What is Accent v. Dialect?

Accent- pronunciationThe characteristic mode of

pronunciation of a person or group, especially one that betrays social or geographical origin

Examples of accents in movies

Disney movies most often use non-native accents in a negative or stereotypical way as compared to US and other English accents.

However, in some instances foreign accents in general (including other English) are used to portray a villainous character.

Research has also found that in cable cartoons for children, stereotypically negative accents (German, Russian and other Eastern European) are mostly associated with villains.

Some examples: The Lion King: Mufasa speaks with a standard US

English accent. Scar, his evil brother, speaks with a British accent (both brothers are presumably in Africa).

Aladdin: Jaffar, a villainous character, speaks with a British accent (in an Arabian desert).

Three Little Pigs: the Big Bad Wolf has a Yiddish accent when he pretends to be a salesman.

Oliver & Company: a small, annoying Chihuahua, Tito, adopts a Hispanic accent.

Ratatouille (Pixar): Remy and Linguini (who are French) speak with American English accents, but all other characters speak some form of a French accent.

Talladega Nights- Accent

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxnLqNM49sY

(0:00-1:32)

Other examples: Top 10 best accents in modern

films:

http://blogs.whatsontv.co.uk/movietalk/2011/07/07/top-10-best-fake-accents-in-movies/

Dialect- word choice A form of a language spoken in a

particular geographical area or by members of a particular social class or occupational group, distinguished by its vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation

Dialects and “Proper” Usage

All but the very smallest language communities show dialect variation. Dialect differences involve all aspects of language – syntax, lexicon, morphology, phonology, etc.

1. Syntax

I don’t have any socks. vs. I don’t have no socks. vs.

I don’t got no socks.

I am walking. vs. I be walking.

waiting for Mike vs. waiting on Mike

waiting in line vs. waiting on line (NYC)

I knew he was guilty. vs. I knowed he was guilty.

Phonology plays a large role for dialect

The study of the distribution and patterning of speech sounds in a language and of the tacit rules governing pronunciation.

How it sounds

Talladega Nights- DialectIn this example, how is it

different than the first example?

What makes this dialect as opposed to just an accent?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDqXbk_ThH0

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SOUTHERN PHONOLOGY Mrs.

hog (frog, dog, Deputy Dog)

south => souf

during => doin’, and going => gon

help => hep

test => tes

ring => rang

boy => boah

car => cah

POlice

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SOUTHERN DialectSouth: "Y'all"

North: "You guys"

South: "Fixin' to"North: "About to"

South: "Howdy"North: "Hello"

South: "Twixt"North: "Between”

chitlins and grits

to buy a pig in a poke

“Carry me Back to Old Virginie”

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CALIFORNIA VALLEY-GIRL & SURFER-DUDE SPEECHRising Inflections (like Australian

English)

Superfluous use of the word “like”

Animated Body Language (like sticking a finger down the throat)

Specialized Vocabulary (like “dude”, esp. relating to shopping malls, the beach, and personality types)

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CANADIAN PHONOLOGYout and about the house

schedule

Canadian -eh

Canadian Dialect:

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VOCABULARY DIFFERENCES

What do you fry your eggs in?creeper, fryer, frying pan, fry pan,

skillet, or spider

What do you call a soft drink?pop, soda, soda pop, or tonic?

What do you call a long sandwich containing salami etc.?

hero, submarine, hoagy, grinder or poorboy

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What do you drink water out of?drinking fountain, cooler, bubbler

or geyser

How do you get something from one place to another?

take, carry, or tote

What do you carry things in?a bag, a sack, or a poke

How do you speculate?reckon, guess, figgure, figger,

suspect, imagine

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BRITISH-AMERICAN VOCABULARY DIFFERENCES girl, cop, hood (of a car),

trunk (of a car), suspenders, apartment, bathroom, elevator, truck, wig, gasoline, bar, line, monkey wrench, television, flashlight, subway

bird, bobby, bonnet, boot, braces, flat, loo, lift, lorry, peruque, petrol, pub, queue, spanner, tele, torch, tube

BRITISH-AMERICAN VOCABULARY DIFFERENCES

girl -------------------------Cop -----------------------hood (of a car) --------- trunk (of a car) ------- bathroom -------------- Gasoline -----------------Bar ------------------------ line ------------------------monkey wrench ------- flashlight ---------------- subway ------------------

birdbobbybonnetboot flatpetrol pubqueuespanner torchtube

Cockney Rhyming Slang: More Recent Examples:

Give us a butchers = butchers hook = look

Blowing a raspberry = raspberry tart = fart (Bronx Cheer)

Use your loaf = loaf of bread = head

That ruined my barnet = Barnet Fair = hair

I’ll just do my bird quietly = bird lime = time (prison sentence)

All right, me old china? = china plate = mate (friend)

Don’t be a berk = Berkshire hunt = Female’s no no area

Nice set of Bristols = Bristol Cities = Boobies

Merchant = Merchant Banker = Man’s no no area

20Some other good examples here: http://www.effingpot.com/slang.shtml

Star Wars Dialect:

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Citing: http://humanaccents.com/accent

s-in-the-media.html