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Book week 2019: Jane Setter's Your Voice Speaks Volumes

Welcome to the first review post of Book Week 2019. See the intro to Book Week 2019 to understand more about what I'm doing this week.

I'm starting with the most recent book in the ol' pile of books from publishers:

Your voice speaks volumes
it's not what you say, but how you say it

by Jane Setter
Oxford University Press, 2019


Jane is Professor of Phonetics at the University of Reading (UK) and a recipient of the prestigious National Teaching Fellowship. (As you can see, we are on a first-name basis, as we travel some of the same Public Linguist circles.) I mention the teaching fellowship because it is relevant: Jane is excellent at making linguistics, particularly phonetics, crystal clear for the uninitiated. She uses that talent to great effect in her first book for the general public. 

This book speaks squarely to a general British audience — and to those who want to know more about English-language issues and attitudes in this country. I'm writing this on a day when my social media feed has given me (a) the story of a man wrongly arrested for public drunkenness in Brighton—because the police had mistaken his Liverpool accent for slurring and (b) a misreading of the relevance of accent in the US (as a means to say something about how accents are read in the UK). But I'd have at least two such things to tell you about on any other day when I might have written this post. Accents make the news in Britain because they matter inordinately. Differences that might not be discernible to those from other countries are imbued with layers and layers of meaning and subjected to piles and piles of prejudice. 

As I warned in the intro to Book Week, I have not been able to read the whole book. But I was able to get through much more than I thought I'd be able to in a single evening (four of the seven chapters: 1, 2, 3, 7). Part of my speed was because I could skim the bits that were explaining linguistic facts that I already knew. (That's not to say that the facts here are too basic. I've just had a helluva lotta linguistics education.) But it is a zippy read throughout. Setter uses personal and celebrity stories to demonstrate the everyday relevance of the phonetic and sociolinguistic facts that she's explaining. (Hey look, I seem to revert to last-name basis when I'm reviewing someone's book.) 

The chapters I haven't yet read are those that I'd probably learn the most from: on the use of linguistics in forensic investigations, on voices in performance (including accent training for actors and why singers' accents change in song—which she should know, since she's also a singer in a rock band), and on transgender and synthesized voices. I started with the chapter that relates most to my work ('English voices, global voices') and then went back to the beginning where I was most likely to run into things I already know. That's good from a reviewing perspective, because I can say with confidence that Setter covers well the things that I know need to be covered for her audience. But as I got further into the book, the more unexpected things I learned. I ended in the chapter on women's and men's voices, and I will tell you: I learned some things! To give an example, I liked her interpretation of a study in which women and men were asked to count to ten using various kinds of voices, including 'confident' and 'sexy'. It turns out men generally don't have a 'sexy voice' to put on, while women do, and this might tell us something about what we're sociali{s/z}ed to find sexy—and why.

It's hard to write about sound —and especially about linguistic sounds for a general audience. Writing for linguists is easy, because we have a lot of practice in using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). But you don't want to fill a book for non-linguists with letters that don't make the same sound as they make in English spelling, or letters they've never even seen before. Setter mostly talks about accents without having to get into the kind of phonetic minutiae that excite linguists and make laypeople glaze over. Where she does need technical terms (e.g. lexical sets), she explains them carefully and clearly. But happily for all of us, Setter wrote this book in the internet age. Throughout the book, there are scannable QR codes by which one can hear the sounds she's talking about. (You can get there without a QR reader too, the web URLs are provided.)

For readers of this blog with an interest in US/UK issues, there is plenty of comparison between UK and US and discussion of "Americani{s/z}ation". These are discussed with an assumed familiarity with British Englishes and less with American Englishes.

This book is an important instrument for fighting accentism and other linguistic prejudice in the UK. It might make a nice gift for that person in your life who says they "care deeply about the English language", but really what they mean is "I like to judge other people's use of the English language". 

But more than that, it is a great demonstration of what the study of phonetics can do. I really, really recommend it for A-level students in English (language) and their teachers, as it touches on many of the areas of linguistics taught at that level and would surely inspire many doable research projects. 

Let me just end with: congratulations on this book, Jane!




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Experimentando Doces: Dubai e Tailândia

Vem dar risada com a gente neste quadro “Experimentando Doces Gringos”! ???? Desta vez provamos doces de Dubai e Tailândia! Entre eles está um dos meus doces industrializados favoritos! Assista e veja se você também fica com água na boca!

O post Experimentando Doces: Dubai e Tailândia apareceu primeiro em Cozinha do Bom Gosto.




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Free webinar on "Storage Protection under Sloped Ceilings"

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Project Lunark to test a prototype moon habitat powered by solar

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New Airstream camper uses solar panels for off-grid power

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Peaceful floating villa in Australia runs on solar energy

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Greenhouse gas emissions expected to hit record decline

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Kibardin shares creative recycled paper furniture designs

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Rise and Fall of the Rupert Empire



Rise and Fall of the Rupert Empire




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This Japanese Newspaper Has A Secret Message

What seems to be just a page full of bubbles turns out to be a heartwarming message when viewed from a distance. This newspaper from Gifu Shimbun was issued on May 6.

Utilizing a form of bubbly negative space to render the text, the newspaper spelled out a message to its readers about social distancing. The magic is you have to maintain an appropriate social distance to read the letters.
The message reads, 離れていても 心はひとつ, which means even though we’re apart, our hearts are one.

Thanks, Japan!

(Image Credit: @simplife_plus/ Twitter)




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Mr. Beast Gives Money To Random People Online

There’s nothing stopping Jimmy Donaldson aka Mr. Beast from giving away money, this time doing it via video calls. Watch as he and his friends pretend to be a news reporter, school professor, and many others as they interview people, and then surprise them by giving them thousands of dollars. Some recognize him and his team, however.

“A lot of people are going through a ruff time right now so I tried my best to do some good,” he said in the video description. He also posted this on his birthday, and said that liking or subscribing would be “a dope present.”

Very wholesome.

(Video Credit: MrBeast/ YouTube)




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Penguin Classics Cover Generator

Which classic novel would you like to read? Penguin Books makes many classics cheaply available with its iconic covers. You can make your own cover with Nicholas Love's easy web tool.

You can see many funny results in this Twitter thread. Now if you'll excuse me, I have an urgent need to find photos of my co-workers.

-via Aelfred the Great




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New Malware Jumps Air-Gapped Devices by Turning Power-Supplies into Speakers

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If Trump Declares Martial Law Due to Coronavirus, Can He Suspend the Election?

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Senator Dumped Up to $1.7 Million of Stock After Reassuring Public About Coronavirus Preparedness

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Disneyland Shanghai's Reopening Is A Sad Look At The Future Of Vacations

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The (Dumb) Reason Superman Was Sent To Earth

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If Superheroes Had To Live In The Real World

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Celebrity Pets Are Hanging On By A Thread

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10 People Who Failed to Spin Their Web of Lies In Terrible Fashion






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Songs for Peace: LxListening

Frankly, 2016 has been an awful year. It has felt like every news cycle brings a new tragedy: black lives being taken from police brutality in Baton Rouge and Minneapolis, police being shot in Dallas, and ISIS attacks in Baghdad, Istanbul, Orlando, Brussels, and San Bernadino. Fear, hatred, and anger is the language of the … Continue reading "Songs for Peace: LxListening"




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Tute Tuesday: Map Paper Pinecones

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Tute Tuesday: Paper Tree

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Craftster Featured Projects – Dedicated to the People Who Made It

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Cinco de Mayo Recipes

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The post Cinco de Mayo Recipes appeared first on Closet Cooking.




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The post Mother’s Day Recipes appeared first on Closet Cooking.







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Arsecast Special - Dani Ceballos

Last week Arsenal signed Dani Ceballos on loan from Real Madrid, but what can we expect from him? I'm joined by Colin Millar, the editor of Football Espana, to talk about his career progression from Real Betis to Real Madrid, his difficulties at the Bernebeu, his potential as a player, what this loan move might mean for him and for Arsenal, his social media indiscretions, how this deal is being viewed in Spain and much more.


Colin also talks about his upcoming book: The Frying Pan of Spain:Sevilla v Real Betis: Spain's Hottest Football Rivalry (pre-order here).

 

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.




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Episode 552 - Peaceful Interlull Ramble

On this week's show I try and avoid all the heavy stuff about the team, the manager and all the rest. It's been done to death and nobody needs to hear it all again. So, for this episode I chat with the co-host of the Stadio Podcast, Ryan Hunn, about lots of stuff, including his show, podcasts in general including some recommendations, music, VAR and its use in the Premier League, former players as managers, Thierry Henry's appointment at Monreal Impact, Ian Wright's finishing and lots more.


Follow Ryan @RyanHunn and @Stadio

 

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Episode 564 - Whopper time

It's been a very quiet week on the news front, but things are about to kick off again and Arsenal need to start winning games. Will the trip to Dubai, some extra training and time to assess the squad allow Mikel Arteta to find the right balance? Can he get the team firing again? How long can he give Mesut Ozil and Alex Lacazette to start delivering? And does a full squad allow him to create a really competitive environment between now and May. With me to discuss all that and much more are Clive Palmer and Andrew Allen.


Follow Clive - @clivepafc

Follow Andrew - @aallensport

 

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