English Spoken Language

Definition- A type of abbreviation where one word is made from two

Quotes-"he's" "there's"

Why

-Key feature of sports commentry

-Need to keep up with events

-Fast paced game

-Shows he is speaking quickly which shows he is engaged in the match

Definition-Something is left out, Deletion refers to a missing out word, Ellipses refers to missing out more than one word.

Qoute- "explosive forehand...Berdych on the defence"

Why

- In periods of fast action it is neccesary to keep up with the game, this prompts the commentators to miss out words

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Definition- "er" "um" or elongated sylables or phrases are used as fillers

Qoutes- "Um" "like" "uh"

Why

-Inserted in speech to allow the commentators time to think

-To create a pause

-To hold a turn in conversation

-Used commonly in sports commentry as there can not be a period of silence

Definition- The speaker hasnt finished a unit of meaning but someone else starts talking anyway. These occur frequently

Qoutes- "30-15" ( the umpire)

Why

-Michale was mid-sentence when the umpire said the score

-The score is more important to listners and audience

Definition- The speaker starts out saying one thing then stops to re-think what they were plannig to say. Can occur when they realise they are incorrect or doesnt make sense or the action has changed.

Qoute- "it was a good effort...i mean..."

Why

-Has made a mistake

-Is rethinking what he wants to say

-Realised it wont make sense

Definition-If you steer away from a topic then you digress. Digressions are often used to give a new approach to a subject.

Qoute-" Nadal at 30-love"

Why

- Something dramatic happens in a sports game that causes a play-by-play commentator to interrupt what he was saying and change topics to address the new event. he commentator then needs to digress back to the original topic.

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Michael

-less experienced

-Ex player

It is interesting to note that Michael uses more fillers than the commentater...

This indicates...

Quote- "uh"

He also makes more mistakes as false starts are evident in his commentary

Qoute- "It was good effort...i mean he...

He is still valued in this case because of what he offers to the audience...

Deffinition- Provides information

Most of the commentry is referential as it is providing the listeners with information about the events happening in the match

Quote- "30-15" "he's won the point"

The commentatord need to inform the audience on the events of the match aswell as as demonstrate the atmosphere of the stadium as if the audience were there.

Definition- Exchanges where the main emphasis is on the social relationship between the speakers.

Quote- "from him yet, Michael? No,"

 Some of the commentating requires a response from the other for example"...". This is neccasery because...

Definition- utterances that express the speakers opinion

Quote- " I really like the way Berdyth is playing"

-Makes the commentary more interesting

-Makes it more personal

- make th commentary for passionate and engaging for the audience

Definition- conversational utterances that have no concrete purpose other than to establish or maintain personal relationships. It’s related to small talk .

Quote-  "a man in a checked shirt"

This dialogue has no purpose it is just being used to fill time when there is a gap in play.

However it does give the audience a sense of what is going on inside the stadium.

The type of speech is sports commentary.

Sports commentary is a mine of verbal treasures. it should be passionate, rhetoric with over-the-top exaltations. There shoild be extraordinary analogies; sensitive litotes; dramatic repetitions and many jibes and jokes.

Good commentary engages the audience whilst succsesfully explaining the evnts of the match.

Different language types have their own conventions and may dictate the shape of the discourse.

As the subject being discussed is Tennis it will influence the lexical choices.

There is specific jargon used as part of the semantic field. This jargon is needed to engage the listner and allow them to understand what is going on.

Quote- "smash"

-Could have a different meaning in different context but is needed to explain different events in a match.

Expectations of the audience-

-Clear

-Interesting

-Understand what is going on

What are the speakers trying to achieve?-

-Engage the audience

-Not have any dead air "uh" "um"

-portray their opinions " would have impressed Jonathon Ackney"

The formality of the setting plays a key part.

Tennis is quite formal so the language would portray this.

However the commentary is not posh or very formal as slang and contractions have to be used to keep up with play.

 "that's"

"you know"- informal

Wimbledon is a prestige world wide tennis competition.  it attracts many people around the world to watch many of which do not have a particular interest in tennis.

It also attracts many young children and the elderly so thee commentry has to appeal to all ages.

What kind of relationship do they have wirth the audience?

Funny- " he has claimed tht very impressivly"

Is it private?

How is spoken language differnt to written language?

-Speaking is spontaneous wheras written you have time to think

-Change tone in spoken

Written is recoreded- can be seen by others

Spoken language is how you say it tone, pause, laugh, facial expression, body language

-In spoken cant take what you say back

Introduce context

-This piece of spoken language is a piece of tennis commentary taken from the Wimnbledon mens singles final 2010

Evaluate how succesful the commentary is