Gaius Octavius Posted March 2, 2007 Report Share Posted March 2, 2007 Would this be an issue with communication between Athenians and Spartans? Did they maybe even need translators? The dialects are probably not quite as different as that. I imagine it as something like a Scot negotiating with an Alabaman ... Assuming that an alabamian has the wits to get up in the morning. More seriously, and off topic, I understand that years ago when linguists wanted to hear what Elizabethan English sounded like, they went to Appalachia.(?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladius Hispaniensis Posted March 2, 2007 Report Share Posted March 2, 2007 More seriously, and off topic, I understand that years ago when linguists wanted to hear what Elizabethan English sounded like, they went to Appalachia.(?) Wouldn't surprise me. I've lived in rural Idaho and I still remember some of the old-timer saying "over thaar" instead of "over there" - just like in old Elizabethan literature. I think some communities in the New World have retained some idiosyncrasies in speech from their first immigrant ancestors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docoflove1974 Posted March 2, 2007 Report Share Posted March 2, 2007 Appalachia I'm not so familiar with, but it was often discussed that the English spoken by both Brahmins in Bah-stan and those folks native to Martha's Vineyard were closer in linguistic pattern to the linguistic patterns of the settlers in the 16th and 17th century; I know Wm. Labov did studies on it, but I don't have the resources at this time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaius Octavius Posted March 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2007 The isolation of the people of Appalachia is supposedly the reason they retained the Elizabethan speech. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursus Posted March 3, 2007 Report Share Posted March 3, 2007 I live on the edge of Appalachia here in western PA. If the locals have a dialect, I would call it "hick" moreso than Elizabethan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaius Octavius Posted March 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2007 (edited) I live on the edge of Appalachia here in western PA. If the locals have a dialect, I would call it "hick" moreso than Elizabethan. I had in mind the 'hollows' prior to the 1950's. The sentence structure; the words; the pronunciation; the nuance; the music. Edited March 3, 2007 by Gaius Octavius Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julius Ratus Posted March 7, 2007 Report Share Posted March 7, 2007 Its funny, here in Nebraska, in the cities (big towns) like Omaha and Lincoln the people talk with the standard flat unaccented Midwestern dialect, but if you go several miles out into Cornland/The Boonies the people all speak with a degree of hickishness. Words like "Crick" and "Worsh" become common (trans.: Creek, Wash). My brother tells me about his co-workers out in Gretna and I learn enlightening quotes such as: "I'm here to tell you" (used at the end of a declaration to add emphasis) and "I dun frazzled my underbritches" (trans.: I have damaged the structural integrity of my undergraments). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pantagathus Posted March 7, 2007 Report Share Posted March 7, 2007 Its funny, here in Nebraska, in the cities (big towns) like Omaha and Lincoln the people talk with the standard flat unaccented Midwestern dialect, I assure you from the ears of a Southerner that Midwestern is a definitely a discernable accent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julius Ratus Posted March 7, 2007 Report Share Posted March 7, 2007 Its funny, here in Nebraska, in the cities (big towns) like Omaha and Lincoln the people talk with the standard flat unaccented Midwestern dialect, I assure you from the ears of a Southerner that Midwestern is a definitely a discernable accent. I've always been interested to know, can someone who isn't a midwesterner tell me, what parts of our "accent" make it discernable? Are there any characteristics to the "Midwestern accent"? I sure can't hear any, but maybe someone who hasn't spoken like this for their entire life can point them out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primus Pilus Posted March 7, 2007 Report Share Posted March 7, 2007 Its funny, here in Nebraska, in the cities (big towns) like Omaha and Lincoln the people talk with the standard flat unaccented Midwestern dialect, I assure you from the ears of a Southerner that Midwestern is a definitely a discernable accent. I've always been interested to know, can someone who isn't a midwesterner tell me, what parts of our "accent" make it discernable? Are there any characteristics to the "Midwestern accent"? I sure can't hear any, but maybe someone who hasn't spoken like this for their entire life can point them out. I've always heard that we Midwesterners sound "Nasally". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docoflove1974 Posted March 7, 2007 Report Share Posted March 7, 2007 (edited) I've always heard that we Midwesterners sound "Nasally". As I recall, there's a nasality in the vowels, as well as a contouring of the vowels...I'll have to dig up the linguistic atlas for the US to give a better answer. And, hey, I always thought that us Californians didn't have an accent...until I went to Texas and got told! EDIT: Click here for the atlas projects done at UPenn, home of Prof. Wm. Labov, a big name in the world of (American) sociolinguistics. Edited March 7, 2007 by docoflove1974 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaius Octavius Posted March 7, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2007 You Midwesterners speak as flat as a day old beer on a radiator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Dalby Posted March 8, 2007 Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 I've always heard that we Midwesterners sound "Nasally". As I recall, there's a nasality in the vowels, as well as a contouring of the vowels...I'll have to dig up the linguistic atlas for the US to give a better answer. And, hey, I always thought that us Californians didn't have an accent...until I went to Texas and got told! EDIT: Click here for the atlas projects done at UPenn, home of Prof. Wm. Labov, a big name in the world of (American) sociolinguistics. You're all wrong. It's the English that don't have an accent. In 1968, when I was introduced as a British kid to an old lady who ran a hotel in Colo Spgs (I know that's the name of the place because that's what it said on the signs at the city boundary) she said "he talks better'n some that come over here". Or words to that effect. I took it as a compliment, anyway. It was probably because I have (or had) a West Country accent, which may be not so many million miles from Midwestern as the dear old Queen's English is. There was a sign that said "no women in the rooms". Does it still say that in hotel rooms in Colo Spgs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaius Octavius Posted March 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 (edited) You're all wrong. It's the English that don't have an accent. That's what you think. The nobs sound as if they are gargling and the polloi as if they are whining. There was a sign that said "no women in the rooms". Does it still say that in hotel rooms in Colo Spgs? Probably in those that are used for illicit assignations, i.e., truck drivers, etc. Edited March 8, 2007 by Gaius Octavius Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onasander Posted November 1, 2013 Report Share Posted November 1, 2013 You have to to go to Glimmer and Logan County, West Virginia. I guess Ursus and I live near each other, I live on the PA West Virginia border (also the Ohio West Virginia Border too). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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