Henry Sweet - Revision history

Pankratz at 11:53, 13 June 2012

2012-06-13T11:53:25Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:53, 13 June 2012
Line 1:		Line 1:
	* 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''.		15 January 1845, London, - 30 April 1912, Oxford. 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''.

Pankratz at 11:58, 17 January 2011

2011-01-17T11:58:35Z

Gehlhaar at 12:55, 16 January 2011

2011-01-16T12:55:10Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:55, 16 January 2011
Line 1:		Line 1:
	'''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''.		'''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''.

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…'

2011-01-16T12:52:39Z

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…'

New page

'''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.

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:58, 17 January 2011
Line 1:		Line 1:
	~~'''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''.		* 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===		===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''.		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 ''litterae 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.		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.		Henry Sweet died in 1912 in Oxford.

Line 12:		Line 12:

	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.		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.)		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 (ibid.)
	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''.		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).		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.).		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" (ibid.).


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

	''A ~~handbook~~ of Phonetics, including a Popular Exposition of the Principles of Spelling Reform''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1877.		''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.		“On the Practical Study of Language”, ''TPS'' 1882-84: 577-99.
Line 39:		Line 39:
	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.		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.		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.		Manis, Jim (ed.). ''Pygmalion''. By George Bernard Shaw. E-book. Hazleton: Pennsylvania State University, 2004.
Line 49:		Line 49:
	Strazny, Philipp (ed.). “Sweet, Henry” from ''Encyclopedia of Linguistics'', Vol. 2. New York / Oxon: Fitzroy Dearborn / Taylor & Francis, 2005.		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.		Wainger, Bertrand M.. "Henry Sweet: Shaw's ''Pygmalion''", ''Studies in Philology'' 27:4 (Oct., 1930), 558-572.