Question about British accents

Derf · January 10, 2009, 09:48:42 AM

I "collect" dialects. I love the regional variations in speech patterns/idioms. I agree with Newt's remark about the "newscaster" accent; that's what I've ended up with after years of playing with different dialects. I'm from Texas, but people that I meet from elsewhere rarely believe it at first because I don't have the typical Texas drawl (even though that, too, varies pretty widely by region).

A story more on topic: In a grad school linguistics class, we were discussing accents, in particular British accents (the one being called "posh" here), and I was easily answering all the questions about pronunciation. A classmate turned to me (he was getting a bit frustrated with the questions) and asked me, "How do you know this stuff?" I just answered, "I watch Monty Python."

I'm just beginning to be able to identify British dialects by region; I just don't know the geography well enough yet. I can at least identify most American dialects by state, if not all by more specific areas. As for the man in doggett's clip, he sounds like England's version of a very bored William Shatner: odd inflections, delivery, etc.

One last stupid story: My family was having a picture made. The guy that was going over the digital proofs with us was obviously from Brooklyn: He had the typical Brooklyn accent, and a very heavy one, too. As we were talking, I had to stop myself several times from breaking into the same accent (I didn't want to seem like I was making fun of him or anything). It was hard, as that is one of my favorites to use in certain situations. And no, there's no real point to the story; it was just funny to me.

Doggett · January 10, 2009, 10:00:40 AM

Quote from: Newt on January 10, 2009, 09:09:28 AM
Quote from: doggett on January 09, 2009, 02:43:04 PMIn my entire life I've never lived anywhere longer than 3/4 years, I moved a lot gowing up and have people consider me having a posh accent and it really isn't. It's a bland voice.

I have been told that is the key to acquiring the 'posh' British accent: take all the regional peculiarities out, and the bland, average result that is left is BBC 'upper class'. Do the same with Americans and you get (what used to be) the typical bland 'newscaster' accent (which was once called 'Mid-Western').

I guess, I do sound posh then.
Sorry.
I hope my posh voice doesn't offend people. If it's any consolation, I'm broke at the moment.

Newt · January 10, 2009, 10:15:04 AM

Quote from: doggett on January 10, 2009, 10:00:40 AMI guess, I do sound posh then.
Sorry.
I hope my posh voice doesn't offend people. If it's any consolation, I'm broke at the moment.

I don't hear it.

MY turn to apologise, doggett: had no idea that being called 'posh' was such a bad thing. It's not like you are putting on airs.

Doggett · January 10, 2009, 10:19:38 AM

Quote from: Newt on January 10, 2009, 10:15:04 AM
Quote from: doggett on January 10, 2009, 10:00:40 AMI guess, I do sound posh then.
Sorry.
I hope my posh voice doesn't offend people. If it's any consolation, I'm broke at the moment.

I don't hear it.

MY turn to apologise, doggett: had no idea that being called 'posh' was such a bad thing. It's not like you are putting on airs.

Posh isn't a bad thing.
It's just posh people have a tendancy (not all of them)to be stuck up and snobbish. And I'm not those. Or rich. I'm from a working class backround but because of my voice no one believes me.

AndyC · January 10, 2009, 02:56:45 PM

For a posh-sounding British voice, it's hard to beat Tom Baker. I love this video of Baker being interviewed by himself, as played by impressionist Jon Culshaw. Culshaw does an amazing job.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9zWuklil8g

The Burgomaster · January 10, 2009, 07:59:57 PM

Quote from: Trekgeezer on January 09, 2009, 10:51:41 AM
I lived in Scotland for two years and I can tell you that some people had such thick brogues, you couldn't tell they were speaking English.

I had to go to Scotland for work several years ago and I was embarrassed because I had to keep asking people to repeat themselves . . . I couldn't understand half of what they were saying. They seemed to add about 4 extra syllables to every word.

Allhallowsday · January 10, 2009, 09:05:51 PM

Quote from: Circus_Circus on January 09, 2009, 01:16:25 PM
NO! NO! NO! I'm sick of the rest of the world thinking we all talk really posh, like it's 18th century london and we're all royalty. All those shows are from the 70's when most actors were well educated and well mannered, with shows focusing on spoofing the upper class and well to do. Britain is mostly down to earth folk, who language is quite relaxed most times and quite abrasive other times. We're not all rich, happy people that drink tea all the time.

Yes there are many regional accents, Mancunian (mine), Yorkshire, Lancashire, Midlands, Cockney, sort of posh southern, Devonshire...so on and so on....It depends on the county you're from, just like in the USA with all you guys' seperate states. My mom's boyfriend is from Liverpool, so he has a scouse accent, but it is very mild. I do understand that some thick accents are impossible to figure words out from, but they are mostly stupid drunken idiots that are really old and stuck in their ways.

I'm from Manchester, but I don't really have much of an accent, just a pretty plain speaking voice and decent pronunciation. I live in Preston in Lancashire though, where the accents are quite thick and most people sound very stupid (because they are) and miss out letters when sounding simple words. Luckily I haven't picked anything up from these parts, even though it's only 30 mins from where I used to live by car. Oh well

Please note the rest of the world (contrary to old TV programs, movies and the like) does not think all the English speak "posh" (port over starboard home) and wonderfully diverse characters are represented in 1990s shows like "Keeping Up Appearances" and 1970s shows like "Are You Being Served?".

... Tell me about the Cornish.

Saucerman · January 10, 2009, 10:52:54 PM

Quote from: The Burgomaster on January 10, 2009, 07:59:57 PM
Quote from: Trekgeezer on January 09, 2009, 10:51:41 AM
I lived in Scotland for two years and I can tell you that some people had such thick brogues, you couldn't tell they were speaking English.

I had to go to Scotland for work several years ago and I was embarrassed because I had to keep asking people to repeat themselves . . . I couldn't understand half of what they were saying. They seemed to add about 4 extra syllables to every word.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Khrpy4V0-U4

"Set Phasers to malky!" has become a stock phrase among my friends.

AndyC · January 10, 2009, 11:01:51 PM

Quote from: The Burgomaster on January 10, 2009, 07:59:57 PM
I had to go to Scotland for work several years ago and I was embarrassed because I had to keep asking people to repeat themselves . . . I couldn't understand half of what they were saying. They seemed to add about 4 extra syllables to every word.

I remember renting a movie a few years ago (Sweet Sixteen, I believe it was called) where the Scottish accents and regional slang were fairly heavy. I laughed at the tape having English subtitles on English dialogue, but there were a couple of spots where it saved me winding the tape back and listening again. Still, I caught virtually all of what was said without any trouble. It wasn't quite as difficult as the Taysiders in Space.

zombie no.one · January 12, 2009, 10:48:39 AM

UK has a ridiculous amount of different regional accents considering we're not exactly a massive country. there's even a slight difference between a Sunderland accent and a Newcastle accent, although you probably have to live there a while to detect it...most people would just label them both 'Geordie'

this is for any US people who may not know the 'Geordie' accent:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=7syCAPOSPKQ&feature=related

schmendrik · January 12, 2009, 11:03:18 AM

Quote from: DCA on January 12, 2009, 10:48:39 AM
UK has a ridiculous amount of different regional accents considering we're not exactly a massive country. there's even a slight difference between a Sunderland accent and a Newcastle accent, although you probably have to live there a while to detect it...most people would just label them both 'Geordie'

Similarly, in the New York area there are supposed to be distinct accents among the five boroughs (Manhattan, Queens, Bronx, Brooklyn, Staten Island), or at least among four of them. I don't know if anyone not from Staten Island has ever claimed to have met a human being from there. And these accents in turn are distinct from the surrounding suburbs of Long Island and New Jersey.

That's a very small geographic area, but there's a lot less cross-travel than you might think, despite the excellent public transportation.

I think I can tell Brooklyn from Manhattan, and possibly Long Island from the others, but other than that they all sound pretty much the same to me. Except that New York Jewish (think Woody Allen) is pretty distinct from New York Italian (think stereotypical Mafioso).

Doggett · January 12, 2009, 11:10:39 AM

Quote from: schmendrik on January 12, 2009, 11:03:18 AM
Quote from: DCA on January 12, 2009, 10:48:39 AM
UK has a ridiculous amount of different regional accents considering we're not exactly a massive country. there's even a slight difference between a Sunderland accent and a Newcastle accent, although you probably have to live there a while to detect it...most people would just label them both 'Geordie'

Similarly, in the New York area there are supposed to be distinct accents among the five boroughs (Manhattan, Queens, Bronx, Brooklyn, Staten Island), or at least among four of them. I don't know if anyone not from Staten Island has ever claimed to have met a human being from there. And these accents in turn are distinct from the surrounding suburbs of Long Island and New Jersey.

That's a very small geographic area, but there's a lot less cross-travel than you might think, despite the excellent public transportation.

I think I can tell Brooklyn from Manhattan, and possibly Long Island from the others, but other than that they all sound pretty much the same to me. Except that New York Jewish (think Woody Allen) is pretty distinct from New York Italian (think stereotypical Mafioso).

New York only has 5 boroughs ????
London's got 32 !

New Yorkers are a bunch of light weights.

Hammock Rider · January 14, 2009, 12:18:21 PM

You know, linguistics is pretty cool.

This is interesting stuff and now I feel a little like Professor Henry Hill. But I have a sub-question for our U.K. friends: Did Madonna really speak with a British accent when she lived there? How did that sound? Nails on a chalkboard?

Psycho Circus · January 14, 2009, 12:29:09 PM

Quote from: Hammock Rider on January 14, 2009, 12:18:21 PM
You know, linguistics is pretty cool. This is interesting stuff and now I feel a little like Professor Henry Hill. But I have a sub-question for our U.K. friends: Did Madonna really speak with a British accent when she lived there? How did that sound? Nails on a chalkboard?

Yes, a bit weird at first, but then she sounded normal.

Raffine · January 14, 2009, 12:41:48 PM

Quote from: AndyC on January 10, 2009, 02:56:45 PM
For a posh-sounding British voice, it's hard to beat Tom Baker. I love this video of Baker being interviewed by himself, as played by impressionist Jon Culshaw. Culshaw does an amazing job.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9zWuklil8g

I remember when Christopher Eccleston was signed to play The Doctor there was some buzz about the fact he was the first actor to play him without a 'posh' accent. As a matter of fact, there's a scene in one of his first episodes where Rose Tyler asks him about his accent and he replies "Lots of planets have a North!".