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 Thu Feb 15, 2007 13:28 pm Are you influenced by or bothered about accents in your country? |
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| Englishuser wrote: | Hi Jamie,
| Quote: | | I don't know what URP means. |
URP = Upper Received Pronunciation i.e. aristocratic British English. Would you be likely to hire a URP speaker? |
Of course I would hire anyone who had the correct skills, seemed like a nice person and would be easy to work with. My only fear with a speaker of what you call URP would be that in meetings, Americans tend to react to that accent as if it were the Voice of God. I worked with a manager who spoke to me in a "low-class" Australian accent when we were in her office, but would switch to RP in meetings. It was outrageous how some Americans used to knuckle under to her when she talked like that, and I know she exploited this accent for exactly that purpose.
The thing is that in old American movies, God usually speaks RP, although now he tends to have a black accent. Evil geniuses in American movies and TV shows also tend to speak RP.
| Englishuser wrote: | | Quote: | | Listen to an old recording of Franklin Roosevelt, or someone who's got a really heavy, old-fashioned Harvard accent. |
How often do you hear people speak like Franklin Roosevelt in the northeast of the US? |
Less and less often. It's dying out. John Kerry, the guy who lost the presidential race last time, got rid of his accent, probably because he'd never have gotten elected to national office with it. As it was, he was defeated partly because of what people perceived as "Eastern elitism", even without the accent. |
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Jamie (K)
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| Thu Feb 15, 2007 13:42 pm Are you influenced by or bothered about accents in your country? |
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| Torsten wrote: | | I guess the butt of jokes when it comes to German accents is the one I grew up with -- Saxon. It does sound funny when somebody speaks with a heavy Saxon accent without making any attempt to keep it in check. It's a very lazy way of speaking German which sounds hilarious to some and causes confusion in others. |
Hi Torsten!
What does a Saxonian say when he/she wants to buy a christmas-tree?
"E T?nnschen, please!"
Michael |
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| Thu Feb 15, 2007 14:44 pm Are you influenced by or bothered about accents in your country? |
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Hi Conchita,
Are you sure you don't find high-pitched, nasal voices attractive at all?
Englishuser |
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| Thu Feb 15, 2007 14:46 pm Are you influenced by or bothered about accents in your country? |
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Hi Alan,
| Quote: | | URP sounds a bit of a manufactured oddity! I would have thought this should be called GARP - grossly affected received pronunciation. |
It depends on the URP speaker whether or not they sound affected, don't you think? HM Queen Elizabeth II, for instance, does not sound particularly affected to most ears although she speaks with a more or less aristocratic British accent.
Englishuser |
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| Thu Feb 15, 2007 14:48 pm Are you influenced by or bothered about accents in your country? |
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Hi Jamie,
| Quote: | | My only fear with a speaker of what you call URP would be that in meetings, Americans tend to react to that accent as if it were the Voice of God. |
Then it would be all right for the president of the United States or a manager to speak URP, wouldn't it? You would sound much more authoritative speaking URP than speaking, say, General American English or Cockney.
Englishuser |
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| Thu Feb 15, 2007 14:55 pm Are you influenced by or bothered about accents in your country? |
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Hi,
Jamie (K) wrote:
| Quote: | | God usually speaks RP, although now he |
Could somebody tell me why God is a "he" and tends to have a male voice in films?
Englishuser |
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| Thu Feb 15, 2007 15:12 pm Are you influenced by or bothered about accents in your country? |
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Hi Englishuser,
I seem to recall you have this thing about accents. What do you mean by an | Quote: | | aristocratic British accent |
? Which century are we talking about? The 20/21 century?
A
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| Thu Feb 15, 2007 15:55 pm Are you influenced by or bothered about accents in your country? |
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Hi Alan,
You asked what I meant by 'an aristocratic British accent'. I suppose it is quite clear to most of us what accent I am referring to when I use the abbreviation "U-RP". HLM Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and HLRH Princess Margaret spoke with that accent. I am aware of the fact that U-RP is less commonly heard in the UK today, but that doesn't mean it is non-existent. Actually, there are quite a few U-RP speakers around, and they do not sound affected at all to most people.
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| Thu Feb 15, 2007 15:57 pm Are you influenced by or bothered about accents in your country? |
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Hi,
Have you done a survey when you say:
| Quote: | | they do not sound affected at all to most people. |
?
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| Thu Feb 15, 2007 16:15 pm Are you influenced by or bothered about accents in your country? |
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Hi,
No, I haven't conducted any survey on this, but I am sure most people approve of and are tolerant of other people's accents. HM The Queen's accent has to be widely understood and accepted, as I am sure you know. I have never heard anyone complain about Her Majesty's voice or accent.
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| Thu Feb 15, 2007 16:34 pm Are you influenced by or bothered about accents in your country? |
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Hi,
The extraordinary thing is that you keep wandering from the point. I am not talking about tolerance, I am not complaining about the way the Queen speaks and I am not talking about any particular accent. What I am saying is that affected speech is affected speech and if you care to relate that to the way the Queen speaks, then that is your choice, it ain't mine. The fact that you | Quote: | | have never heard anyone complain about Her Majesty's voice or accent. |
is totally irrelevant. I don't know what society you live in or where you live. If, for example, you lived in Estonia, I don't suppose anyone would either complain about the Queen's way of speaking or could care less about it.
A
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| Thu Feb 15, 2007 16:47 pm Are you influenced by or bothered about accents in your country? |
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Hi Alan,
| Quote: | | I am not talking about any particular accent. What I am saying is that affected speech is affected speech |
Then why do you say URP should be called "grossly affected received pronunciation"? If affected speech is affected speech and has nothing whatsoever to do with the accent somebody uses, then your statement about URP as "GARP" is totally irrelevant.
| Quote: | | I don't know what society you live in or where you live. If, for example, you lived in Estonia, I don't suppose anyone would either complain about the Queen's way of speaking or could care less about it. |
Do you really think it is impossible to interact with British people in Estonia? Do you think it is impossible to travel to the United Kingdom or other countries as an Estonian in the 21st century? Many sociolinguistic studies have been conducted on the position of the URP accent in England. What makes you think I am so unfamiliar with these studies? Do I seem like an illiterate person who has no way of knowing things apart from talking to people residing within a one-kilometre-radius from my home?
Englishuser |
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| Thu Feb 15, 2007 19:13 pm Are you influenced by or bothered about accents in your country? |
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Hi,
I really don't know what you seem like. What I do know is that you have the habit of changing around what I say or adding some new comment as in: | Quote: | | Do I seem like an illiterate person who has no way of knowing things apart from talking to people residing within a one-kilometre-radius from my home? |
Now where has that come from? Not from me.
The point I made originally was that your label of URP where you add 'upper' to RP was to my mind another way of describing 'affected speech'. I have not mentioned who speaks like this as that has been your idea. Some people do and to me that sounds affected.
I think I'll stop there but no doubt you'll gnarl that up into something.
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| Thu Feb 15, 2007 19:51 pm Are you influenced by or bothered about accents in your country? |
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Hi,
| Quote: | | What I do know is that you have the habit of changing around what I say or adding some new comment |
I disagree. I do not intentionally "change around what you say". Perhaps I just cannot understand what you are trying to say?
When you said it was totally irrelevant that I hadn't heard anyone complain about The Queen's accent I thought you meant I cannot possibly be experienced enough to be an authority on British people's attitudes toward different accents. While that might be true, I still find your implication a bit insulting taking into account that you don't really know me and have no means of knowing how much I know about the topic being discussed. I do have a life outside of what we might call "the forum world".
| Quote: | | The point I made originally was that your label of URP where you add 'upper' to RP was to my mind another way of describing 'affected speech'. I have not mentioned who speaks like this as that has been your idea. |
"URP" as a term was not invented by me. "URP" is used by professional linguists and phonologists in the UK to describe a specific accent of English. If you want to, you can read Professor John C. Wells's blog at www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/wells/. Professor Wells knows and uses the term "URP" where applicable, and so do I. I wasn't trying to describe what you call "affected speech". I merely wanted to know whether Jamie would be likely to employ someone who speaks URP.
Once again: URP is an accent of English. URP has nothing to do with "affected speech".
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