Myth of British Accents | Voices (2023)

FAQs

Why are all fantasy shows with British accents? ›

Martin has said English accents work best for fantasy, as the genre is rooted in the Middle Ages. "It's full of castles and lords and swords and knights and all the other trappings that we associate with England in this country.

Thus, this explains that the reason why the film industry relies on the British accent is because it's most familiar to English speakers, which makes up the majority of viewers. “The idea of learning a bunch of different languages when we were very young [lets us] have the ability to understand what someone is saying.

In singing, syllables are lengthened, air flow is increased, articulation is less precise. Thus we get a more generic, neutralised accent that happens to share features with American varieties of English.

The real answer is rooted in the obsession with Empire—and how accents were actively cultivated by society elites as signifiers of global power and stature.

Foreign Accent Syndrome: What Is It? Foreign accent syndrome (FAS) happens when you suddenly start to speak with a different accent. It's most common after a head injury, stroke, or some other type of damage to the brain. Although it's extremely rare, it's a real condition.

Received Pronunciation (RP)

Nevertheless, RP remains the national standard and has traditionally been considered by many to be the most prestigious accent of British English.

It is also believed that the actor has developed Foreign Accent Syndrome. According to Marca, it is a, “speech disorder that causes a sudden change to speech so that a native speaker is perceived to speak with a foreign accent.” This rare condition develops after traumatic head injuries.

The rich variety of dialects in Britain can to a large extent be attributed to the fact that English has been spoken on this island for more than 1500 years. This long time period has allowed for the language to develop into regional varieties of English.

Lincoln's accent was a blend of Indiana and Kentucky. “It was hard to know whether it was more Hoosier or blue grass,” says Holzer. The way he spelled words, such as “inaugural” as “inaugerel,” gives some clue as to how he pronounced them. Despite his twang, Lincoln was “no country bumpkin,” Holzer clarifies.

That's partially because of the way we round off certain words when we sing, and partially because the world is so used to hearing American accents in pop songs, it requires more effort and concentration to sing in a different accent.

Why do English lose accent when singing? ›

In singing, some syllables and vowels naturally get stressed to go with the cadence, rhythm, and melody of the music. As a result, some singers tend to naturally drop the accent without even realizing it.

The “how” – British accent vs American accent

In all reality, the standard British accent was the one that changed significantly in the last two centuries while the American accent stayed more or less the same. During the American Revolution, the English language started to change in Britain.

Throughout the Golden Age of Hollywood, stars including Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Bette Davis, and Orson Welles employed what's known as a “Mid-Atlantic accent,” a sort of American-British hybrid of speaking that relies on tricks like dropping “R” sounds and softening vowels, in order to convey wealth and ...

The Trans-Atlantic Accent (or the Mid-Atlantic Accent) was a style of speech taught in affluent schools along the East Coast and in Hollywood Film Studios from the late nineteen tens until the mid-forties.

Dialects and accents developed historically when groups of language users lived in relative isolation, without regular contact with other people using the same language. This was more pronounced in the past due to the lack of fast transport and mass media.

Research has shown that accents become permanent around the age of 12 years old. That being said, it is possible for accents to change over time or for adults to develop a subtle accent after living in a foreign country for an extended period of time.

Foreign accent syndrome is a rare phenomenon where someone begins speaking in a different accent after something happens to part of their brain, Dr Karl told Hack. "It can be related to head injuries, stroke, surgery, diabetes...or something we don't even know.

Foreign accent syndrome (FAS) is speech disorder that causes a sudden change to speech so that a native speaker is perceived to speak with a “foreign” accent. FAS is most often caused by damage to the brain caused by a stroke or traumatic brain injury.

Geordie. People from Newcastle speak a dialect called Geordie, which is one of the strongest and most distinctive accents in England.

Some people believe that RP (Received Pronunciation) is the most standard or general accent in British English. Many EFL (English as a Foreign Language) schools teach it because it is supposed to be the most “polished” pronunciation. It is typically referred to as “Queen's English” or “BBC English”.

What accent did Jack Sparrow have? ›

Masters of Accents had this to say about the larger-than-life actor's English accent: “It's well-known Depp based his Jack Sparrow accent on Keith Richards and the result is pretty impressive. The British accent is almost meant to be slurred, and Depp pulls it off admirably in four films.”

We unintentionally mirror others when interacting by copying the other person's gestures, body language, tone of voice and accent, in order to bond with others and feel safe in social interactions. This is called the Chameleon Effect and it's embedded in human nature.

Thor, Loki, Odin, Heimdall, and Valkyrie, all speak with a rough English accent.

Most scholars have roughly located “split off” point between American and British English as the mid-18th-Century. There are some clear exceptions.

The British accent was voted the absolute hottest on earth, coming top in countries as far-flung as Sweden, China, India and the USA. A British brogue was particularly desirable in Asia, with South Korea and Malaysia also finding UK accents too hot to handle.

Bloody. Don't worry, it's not a violent word… it has nothing to do with “blood”.”Bloody” is a common word to give more emphasis to the sentence, mostly used as an exclamation of surprise. Something may be “bloody marvellous” or “bloody awful“. Having said that, British people do sometimes use it when expressing anger…

Anyone who has heard the Queen's speeches will recognise her distinctive British accent. This is RP – 'Received Pronunciation'.

Considering all of this and his farmer upbringing, it is safe to speculate that Washington's natural accent was, as Morse portrays it, predominantly American with a detectable English influence.

Long story short, he (and at least his base accent) is as American as they come. Has his accent changed? Throughout his career, Depp has been accused of changing his accent or dipping in and out of British, Scottish, even dabbling in an Australian lilt every now and again.

But after the Revolutionary War, upper-class and upper-middle-class citizens in England began using non-rhotic speech as a way to show their social status. Eventually, this became standard for Received Pronunciation and spread throughout the country, affecting even the most popular British phrases.

Why are the Brits so good at music? ›

Because they are generally more musically literate, and more authentic. In America, music is more commercial, a little more simplistic, designed to appeal to the lowest common denominator. 'Pro production values' tend to be high in America - the best example would be Taylor Swift.

Though it's challenging to lose your accent entirely, it is possible to change it. To improve your pronunciation skills, you'll need to exercise both your mouth and ears. There's actually a whole field of language coaching dedicated to this called accent reduction or modification.

Adele is a famous British singer and who better to learn English with than her. She has a distinctive cockney accent at times and at other times she speaks with received pronunciation.

Adele is not a cockney (The joy of small things, 20 November). Adele is from north London, which has its own accent, and is definitely not within the sound of Bow bells.

While the accent of the American South might be difficult to comprehend for many students of the English language, its original form was actually much closer to British English, albeit with a playful inflection.

The term 'lime-juicers', considered hilarious by Australians, New Zealanders and South Africans, gradually became 'limeys', describing British land-lubbers as well as sailors and eventually losing any connection with the sea. It was then adopted by Americans in the early 20th century.

The primary exception, of course, is in the United States where “z” is pronounced “zee”. The British and others pronounce “z”, “zed”, owing to the origin of the letter “z”, the Greek letter “Zeta”. This gave rise to the Old French “zede”, which resulted in the English “zed” around the 15th century.

The reason, as linguist Chi Luu recently explained in JSTOR Daily, is that the accent lends itself well to the particular qualities that make for a compelling movie villain, a cocktail of traits more nuanced than just “pure evil.” Research has shown that speaking in the received pronunciation accent — the “posh” ...

In order to sound American, she said, British actors have to master the rhotic "R" sound — the hard R — and form vowels differently, shifting the focus away from the roof of the mouth. And then they have to learn regional dialects. New Yorkers drop the hard R.

The Joker is American. The accent used by The Joker is an American accent clearly. But as Usama said in his answer the accent is obviously a high class American accent that can be mistaken for a British one.

Do Americans speak like old British? ›

As a result, although there are plenty of variations, modern American pronunciation is generally more akin to at least the 18th-Century British kind than modern British pronunciation.

The roles had British accents in plays about those periods because the actors in the plays were British, and it became a familiar part of the portrayal. For whatever reason a lot of English-speaking audiences seem to feel that a British accent imparts a sense of seriousness and artistry and respectability.

The way it strikes me, her accent is British but it has a tiny bit of Dutch influence and, after years in America, some American English influence.

Spoken English shows great variation across regions where it is the predominant language. For example, the United Kingdom has the largest variation of accents of any country in the world, and therefore no single "British accent" exists.

There are more than 40 accents in use across the British Isles. Blame travel, but also not travelling. BBC History Revealed explains… As an island, Britain has juggled two conflicting influences on its languages.

Quick Answer: American television networks like to port successful British material because it's proven to have a market with audiences. They tend to Americanize the shows, using the stories and characters in an American setting in hopes that people will better identify with the stories.

Originally Answered: Why do characters in the TV series Game of Thrones speak in British accents? The production company and the cable network HBO may be American, but the series is filmed primarily in Belfast and on location in Northern Ireland, plus locations in the British Isles, Iceland and Europe.

Game of Thrones is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO.

Though the accent was rooted in the dialect of a fantasy kingdom, Jolie based it on Eleanor Audley's, who created the voice for the original animated version in Sleeping Beauty.

What is the oldest British TV show still running? ›

A telly is a television.

Unlike perfect pitch, accents are not influenced by a person's genetics. Generally speaking, the way we pronounce words can be molded by regular interaction with people in our environment.

However, the study also concluded that simply being exposed to television is not sufficient to cause accent change; for someone's speech to alter, they need to regularly watch the show and become emotionally engaged with the characters.

It is also believed that the actor has developed Foreign Accent Syndrome. According to Marca, it is a, “speech disorder that causes a sudden change to speech so that a native speaker is perceived to speak with a foreign accent.” This rare condition develops after traumatic head injuries.

Wait a minute: not all of the Starks speak with the Northern accent. Arya, Bran, and Sansa have somewhat generic Southern accents, in fact. How to spot it: These accents are referred to as Southern British English.

House of the Dragon is an American fantasy drama television series created by George R. R. Martin and Ryan Condal for HBO. A prequel to Game of Thrones (2011–2019), it is the second TV show in the A Song of Ice and Fire franchise. Condal and Miguel Sapochnik served as the showrunners for the first season.

If you watch television in America, you're probably a fan of British TV -- and might not even realize it. U.S. audiences have long enjoyed programs from across the Atlantic.

Throughout the Golden Age of Hollywood, stars including Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Bette Davis, and Orson Welles employed what's known as a “Mid-Atlantic accent,” a sort of American-British hybrid of speaking that relies on tricks like dropping “R” sounds and softening vowels, in order to convey wealth and ...

British accent is an accent commonlyspoken by the people from the United Kingdom (UK) that has several kinds. Harry Potter and the Philospher's Stone is famous film starred by the British actors who use different kinds of British accent.