occasional observations on English pronunciation features, phonetics, teaching and learning
Monday, 23 April 2012
curriculum vitae Danielis Johannis
I'm currently reading The Real Professor Higgins by Beverley Collins and Inger M Mees. It's a very, very fascinating book which I recommend unconditionally. Thanks, Bev and Inger!
I seem to remember one of the greatest phoneticians of our era, Peter Ladefoged, referring to this as a "great" book. I can't imagine a better way of recommending it.
@BP: Try to order it through an ILL service, if you have access to a library, because it costs almost 38 GBP. It's a hardcover edition and there's no flexicover available.
I've now located the source of the remark I referred to. It was an interview conducted in 2005 by Alan S. Kaye in which Ladefoged said " I don’t write many reviews ... I enjoyed writing a review ... of the biography of Daniel Jones, the first Professor of Phonetics in Britain, by Collins and Mees (1998). It’s a great book, a wonderful account of the beginnings of twentieth-century phonetics in Britain and its antecedents on the continent". Here's the ref: LADEFOGED, PETER (2000). Review of Collins & Mees (1998). Language 76, 191–193
And finally, Ladies and Gentlemen, from the review itself:
Collins and Mees have produced a meticulously researched book that is a delight to read, based on interviews with 35 individuals between 1980 and 1984 and massive research into Jones’s published work (there are 306 items in their bibliography), his correspondence, and his private papers. The book is well illustrated by numerous photographs and reproductions of pages from Jones’s works. There are accounts of influential forerunners, notably Paul Passy and Henry Sweet, and a detailed assessment of all Jones’s achievements…. They present a wonderfully complete view of Daniel Jones, his work, his family and friends, and his surroundings, making the most readable book on an important part of the history of phonetics, that I have ever read, a worthy celebration of Jones’s life”
Thanks to Kraut and others for your kind words about 'The Real Professor Higgins', our biography of that great man Daniel Jones.But we feel that we should once again emphasise that we could never have even begun writing without the wholehearted help and support we were given by members of Jones's family, especially his daughter the late Michelle Stanbury, and by his former pupils and colleagues -- especially David Abercrombie, Ton Cohen, A.C. Gimson, Dennis Fry (all regrettably no longer with us) and John Wells (very much alive!). Our thoughts on the matter were summed up in the Tswana proverb (a favourite of DJ's) we quote on p. xxv of the book.
For those who might like to know what that Tswana proverb sed, it was "Alone I am not a human being;I become one only with the help of others". And for those who, like me, have a very limited acquaintance with Dutch hypocoristic name forms, the name "Ton" is not a misprint for "Tom", a reduction of Thomas, but is a reduction of Antonie. His surname is also inclined to be mispronounced by many. It was Cohen and not /`kəʊɪn/ but for English speakers /kəʊ`hen/.
I second that motion!
ReplyDeleteI seem to remember one of the greatest phoneticians of our era, Peter Ladefoged, referring to this as a "great" book.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine a better way of recommending it.
Well, I think I'll have to get a copy!
ReplyDelete@BP: Try to order it through an ILL service, if you have access to a library, because it costs almost 38 GBP. It's a hardcover edition and there's no flexicover available.
DeleteI have found the book in a local library! -I'll make a raid on it.
DeleteThanks.
Enjoy!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI've now located the source of the remark I referred to. It was an interview conducted in 2005 by Alan S. Kaye in which Ladefoged said " I don’t write many reviews ... I enjoyed writing a review ... of the biography of Daniel Jones, the first Professor of Phonetics in Britain, by Collins and Mees (1998). It’s a great book, a wonderful account of the beginnings of twentieth-century phonetics in Britain and its antecedents on the continent".
ReplyDeleteHere's the ref:
LADEFOGED, PETER (2000). Review of Collins & Mees (1998). Language 76, 191–193
And finally, Ladies and Gentlemen, from the review itself:
ReplyDeleteCollins and Mees have produced a meticulously researched book that is a delight to read, based on interviews with 35 individuals between 1980 and 1984 and massive research into Jones’s published work (there are 306 items in their bibliography), his correspondence, and his private papers. The book is well illustrated by numerous photographs and reproductions of pages from Jones’s works. There are accounts of influential forerunners, notably Paul Passy and Henry Sweet, and a detailed assessment of all Jones’s achievements…. They present a wonderfully complete view of Daniel Jones, his work, his family and friends, and his surroundings, making the most readable book on an important part of the history of phonetics, that I have ever read, a worthy celebration of Jones’s life”
Thanks to Kraut and others for your kind words about 'The Real Professor Higgins', our biography of that great man Daniel Jones.But we feel that we should once again emphasise that we could never have even begun writing without the wholehearted help and support we were given by members of Jones's family, especially his daughter the late Michelle Stanbury, and by his former pupils and colleagues -- especially David Abercrombie, Ton Cohen, A.C. Gimson, Dennis Fry (all regrettably no longer with us) and John Wells (very much alive!). Our thoughts on the matter were summed up in the Tswana proverb (a favourite of DJ's) we quote on p. xxv of the book.
ReplyDeleteBev Collins and Inger Mees
For those who might like to know what that Tswana proverb sed, it was "Alone I am not a human being;I become one only with the help of others".
ReplyDeleteAnd for those who, like me, have a very limited acquaintance with Dutch hypocoristic name forms, the name "Ton" is not a misprint for "Tom", a reduction of Thomas, but is a reduction of Antonie. His surname is also inclined to be mispronounced by many. It was Cohen and not /`kəʊɪn/ but for English speakers /kəʊ`hen/.
Getting the pronunciation of English proper names right, sometimes amounts to playing Russian roulette. It's definitely Leonard /'kəʊɪn/, innit?
DeleteMaybe, Mouton de Gruyter can be persuaded to publish a flexicover version. It may boost sales figures.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone happen to know what the Tswana proverb looks/sounds/reads like in the original language?
Delete