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Failed to connect to MySQL: (1203) User howardkn already has more than 'max_user_connections' active connectionsPath: ...!news.mixmin.net!weretis.net!feeder8.news.weretis.net!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!individual.net!not-for-mail From: Athel Cornish-Bowden Newsgroups: sci.lang Subject: Re: John Gumperz died (29-3-2013) Date: Mon, 1 Apr 2024 19:06:50 +0200 Lines: 50 Message-ID: References: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Trace: individual.net vGxaJVgnFTyCtmEeaYOezwCkR/MtAVWpnIr/+cvbgcfgDvdOMv Cancel-Lock: sha1:BwzwljMXOPrDdREvDDaIWzrqzDQ= sha256:ZtbH9IDQmXPzlPlur6K6UGPmhuDsmLn0C3vZORLu+ds= User-Agent: Unison/2.2 Bytes: 2975 On 2024-04-01 01:53:04 +0000, Ross Clark said: > On 31/03/2024 5:20 a.m., Athel Cornish-Bowden wrote: >> On 2024-03-30 09:17:30 +0000, Ross Clark said: >> >>> Born Germany, 1922. Jewish. Left Germany 1930s, eventually reached the >>> USA. Here his interests swung from chemistry to linguistics. >>> PhD, University of Michigan, 1954. Thesis on the dialect of a >>> Swabian-German community in Michigan. >>> At University of California, Berkeley, from 1956. >>> What exactly was his field? >>> Sociolinguistics? (Crystal), but quite a different tradition from the >>> Labovian variationists >>> specifically, Interactional Sociolinguistics? (Crystal) >>> Ethnography of Communication? (Crystal)...he was a close associate of >>> Dell Hymes. >>> I haven't read much of Gumperz. >>> >>> Crystal mentions a "famous example", a case arising at Heathrow Airport. >>> Fortunately I don't have to retell it since it's here, >> >> Only to subscribers. > > Yes, sorry. Somehow I was afforded a glimpse of it. > > Here's Crystal's version: > > ...Gumperz went to Heathrow Airport to investigate a culture clash > between newly hired cafeteria staff from India and Pakistan and the > baggage handlers who were eating there. The handlers said the new staff > were being rude, while the cafe people felt the handlers were being > discriminatory, as no complaint was being made against the older > British cafe staff. Both sides were puzzled by the situation and wanted > it resolved. > > Gumperz recorded the conversations, and found a tiny but profound > difference between the way the two groups of cafe staff spoke to > customers. The word _gravy_ was the prime example. When offering it to > customers, the British staff said it with a high rising intonation, as > would be normal for their accent -- Gravy? The new staff used a falling > intonation -- Gravy! It was the contrast between 'Are you asking me or > telling me?' To British ears, the latter would sound like 'This is > gravy,' and was being interpreted as a rude 'Take it or leave it!', > when the intention was only to be polite. Thanks. -- Athel cb