dialects in movies

[Jonathan Lighter]

How 'bout Grendel muttering Old English in _Beowulf_?  Must be intended to convey primordial ogreness, since his glamor mom speaks Modern.

  BTW, I correctly identified Grendel's father in grad school in 1976.  They laffed, but wait till I file my trillion zillion-buck lawsuit!  Woo hoo!  Now comes Miller Time!
  w

  JL



Gregory McNamee <gm at GREGORYMCNAMEE.COM> wrote:
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Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Gregory McNamee
Subject: Re: dialects in movies
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Ula,

You'll find plenty of regional stereotyping via dialect and accent in
films today, as well as in the past. I think of Thou> as a prime example of accent meant to convey various levels of
stupidity/gullibility. Farther back, is another film in
which the heavy has a decided brogue as opposed to the near-flat
affect of the other English-speaking characters. Dress> contrasts regional and urban African American dialects, and in Smoke> plays with Chicano English. Puerto Rican English meets New
Yorkese in , and accents are fitted to characters
closely in .

When I think of dialect/accent films, I think immediately of
, a wonderful orchestra of European and American accents.

I'm not sure how any of these will fit your thesis, but they're all
very well worth watching. Good luck!

Greg

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