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Author Archives: Ben
Jamaican Patois (And English Schwa)
I’ve recently become fascinated with Jamaican Patois, the creole language spoken on the island of the same name. The language derives from African languages and various dialects of the British Isles spoken in the 17th-Century. So it offers insight into … Continue reading
Far Out: The Hippie Dialect
The etymology of dialect words is an obsession for English language enthusiasts. And thanks to Google NGram, Google Books, Google Scholar and other Google-related tools, it’s never been easier for laymen to research the origins of slang. But the question … Continue reading
The 3 Types of Australian Accents
The Australian Accent is renowned for its lack of regional differences. This is perhaps not surprising given that Britain settled the country fairly late in the history of the Empire (New South Wales was discovered over a decade after America’s … Continue reading
More on the Ocracoke Brogue
Some months back I mentioned an unusual dialect of English known colloquially as the “Ocracoke Brogue.” Spoken in the remote islands off the coast of North Carolina, the brogue is sometimes mentioned as one of the “last living relatives” of … Continue reading
Question About the Speech Accent Archive
A recent piece at WAMU profiles the Speech Accent Archive, an online database of accent samples compiled by the George Washington University‘s Linguistics Department. A vast collection of recordings of English speakers around the globe, this eleven-year-old resource is one … Continue reading
The British Drama League Recordings
I’ve been held back from posting due to the 4th of July holiday (compounded by some internet connectivity issues). But I’d like to briefly share a fun thing I found on YouTube recently. A user who identifies himself as EMGColonel … Continue reading
On the Evolution of “Douchebag”
I don’t much discuss profanity here, which is unfortunate. Swear words are an indelible part of any dialect, and no discussion of spoken English would be complete without their mention. Which brings us to today’s topic, the meteoric rise of … Continue reading
The Elusive English Schwa
An old trick question: what is the most common vowel in spoken English? Is it the a in cat? The o in top? The ee in keep? In fact, the answer is the puzzling little sound known as schwa. Schwa … Continue reading
“Top o’ the Morning:” Myth and Reality
Few dialect myths rankle more people than the purported Irish phrase, “top o’ the morning.” Any Irish person will inform you that they have never, ever heard even one of their countrymen utter these words. So where did the greeting come … Continue reading
Michelle Collins’ Accent on Coronation Street
There has been a recent to-do over British actress Michelle Collins, who joined the Manchester-based soap opera Coronation Street. Collins was best known for her role in EastEnders (a soap set in East London), so her Manchester accent must come … Continue reading