VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Audiogal]

Here's an article about some "homegrown" research into American regional dialects: http://snipurl.com/nsn8
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Mary

[billelder]

LOL! When I visit my friends in the UK, people gather 'round to hear me speak southern. <g> I also have a good friend from Gloucestershire who was here in October and did a very convincing southern accent too!

[Deirdre]

Great article. Trying to spell out what people say is darned tough.
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[Doc]

Ya know, if more people knew, understood and read phonetics and diacritics, scripts could be broken down into these markings and could easily be negotiated by the voice artist?

I studied these in broadcast school back when "Hector was a pup" and subsequently went on to teach them. I realize this isn't part of the pre-requisite curricula for producers and talent and, IMHO, it should be. It would make life a lot easier for all of us who do this for a living. It would also increase efficiency all around.

If you've ever heard the words, "schwa", "circumflex", or "oomlaut", then you already have an idea. Diacritics enable the correct pronunciation of a syllable which cannot be spelled out phonetically.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diacritic

If the agencies and the producers with whom I work had this ability, I'd never again have a problem with pronunciations. Sadly, this isn't the case. But, we muttle through, dont we?

Or, do we just thrive on challenge?

[Audiogal]

[Doc]

Mary,

[MichaelJ]

Doc & Mary-

Glad to know I'm not the only one who uses diacritics, etc. to mark scripts!

Like most people in this country, I wasted...er....SPENT several years and LOTS of money on a college degree for a profession in which I do not work. Had I known that all I needed was a brief "Intro. to the IPA", I might not have spent all that time and money studying "Communication Science and Disorders" (read: Speech Pathology/Therapy).

If script writers could/would at least write the client's name, technical jargon, and any regional/dialectical oddities using the IPA or some simily system, it certainly would cut down on re-takes and potentially embarrasing questions!! (Like most VOs--I imagine--I charge for re-takes due to script changes and technical problems, but not for mispronounciations or other voice issues.)

[mcm]

What a fascinating article - thank-you for posting that Mary. I finally got a little clue about why some of the people around here sound like they're from the Midwest:

[Deirdre]

Pat Fraley uses a simplified diacritical marking system in his classes after showing you the insane International Phonetic Alphabet and the somewhat less cumbersome Herman System.

It would be nice to have a nationally-recognized protocol for pronunciation, but I wonder how well it would work?
I mean, MITCH-nuhz HAHD-weyuh in r'-VEEYUH is they way the Client (Michener's Hardware in Revere) says it.
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[MichaelJ]

Duh. I just read the article Mary linked to (AFTER I responded to the thread, of course).

I grew up in Northwestern PA (near Lake Erie), lived briefly in Nashville (where I couldn't understand a soul!), and--like the OTHER Mary--came to Pittsburgh for school. Unlike Mary, however, I stuck around afterword, and have been here for about 10 years. In fact, my office is on the "SahthSide", just blocks from the Tom's Diner mentioned in the article.

I tell you all this, because it reinforces the importance of REGULAR PRACTICE. Having spent my formative years in the accent-free (not that such a thing actually exists) NORTH Pennsylvania, I developed a clear pattern of enunciation which can be easily understood by anyone in the country.

Now that I've been in Pittsburgh for so long--working and socializing with the yinzers (i.e. "Yinz goin dahn tahn?"), I've caught (NOT "caht") myself occassionally slipping this into a script delivery. As sad as it is, the major reason I practice is to maintain my NON-Pittsburgh accent!

Does anyone else have this problem? Dierdre, I imagine it's hard for you to "code shift" sometimes where you are!

[PJHawke]

I was surprised to see that St Louis is mentioned as having such a distinctive regional dialect, but after a bit of webbing, it seems that linguests have long had an interest in this place. Listining to the samples on the IDEA site was an ear-opener for me when I compared the clips to other areas..."whoa...I do kinda sound like that don't I?"... I lose most of it when doing a read, but conversationally, 'seems I'm right out of the textbook.

One of the things my coach nails me on is this flattening/assimilation nasality that affects several vowel sounds (especially "a" variants)...seems it's a big thing in Missouri in general. She's not from here so she spots it instantly, I've never noticed it much.

I thought I found the holy grail when I learned the IPA in my speech class last fall, but no one else uses it and now I'm forgetting the symbols.

[Doc]

Deirdre,

Kind of like sign language, huh? Because I have a granddaughter who is deaf, I found out that there are actually 2 completely different sign language disciplines. Very confusing.

Fortunately, only one is considered universal. However, people with severe hearing loss or complete deafness are encouraged to learn both.

The system I learned and taught for phonetics and diacritics actually was far easier. We were able to turn out a practicum for students in 8 hours of instruction time. And, I still remember it to this day.

[Bailey]

I'm originally from Maryland. We don't say Mary-land back there. It's more like Marilyn as is Marilyn Monroe. Some of the locals may even pronounce it as Merlin. I don't need an interpreter when I got back to visit... but my wife (native Californian) still can't understand why I call a woman's purse a pocketbook.
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[Drew]

We called Maryland "Meralin" in South Philly where I grew up. We called purses "pocketbooks", as well. Spent more time in Pittsburgh than I care to remember, too.

Wound up in Ohio saying, "Hey, yinz guys, gotta glass a wooder, an nat? And later I may need to warsh my hands. So don't go away wit da wooder. "
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Although I have a full head of hair, I'm quite ribald.

[mcm]

Always thought the Pennsylvania license plate ought to say "Yinz Got a Friend in Pennsylvania"