Directed Pronunciation - A New English Grammar

As all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy - here is some light comic relief in the form of a clip from the British TV series Fawlty Towers (BBC). In this clip, Manuel is practicing his English- The Major (who drinks!!!) enters but doesn't see Manuel and therefore believes that it is the Moose's head that is speaking to him. Enjoy this clip on "you tube" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5035TY5RSpg Manuel: You see I speak English well. I learn(ed) it from a book. Hello, I am English. Hello. How are you, sir. I can speak English. Ah – hello Major – how are you today? The Major: Oh, WWWW I,I,I,I,I,I, am fine thank you! Manuel: It's a beautiful day today. The Major: Is it?! Oh well yes, yes I suppose it is. Manuel: Yes I can speak English, I learned it from a book. The Major: Did you! Did you...

Check out the TV comedy series: Fawlty Towers with John Cleese in the YouTube powered video bar

In English, the variable positions, heights and flows in the articles are not used to express gender as in Latin languages, for example, but rather to vary the level of emphasis applied to the articles the and a . The more emphatic of the two positions is the high falling article with the weak low article rising only slightly to meet the noun. When we study the flow of the pronunciation, it becomes clear how logical this is. To reach the high position, we need to abandon the soft linear projection of the phrase, causing a marking of the article with emphasis - a veritable dynamic exclamation mark. As shown in the illustration, the weak articles flow naturally to meet the nouns, which are themselves conveniently produced in a highish frontal area of the mouth. On the other hand, the emphasized article does not flow into the noun and we use so much emphasis on the article that the noun is produced as a much weaker released sound.

The naming of the parts of the body serves to demonstrate Directed Pronunciation in a simple and curious way. The body names are directed towards the parts of the body, from the axis point of the mouth. The word for "mouth", itself, is curiously forced to expand around this central pivot point. The rest of the parts of the body are then related in the direction you would expect to find them. By using the correct direction we achieve the correct pronunciation, the correct sense. The body, of course, has some movable parts that can go up and down and this can produce variations in the position and thus pronunciation... like, well, like arms, for example, etc. [use your imagination]. Where we expect to find things, then, helps to define the pronunciation of a whole range of obvious vocabulary like sky (high), floor(low), etc. etc. Language is very indicative. Language itself was developed as a tool and the words evolved to give exact information. Therefore, in any language ...

Above the eye line is where we think. Here, we also find the range of probabilty, and unreal events considered in the subjunctive forms (Past, present and future). Below the line, we find the factual and progressive forms of verbs - present and past, as well as future concepts such as, obligation and determination as well as forecasts and schedules.

The real idea behind the new vision of grammar is in itself a search for simplicity. Our reference of the world comes from our senses of vision, hearing, touch and taste. Vision, through the focal point of the eye provides a major point of reference as far as language is concerned and serves as a point of departure to develop our relative perception of time and position. Future, Present & Past In abstract terms, we use the forward vision, in front of the eye, as the future, whilst the past remains firmly behind us. If the future is but to come, then we must advance towards it. This makes our real position, as always, simply at the present moment point. When we reflect these ideas in pronunciation terms, inside the mouth dynamic, we can see how the “simple present” tense is directed downwards, towards the ground, to where we stand. Equally, we may easily perceive the difference in the forward projection of future expression to the thrown back reflection of past events. Illustration ...

In this video-tutorial, I present a comparison of English and Portuguese prepositions through the mirror-phrasing that we can employ from Directed Pronunciation. The presentation - originally made for Digerati - is in Portuguese(Brazilian) - or as close as I could get to it at the time - (desculpe qqr coisa!!!)

Directed Pronunciation, for want of a better term, is nothing other than the small directions that we use in speech. Imperceptible on the page, these movements, nevertheless, create the necessary interpretations inside the mouth which help us to distinguish the variant intentions and meanings in words. But what are these directions? In terms of verb tenses, for example, this means that our perception of the future is always in front of us, whilst the past is already behind us. The present is where we stand in time, fixing us vertically to the ground, whilst our dreams, f lying high, like thoughts and considerations, are raised into the mind area.”

Subject Pronouns Using the Directed Pronunciation grammar approach, we can see that the pronouns use distinct directions thus aiding meaning: I – The first person singular is swallowed – pointing inside of us. You – The second person singular is thrown forward, towards a person directly in front of the speaker. You (plural) – In English, the second person singular also operates as the plural; however, it suffers a slight alteration. The mouth corners widen and the sound expanded and lifted slightly to open the idea of plurality. He / she / it – The third person singular is angled into the lower forward quadrant. There are significant differences though between masculine and feminine and neuter angles. HE is pushed forward whilst SHE is pulled back, with the neutral sense IT being dropped. We – The sound of WE is lifted higher in the mouth than the first person singular subject pronoun - I. It reflects back to show first person but is high to indicate the plural sense. They – Instead of...