LL-L "Language varieties" 2008.01.08 (01) [E]

[Lowlands-L List]

L O W L A N D S - L  -  08 January 2008 - Volume 01
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From: heatherrendall at tiscali.co.uk <heatherrendall at tiscali.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L "Language varieties" 2008.01.07 (06) [E]

*Marcel wrote*

I have looked at the phonetic transcription and it looks like *good, solid
Standard English* to me. It is very similar to Received Pronunciation, but
since there are only a few people who speak this, I'd guess it is the
so-called Estuary English.

*Then Paul wrote* I think not! No-one who speaks Estuary English would go to
Regents Park to look at the flowers or bother searching for a grape pipped
covered cheese ( Tôme?) in a delicatessen!





'scuse me! Have I beome invisible all of a sudden?  Have I changed gender?

That was me 'wot wrote that'!



Heather (miffed)


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From: heatherrendall at tiscali.co.uk <heatherrendall at tiscali.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L "Language varieties" 2008.01.07 (06) [E]


Gael wrote

   And Heather, I'm so unaware of who goes where and why in England.  We
have copies of those famous parks (e.g., Regents park) in places like
Chicago, but in name only.  And oh my, I couldn't figure out what *grape
pips* were and what they have to do with cheese. In another place the 'p'
sound stood in for the written 'b' and later for 't', so I wasn't able to
figure out that [pIps] were really be something that came from a grape. I
thought maybe the word [greɪp] was really 'great'…to make "great bibs" or
whatever...
Then I'm still not sure how to [ʧeɪ ndʒ] "*change*" a library book. We *check
them out* and *return* them.  So, it seems the words I couldn't get were the
ones that had no cultural reference for me.

 Now this is fascinating - that in decoding sound one is using one's
cultural knowledge to 2nd guess ( 1st guess?) what a word might be / ought
to mean.So this test puts at an immediate advantage anyone who knows London
& Regents Park, who has eaten Tôme - a French cheese rolled in wax and grape
pips and who 'changes' Library books.

And any one else is left floundering - filing thro' their mental vocabulary
for 'soundex' vocabulary.

Just like most of us when listening to the lyrics of modern songs or small
children when singing hymns/prayers using vocabulary that is not part of
their environment's language.

"Our Father which art in heaven

Harold be Thy name ....."

"All Glory Lord and Donna"   (All Glory Laud and Honour)

I'm reading The Archimedes Codex at the moment which is an excellent read
and highly recommended. There the same priciple applies that in trying to
work out the early Greek text under the medieval writing, it helps
enormously if you know in advance what is being written about.  Those folios
which have yet to have text identified prove the most difficult to read.
Those where even a few phrases can pinpoint the proposition being written
about can have intelligent guess after intellingent guess made to fill the
gaps.

Just goes to show how important a rôle cultural awareness plays in
understanding a text set for a test.

Best wishes from a less miffed Heather
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