Here's another newsletter: the second this year! In this issue, I'll talk about the diphthong heard in the word "out," how it should sound in a neutral American accent as well as in some other accents, and give an update on my recent activities. I'll also provide information on the IDEA website, of which I'm an editor-at-large, and which now contains more than 500 dialect samples from around the world.
How's that sound now, brown cow?
The vowel sounds in the above phrase are actually diphthongs (DIFF-thongs), or two vowels which are sounded as one syllable. This sound has been on my mind lately, because I've been working with a Canadian client who wants to sound American (he's been living here for the last twenty years). Many Canadians change this sound fairly substantially from Americans, and it's one of the sounds that makes their accent noticeable to Americans.
For the neutral American version, the back of your tongue should move down and back to make an "ah" sound (like when the doctor tells you to stick out your tongue and say "aaaaaah!") Your tongue should then travel up and forward a bit, to make the vowel sound heard in the word "put." This second sound, or element, of the diphthong should be about half as long as the "ah" sound. Try saying these words that contain this diphthong: how, sound, cow, now, downtown, house, mouse, mouth, and mound.
Many Canadians, instead of pushing the tongue down and back for the first element ("ah"), will start with the tongue relaxed in the middle of the mouth, forming the sound "uh." They'll then proceed to the the vowel sound in "put." This phenomenon is sometimes called "Canadian raising," because the tongue starts in a raised position relative to "ah."
The tricky part, however, is that the raising doesn't happen every time this diphthong is used: in a Canadian accent, it only occurs when this diphthong is followed by an unvoiced consonant sound, or one which doesn't use the voice, like "t, s, f, p, k" or "sh". (To figure out if a consonant is voiced or unvoiced, put your hand on your throat while you say the consonant sound: if your hand vibrates, it's a voiced sound; if it doesn't vibrate, the sound is unvoiced.)
This is why Canadians pronounce the words "out" and "house" differently than Americans ("t" and "s" are unvoiced consonants, so the preceding diphthong raises), but pronounce the words "ounce" and "hound" just like most Americans (the consonants after the diphthong are voiced). Listen to Peter Jennings on the ABC network newscast: when he talks about the House and the Senate, his Canadian roots can be heard.
In parts of the American South, this diphthong may start with the tongue in the front of the mouth, with the vowel sound heard on the word "men." Put that "eh" sound in front of the diphthong, and you've changed it to a Southern sound. Try it on these words: out, shout, mouth, ground, round and house.
In parts of the northeast US, the diphthong may start somewhere in between the sounds of "ah" and "eh." Experiment with where your tongue starts the diphthong to change your sound to a New York or Boston accent.
Great IDEA
The IDEA website (International Dialects of English Archive), run by Paul Meier at the University of Kansas, has grown to 505 dialect samples from across the world. I'm a contributing editor of this site, which offers an invaluable resource to those interested in studying dialects, and at no charge. If you haven't visited lately, go to http://www.ku.edu/~idea/index.html to see what's new.
Tune in for dialects....
I recently worked on three very different television projects: Lackawanna Blues for HBO, Joe Schmo 2 for Spike TV, and Alias. The first is an adaptation of the hit off-Broadway play by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, about his growing up in a boarding house near Buffalo, New York. I coached Carmen Lejogo, an excellent British actress, into an African-American accent appropriate to her character, Santiago-Hudson's mother. Carmen replaced Halle Berry, one of the film's Executive Producers, who was set to play the role, but had to drop out at the last minute due to illness. Watch your HBO schedule for it's air date, which should be early next year.
Joe Schmo 2: Joe and Jane is the sequel to the very popular Joe Schmo, the spoof of reality TV that aired last year on Spike TV. This time, they duped a man and a woman into believing they were contestants on a reality show, while all the other "contestants" are actually actors following a prearranged script. I coached host Ralph Garman, who also hosted the original. This time, he played Derek Newcastle, a smarmy Englishman (with accent to match). Joe Schmo 2 premieres June 15 on Spike. Visit http://www.spiketv.com for details.
I also worked with Jennifer Garner on Alias, for ABC-TV. She was pretending to be someone else on a phone call, and needed a Southern accent. She told me she grew up in West Virginia, and worked hard to learn to speak without that accent, but she dropped back into it without much trouble for the scene.
Also done lots of theater lately, including two productions at The Rubicon Theatre in Ventura (The Importance of Being Earnest, starring Susan Clark, and Driving Miss Daisy, starring Michael Learned.) I also coached the world premiere of Jessica Goldberg's Sex Parasite at Taper, Too, the Center Theatre Group's development wing, and consulted on Johnny Boy, a new play set in Brooklyn at the Falcon Theatre, and an acclaimed production of the Canadian play The Drawer Boy at the Colony Theatre in Burbank.
Finally, I consulted on a radio production of Athol Fugard's great play Master Harold...and the Boys for Los Angeles Theatre Works. It was recorded and will be broadcast in the coming weeks on National Public Radio and on XM Satellite radio. A bonus was that it was directed by my old friend Stuart K. Robinson, with whom I worked more than 20 years ago, teaching cheerleading clinics!
Please check my website, http://www.thedialectcoach.com for changes I recently made, and don't hesitate to contact me with questions, comments or suggestions.
Best,
Joel
The Dialect Coach