Pronunciation watch

[vinteuil]

it's blimmin' difficult.

" ... a stressed syllable followed by three unstressed ones is very unpopular except with professors & the like if there is an alternative handy... "

[ #1822, supra ]

[Lat-Literal]

" ... a stressed syllable followed by three unstressed ones is very unpopular except with professors & the like if there is an alternative handy... "

[ #1822, supra ]

Yes, that must be it.

As in:

or

3. Four syllables are a problem; three are not.

I never say com-BATT-ant and rarely say com-MUNE-al.

[french frank]

I always say FORmidable.

'And I.' [Shakespeare, Midsummer Night's Dream Act 3 sc 1, Second and Third Fairies ll. 985 & 986]

" ... a stressed syllable followed by three unstressed ones is very unpopular except with professors & the like if there is an alternative handy... "

[ #1822, supra ]

And four unstressed syllables? Veterinary.

[Serial_Apologist]

Links below to a couple of fascinating sites with recordings of now almost extinct rural dialects and accents, recorded back in the 1920s and 1950s. You might want to download or bookmark these.

The first illustrates a Sussex accent. The first thing about it which struck me was an overall similarity with speech patterns still to be found in parts of Dorset, Somerset and north Gloucestershire. I then noted similarities with East Anglian speech: "agoo" for "ago" for instance, but, more unexpectedly, proximities with certain diphthonged vowel pronunciations typical of Ulster and the Tyne/NE area: "peeaper" for "paper'; "steeashun" for "station".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCKOiO_euRk

The second link offers a range of rural speakers from across the country - this one has attracted a lot of disagreements in the commentaries for inaccuracy, non-comprehensiveness and oversimplification, as well as a few US and Canadian contributers. Many of the clips are too short to discern common distinguishing features or difficult to make out, but nevertheless are all of interest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPJxS43ByYE

The next link to a lecture on different accents and speech patterns across the country to recently arrived migrants, one presumes, will raise smiles, though I would expect those here of a West Country disposition to be disappointed that the lecturer avoids any of these, though I would not have thought Bristolian to present too many difficulties.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDdRHWHzwR4

Following on, I found this lovely BBC documentary, which I must have missed when first put out, in which a wonderfully sympathetic presenter uses WWI shellac recordings by the German army of British POWs as the start of a journey into local and regional accents and dialects, and what has become of them in the period since. Perhaps there are some here who like me find this subject fascinating and heart-warming, but it is a bit on the margin, so I shan't be pursuing any further if there's not sufficient interest to attract attention.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywg03b574oQ

[Padraig]

Following on, I found this lovely BBC documentary, which I must have missed when first put out, in which a wonderfully sympathetic presenter uses WWI shellac recordings by the German army of British POWs as the start of a journey into local and regional accents and dialects, and what has become of them in the period since. Perhaps there are some here who like me find this subject fascinating and heart-warming, but it is a bit on the margin, so I shan't be pursuing any further if there's not sufficient interest to attract attention.

I found it most interesting, S_A.
Here's a wee clue to acquiring a Belfast accent. Say 'Pots and pans' a couple of times until you get the rhythm; then say it again while changing the vowels. Got it?

[gurnemanz]

Following on, I found this lovely BBC documentary, which I must have missed when first put out, in which a wonderfully sympathetic presenter uses WWI shellac recordings by the German army of British POWs as the start of a journey into local and regional accents and dialects, and what has become of them in the period since. Perhaps there are some here who like me find this subject fascinating and heart-warming, but it is a bit on the margin, so I shan't be pursuing any further if there's not sufficient interest to attract attention.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywg03b574oQ

Thanks for the link. Really fascinating, especially to me as a language teacher. Making voice recordings is a big part of that work and when our children were growing up bilingually (my wife is German) it seemed an obvious thing to do to make a series of recordings of them. This was not so much to study their pronunciation as to have a record of the way they acquired two languages under those circumstances - always using a hidden mike so they didn't play up. I also kept notebooks where I noted down some of the more revealing utterances they came out with. This process is fascinating enough without the bi-lingual component and to us and to our children, now in their thirties, these recordings are absolute gems. Our daughter did English Language A Level and was able to use these recordings of herself acquiring language and my notebooks as a corpus for her exam coursework project.

As my father reached the end of his life in his early nineties, I also made some recordings of him talking about his life. These are also great to have now he is no longer around.

[Serial_Apologist]

I found it most interesting, S_A. I watched for a couple of minutes to get a flavour, and couldn't stop. There's a new name to me in documentary presentation, full of love for her subject and her participants, and so good at all the different accents.

Here's a wee clue to acquiring a Belfast accent. Say 'Pots and pans' a couple of times until you get the rhythm; then say it again while changing the vowels. Got it?

Not sure if I follow there, Padraig... 'Pats and pons'?? The first clip in my original link above contains a suggestion about mimicking Northern Irish accents - a very bad imitation, you'll think!

[Padraig]

Not sure if I follow there, Padraig... 'Pats and pons'?? The first clip in my original link above contains a suggestion about mimicking Northern Irish accents - a very bad imitation, you'll think!

Eh bien S_A, like your English accents, it depends where one is from.
You're right that this is 'a bit on the margin'.

[Oldcrofter]

This may have already been posted by someone - if so many apologies:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPAr3RpHugM

[Serial_Apologist]

This may nave already been posted by someone - if so many apologies:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPAr3RpHugM

Hadn't seen that - brilliant, thanks OC!

[Padraig]

Hadn't seen that - brilliant, thanks OC!

Me either.

[Oldcrofter]

Here's another selection of accents delivered in a amusing way - I'm full of admiration !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riwKuKSbFDs

[Serial_Apologist]

Here's another selection of accents delivered in a amusing way - I'm full of admiration !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riwKuKSbFDs

He's brilliant, isn't he? Hard to figure out how such a young guy could pick up on so many accents. One he can do, but which I definitely can't, is Scouse. I remember, many years ago, being drunk after closing time waiting for a train to Romford on Stratford Station, and swapping accents with this real East End geezer, quite a young bloke, who astonished everying around us by doing Geordie to perfection. I ended up catching the wrong train and having to walk ten miles in the pitch dark of a freezing cold night - something I would never have done - i.e. getting the wrong train and then walking miles down country roads in the dark - had I been sober!

[Serial_Apologist]

A pronounced misunderstanding

There was a lovely one on a TV phone in discussion on re-nationalisation this morning.

The panel and incoming callers had been discussing what services, if any, should be de-privatised in the event of Labour coming to power at the next general election. After one of the panel members had mentioned water and rail, a caller from Manchester suggested, "They're all male as well". Everyone then solemnly agreed that the Royal Mail would be a very suitable case for taking into public ownership!

[Serial_Apologist]

Should I draw attention to #1844, which I still think was incredibly funny, or be Buddhist and just nonchalantly drop it?