broadcasters

[Beverly Flanigan]

I agree with you; I don't want "flawless" English either.  In fact, I
usually watch Dan Rather, who speaks (SE?) Texas English.  I don't care
what English the newscaster speaks; with regard to Brokaw, it's strictly a
matter of personal (dis)taste--maybe it's his speed and glibness that turns
me off.  Jennings to me sounds "wooden" and pompous; Rather seems "down home."

At 03:00 PM 8/9/00 -0400, you wrote:
>You know, I find Brokaw damned entertaining, and that's because of his
>eccentric speech.  (Since I enjoy it, I won't call it a speech impediment.)
>He's a fair journalist, and a good bit easier to take than Baba Wawa.  But
>in defense of even that over-inflated idiot, I still enjoy hearing diversity
>on the radio or television.  Just because they're network anchors doesn't
>mean that they should speak some flawless "standard" English.  And how's
>about Rather?  His speech may be fairly "correct" (oh my god, look at all
>the scare quotes), but his delivery is more wooden than the collected
>members of the Sequoia National Forest.  The best American English you'll
>hear on a network newscast is from Peter Jennings, a Canadian.  I think it's
>all part of some kinda plot.
>
> > From: Beverly Flanigan <flanigan at OAK.CATS.OHIOU.EDU>
> > Reply-To: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Date: Wed, 9 Aug 2000 13:40:58 -0400
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Subject: Re: broadcasters
> >
> > Yes, I'm sure this is what Frank Abate was referring to (and Imus was
> > mocking).  In fact, maybe that's what I was interpreting as glottal
> > stops.  But of the 45 or so sounds in English (not 26), that's
> > minor--annoying maybe (I admit it), but no more "illegitimate" than a
> > Boston broadcaster's r-dropping.
> >
> > At 10:12 PM 8/8/00 -0500, you wrote:
> >> He also has strongly velarized l's, with little if any alveolar
> >> closure.  Maybe this is
> >> what some perceive as a speech impediment.
> >> DMLance
> >>
> >> Beverly Flanigan wrote:
> >>
> >>> What do you mean by speech impediment?  Brokaw (from South Dakota,
> not far
> >>> from my Minnesota roots) has a most annoying habit of inserting glottal
> >>> stops everywhere, but so does one of our secretaries, from southern Ohio.
> >>>
> >>> At 01:55 AM 8/6/00 -0700, you wrote:
> >>>>> ...In
> >>>>> the U.S. national news, I know Brokaw is Canadian.
> >>>>
> >>>> Peter Jennings is Canadian.  Brokaw is American and has the speech
> >> impediment.
> >>>>
> >>>> Rima
> >>>
> >>> _____________________________________________
> >>> Beverly Olson Flanigan         Department of Linguistics
> >>> Ohio University                     Athens, OH  45701
> >>> Ph.: (740) 593-4568              Fax: (740) 593-2967
> >>> http://www.cats.ohiou.edu/linguistics/dept/flanigan.htm
> >
> >
> > _____________________________________________
> > Beverly Olson Flanigan         Department of Linguistics
> > Ohio University                     Athens, OH  45701
> > Ph.: (740) 593-4568              Fax: (740) 593-2967
> > http://www.cats.ohiou.edu/linguistics/dept/flanigan.htm


_____________________________________________
Beverly Olson Flanigan         Department of Linguistics
Ohio University                     Athens, OH  45701
Ph.: (740) 593-4568              Fax: (740) 593-2967
http://www.cats.ohiou.edu/linguistics/dept/flanigan.htm