the ISFC39 Proceedings - International Systemic-Functional ...

to boldly proceed ...cultural inheritance. The description of language must constantly shift between the focus onthe sender and the receiver, both of whom influence and are influenced by the language. Thesender must be aware of every element and give careful consideration to his use of language.One example could be the television priest who has the public as his congregation, a specificfaith he must communicate a message on, because it is precisely that faith that has broughtthem together. A great many obstacles in the form of time, place, space, outside threats to thefaith, dogma, tradition, and particular expectations to the language of the church he mustconsider carefully to enable him to use the language and act appropriately in thecircumstances. The media, in all its forms, must keep the same considerations in mind, whencommunicating journalistic messages. Here, it is not least the traditions which the media havecreated themselves, with a literal and Northern Zeeland influenced language being animportant factor. In this, the media have themselves created an expectation which forms alanguage spiral where the use of language by the media and by media users is more and moreremote from one another, in the same way that the distance between the written and spokenlanguage is constantly increasing.6 ConclusionIn the article we have discussed how television news has undergone a root-and-branchtransformation over the past 40 years, while the use of language has lagged behind. We haveshown that this development can be recognized with the aid of Eggins’ functional paradigm,with a distinction between formal and functional criteria. The contextual connection is crucialand the phases move from a genre with a centralised script-reading news presenter to itemsvia mobile phone and Skype. The structure in the first television news from 1965 is rigid andthe language stiff. Pronunciation is that of the language found by Øresund’s east coast, northof Copenhagen, or in the Royal Theatre. Forms of address are ‘De, Dem and Deres’ (formal,i.e. capitalised, forms of you, yourself and yours), and subtitles mark these cultural bonds.Jute is subtitled but not southern Swedish! The language of the news presenter in 2011 canbest be characterised as something betwixt the written and spoken languages. Streams ofindividuals enter and leave the studio and the interviewees’ language is given much air spaceand the tempo is high. Journalists now report ‘on location’. Denmark Radio’s language policyis set out and it is discussed whether compliance is inadequate and debatable. All in all, true‘loops of spoken language’.ReferencesAlbeck, U. (1942): Farlige Ord. Udgivet af Statsradiofonien og godkendt af Statsradiofoniens Sprogudvalg.København: J.H. Schultz Forlag.Cordsen, M. M., Høyer, A. R. & Pedersen, S. Ø. (2009): Nyhedsformidling i radioen. RUC. Roskilde.Upubliceret.Eggins, S. (1994/1996/2007): An Introduction to Systemic Functional Linguistics. London/New York:Continuum.Ejstrup, M. (2009). Sproglig mangfoldighed længe leve. Det rum[me]lige sprog. Danmark:Dansklærerforeningen..Evans, H. (1972): Newsman's English. London: Heinemann.Larsen, P. H. (2003): De levende billeders dramaturgi. København: Danmarks Radio.Leitner, G. (1989): BBC English – und Englisch lernen mit der BBC. Berlin: LangenscheidtLuhmann, N. (1996/2002): Massemediernes realitet. Danmark: Hans Reitzels Forlag.Thoegersen, J. (2011): 'Talesprog i radioavisen', in: Danske Talesprog 12.Van Leeuwen, T. (1984): 'Impartial Speech – Observations on the Intonation of Radio Newsreaders, AustralianJournal of Cultural Studies 2(1): 84-89.Van Leeuwen, T. (2005): Introducing Social Semiotics. London/New York: Routledge.158