ACTA LINGUISTICA TOM. 3 (A MTA NYELVTUDOMÁNYI KÖZLEMÉNYEI, 1953)
1953 / 1-2. sz. - HEGEDŰS, L.: On the problem of the pauses of speech
2 LAJOS HEGEDŰS a) In Hungary, Gábor Mátray was the first to deal with the problem of the pauses of speech in his work „A rendszeres szavalattan alaprajza" [Outline of Systematic Elocution] (Pest 1861, in Hungarian). He did not deal with the pauses of spontaneous speech but gave useful directions to elocutionists and lecturers about how to express correctly punctuation in declamatory art. With him, therefore, the raising of the problem of the pause of speech was closely connected with the problems of punctuation. In the pertinent chapter of his valuable study he wrote as follows : "In declamation, attention should be paid to the marking of pauses (Pausa), partly to give proper emphasis to certain words and sentences, partly the better to accentuate the meaning of what we say, to effect correct expression, and to stimulate the hearer's attention as much as possible. "There are short and long pauses. The short pauses are those which must be marked in delivery although no marks or dashes are put. "The long pauses, denoted with the usual marks of punctuation, are to be kept carefully after every mark of this kind, that is, we have to stop speaking for a shorter or longer while. And as in such a break or pause the voice does not sound any longer, this pause is called voiceless pause. "1) In the case of the comma, declamation may rest as long as is needed in music by a semiquaver (}) ) or the beat in a measure ; "2) In the case of the semicolon, as long as the time of a quaver ( J) ) or two beats ; "3) In the cases of the colon ( : ) and the marlcs of interrogation and exclamation ( ? !), if the latter do not end the sentence and the thought, as long as a crotchet ( J ) or equally two beats ; "4) In the cases of the full stop, the points (...) and breaks ( ) of suspension, and the dashes ( ), as long as two crotchets (JJ) or a minim (J ), or three beats. "However, in the cases of the points and breaks of suspension, one may rest as long as is needed by the meaning, object, and contents of a sentence" (pp. 37—38). Thus from the point of view of duration Mátray distinguished between two kinds of pauses : a) short one, made by the speaker to separate the smaller parts of the sentence, b) a long one, made by the speaker to render punctuation. He also made the remarkable statement that pauses are used rot only for dividing the thoughts but also for expressing sentiments (p. 45). Such pauses were called by him a form of manifestation of emphasis, and were contrasted by him with the "mental pauses" defining meaning, without which "there arises uncertainty and confusion in meaning, that is, in the intelligibility of delivery." (p. 55.) It appears from his detailed instructions that he was deeply aware of the importance of pauses and very early drew attention to them. "Only with the correct use of pauses is naturalness of delivery,.