Schultz: nothing

[Dennis R. Preston]

Consonants! UGH! Who gives a whack (NB: /hw/ in my speech). What
about the vowels? Are they really wedge in the first syllable and an
ambiguous tense-lax /i/ in the second? My auditory memory suggests a
lower and backer first syllable vowel and a slightly tenser that
usual /i/. Did someone earlier report a web sound file of this I
could check at?

dInIs

>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>-----------------------
>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
>Subject:      Re: Schultz: nothing
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>That may well be actor John Banner's real accent. He was born in
>Vienna in 1910 and according to IMDb couldn't speak English when he
>came to the U.S. in 1938.
>
>   JL
>
>
>
>Lynne Murphy <m.l.murphy at SUSSEX.AC.UK> wrote:
>   ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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>Sender: American Dialect Society
>Poster: Lynne Murphy
>Subject: Schultz: nothing
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>OK, I was wrong...there is no final devoicing in Hogan's Heroes' Schultz's
>"I know nothing"--and there is interdentality as well. You can hear it
>here:
>
>
>
>But when I say it as a catchphrase (not that anyone I talk to gets it), I
>always devoice. I suppose that just proves that a little knowledge of
>German (extremely little, in my case) is a dangerous (to catchphrases)
>thing.
>
>Nevertheless, what struck me on the TVLand list is that many of the things
>listed as catchphrases would not be perceived as catchphrases if they were
>to be pronounced without the original prosodic or dialectal
>characteristics. Which is to say, before I read who had said them, I
>didn't recognise them as catchphrases, and then when I got the speaker
>info, I agreed immediately (for most) that they were catchphrases.
>
>Lynne
>
>Dr M Lynne Murphy
>Senior Lecturer and Head of Department
>Linguistics and English Language
>Arts B135
>University of Sussex
>Brighton BN1 9QN
>
>phone: +44-(0)1273-678844
>http://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com
>
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--
It should be the chief aim of a university professor to exhibit
himself in his own true character - that is, as an ignorant man [sic]
thinking, actively utilizing his small share of knowledge. Alfred
North Whitehead

There are many different religions in this world, but if you look at
them carefully, you'll see that they all have one thing in common:
They were invented by a giant, superintelligent slug named Dennis.
Homer Simpson

Dennis R. Preston
University Distinguished Professor
Department of English
15-C Morrill Hall
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824-1036
Phone: (517) 353-4736
Fax: (517) 353-3755
preston at msu.edu

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