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1. The Accents in Downton Abbey
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5. Canadian Raising: Nobody Says Aboot
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Yearly Archives: 2011
The Ebonics Factor: A Quick Addendum
In the previous post, I mentioned the divide between the accents of Detroit and neighboring Windsor, Ontario. There is a complicating factor, however, that I neglected to mention: African American Vernacular English (AAVE, or crudely, “Ebonics“).* AAVE, for those who don’t … Continue reading
Northern Cities Vowel Shift vs. Canadian Accents
As per our recent discussion of Canadian accents, I’d like to delve into a question I often hear: how different is Canadian English from American English? What’s remarkable about Canadian English is not that it’s different from American English, but … Continue reading
A Rant: Accents and Bad Journalism
I realize that accents and dialects constitute a fairly obscure topic. But I’m finding myself increasingly dismayed by how terribly journalism bungles this area of study. Look, I understand how easy it is to mess up facts when it comes … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged celebrity accents, dialects and comprehension, dialects in TV 7 Comments
“New Joysey” and “Oirish:” 6 Accent Myths
As per yesterday’s post about the mythological Canadian aboot, I’ve thought of some other myths people harbor about accents and dialects of English. Here are a few common misconceptions: 1.) Myth: People in Shakespeare’s day talked more like Americans than … Continue reading
Canadian Raising: Nobody says “Aboot”
A point of clarification: Canadians do not say aboot. Canadian English features something called Canadian Raising, which basically means that the diphthong in “now” is raised before t, s or other voiceless consonants (i.e. before words like about and house). What … Continue reading
Good at Phonetics? It May be Genetics!
Any dialect coach will tell you that not everyone has a knack for picking up accents. Some people take to this kind of work immediately, while others struggle to recognize the most basic differences between accents. It’s a sad reality. … Continue reading
The 5 Best Irish Accents on Film
As it’s Saint Patrick’s day, there have been a number of “worst Irish Accents on film articles floating around. I like to remain relatively positive here, so instead of putting out another list eviscerating Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts, I’d … Continue reading
A Brief Look at Jamaican Creole
I’ll begin today’s post with a wonderful video of the The Night Before Christmas spoken in Jamaican Creole (a.k.a. Patois): For non-Jamaicans the clip above is probably so hard to understand that it seems like a different language. Which is … Continue reading
New York City: Accent of Champions!
I like to think of myself as good at accents. I say this in all humbleness. Objectively speaking, I’d say my Cockney, Manchester, and Dublin are quite nuanced for an American. I can even do the more obscure accents, like … Continue reading
Stage Accents vs. Real Accents
As per recent discussions of American actors doing British accents, I’d like to make an important distinction: Authentic accents vs. stage dialects*. For about 90% of situations in which an American actor needs a British accent, that accent is probably … Continue reading