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British Accents



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Sun Feb 22, 2009 8:51 pm
Winter's Twelfth Night says...



I am writing a story set in eighteenth-century England and I'm having trouble making my characters sound, well, English. I am not from England, so I don't really know what is said that distinguishes British from American. What are some common things that people from England say that are not said in America? What will make my story sound like it is being told from the point of view of some one from England? Also, if anyone happens to know anything about eighteenth-century English in general please let me know. Thanks so much!
-Winter
Mamillius: Merry or sad shall’t be?
Hermione: As merry as you will.
Mamillius: A sad tale’s best for winter. I have one
Of sprites and goblins.

The Winter's Tale
  





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Mon Feb 23, 2009 5:40 pm
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Heidigirl666 says...



I'm afraid that's a rather impossible question for several reasons.

1. There is no 'British dialect'. Britain has quite an amazing variety's of accents (studies have shown it changes every eighty miles or so from one end of the country to the other-it might even be less, I can't quite remember) so it will depend totally on where your story is set. A Devonshire accent for example, is nothing like a Newcastle accent. Even a lot of English people have trouble understanding certain dialects within the country. BBC English is probably what most people think of as a neutral accent (look at old bbc news reports and you'll get the picture).

2. Britain isn't even one country. It's made of England, Scotland and Wales. Welsh and Scottish accents are completely different from English ones (though there are of course slight crossovers-northern English accents are very like southern Scottish ones).

3. In written English there are unlikely to be a huge difference between British and American English gramatically, but word-wise there are literally hundreds of differences. You must know some of these (for example it's a pavement, not a sidewalk, the boot of a car, instead of a trunk).

I suggest you try reading some books by Bill Bryson which give plenty of examples and explanations of how British English and American English differ.

Both 'The Mother Tongue: English and How it Got That Way' and 'Made in America, An Informal History of the English Language in the United States' are good reading.
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Mon Feb 23, 2009 5:40 pm
Alainna says...



Eighteenth century....you could get away with words like 'spiffing' and 'old chap' then, although they are very stereotypical.

It depends on what class/age your characters are otherwise....I suggest you read some British classics in order to get a real sense of the accent. Try some Austin.


Alainna
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Mon Feb 23, 2009 11:44 pm
Winter's Twelfth Night says...



Thank you for your replies!
Heidigirl: Yes, I did know about the different accents, but really I just want my readers to be able to tell that my story is set in England without my saying so. It is set in Kent, to be more specific. Jess (Samuel Garrison) suggested that I post here because she thought my story lacked, er, Englishness. I will check out those books next time I am in the library. Thank you for the suggestions!

Alainna: I tried reading Austen but I found it too difficult to understand. However, I do tend to read books written by English authors that take place in England often. It has helped a bit, but I'm afraid I'm lacking a certain way of speaking that is particular to people from England. My character is from a very wealthy family and is fifteen years old, if that helps.

Thanks again!
-Winter
Mamillius: Merry or sad shall’t be?
Hermione: As merry as you will.
Mamillius: A sad tale’s best for winter. I have one
Of sprites and goblins.

The Winter's Tale
  





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Thu Feb 26, 2009 11:42 pm
Fishr says...



http://www.bbc.co.uk/northyorkshire/voi ... sary.shtml

North Yorkshire dialect.

I found this link a while back because I have a character that was born in Yorkshire; the land of the White Rose. He was in the Battle of Minden during the Seven Years' War and his unit was the Light Infantry.

Anyway, rambling. Supposedly this is the dialect of North Yorkshire. Take a look, and it'll give you an idea on at least one dialect in England.
The sadness drains through me rather than skating over my skin. It travels through every cell to reach the ground. I filter it yet strangely enough, I keep what was pure and it is the dirt that leaves.
  





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Sat Feb 28, 2009 2:30 am
Winter's Twelfth Night says...



Thank you! That site was really helpful. Although I'm not sure my MC would say a lot of the words in that dictionary because she's from the upper class. But her servants and the lower class characters probably would, I think.
Thanks again!!
-Winter
Mamillius: Merry or sad shall’t be?
Hermione: As merry as you will.
Mamillius: A sad tale’s best for winter. I have one
Of sprites and goblins.

The Winter's Tale
  





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Sun Mar 29, 2009 6:33 pm
MuffinWriter says...



I know a couple of words in english. - like from england & such.

mate - friend.

football-soccer

chips- french fries


I can probably talk to one of my friends to try to give me as many as possible if you want. hes orginally from england. Just pm me if your interested, as I probably wont remember to come back to this forum again
  





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Thu Apr 02, 2009 11:37 am
LilyJamey says...



Cockney accents? You can incorporate them into your dialogues using aposthrophes. Like "with" could be written as "wi'".
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