Public Speaking Part 5

To try, hear a cause, sit in judgment.

To p.r.o.nounce, find, judge, sentence, give judgment; bring in a verdict; doom, to arbitrate, adjudicate, award, report.

ACQUITTAL, absolution, _see_ Pardon, 918, clearance, discharge, release, reprieve, respite.

Exemption from punishment; impunity.

_V_. To acquit, absolve, clear, discharge, release, reprieve, respite.

_Adj_. Acquitted, &c.

Uncondemned, unpunished, unchastised.

CONDEMNATION, conviction, proscription; death warrant.

Attainder, attainment.

_V_. To condemn, convict, cast, find guilty, proscribe.

_Adj_. Condemnatory, &c.

PUNISHMENT, chastis.e.m.e.nt, castigation, correction, chastening, discipline, infliction, etc.

An observer will see at once just how far these lists go and what must supplement them. They do not define, they do not discriminate, they do not restrict. They are miscellaneous collections. A person must consult the dictionary or refer to some other authority to prevent error or embarra.s.sment in use. For instance, under the entry _newspaper_ occurs the attractive word _ephemeris_. But one should be careful of how and where he uses that word.

Another exercise which will aid in fixing both words and meanings in the mind and also help in the power of recalling them for instant use is to make some kind of word-list according to some principle or scheme. One plan might be to collect all the words dealing with the idea of _book_. Another might be to take some obvious word root and then follow it and other roots added to it through all its forms, meanings, and uses. One might choose _tel_ (distant) and _graph_ (record) and start with _telegraph_. _Telephone_ will introduce _phone_, _phonograph_; they will lead on to _dictaphone_, _dictagraph_; the first half links with _dictation_; that may lead as far away as _dictatorial_. In fact there is no limit to the extent, the interest, and the value of these various exercises. The single aim of all of them should be, of course, the enlargement of the speaking vocabulary. Mere curiosities, current slang, far-fetched metaphors, pa.s.sing foreign phrases, archaisms, obsolete and obsolescent terms, too new coinages, atrocities, should be avoided as a plague.

Consistent, persistent, insistent word-study is of inestimable value to a speaker. And since all people speak, it follows that it would benefit everybody.

EXERCISES

1. Explain what is meant by each entry in the foregoing list.

2. List some verbal curiosities you have met recently. Examples: "Mr.

Have-it-your-own-way is the best husband." "He shows a great deal of stick-to-it-iveness."

3. What should be the only condition for using foreign expressions?

Can you show how foreign words become naturalized? Cite some foreign words used in speech.

4. Are archaic (old-fashioned), obsolete (discarded), and obsolescent (rapidly disappearing) terms more common in speech or books? Explain and ill.u.s.trate.

Synonyms. As has already been suggested, a copious vocabulary must not be idle in a person's equipment. He must be able to use it. He must be able to discriminate as to meaning. This power of choosing the exact word results from a study of synonyms. It is a fact that no two words mean _exactly_ the same thing. No matter how nearly alike the two meanings may appear to be, closer consideration will unfailingly show at least a slight difference of dignity, if nothing more--as _red_ and _crimson_, _pure_ and _unspotted_. Synonyms, then, are groups of words whose meanings are almost the same. These are the words which give so much trouble to learners of our language. A foreigner is told that _stupid_ means _dull_, yet he is corrected if he says _a stupid knife_. Many who learn English as a native tongue fail to comprehend the many delicate shades of differences among synonyms.

In this matter, also, a dictionary goes so far as to list synonyms, and in some cases, actually adds a discussion to define the various limits. For fuller, more careful discrimination a good book of synonyms should be consulted. Except for some general consideration of words which everyone is certain to use or misuse, it is better to consult a treatise on synonyms when need arises than to study it consecutively. In consultation the material will be fixed by instant use. In study it may fade before being employed; it may never be required.

The subjoined paragraphs show entries in two different volumes upon synonyms:

Adjacent, adjoining, contiguous. Adjacent, in Latin, _adjiciens_, participle of _adjicio_, is compounded of _ad_ and _jacio_, to lie near. _Adjoining_, as the word implies, signifies being joined together. Contiguous, in French _contigu_, Latin _contiguus_, comes from _contingo_, or _con_ and _tango_, signifying to touch close.

What is _adjacent_ may be separated altogether by the intervention of some third object; what is _adjoining_ must touch in some part; and what is _contiguous_ must be fitted to touch entirely on one side. Lands are _adjacent_ to a house or town; fields are _adjoining_ to each other; and houses _contiguous_ to each other.

CRABBE: _English Synonyms_

Victory: Synonyms: achievement, advantage, conquest, mastery, success, supremacy, triumph. _Victory_ is the state resulting from the overcoming of an opponent or opponents in any contest, or from the overcoming of difficulties, obstacles, evils, etc., considered as opponents or enemies. In the latter sense any hard-won _achievement_, _advantage,_ or _success_ may be termed a victory. In _conquest_ and _mastery_ there is implied a permanence of state that is not implied in _victory_. _Triumph_, originally denoting the public rejoicing in honor of a _victory_, has come to signify also a peculiarly exultant, complete, and glorious _victory_.

Compare _conquer_. Antonyms: defeat, destruction, disappointment, disaster, failure, frustration, miscarriage, overthrow, retreat, rout.

FERNALD: _English Synonyms, Antonyms and Prepositions_

Antonyms. Notice that this second paragraph adds a new word-list--_antonyms_. To reinforce the understanding of what a thing is, it is desirable to know what it is not, or what its opposite is.

This kind of explanation or description is especially valuable to a speaker. He can frequently impress an audience more definitely by explaining the opposite of what he wants them to apprehend. At times the term is not the extreme opposite; it is merely the negative of the other. Logically the other side of _white_ is _not white_, while the antonym is the extreme _black_. Trained speakers use with great effect the principle underlying such groups of words. When Burke argued before the House of Commons for a plan to secure harmony with the American colonies he described the scheme he considered necessary by showing what it should not be. "No partial, narrow, contracted, pinched, occasional system will be at all suitable to such an object."

Describing the peace he hoped would be secured he used this principle of opposites. "Not peace through the medium of war; not peace to be hunted through the labyrinth of intricate and endless negotiations, not peace to arise out of universal discord, fomented from principle in all parts of the empire; not peace to depend on the juridical determination of perplexing questions, or the precise marking the shadowy boundaries of a complex government."

We are told by an investigator that one of the reasons for a Frenchman's keen insight into the capabilities of his language is the early training received in schools covering differences among words.

This continual weighing of the meaning or the suitability of an expression is bound to result in a delicate appreciation of its value as a means of effective communication. In all mental action the sense of contrast is an especially lively one. In a later chapter this principle, as applied to explanation and argument, will be discussed.

Just here, the point is that the constant study of contrasts will sharpen the language sense and rapidly enlarge the vocabulary.

EXERCISES

1. Put down a group of five words having similar meanings. Explain the differences among them.

2. Choose any word. Give its exact opposite.

3. From any short paragraph copy all the nouns. In a parallel column put opposites or contrasts.

4. Do the same for the adjectives, verbs, and adverbs.

5. Write down all the common nouns which correspond to _a man_, _a girl_, _a leader_, _a house_, _a costume_, _a crime_.

Composition of the English Language. Turning now from the means of improving the speaker's language equipment let us pa.s.s to some remarks upon his use of words. The English language is the largest, the most varied in the universe. Almost entirely free from difficulties of inflection and conjugation, with a simplified grammar, and a great freedom of construction, it suffers from only two signal drawbacks--its spelling and its p.r.o.nunciation. While it has preserved to a great degree its original Anglo-Saxon grammar, it has enriched its vocabulary by borrowings from everywhere. Its words have no distinctive forms, so every foreign word can usually be naturalized by a mere change of sound. No matter what their origin, all belong to one family now; _gnu_ is as much English as _knew_, _j.a.pan_ as _pogrom_, _fete_ as _papoose_, _batik_ as _radii_, _ohm_ as _marconigram_, _macadamized_ as _zoomed_. Most of the modern borrowings--as just ill.u.s.trated--were to serve for new things or ideas. But there was one time when a great reduplication of the vocabulary occurred. After the French conquered England in 1066, English and Norman-French were spoken side by side. The resultant tongue, composed of both, offered many doubles for the same idea. In some instances the fashionable and aristocratic French word marked a difference of meaning as is clearly indicated by such pairs as _beef_ and _ox_, _veal_ and _calf, mutton_ and _sheep_, _pork_ and _pig_. In many other cases words of French and English origin are separated by differences less distinct. Such are _love_ and _affection_, _worship_ and _adoration_. A speaker must take thought of such groups, and consciously endeavor to use the more appropriate for his purpose.

Anglo-Saxon and Romance. It may help him to remember that the Anglo-Saxon words are the more homely, the closer to our everyday feelings and experiences, the expression of our deepest ideas and sentiments, the natural outspoken response to keen emotion. On the other hand, the Romance words--as they are called, whether from the French or directly from the Latin--are likely to be longer; they belong generally to the more complicated relationships of society and government; they are more intellectual in the sense that they represent the operations of the brain rather than the impulses of the heart. They deal with more highly trained wills, with more abstruse problems; they reason, they argue, they consider; they are philosophical, scientific, legal, historical. Listen to a soldier relate his war experiences. What will his vocabulary be? Listen to a diplomat explaining the League of Nations. What will his vocabulary be? Have you ever heard a speaker who gave you the impression that all his words ended in _tion_? This was because his vocabulary was largely Romance.

The inferences from the foregoing are perfectly plain. Subject and audience will determine to a large extent what kinds of words a speaker will choose. The well-equipped speaker will be master of both kinds; he will draw from either as occasion offers. He will not insult one audience by talking below their intelligence, nor will he bore another by speaking over their heads.

General and Specific Terms. Effective speaking depends to a large extent upon the inclusion of specific terms as contrasted with general terms. "Glittering generalities" never make people listen. They mean nothing because they say too much. Study the following selections to see how the concrete phraseology used makes the material more telling, how it enforces the meaning. Pick out the best expressions and explain why they are better than more general terms. In the first, note how the last sentence drives home the meaning of the first two. Listeners may understand the first two, they remember the last.

Civil and religious liberty in this country can be preserved only through the agency of our political inst.i.tutions. But those inst.i.tutions alone will not suffice. It is not the ship so much as the skilful sailing that a.s.sures the prosperous voyage.

GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS: _The Public Duty of Educated Men_, 1877

Describe the significance of the best expressions in the following speech made in Parliament by Thomas Babington Macaulay.

All those fierce spirits whom you hallooed on to hara.s.s us now turn round and begin to worry you. The Orangeman raises his war-whoop; Exeter Hall sets up its bray; Mr. Macneill shudders to see more costly cheer than ever provided for the Priest of Baal at the table of the Queen; and the Protestant operatives of Dublin call for impeachments in exceedingly bad English. But what did you expect? Did you think when, to serve your turn, you called the devil up that it was as easy to lay him as to raise him? Did you think when you went on, session after session, thwarting and reviling those whom you knew to be in the right, and flattering all the worst pa.s.sions of those whom you knew to be in the wrong, that the day of reckoning would never come? It has come. There you sit, doing penance for the disingenuousness of years.

Why was the style of the extract below especially good for the evident purpose and audience? Why did the author use names for the candidates?

When an American citizen is content with voting merely, he consents to accept what is often a doubtful alternative. His first duty is to help shape the alternative. This, which was formerly less necessary, is now indispensable. In a rural community such as this country was a hundred years-ago, whoever was nominated for office was known to his neighbors, and the consciousness of that knowledge was a conservative influence in determining nominations. But in the local elections of the great cities of today, elections that control taxation and expenditure, the ma.s.s of the voters vote in absolute ignorance of the candidates. The citizen who supposes that he does all his duty when he votes, places a premium upon political knavery. Thieves welcome him to the polls and offer him a choice, which he has done nothing to prevent, between Jeremy Diddler and d.i.c.k Turpin. The party cries for which he is responsible are: "Turpin and Honesty,"