Transcribing your accent

[james a. husky]

One of the Grandest productions I've experienced in regards to dialects was the Television production of "Centennial", from James Michner's Novel with John Wilder's screenplay and Duke Callaghan as Director of Photography.

The Charactor of Clay Basket (Barbara Carrera) goes from a Plains Indian(sorta modern) dialect to a slightly Scottish accent (when she's learning English from Alexander MacKeag) and then into a "French Canadian" accent when she marries and associates with Pasquanel, and then back into a Scots dialect after Pasquanel's death when she marries MacKeag.

Pasquanel's two Sons, French Canadian/Arapahoe, Mike and Jacques, also have a wonderful transformation of dialect as they age in the movie, with "Mike" (in his mid to later years, quite absent-mindedly (so it seems) translating everything being said (in both native and english) into sign language...), his charactor making a great motion with his head and eyes ascertaining that the translation is being understood! Great Stuff!!!

One of the most wonderful of the completely "American" charactors (just after the 1860's Civil War) was that of a former Confederate soldier from "Sow-kay-linkee" whose accent seemed a combination of "lowland" "Gullah" and Southern "English". His "ya'sa' bos'" was so wonderfully soft and clipped, I can't begin to imitate it here!

When I was a kid (back in the mid '50's, we stopped at a waterfall and a pull-off on the road (this was in the Southern Appalachians). There was an artisian spring with a pipe coming out of the rock... A man was there filling some one gallon bottles and said: "Come, alight and refresh thy-self"!

I've been fascinated by accents and dialects ever since!

Jim aka kiltiemon

[thescot]

The beginning of the video--with the anchor reading in Scots--sounds awful. It sounds robotic and fake. Scots is supposed to be free-flowing and natural....and fast. Very, very fast.

I'll alert the BBC. Probably the influence from south of the border.

[HarborSpringsPiper]

I'll alert the BBC. Probably the influence from south of the border.

Heh, heh. Yeah, kinda sound like someone who regularly speaks RP speaking Scots.

[fluter]

I'll alert the BBC. Probably the influence from south of the border.

Well it was a series aimed at Yanks, was it not? I'm sure they slowed it down just for us.