What is Accent v. Dialect?

Accent- pronunciation The 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=DxnLqN M49sY (0:00-1:32)

Other examples: Top 10 best accents in modern films: http://blogs.whatsontv.co.uk/movietalk/20 11/07/07/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- Dialect In 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=ZDqX bk_ThH0

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

SOUTHERN Dialect South: "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”

CALIFORNIA VALLEY-GIRL & SURFER-DUDE SPEECH Rising 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)

CANADIAN PHONOLOGY out and about the house schedule Canadian -eh

Canadian Dialect:

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

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

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 ------------------ bird bobby bonnet boot flat petrol pub queue spanner torch tube

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

Star Wars Dialect:

Citing: http://humanaccents.com/accents-in-the- media.html