8.1665, Sum: Broadcast English

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List:  Vol-8-1665. Thu Nov 20 1997. ISSN: 1068-4875.

Subject: 8.1665, Sum: Broadcast English

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1)
Date:  Thu, 20 Nov 1997 09:34:24 GMT0BST
From:  "Alan Smith" <Alan.Smith at newcastle.ac.uk>
Subject:  Broadcast English

-------------------------------- Message 1 -------------------------------

Date:  Thu, 20 Nov 1997 09:34:24 GMT0BST
From:  "Alan Smith" <Alan.Smith at newcastle.ac.uk>
Subject:  Broadcast English

On 6 November I posted a request for information on changes in
broadcast English since the early 1960s.  As I suspected, there seems
to be a general consensus that linguistic forms typical of
spontaneous conversation are increasingly to be found in official
domains such as the media, as part of a tendency towards
"inclusiveness" or "democratisation".  This is probably true both of
American and British English.

However, the references I have followed up indicate that writers
describing these changes are basing their conclusions on impressions
and anecdotal evidence rather than on any solid quantitative
research carried out on the diachronic plane, which perhaps opens up
a door of opportunity for me.

I would like to thank the following people for their very helpful
replies:

Anthea Gupta
Bradley Harris
Gerald Nelson
Geoffrey Sampson
Peter Daniels

Alan Smith,
School of Modern Languages, Dept of French
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 7RU
U.K. E-mail: alan.smith at ncl.ac.uk
Fax: (0191)2225442

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