“Mother languages, in a multilingual approach, are essential factors for the quality of education, which is the basis of the emancipation of women and men and the societies in which they live”
On 16 May 2007 the United Nations General Assembly, with Resolution A/RES/61/266 called Member States to "promote the conservation and safeguarding of all languages used by the people of the world". Languages are the most powerful tool for the conservation and development of our tangible and intangible heritage. But are we sure we pronounce our native language properly? And how do others know whether we are speaking in our native language or not?
The pronunciation of a language includes intonation, cadence, stress, rhythm and articulation.
These are characteristics that depend on the auditory function and the more complex function of the vocal tract. In this and the next posts some brief ideas to pay attention to.
We all expect a certain nasality from French or Japanese and a fast rhythm in Spanish... but let's start with the most widespread "mother tongues". The languages of song.
The language of Italian opera singing, for example, does not generally maintain dialect cadences and inflections, although they are still present among us. Puccini's Tosca and Cavaradossi do not have a Roman accent - as Vitti and Projetti will have in the unforgettable Magni-Trovajoli version -, Rigoletto and the Duke do not speak as Mantuans nor do Dorabella and Fiordiligi ever express themselves in the although very musical Neapolitan.
So ? It is necessary to develop an optimal listening ability, which allows us to "hear" not only the musical intonation, but the intonation of the speech in that certain character, as understood by the librettist and composer, the cadence, the accent...
Listening is the sine qua non of "verboacoustic feedback": I hear a model, I try to reproduce it and I feel whether I am reproducing correctly or not. The more faithful and complete my listening is, the more I will be able to physiologically train myself to reproduce it.
And what is evident in opera is no less necessary in pop singing, in rap...
But how many know their hearing thresholds ? The residual ability to perceive high frequencies - not high intensities, pay attention to this fundamental difference -? And the well-being of our ears?
How to maintain correct hygiene, how to prevent phlegm from spreading from the nose and muffling our listening? Or worse, if mucus is badly swallowed and can leak towards the vocal cords?
An ENT visit and an audiometric and impedance evaluation are essential for anyone who wants/needs to use their voice... and their native language or learn or perfect one.
It is possible to book directly through the doctolib.it website, by telephone at the Turati Medical Center, at the San Siro Clinical Institute.
Turati Medical Center telephone
+39 - 02653952