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Author Archives: Ben
Some Housekeeping
Hi, friends and readers. I’d like to briefly apologize for being AWOL these past few days. After giving it some thought, I’ve decided posting will have to be light here these next two weeks. I have a move, a deadline for … Continue reading
South African ‘ee’
South African accents are notoriously varied, with a panoply of ethno- and sociolects befitting a country with eleven official languages. But almost all South African English is marked by its pronunciation of the ‘ee‘ in ‘fleece.’ In most English accents, … Continue reading
‘This’ and ‘That’ in ‘Foreign’ Dialects
My favorite line in Tony Kushner’s Angels in America is in its first scene, when a strongly-accented rabbi, mid-eulogy, lists ‘Eric’ among the deceased’s grandchildren. He interrupts his speech and addresses the audience: ‘Eric? This is a Jewish name?’ The rabbi uses … Continue reading
Is Rhyming Slang Irish?
An old saying goes “the Brits may have invented English, but the Irish perfected it.” Or maybe that refers to stout. Either way, there is truth to the sentiment: Ireland (besides providing the language with some of its most colorful … Continue reading
Fella, Winder, Tomorrah: ‘-Ow’ Reduction
Back in my musical theatre days, I couldn’t get enough of Rogers and Hammerstein’s classic melodrama Carousel. I’m still a fan, but wish somebody would retool the libretto; many of the show’s lyrics and dialogue are penned in a goofy pseudo-New England … Continue reading
The Speech of Old L.A.
My grandmother grew up in Los Angeles. Her L.A. was not the L.A. of contemporary stereotype. It was a city with one of the world’s finest rail systems, gracious Victorian homes in forgotten neighborhoods like Bunker Hill, and a bustling … Continue reading
Yes, Canada has Regional Dialects
On a train to Canada several months back, I overheard a young man scolding his American companion with the following: ‘Listen. Canada has different accents. Alberta has an accent. Toronto has an accent. We don’t all talk alike.’ I’ve received … Continue reading
Posted in American English Tagged Canadian Accents, canadian raising, Newfoundland Accent 35 Comments
Aristocratic American (Mrs. Roosevelt’s Accent)
I often discuss Received Pronunciation, the British accent which was long the standard of educated speech in England. Although Americans have a hard time understanding how an accent spoken by so few people could be the ‘standard,’ we in fact had … Continue reading
The 4-1-1 on Urban Metonyms
A metonym is a word which symbolizes another word with which it has some relationship. (Not the most elegant definition, I know). A good example is the way we substitute geographical locations for authority figures or bodies of Government. We use Capitol … Continue reading
The Cockney v/w Mystery
When I think of ‘Cockney,’ my mind goes to gritty 1960’s tough guy films: Poor Cow, Get Carter, that kind of thing. That is, I imagine something like the hilarious ‘duelling Michael Caines’ from the Michael Winterbottom comedy The Trip: We … Continue reading