John,
If I understand your message correctly, if you are trying to merge a text with the value of a control then you need to merge the two componentes together,
mv="hello "+this.control.value
if value is say client.givennames and given names holds 'Wayne'
this would speak 'Hello Wayne'.
If you want to speak the type of control as well as contents ie:
'Testbox client given names wayne'
it is best to set up a table with all controls in it and what is to be spoken.
once an object has focus a routine looks up the table for the control that has focus and speaks the contents of the field ie(this is the given name field)plus the actual contents (value of the field), ie 'Wayne'.
I hope this helps, keep in touch.
Wayne Williams
Developer VFP