Men Seek to
Account for 1t.

From the st. Louis Republic.
Just why Americans have peculiar
nasal twang has never been satisfac-
torily explained, nor has the 2lst an
| nual congress of the American Laryn-
geological society," which has just been
concluded. thrown much light on the
subject. The opinions expressed by
the various throat specialists upon the
subject were so diverse and scientific
that the laymen is left but little the
wiser.
One point, however, received univer-
sal acceptance, and that was the eli
mate was not the cause, or at any
rate, not the sole cause, of the twang
| that is invariably described with the
| term Yankee" The nasal twang is
not limited to the New England states,
but has spread all over the continent,
and as the climate varies almost to ex-
tremes throughout the country it was
scarcely fair to ascrloe TO 1t an the
changes that take place in the larynx
| and vocal cords, and which produce the
unpleasant twang.
DR.. Shedson Makuen of Philadelphia
| told the association that he attributed
the high tension in the voice to the
! high tension of American life. When a
person is excited or hurried the voice
always becomes high pitched, and it
does not take long before the habit is
| formed and the voice assumes a nasal
twang.
To show that it was not question
of race that would account for the
twang of the American voice, like the
cultural voice of the Dutch or the pecu-
liar type of nasal voice of the French,
it was pointed out that our English
cousins had voices of an agreeably low
pitch. Comparatively few Englishmen
suffer from nasal catarrh or affection
of the larynx, while it is the exception
to find an American who is unaffected
by some similar affection. 1t might
very well be the case that the nasal
twang is the cause of the larnyx being
affected instead of what is generally
believed-the nasal twang being caused
by the nasal catarrh.
Still another specialist, DIR. Thomas
Hubbard of Toledo, advanced the the
DRY that high-pitched voices were
caused by the endeavors of people TO
make themselves heard in noisy cities.
In order to make ones voice heard
above the din and hubbub of a noisy
town or city it was necessary to use
ones ton notes This forced high
pitch of the voice is soon initiated un-
consciously and an unpleasant voice is
acquired
An enforced domicile among people
speaking with nasal twang soon
leads one to acquire the habit. An
space of a few weeks acquires high
pitched voice. A European trip taken
bv an American will often have the eff
feet of causing his voice to change
from a high-pitched to low-pitched
tone, and the change will be perma-
nent so long as he refrains from mix
ing with people who speak with
pronounced nasal twang. Unconscious
imitativeness spreads from city to vii
lage and some of the most pronounced
nasal voices are heard in country VII
lagos.
DR.. John w. Farlow of Boston ascrib-
ed to immigration a great number or
| bizarre sounds that have Crept into the
spoken languages. Cultural sounds
were introduced by the Germans and
Dutch, while a number of nasal sounds
were brought into use by French Cana
dams. The result was that the Amerl-
can had grown careless as to the pest
way of using his voice and had kline
of mongrel speech. People into the
conversational habits of the communlt!
in which they live and make no enor'
to better faulty methods.
The best way of getting out OF the
habit of speaking in hiSh-pitcheo
voice, it was said, is to study tone Tor
nation. This cannot be begun 100 cary
and the necessity of teaching the sub
ject in the public schools cannot pt
urged too strongly. Only one person
knows how to sing, while a hundred
know how to talk, and until efforts are
more widely made to teach the proper
nodulation of the voice the American
will ALWAYS possess a nasal twang and
his invariable accompaniment, nasal
10 % arrh