Zurich Open Repository and Archive University of Zurich Main Library Strickhofstrasse 39 CH-8057 Zurich www.zora.uzh.ch Year: 2019 Live sports commentating: a comparative study of cricket, football, horse racing and tennis commentaries Popov, Aleksandar Posted at the Zurich Open Repository and Archive, University of Zurich ZORA URL: https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-171344 Dissertation Published Version Originally published at: Popov, Aleksandar. Live sports commentating: a comparative study of cricket, football, horse racing and tennis commentaries. 2019, University of Zurich, Faculty of Arts. Live Sports Commentating: A Comparative Study of Cricket, Football, Horse Racing and Tennis Commentaries Thesis presented to the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences of the University of Zurich for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by lic. phil. Aleksandar Popov Accepted in the spring semester 2019 on the recommendation of Prof. em. Dr. Udo Fries and Prof. Dr. Daniel Schreier Zurich, 2019 Abstract The aim of this doctoral thesis is to investigate the linguistic features of spoken English sports commentating. Sports commentary is a combination of narration and entertainment, and an easily recognisable form of communicating information to a mass audience. By examining a corpus of 160,000 words transcribed from live cricket, football, horse racing and tennis commentaries broadcast on UK television and radio, a quantitative and qualitative study is carried out for the purpose of determining the effects of three factors on the language produced by sports commentators: the nature of the sport, the nature of the broadcast medium and developments over time, defined by the interval between two sets of recordings (1996–2002 and 2013–2015). The analysis of formal aspects and distinctive linguistic features in the context of four textual dimensions will show that these three factors exert an influence on the language of the commentaries. However, the effects vary depending on the level of commentary. The level of play-by-play reporting appears to be largely unaffected by sport, broadcast medium or developments over time. Therefore, the findings of this investigation and analysis will support the conclusion that play-by-play sports commentating can be classified as a register of its own. I Table of Contents Abstract 1. Introduction – Aim and Scope ............................................................................................................... 5 2. Previous research ................................................................................................................................... 8 2.1. Linguistic features, lexicon and sociolinguistic aspects ........................................................................ 8 2.2. Sports commentating as a register ....................................................................................................... 10 2.3. Implications for the present study ........................................................................................................ 11 3. Material ............................................................................................................................................. 13 4. Method ............................................................................................................................................. 16 4.1. Basic principles ................................................................................................................................... 16 4.2. Procedure ............................................................................................................................................. 16 5. Introduction to cricket, football, tennis and horse racing .................................................................... 18 5.1. Cricket ................................................................................................................................................. 19 5.2. Football ................................................................................................................................................ 20 5.3. Tennis .................................................................................................................................................. 22 5.4. Horse racing ......................................................................................................................................... 23 5.5. Summary.............................................................................................................................................. 24 6. Characteristics of sports commentating ............................................................................................... 27 6.1. The sports commentators ..................................................................................................................... 27 6.2. The audience ........................................................................................................................................ 28 7. Analysis ............................................................................................................................................. 31 7.1. Formal characteristics .......................................................................................................................... 32 7.1.1. Average number of words per minute ............................................................................................. 32 7.1.2. Levels of commentating .................................................................................................................. 38 7.2. Involved v detached style .................................................................................................................... 44 7.2.1. 1st and 2nd person pronouns ............................................................................................................. 44 7.2.1.1. Overall analysis of 1st and 2nd person pronouns ................................................................ 44 7.2.1.2. Distribution analysis of 1st and 2nd person pronouns ........................................................... 50 7.2.1.3. Summary of 1st and 2nd person pronouns ............................................................................. 51 7.2.2. Adverbs of time and place ............................................................................................................... 52 7.2.2.1. Overall analysis of adverbs of time and place ..................................................................... 52 7.2.2.2. Distribution analysis of adverbs of time and place .............................................................. 56 7.2.2.3. Summary of analysis of adverbs of time and place ............................................................. 57 7.2.3. Pronoun ‘it’ ..................................................................................................................................... 58 7.2.3.1. Overall analysis of pronoun ‘it’ ........................................................................................... 58 7.2.3.2. Distribution analysis of pronoun ‘it’ ................................................................................... 61 7.2.3.3. Summary of analysis of pronoun ‘it’ ................................................................................... 61 7.2.4. Discourse particles .......................................................................................................................... 63 7.2.4.1. Overall analysis of discourse particles ................................................................................ 63 7.2.4.2. Distribution analysis of discourse particles ......................................................................... 66 7.2.4.3. Summary of analysis of discourse particles ........................................................................ 66 II 7.2.5. Passives ........................................................................................................................................... 67 7.2.5.1. Overall analysis of passives ................................................................................................ 67 7.2.5.2. Distribution analysis of passives ......................................................................................... 71 7.2.5.3. Summary of analysis of passives ......................................................................................... 71 7.3. Integrated vs. fragmented style ............................................................................................................ 72 7.3.1. Nominalisations ............................................................................................................................... 72 7.3.1.1. Overall analysis of nominalisations ..................................................................................... 72 7.3.1.2. Distribution analysis of nominalisations ............................................................................. 74 7.3.1.3. Summary of analysis of nominalisations ............................................................................. 74 7.3.2. Word length ..................................................................................................................................... 75 7.3.2.1. Overall analysis of word length ........................................................................................... 75 7.3.2.2. Distribution analysis of word length ..................................................................................