Alexander John Ellis: Difference between revisions
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== Biography == |
== Biography == |
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Initially trained in mathematics and the classics, he became a well-known phonetician of his time. Through his work in phonetics he also became interested in vocal pitch and by extension in musical [[pitch (music)|pitch]] as well as [[Speech communication|speech]] and [[song]]. |
He was born in Hoxton, Middlesex and educated at [[Shrewsbury School]], [[Eton College]] and [[Trinity College, Cambridge]] (BA 1837). Initially trained in mathematics and the classics, he became a well-known phonetician of his time. Through his work in phonetics he also became interested in vocal pitch and by extension in musical [[pitch (music)|pitch]] as well as [[Speech communication|speech]] and [[song]]. |
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Ellis is also noted for translating and extensively annotating [[Hermann Helmholtz]]'s ''On the Sensations of Tone''. The second edition of this translation, published in 1885, contains an appendix which summarizes Ellis' own work on related matters. |
Ellis is also noted for translating and extensively annotating [[Hermann Helmholtz]]'s ''On the Sensations of Tone''. The second edition of this translation, published in 1885, contains an appendix which summarizes Ellis' own work on related matters. |
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There are claims that Ellis himself was pitch-deaf, i.e. could not distinguish different pitches with his own ears. Today, this claim is often not supported anymore.<ref>W.R. THOMAS, J.J.K. RHODES, ''Ellis [Sharpe], Alexander J(ohn)'', Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 11/05/2008), http://www.grovemusic.com</ref> |
There are claims that Ellis himself was pitch-deaf, i.e. could not distinguish different pitches with his own ears. Today, this claim is often not supported anymore.<ref>W.R. THOMAS, J.J.K. RHODES, ''Ellis [Sharpe], Alexander J(ohn)'', Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 11/05/2008), http://www.grovemusic.com</ref> |
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He was acknowledged by Shaw as the prototype of Professor [[Henry Higgins]] of [[Pygmalion (play)|Pygmalion]]. (My Fair Lady).<ref>Ross Duffin, "How Equal Temperament Ruined Harmony" W.W. Norton and Co. 2007 </ref> He was elected in June 1864 a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]] <ref> {{cite web |url=http://www2.royalsociety.org/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Persons&dsqPos=1&dsqSearch=%28Surname%3D%27ellis%27%29| title= Library and Archive catalogue| publisher = Royal Society | accessdate= 30 November 2010))</ref> |
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He was acknowledged by Shaw as the prototype of Professor [[Henry Higgins]] of [[Pygmalion (play)| |
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Pygmalion]]. (My Fair Lady).<ref>Ross Duffin, "How Equal Temperament Ruined Harmony" W.W. Norton and Co. 2007 |
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</ref> |
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== Notes == |
== Notes == |
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Revision as of 20:07, 30 November 2010
Alexander John Ellis (14 June 1814 - 28 October 1890) was an English mathematician and philologist. He changed his name from his father's name Sharpe to his mother's maiden name Ellis in 1825, based on a condition for receiving significant financial support from a relative on his mother's side.[1]
Biography
He was born in Hoxton, Middlesex and educated at Shrewsbury School, Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge (BA 1837). Initially trained in mathematics and the classics, he became a well-known phonetician of his time. Through his work in phonetics he also became interested in vocal pitch and by extension in musical pitch as well as speech and song.
Ellis is also noted for translating and extensively annotating Hermann Helmholtz's On the Sensations of Tone. The second edition of this translation, published in 1885, contains an appendix which summarizes Ellis' own work on related matters.
In his writings on musical pitch and scales,[2] Ellis elaborates his notion and notation of cents for musical intervals which became especially influential in Comparative musicology, a predecessor of ethnomusicology. Analyzing the scales (tone systems) of various extra-European musical traditions, Ellis also showed that the diversity of tone systems cannot be explained by a single physical law, as had been argued by earlier scholars.
In part V of his work On early English pronunciation, he applied the Dialect Test across Britain, and distinguished forty-two different dialects in England and the Scottish Lowlands.
There are claims that Ellis himself was pitch-deaf, i.e. could not distinguish different pitches with his own ears. Today, this claim is often not supported anymore.[3]
He was acknowledged by Shaw as the prototype of Professor Henry Higgins of Pygmalion. (My Fair Lady).[4] He was elected in June 1864 a Fellow of the Royal Society [5]
Notes
- ^ John Hannavy (2008). Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography. CRC Press. ISBN 0415972353.
- ^ Ellis (1885)
- ^ W.R. THOMAS, J.J.K. RHODES, Ellis [Sharpe], Alexander J(ohn), Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 11/05/2008), http://www.grovemusic.com
- ^ Ross Duffin, "How Equal Temperament Ruined Harmony" W.W. Norton and Co. 2007
- ^ {{cite web |url=http://www2.royalsociety.org/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Persons&dsqPos=1&dsqSearch=%28Surname%3D%27ellis%27%29%7C title= Library and Archive catalogue| publisher = Royal Society | accessdate= 30 November 2010))
Works
- 1869, On early English pronunciation, Greenwood Press: New York (1968).
- 1885, On the Musical Scales of Various Nations. Journal of the Society of Arts 33, p. 485. (Link is to a HTML transcription (Accessed September 2008)
References
- M. K. C. MacMahon, Ellis , Alexander John (1814–1890), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 14 June 2006
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