Singing in a dialect and "Authentic pronunciation"

Sat Oct 2 15:49:09 UTC 2010

Amy Walker does her thing on 21 English dialects/accents.  So which one it authentic?  Just amazing.

om.au/amy-walker-21-different-english-accents-and-dialects/

Tom Zurinskas, USA - CT20, TN3, NJ33, FL7+
see truespel.com phonetic spelling

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Jonathan Lighter
> Subject: Re: Singing in a dialect and "Authentic pronunciation"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> My experience is that, beyond two or three stereotypical pronunciations in
> each case, most people don't know what another dialect should sound like.
>
> A fellow graduate student (from Georgia, I believe) once told me that I
> didn't sound like a New Yorker because I didn't say "boid." Another was
> dismayed by my unfamiliar pronunciation of the O's in "Florida" and
> "Oregon." She thought it was just a personal idiosyncracy.
>
> I have a friend from middle Tennessee whose (very) Upper-South accent
> was described by an English woman as "characteristically American." This
> statement is both true and false.
>
> My wife's New York accent is rather more "typical" than mine (though she
> doesn't say "boid" either). When she was living in a small town in
> Tennessee, some people thought she was from "across the water." (And no,
> smart guys, they knew where New York is.)
>
> Not everyone is a dialectician. People are usually quite sensitive to bad
> imitations of their own accents, however.
>
> I can recall some English people decades ago remarking on Peter Sellers'
> "marvelous" ability to mimic an "American" accent (as though there were just
> one). He was fairly good, actually, but once did a commercial (for an
> airline, IIRC) in which he portrayed an American "businessman." Every time,
> however, he said "businessm'n." This struck me as howlingly bad - so wrong
> that I remember it forty years later. His director, however, apparently
> never noticed.
>
> Some actors of a later generation are indeed brilliant at dialects,
> however. I especially remember Londoner Emily Loyd as a Kentuckian girl in
> _In Country_ (1988). Real Kentuckians with linguistic training may have
> found grounds to cavil, but she sounded perfectly authentic to me. Mel
> Gibson seems to have wowed 'em in Oz with his fake accent.
>
> Then there are these guys:
> http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128567769
>
> I know I've heard some very credible fake accents, but I can't name any
> other performers at the moment. Of course, what I think credible may sound
> execrable to somebody with a better ear.
>
> Finally, singers who adopt fake accents may do it out of respect for the
> song and the source rather than simply to show off. The accent, even if
> poorly reproduced, is part of the sound.
>
> JL
>
>
> On Sat, Oct 2, 2010 at 2:52 AM, Eric Nielsen wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender: American Dialect Society
> > Poster: Eric Nielsen
> > Subject: Singing in a dialect and "Authentic pronunciation"
> >
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > There's an ongoing thread at this music (mostly harmonica) site,
> > harp-l.org, concerning performers singing in dialects they were not
> > born to.
> >
> >
> >
> > Using the search terms "authentic pronunciation" in the site archive will
> > bring you to the thread listings:
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > http://harp-l.org/mailman/mmsearch/harp-l?config=3Dharp-l&restrict=3D&exclu=
> >
> > de=3D&method=3Dand&format=3Dshort&sort=3Dscore&words=3Dauthentic+pronunciat=
> > ion
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Here are some samples:
> >
> >
> >
> > "Yup, when i'm in the UK I get asked " wot part of Aussie 'r you from then"
> > In the States they think I'm english.
> >
> > I remember years ago Brendan Power getting a laugh once by remarking after
> > he had just sung his 'Onion Blues' on a Newzealand stage "Why do we all
> > sin=
> > g
> > in American accents?"
> >
> > Maori rappers in NZ all sing like they come from inner city Stateside yet
> > when they are being interviewed or whatever, out comes a broad kiwi accent.
> >
> > But hey,I have heard some singers at an Irish 'session' try to sound like
> > they come from Dublin ;-)
> >
> > Rick
> >
> > in the land of fush an' chups"
> >
> >
> >
> > http://harp-l.org/mailman/htdig/harp-l/2010-September/msg01175.html
> >
> >
> >
> > "...Hearing non-Americans trying to do an American pronunciation is not a
> > turnoff to me, though I must admit to absolutely never seeking out the
> > musi=
> > c
> > of, say, Italian blues bands. Unless a band has something new to say, I'd
> > rather hear the original.
> >
> >
> >
> > What absolutely kills a record for me is to hear a white American band
> > playing well in the first few bars, followed by a white singer who tries to
> > use English like a Black Mississippi man from 1930. I get the same feeling
> > when I hear those horrible old Amos and Andy radio shows from the 1930's.
> >
> >
> >
> > I run away screaming, often leaving a Deifik-shaped hole in the drywall."
> >
> >
> >
> > http://harp-l.org/mailman/htdig/harp-l/2010-September/msg01058.html
> >
> >
> >
> > =93I have followed this thread with interest and some amusement. I guess
> > it=
> > is
> >
> > a worldwide phenomenon.
> >
> > Here in Ireland singers who aspire to the 'big time' seem to think that it
> >
> > is necessary to sing in what they believe is an "American" accent.
> >
> > I silently applaud anyone I hear singing in their natural locally acquired
> >
> > voice: Dolores Keane or Frank Harte for example.
> >
> > As for non-native speaking guys singing in Gaelic (self included) Lets not
> >
> > go there!
> >
> > Beannachtai
> >
> > Aongus Mac Cana=94
> >
> >
> >
> > http://harp-l.org/pipermail/harp-l/2010-September/msg01188.html
> >
> >
> >
> > In the case of other performance artists, I have noticed that many actors
> > have a command of dialects (?) that sounds very convincing to my ear. How
> > many of the general public know that Hugh Laurie is British or didn=92t
> > readily accept Cate Blanchett as American when she acted in =93The Gift=94
> > =
> > or
> > =93The Shipping News=94.
> >
> >
> >
> > To paraphrase an old song, do you have to live the life you sing about in
> > your song?
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Hope this is of interest to some,
> >
> >
> >
> > Eric
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
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