British Culture - User contributions [en]

Henry Sweet

2011-01-16T12:55:10Z

Gehlhaar:

'''Henry Sweet''' (* 15 January 1845, London, England; † 30 April 1912, Oxford, England). Nineteenth-century philologist, grammarian and phonetician. One of the founders and president of the International Phonetic Association. A pioneer in modern scientific phonetics. Sometimes regarded as the man who “taught phonetics to Europe and made England the birthplace of the modern science” (Howatt 181). Sweet is often believed to have been, at least partly, the model for Professor Higgins in G. B. [[George Bernard Shaw|Shaw's]] play ''Pygmalion''.

===Life and education===

Henry Sweet was born in London, where he received his education at King's College School in Wimbledon. Apparently, there are only very few private details of his life recorded. One source states that Henry Sweet might have suffered from congenital short-sightedness, which isolated him socially (Wainger 558). Details like this, however, are mostly omitted in texts about Sweet, probably due to the fact that they are of very little significance. Between 1863 and 1864, he studied at the University of Heidelberg, Germany. After that year, he went back to London and worked in the office of a trading company. In 1869, he entered Balliol College in Oxford and graduated four years later in ''literae humaniores''.
Sweet became president of the ''Philological Society'' from 1875-76 and from 1877-78 (Marshall 3). Later on, he became President of the ''International Phonetic Association'' from 1887 until his death. In 1901 he obtained a full-time post as reader in phonetics at Oxford University.
Henry Sweet died in 1912 in Oxford.

===Work, significance and reputation===

Sweet's most important work probably is the ''Handbook of Phonetics'' in which he presents a method to transcribe the sounds of a language most exactly. He mainly based the symbols he used to represent speech sounds on the Latin alphabet and added, whenever necessary, new symbols, which he, for instance, took from Old English.
Henry Sweet has probably played an important role for the development of the teaching of languages, as well, and was “the prime originator of an applied linguistic approach” to it (Howatt 180). However, this part of his work is less widely known than his work on phonetic notation (ib.)
Sweet is named as one of the developers of the first version of the ''International Phonetic Alphabet'' in the late nineteenth century (McArthur “IPA”), more precisely he created the ''Romic alphabet'', the direct ancestor of the ''IPA''.
In his function as the president of the Philological Society, Sweet was also deeply involved in the history of the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (Howatt 179).
While some sources state that the fictional character of Professor Higgins in [[George Bernard Shaw|Shaw's]] ''Pygmalion'' is based on Henry Sweet, Shaw himself clearly negates this in the preface of the play (Manis 6). However, he writes that "there are touches of Sweet in the play" (ib.).

===Some works by Sweet (chronologically)===

''A handbook of Phonetics, including a Popular Exposition of the Principles of Spelling Reform''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1877.

“On the Practical Study of Language”, ''TPS'' 1882-84: 577-99.

''Elementarbuch des gesprochenen Englisch''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1885.

''A Primer of Phonetics''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1890.

''A New English Grammar''. Two Volumes. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1892, 1898.

''The Practical Study of Languages. A Guide for Teachers and Learners''. London: Dent, 1899. Republished by Oxford University Press in 1964, edited by R. Mackin.

===Bibliography===

Christopher, David. ''British Culture: an Introduction''. London: Routledge / Taylor & Francis, 1999.

Damousi, Joy / Deacon, Desley (eds.). ''Talking and Listening in the Age of Modernity. Essays on the History of Sound''. Canberra: Australian National University E Press, 2007.

Howatt, A. P. R.. ''A history of English Language Teaching''. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1984.

Manis, Jim (ed.). ''Pygmalion''. By George Bernard Shaw. E-book. Hazleton: Pennsylvania State University, 2004.

McArthur, Tom. "SWEET, Henry." ''Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language''. 1998. Retrieved January 15, 2011 from ''Encyclopedia.com'': http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-SWEETHenry.html

McArthur, Tom. "INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET." ''Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language''. 1998. ''Encyclopedia.com''. 15 Jan. 2011 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

Strazny, Philipp (ed.). “Sweet, Henry” from ''Encyclopedia of Linguistics'', Vol. 2. New York / Oxon: Fitzroy Dearborn / Taylor & Francis, 2005.

Wainger, Bertrand M.. “Henry Sweet: Shaw's “Pygmalion” in ''Studies in Philology'', Vol. 27, No. 4 (Oct., 1930), Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 558-572.

Henry Sweet

2011-01-16T12:52:39Z

Gehlhaar: Created page with ''''Henry Sweet''' (15 January 1845, London, England – 30 April 1912, Oxford, England). English philologist, grammarian and phonetician. One of the founders and president of the…'

'''Henry Sweet''' (15 January 1845, London, England – 30 April 1912, Oxford, England). English philologist, grammarian and phonetician. One of the founders and president of the International Phonetic Association. A pioneer in modern scientific phonetics. Sometimes regarded as the man who “taught phonetics to Europe and made England the birthplace of the modern science” (Howatt 181). Sweet is often believed to have been, at least partly, the model for Professor Higgins in G. B. [[George Bernard Shaw|Shaw's]] play ''Pygmalion''.

===Life and education===

Henry Sweet was born in London, where he received his education at King's College School in Wimbledon. Apparently, there are only very few private details of his life recorded. One source states that Henry Sweet might have suffered from congenital short-sightedness, which isolated him socially (Wainger 558). Details like this, however, are mostly omitted in texts about Sweet, probably due to the fact that they are of very little significance. Between 1863 and 1864, he studied at the University of Heidelberg, Germany. After that year, he went back to London and worked in the office of a trading company. In 1869, he entered Balliol College in Oxford and graduated four years later in ''literae humaniores''.
Sweet became president of the ''Philological Society'' from 1875-76 and from 1877-78 (Marshall 3). Later on, he became President of the ''International Phonetic Association'' from 1887 until his death. In 1901 he obtained a full-time post as reader in phonetics at Oxford University.
Henry Sweet died in 1912 in Oxford.

===Work, significance and reputation===

Sweet's most important work probably is the ''Handbook of Phonetics'' in which he presents a method to transcribe the sounds of a language most exactly. He mainly based the symbols he used to represent speech sounds on the Latin alphabet and added, whenever necessary, new symbols, which he, for instance, took from Old English.
Henry Sweet has probably played an important role for the development of the teaching of languages, as well, and was “the prime originator of an applied linguistic approach” to it (Howatt 180). However, this part of his work is less widely known than his work on phonetic notation (ib.)
Sweet is named as one of the developers of the first version of the ''International Phonetic Alphabet'' in the late nineteenth century (McArthur “IPA”), more precisely he created the ''Romic alphabet'', the direct ancestor of the ''IPA''.
In his function as the president of the Philological Society, Sweet was also deeply involved in the history of the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (Howatt 179).
While some sources state that the fictional character of Professor Higgins in [[George Bernard Shaw|Shaw's]] ''Pygmalion'' is based on Henry Sweet, Shaw himself clearly negates this in the preface of the play (Manis 6). However, he writes that "there are touches of Sweet in the play" (ib.).

===Some works by Sweet (chronologically)===

''A handbook of Phonetics, including a Popular Exposition of the Principles of Spelling Reform''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1877.

“On the Practical Study of Language”, ''TPS'' 1882-84: 577-99.

''Elementarbuch des gesprochenen Englisch''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1885.

''A Primer of Phonetics''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1890.

''A New English Grammar''. Two Volumes. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1892, 1898.

''The Practical Study of Languages. A Guide for Teachers and Learners''. London: Dent, 1899. Republished by Oxford University Press in 1964, edited by R. Mackin.

===Bibliography===

Christopher, David. ''British Culture: an Introduction''. London: Routledge / Taylor & Francis, 1999.

Damousi, Joy / Deacon, Desley (eds.). ''Talking and Listening in the Age of Modernity. Essays on the History of Sound''. Canberra: Australian National University E Press, 2007.

Howatt, A. P. R.. ''A history of English Language Teaching''. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1984.

Manis, Jim (ed.). ''Pygmalion''. By George Bernard Shaw. E-book. Hazleton: Pennsylvania State University, 2004.

McArthur, Tom. "SWEET, Henry." ''Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language''. 1998. Retrieved January 15, 2011 from ''Encyclopedia.com'': http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-SWEETHenry.html

McArthur, Tom. "INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET." ''Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language''. 1998. ''Encyclopedia.com''. 15 Jan. 2011 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

Strazny, Philipp (ed.). “Sweet, Henry” from ''Encyclopedia of Linguistics'', Vol. 2. New York / Oxon: Fitzroy Dearborn / Taylor & Francis, 2005.

Wainger, Bertrand M.. “Henry Sweet: Shaw's “Pygmalion” in ''Studies in Philology'', Vol. 27, No. 4 (Oct., 1930), Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 558-572.

Lewis Carroll

2010-11-27T14:47:29Z

Gehlhaar:

'''Charles Lutwidge Dodgson''' (27 January 1832, Daresbury, Cheshire, England – 14 January 1898, Guildford, Surrey, England). Victorian poet, mathematician, writer, photographer, and children's author. One of the protagonists of nonsense literature. Creator of [[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland|Alice]] and her Adventures.

===Early Life===

Lewis Carroll was born the first son and the third of 11 children of the clergyman Charles Dodgson and his wife (and first cousin) Frances. There is generally very little reliable information about Carroll's childhood. He started attending school at the age of 12, which might appear very late from a modern perspective, but probably was not unusual at all, as education was not compulsory in those days. Carroll had probably been tutored by his father before (a graduated mathematician as well).

===Education===

At the age of 14 Lewis Carroll went to the famous public school Rugby, Warwickshire. Eventually, in 1850 he went to Christ Church, Oxford, the same college his father went to as well. There he stayed until 1881, first as a student and subsequently, after his graduation, as a don of mathematics.

===Later Life===

In 1855, around the time when Carroll graduated and started teaching mathematics, Henry Liddell became the new dean of Christ Church and he and his family became friends of Lewis Carroll. He as well developed a possibly rather close relationship with three of Henry Liddell's young daughters Edith, Lorina and Alice. It is widely believed that Alice was the muse and model for Lewis Carroll's world wide best-sellers [[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland]] (1865) and its sequel [[Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There]] (1871).
His pseudonym “Lewis Carroll” first appeared in the magazine ''The Train'' in 1856.
During the 1860s, he started to make photography his hobby.
In 1881, Carroll resigned his mathematical lectureship and from then on spent his whole time with writing and mathematical studies. He died unexpectedly at the age of 65.

===The “Carroll-Myth” and his incomplete diaries===

The term “Carroll-Myth” mainly refers to the relatively recent assumption that a 'myth' has been created, about Lewis Carroll's attitude towards children in general and young girls in particular by some of his first biographers. Carroll is sometimes depicted as almost paedophile, especially because of numerous of his works as a photographer which portray nude girls. His affinity towards young girls is disputed nowadays. This might inter alia be due to the supposition of Carroll's preference for young female models being based on a generally spread and practised “Victorian Child Cult” in those days (Lebailly 6).
Another fact, which caused distrust in what is told about Carroll by some of his biographers is the partial lack of reliable information about some sections of his life. Carroll kept diaries throughout almost his entire life and even numbered them. However, some of these volumes are lost now and it seems extremely hard to reconstruct the periods of Carroll's life they covered.

==Sources==

Becker Lennon, Florence. ''The Life of Lewis Carroll''. New York: Dover Publications, 1972.

Leach, Karoline. ''In the Shadow of the Dreamchild: a New Understanding of Lewis Carroll''. London: Peter Owen, 1999.

Lebailly, Hugues. “C.L. Dodgson and the Victorian Cult of the Child”. ''The Carrollian'', The Lewis Carroll Journal No. 4 (1999): 3-31 <http://contrariwise.wild-reality.net/articles/Charles%20Dodgson%20And%20The%20Victorian%20Cult%20Of%20The%20Child.pdf> last visited Nov. 27, 2010

Woolf, Jenny. ''The Mystery of Lewis Carroll: Understanding the Author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''. London: Haus Publishing, 2010.

==Links==

====Lewis Carroll web pages====

[http://contrariwise.wild-reality.net/ | The Association for New Lewis Carroll Studies]

[http://www.lewiscarroll.org/ | The Lewis Carroll Society of North America]

[http://lewiscarrollsociety.org.uk/ | The Lewis Carrol Society]

[http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/carroll/index.html | The Lewis Carroll section of Victorianweb.org]

====The "Carroll Myth"====

[http://shadowofthedreamchild.wild-reality.net/ | Shadow of the Dreamchild]

[http://carrollmyth.com/ | Carroll-Myth]

[http://karolineleach.com/enigma.html | KarolineLeach.com]

====Works by Lewis Carroll====

[http://www.gasl.org/refbib/Carroll__Works.pdf | The Complete Works of Lewis Carroll (large pdf-file)]

[http://openlibrary.org/authors/OL22098A/Lewis_Carroll | Lewis Carroll's works on Openlibrary.org]

[http://sites.google.com/site/photographyoflewiscarroll/ | Examplary photographs of young girls (including Alice Liddell)]