# Vocal Samples Thread #2: The Accent Whisperer **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 12, 2008, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocal-samples-thread-2-the-accent-whisperer/448989 "2008-05-12T03:04:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocal-samples-thread-2-the-accent-whisperer/448989/21 "2008-05-13T17:23:40Z")
[QUOTE=NinetyWt] Heavens. You should’ve submitted that to the [Bulwer-Lytton](http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/2007.htm) contest. [/quote] I don’t want to upstage **Boyo Jim**. 🙂 > [@NinetyWt](#): > > I’ve been thinking - it takes a paragraph or two to get the speaker into a relaxed, normal mode of speaking. I think that the longer the phrase, the better. I wish some linguist(s) would pop in to suggest more phrases (nothing against yours, **Sunspace** ). Well, I tried to work in all the words in the list. Linguistically-oriented people, you say? - Paging **matt\_mcl** , **Kythereia** , and **Spoons**! Would **matt\_mcl** , **Kythereia** , or **Spoons** please pick up the white courtesy phone? \* I’m sure there are more linguistically-oriented people on the boards. ---
**Author:** ![Walkabout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walkabout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walkabout)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocal-samples-thread-2-the-accent-whisperer/448989/22 "2008-05-13T17:25:53Z")
I think you need to add the words “house” or “out” or “about” to the paragraph so I can pick out the Canadians. Maybe change the end to “Such were the joys of youth, but they were soon gone, and now she needed to get to the house so she could pee.” ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocal-samples-thread-2-the-accent-whisperer/448989/23 "2008-05-13T17:56:59Z")
[Canadian raising](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_raising) is interesting, because while lots of people have some familiarity with the fact that this affects Canadian “ow” sounds in some contexts (specifically, before unvoiced consonants), somehow, not that many people realize that essentially the same phenomenon also occurs with “aye” sounds (as in “hi”) as well, and that, in fact, even many American accents have Canadian raising on “aye” sounds, despite lacking it on “ow” sounds (for example, in my own accent, “knife” is realized with a markedly different vowel from “knives”). And what’s really fascinating about Canadian raising is that it “applies _before_” intervocalic alveolar flapping (the process that makes “metal” and “medal” sound the same in most North American accents), so that it can indirectly “recover” voicing distinctions between /t/ and /d/ which are directly lost by flapping. If you really want to demonstrate Canadian raising via minimal pairs, try not just the usual “house”, “out” stuff, but also pairs like “rider”/“writer” and “powder”/“pouter”, which can sound different for those with the corresponding types of Canadian raising, but with the difference not being in the middle consonant, but, rather, being in the first syllable’s vowel. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocal-samples-thread-2-the-accent-whisperer/448989/24 "2008-05-13T18:27:35Z")
Hmm. Let’s see… > [@](#): > > Furry Mary was merry as she hurried along. She didn’t want to be caught at dawn on Don’s cot again, because Don would whine all day and pour the wine on the floor instead of mixing it with the flour in the flower beds where it belonged. She looked in the nearer mirror and momentarily pined for the days of her youth, when any boy with a pen could pin her down to agreeing to a date, and she would play the piano and fill their hearts with heartfelt feelings. Such were the joys of youth, but they were soon gone, and now she needed to return to the house to pee. > > There was a noise in the dimness. “How’s that? Is there someone about the house?” Mary was worried. The sun had not yet risen, and a rider had come through the day before, handing out leaflets warning of burglars. The rider had obviously not read what the writer of the leaflet had written, because the leaflet mentioned missing albatrosses, and this in a district with no seabirds whatsoever. > > Mary reached the door to the powder room. It was locked. She banged on the door. “Are you still in there Sid, you little pouter? I need to go!” There was no answer. “Sid?” Maybe it was time to get out the knives. Even one knife could open the emergency latch. How’s that? ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocal-samples-thread-2-the-accent-whisperer/448989/25 "2008-05-13T18:53:50Z")
You’ve got “Mary” and “merry” but not “marry”. Other than that, looks alright. I wonder how many of the possible accent variations we’re looking for will actually be significantly exhibited in more than one way by speakers in this thread. (I wonder if the contrivedness of this text works against it, if maybe it would be best to just read some standard passages of “actual text” chosen at random from the wide world out there. But I’m happy with it.) ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocal-samples-thread-2-the-accent-whisperer/448989/26 "2008-05-13T19:01:43Z")
[QUOTE=Indistinguishable] You’ve got “Mary” and “merry” but not “marry”. Other than that, looks alright. I wonder how many of the possible accent variations we’re looking for will actually be significantly exhibited in more than one way by speakers in this thread. (I wonder if the contrivedness of this text works against it, if maybe it would be best to just read some standard passages of “actual text” chosen at random from the wide world out there. But I’m happy with it.) [/QUOTE] Okay, I’ll add ‘marry’. I think that the text could be boiled down a little as well; it’s a bit long. I tried to make it into a story. > [@](#): > > Furry Mary, no longer married, was merry as she hurried along. She didn’t want to be caught at dawn on Don’s cot again, because Don would whine all day and pour the wine on the floor instead of mixing it with the flour in the flower beds where it belonged. She looked in the nearer mirror and momentarily pined for the days of her youth, when any boy with a pen could pin her down to agreeing to a date, and she would play the piano and fill their hearts with heartfelt feelings. Such were the joys of youth, but they were soon gone, and now she needed to return to the house to pee. > > There was a noise in the dimness. “How’s that? Is there someone about the house?” Mary was worried. The sun had not yet risen, and a rider had come through the day before, handing out leaflets warning of burglars. The rider had obviously not read what the writer of the leaflet had written, because the leaflet mentioned missing albatrosses, and this in a district with no seabirds whatsoever. > > Mary reached the door to the powder room. It was locked. She banged on the door. “Are you still in there Sid, you little pouter? I need to go!” There was no answer. “Sid?” Maybe it was time to get out the knives. Even one knife could open the emergency latch. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocal-samples-thread-2-the-accent-whisperer/448989/27 "2008-05-15T04:01:09Z")
_Et voilà!_ **Tripler** and **Nawth Chucka** have sent me samples. Here they are, speaking the list of words: [Tripler](http://www.sunspace.org/audio/thread2/tripler_words.mp3) [Nawth Chucka](http://www.sunspace.org/audio/thread2/nawth_chucka_words.mp3) ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocal-samples-thread-2-the-accent-whisperer/448989/28 "2008-05-15T04:29:02Z")
And here is **Gallows Fodder** reciting the [paragraph](http://www.sunspace.org/audio/thread2/gallows_fodder_para.mp3). ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocal-samples-thread-2-the-accent-whisperer/448989/29 "2008-05-15T05:08:31Z")
Thanks, **Sunspace**! (BTW, I don’t actually have a lisp, no matter what it might sound like in that clip. 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2008, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocal-samples-thread-2-the-accent-whisperer/448989/30 "2008-05-25T19:21:59Z")
Any updates, **Sunspace**? ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2008, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocal-samples-thread-2-the-accent-whisperer/448989/31 "2008-05-25T19:34:26Z")
**gallows fodder** , you have a sweet voice! I was all set to record, but I couldn’t hear any differences between her pronunciations and mine so… what she said ;). ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2008, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocal-samples-thread-2-the-accent-whisperer/448989/32 "2008-05-25T21:48:32Z")
Updates! [**NinetyWt**](http://www.sunspace.org/audio/thread2/ninetywt_para.mp3) recites the paragraph. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2008, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocal-samples-thread-2-the-accent-whisperer/448989/33 "2008-05-25T21:58:27Z")
And so does [**WVMom**](http://www.sunspace.org/audio/thread2/wvmom_para.mp3). (And you don’t want to know what I had to do to transcode a WMA file to MP3 on a Mac without paying for additional software…) ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2008, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocal-samples-thread-2-the-accent-whisperer/448989/34 "2008-05-25T22:09:21Z")
How do I go about sending my voice sample to you? I know how to record… I mean where’s the sample and what’s your e-mail? I tried looking in the other thread but me couldnst find it ;; ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2008, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocal-samples-thread-2-the-accent-whisperer/448989/35 "2008-05-25T22:56:44Z")
[QUOTE=NajaNivea] **gallows fodder** , you have a sweet voice! I was all set to record, but I couldn’t hear any differences between her pronunciations and mine so… what she said ;). [/QUOTE] Aw, thanks. I think I sound like a little kid (I’ll be 30 next month). Where are you from? I was born in Philadelphia and raised in the suburbs, but neither of my parents grew up there, so my Philly accent is light. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2008, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocal-samples-thread-2-the-accent-whisperer/448989/36 "2008-05-25T23:34:36Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] And so does [**WVMom**](http://www.sunspace.org/audio/thread2/wvmom_para.mp3). (And you don’t want to know what I had to do to transcode a WMA file to MP3 on a Mac without paying for additional software…) [/QUOTE] Goodness, mine sounds slow by comparison ! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2008, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocal-samples-thread-2-the-accent-whisperer/448989/37 "2008-05-25T23:44:36Z")
[QUOTE=Autolycus] How do I go about sending my voice sample to you? I know how to record.. I mean where’s the sample and what’s your e-mail? I tried looking in the other thread but me couldnst find it ;; [/QUOTE] PM me for details. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocal-samples-thread-2-the-accent-whisperer/448989/38 "2008-05-26T15:18:19Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] - Paging **matt\_mcl** , **Kythereia** , and **Spoons**! Would **matt\_mcl** , **Kythereia** , or **Spoons** please pick up the white courtesy phone? \* I’m sure there are more linguistically-oriented people on the boards. [/QUOTE] Oh, the _white_ courtesy phone. I thought I heard “wide courtesy phone,” and was looking for the oversize one all this time. 😉 I’ll have to locate my microphone and re-download Audacity, **Sunspace** , but if I can do those and get my regular tasks done today, I’ll see if I can get a recording for you. ---
**Author:** ![Walkabout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walkabout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walkabout)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2008, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocal-samples-thread-2-the-accent-whisperer/448989/39 "2008-05-27T11:22:01Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] And so does [**WVMom**](http://www.sunspace.org/audio/thread2/wvmom_para.mp3). (And you don’t want to know what I had to do to transcode a WMA file to MP3 on a Mac without paying for additional software…) [/QUOTE] Ooh, sorry about that. I should have converted it for me. I recorded it using my digital voice recorder, which only creates .wma files. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocal-samples-thread-2-the-accent-whisperer/448989.md?page=1)