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>Hans' comments
and pretend pronunciations sound to me like British English. <
Dear All
Wot the eck is British English?
English as we know it is a poyglot language derived from Frisian with
additions from Latin, French (most legal and culinary terms in English
derive from French) and other languages. Many swear words which people
will refer to as 'Anglo-Saxon' are actually Dutch as are many nautical
terms - this derives from the Dutch sailors who were much in evidence when
Britain burgeoned as a trading nation.
I work in an orchestra with only two non-speakers of English as a first
language. One is Belgian but speaks English with perfect grammar and a
mild accent familiar to me as my maternal grandmother was Belgian and we
used to visit her relatives who had remained behind in WW1 (now all
deceased). The other is Icelandic and she studied in the USA which leads
some people to think that she is American.
We have two New Zealanders, two people from the Irish Republic, several
Scots, a couple of Welsh and many people from southern England (less than
half the orchestra are from Yorkshire, Lancashire and other northern
counties such as Cheshire).
Although all these speak English as their first language (with the
exceptions noted), they do so in many different ways all of which are
'British English'. As a matter of fact, one got quite angry with a certain
US conductor (who lives in Germany) who criticised his German pronunciation
when they conversed in that language. A gifted linguist, he fumed - "I
speak Hoch Deutsch - he is expecting the local accent where he lives!"
Which reminds us of the famous British comedian and trombone player, the
late Jimmy Edwards who was asked in a New York lift "what kind of an accent
is that?" He replied "English - you are the one with the accent!" This
kind of arrogance is nonsense of course (although it was meant as a joke -
not to cause offence). Or Sir Thomas Beecham when he was rung up by a man
who introduced himself as "The President of the New York English speaking
union" Beecham claims that he replied - "my dear sir, I do not believe it!"
and put down the phone. But Beecham was Beecham; great wit? - or nasty
little bully who picked on people who could not fight back? (Discuss).
Happy New Year
Paul A. Kampen, 4th horn - Orchestra of Opera North (Leeds UK)
Horn Tutor - Leeds Music College
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