The newsh ish mishpronounced!
This kind of pseudo-respectable pronunciation, once the domain of nuns, priests and schoolteachers, has crept like a disease into public broadcasting.
There is not a day that goes by when we are not barraged by mispronounced words on our TV and radio.
A typical news broadcast on Newsbeat (or should I say “Newsbeash”) on 2FM sounds like this: “A coursh has ruled thash the heighsh and wish of the rail neshwork running Soush is nosh quysh rysh, which in unfortunash. Ish will need immediash treashment wish aboush eighshy eighsh tonnes of concreash. Work will commence ash aboush eish thirshy dish Sashurday nighsh. Bloody greysh!”
This translates thus: “A court has ruled that the height and width of the rail network running south is not quite right, which is unfortunate. It will need immediate treatment with about eighty tonnes of concrete. Work will commence at eight thirty this Saturday night. Bloody great!”
As someone who taught English as a second language I found it almost impossible to tape clips from Irish radio and TV that are not drowned with “ish” at the end of virtually any word that ends with a ‘t’. In despair I tuned to BBC Radio 4 where I’m guaranteed to hear correct pronunciation.
In fact, more often than not, it’s easier for non-native English speakers to understand an inner city Dublin accent where the ‘t’ may be dropped altogether than this pseudo-respectable ‘issh’.
A Spanish friend who has advanced- level English, and worked as a waiter in a city centre cafe, once gave a customer a packet of tissues with her sandwich instead of a packet of Taytos as her pronunciation of this brand of crisp came out as “Tayshues”.
Neither is it any easier for native English-speaking visitors to this country to understand this ‘ish’. What will it be next? Talking while inhaling? It has become so commonplace in public broadcasting here that it makes the few who speak clearly - like John Bowman, Eileen Dunne, Kevin Myers (when interviewed), Corina Grant and Olivia O’Leary - stand out like beacons in a sea of ‘sshh’.
If someone wants to be in public broadcasting, where they are paid for what they say, then they should learn to speak properly.
Úna Uí Chormaic
42 Plunkett Green
Finglas West
Dublin 11
