LINGUIST List 7.644

Wed May 1 1996

Misc: Lang and movies, English textbooks in ling

Editor for this issue: Ann Dizdar <dizdartam2000.tamu.edu>

Directory

1. Charles Rowe, Re: 7.577, disc: lang and movies
2. Roderick A. Jacobs, Re: 7.620, Sum: English Textbooks in Linguistics

Message 1: Re: 7.577, disc: lang and movies

Now, regarding the SPEECH STYLE of movie actors of the 30's/40's:

The thinking is--and I have that from a colleague at
Wash.U./St.Louis--that actors were trained to use British [film/radio]
diction of the same era. The best natural model for that style in the
US anyway was(is) to be found in New England. So, best I recall, the
US version of that diction style is a combination of the most general
New England phonetic features and the British received
pronunciation. I can probably locate the bibliography, if anyone is
interested. (I will acknowledge my colleague appropriately as well,
pending her permission! Will check on that...!). C.Rowe p.s. This
diction--as well as a "highly-superposed" version of it-- was used in
songs of that era as well.

Message 2: Re: 7.620, Sum: English Textbooks in Linguistics

At the risk of seeming self-promotional, may I mention my own book, a
somewhat differently oriented successor to the Jacobs & Rosenbaum of the
1970s:

Jacobs, Roderick A. English Syntax: A Grammar for English Language
Professionals. Oxford U., 1995. ISBN 0-19-434277-8
Loosely based on a GB framework, covering the basic units and processes of
English sentence formation, with a section on information structure. Has
exercises, an answer key, and tree diagrams. For more advanced courses, I'd
balance it with a more cognitively oriented treatment which, unfortunately
hasn't appeared yet at the appropriate level. Fillmore and Langacker, get
busy!

Roderick A. Jacobs
Professor of Linguistics & ESL Tel: 808/956-2800
Chair, Dept. of English as a Second Language Fax: 808/956-2802
University of Hawai'i at Manoa
1890 East-West Road PhD program in Second
Honolulu, HI 96822, USA Language Acquisition