On the evening of Tuesday 6th October, the Spanish Society welcomed Dr Paul O’Neill for a much anticipated talk entitled, ‘Linguistics, Language and Identity’. He began by speaking about his experiences abroad on a farm in Spain where he discovered the importance and variation of pronunciation after mispronouncing a word. This was because he found it difficult to differentiate between two phonetic sounds due to his own Geordie accent. This sparked his interest in the subject of linguistics and phonetics, and he now finds himself writing a book composed of the specifics of various sounds.
Dr O’Neill gave an introduction to the science of linguistics which emphasised the importance of linguistics in all walks of life. We learnt about different types of phonemes, how these are produced and how these affect the manner in which one pronounces a word. We were all intrigued by the subtle differences that we usually take for granted, and yet heavily impact our speech. The talk was made even more effective, as it focused on how linguistics applies to the study of the Spanish language.
Dr O’Neill studied Classics and Spanish at Brasenose College, Oxford before moving to Madrid to complete the equivalent of a MPhil, writing his thesis on the phonetics of Andalusian Spanish. He then returned to Britain and studied once again at Oxford. Dr O’Neill then worked at Liverpool University teaching Hispanic linguistics and currently lectures at Sheffield for the department of Hispanic Studies.
Lara Haughney (L)