Young Writers Society

I know the answer may come easily to some people but I'm completly stumped!
I'm in the stages of planning a novel, set within medieval times or at least my own variation of it.

Does anybody have any suggestions as to how I would convey to readers that a particular character has a specific accent. I can't simply say "He had an Australian accent" Because it wouldn't be consistent with the time frame etc. I just think that "He had an accent" would get very repetitive and boring.

Speaking patterns.

Certain accents have very exact turns of phrase, pronunciation of words, and sentence structures. Study these and use them to create accents.

For a (relatively regionalized) example, Maritimers in Canada have probably the most recognizable accent in Canada (It's a mix of British and lots of French). They use terms like, "How's she goin' my son?" and "they come from away."

Anybody in Canada who has heard the Maritime accent will read those phrases in the appropriate accent.

Meanwhile, something like, "Allo, love" is often read in a British accent, because 'allo' is often said by British characters.

And you'd very likely read, "Put some shrimp on the barbie'" in an Australian accent.

Establish little things (which can be how you write out the words, too) that differentiate accents, give each their own slang, and you have visible accents without ever mentioning that the character has an accent.

Thank you, it seems so obvious now!

A totally unrelated comment, however, just for the record, no one in Australia actually says 'put a shrimp on the barbie'. We don't call them shrimps, we call them prawns. I'm sorry about posting this rant, as it is no help but it is something I wanted to get off my chest. That tourism ad is not an accurate of what we call out seafood.

Sarah- Thank you very much for the correction! Which adds on another point:

Actually make sure the accents are accurate before putting them in the story, if you want to make the accent based on a real place. Perception of accents does tend to be from movies and tv, which aren't always accurate. And some people can get quite annoyed that their accent keeps being shown incorrectly.

Thanks to all of you!

Why would you be needing an Australian accent in your own variation of medieval times? *Is confused*

What Rosey said is good, but you don't really have that chance to convey an entire accent, or cultural world even, based on a few terms and dropped letters that you throw in there. Why? Simply because this isn't a world your readers will be familiar with. (I mean, maybe they are, but I for one can't pull off an Old Welsh or Brittainy accent off the top of my head.)

My advice is to try and emulate a certain "feel" with accents, as opposed do getting everything down as accurately as possible. What I mean like that is, add common terms that they use yes, but mostly try to pattern the dialogue after how a particular accent sounds. That mainly comes through word order, it lends it a certain "cadence." You can use abbreviations to your advantage too.

For exapmle: "Why don't ya'll come down for a bite?" is instantly distuinguished from: "Would you all care for a spot of tea?"
They're basically asking the same thing, in the same order, but the way they phrase it speaks of two completely different worlds.

So, make each of your accents unique, and evoking of a whole culture, don't just "season" the dialogue, but don't go overboard either. Remember those old classics from Charles Dickens and Mark Twain? I don't know about you but for me, I have a lot of trouble understanding what it is that a character is actually trying to say because the author has so throuroughly submerged the dialogue in the vernacular of the time and place. This might have worked a hundred years ago, but now it's just overkill.

I would say research some terms and expressions common to the time you're writing. But I would avoid copying Chaucer or Shakespeare. Good stuff to know, and definitely look into them yes, but avoid the old english, especially the "thees" and "thous." I suspect that would turn off quite a few readers. :p

The most important part to remember is this though: People have talked as they have always talked. Communication is still communication. We might speak different languages or use different words, but we're still doing the same thing. Understanding is key. You want the readers to comprehend and relate first and foremost, worrry about accuracy later.

At least, take all this as highly opinionated, this is comin' from the heart of the US, after all.
~ED

I just want to add to Rosey Unicorns answer.
She's right! In Anne of Green Gables, it's so fun to read everyone's dialogue, because Montgomery changed the spellings of certain words to match that particular character's accent.

B.A. in Linguistics here to beg you on hands and knees with cookies and kittens to never ever ever EVER change spelling in attempt to match spelling to the dialogue.

NEVER EVER.

Properly spelled English is NOT spelled the way any accepted "Standard" English is. So unless you want to reinforce linguistic elitism and therefore prejudice, you either need to spell out the phonetics for EVERY speaker (because everyone in the world speaks with an accent...even you and even me) or just got with, as others mentioned, the feel and cadence and aura of the language to convey 'accent' or, as a linguist would say, dialect.

/rant