FUNNY! Mancunian Accent Lesson :D :D :D

[fannishliss]

One of my favorite things about writing fic is having to do research to find things out.  Last time I had to look up what card games people play in England and found out about an extremely fun sounding version of Crazy Eights called Black Jack (not the American poker game).

This time I've been doing a little accent investigation.  There is tons to learn about the Northern regional accents. Apparently in Yorkshire alone there are a number of different accents by town or village that are mutually confusing!!

I myself grew up with a recognizable regional accent -- I'm Appalachian, from West Virginia-- so I'm sensitive to accent pride and being taunted for having an accent.  I'm in love with Torchwood primarily because of Gwen Cooper's incredibly beautiful Welsh accent -- which, I've been told, is an accent people often try to lose for exactly the same reasons that the West Virginian accent is sometimes mocked.  (My own native accent has faded quite a bit since I was a kid, but I can still slip into it right away on the phone with my mom. )

I love Christopher Eccleston for his Mancunian accent too.  I think it's quite beautiful!  I was trying to discover if as a Manc he would say "summat" or not.  Any thoughts from English friends?

That's how I found this incredibly funny sound recording.  It's a "repeat the phrase" exercise where a lady says a sentence in RP (received pronunciation) and then it's translated into Mancunian by another  younger sounding lady.  OMG, rotflmao!!!!  It plays off of Real Player so don't be afraid if your browser needs an update, it is a site from BBC Manchester.  :D

http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/content/articles/2005/01/11/learn_mancunian_voices_feature.shtml

Oh, btw, Book Sale was a triumph, raising $10K again, and only the very last hour was drowned by rain.  :)

Comments

[develish1]

I'm not certain, since I'm from a little further south and therefore live in what's considered The Midlands than Northern England, but most Midlands and Northern dialects do tend to include certain phrases, and "summat" is one of those.

[fannishliss.livejournal.com]

Thanks for your quick reply!

I kind of thought it would be a word like that, common around the North. A lot of the children's lit we read in America is English, and I must've read the Secret Garden dozens of times -- so that old Yorkshire accent is in my head. :)

I finally finished that fic I posted week before last at the gutter. :D I'll post it tomorrow!

[develish1]

it's finished? yay, I look forward to reading it :)

[bloose09.livejournal.com]

I worked in Samlesbury, England for two years. The workforce was primarily from Preston, Blackburn, and Manchester. We communicated with another sight in Yorkshire. I must say that I was in accent heaven. I sat across a guy from Barrow-in-Furness that had one of the coolest accents ever. He loved my California accent so we used to take turns asking each other to say phrases and then laughing at the results.

Oh yeah the point, I heard the phrase "summat" more than once. The most common greeting I heard was "Hiya" which, I must admit, I picked up and use to this day.

[fannishliss.livejournal.com]

I was in England only for my one semester abroad, and I lived in London, so it wasn't that exciting in terms of accents.

Ooh, I have a question tho! I saw a quote from Chris where he referred to "a Manc and a Geordie on Saturday night at 7?" -- so I've been trying to figure out who the Geordie is???

cheers!

[bloose09.livejournal.com]

A Geordie is someone from Tyneside, which is on the North East coast of England. One of the cities you might know would be Newcastle.
I love those interviews he has done on BBC Radio. I could listen to him speak forever.

Edit: Now that I read your question, I see you are asking for the specific person's name who he refers to as a Geordie. I'll have to check out that interview again.

[aililinnea.livejournal.com]

Still stalking you through the back pages of your journal. That "learn Mancunian" recording is hysterical! And when you asked if they say "summat" in Manchester, all I can think of is Strayman when he's offered lime juice in the record company office, asking, "Can I have summat in it?"

[fannishliss.livejournal.com]

I particularly love the phrase "I'm up for it" pronounced "mupfarit". I also love "Hiya!"

I have a good friend who is English. Her parents moved North when she was little, so she complains that she never had the correct accent anywhere. Her dad and his relatives had the Welsh accent, and so when she was in London she didn't have the proper London accent, and then when they moved to the Durham area, she sounded Southern, and now of course she lives here in the US and has to translate everything into US English, so that when she goes home to visit they tell her she sounds American. She can't win!