Singing in a dialect and "Authentic pronunciation"

[Dan Goodman]

Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>
> My experience is that, beyond two or three stereotypical pronunciations in
> each case, most people don't know what another dialect should sound like.

And, from much reading of fiction, I would say most don't know what
their dialect sounds like to people with other dialects.

Not to mention getting the vocabulary wrong.  See any sf novel by John
Brunner set in the US.

> 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've been surprised a couple of times when speakers of that dialect in
the Twin Cities have identified me as a fellow-speaker.  I'm from Ulster
County, which is in the Hudson Valley dialect area.  (Recorded examples
of my dialect are probably fairly common; to me, Rod Serling had no accent.)

> 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.)

Peter Trudgill has written at least one article/paper on Brit rock
singers sounding American -- sort of.  (By now, there are probably
American singers trying to sound like Brits who were trying to sound
like Americans....)

Question:  There are a number of books and recordings for actors who
want to put on another dialect.  Have any linguists reviewed any of
these?  If so, how accurate were these materials?

--
Dan Goodman
"I have always depended on the kindness of stranglers."
Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Expire
Journal dsgood.dreamwidth.org (livejournal.com, insanejournal.com)

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