This is a really great video about how the original pronunciation of a language, during the time a play was written and performed, can affect the feeling and meaning. I thought it was interesting. Enjoy!
MMM
A really great video on the original pronunciation of Shakespeare (only about 10 1/2 min.)
by MeanMrMustard 14 Replies latest social entertainment
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hamsterbait
I am a total Shakespeare "hour"!!
HB
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Apognophos
I was tempted to post something like this in response to cofty's (joking?) remark about Americans not knowing how to pronounce things. British English, especially RP, is further removed from the English of Shakespeare's time than our colonial English (especially in the exurban areas of the Northeast, in the Midwest, and on the West Coast). Of course some things have shifted away from proper pronunciation, too, like "fertile" becoming "fertle", and some changes took place on both sides of the pond, like "proved" being "pruvd" in Shakespeare's OP and now being "prooved" in both the U.S. and England.
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zeb
Who is this so faire so bright,
could teach the lamps to burn so bright.
Oh rapturous child o natures pet
who is this girl this Juliet.
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Oubliette
You mean it's not pronounced: Pro-NOUN-ciation?!? That's what the TMS Overseer said!
Kidding aside, that was a great video. I always intuitively sensed that something was missing whenever I saw Shakespeare performed with a semi-religious tone. Now I am vindicated.
Curiously, the Olde Moderne English sounds to my ear similar to certain extant Irish accents I've heard, maybe with a smidge of Pirate swagger thrown in for good measure.
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Apognophos
maybe with a smidge of Pirate swagger thrown in for good measure.
It's appropriate you should say that, as the pronunciation they arrived at for Shakespeare resembles England's West Country dialect, which is a hold-over from old England, a sort of linguistic time machine. The West Country was also the origin of many pirates, which somewhat coincidentally led to Robert Newton playing up his own West Country accent when he played a pirate in the film "Treasure Island". This is a modern interpretation of the pirate accent, and many pirates were from other places, such as Jean Lafitte, who probably had a bayou accent, but it's probably a fairly accurate recreation of some English pirates' speech.
Now, most English accents at the time were rhotic, meaning they pronounced all the 'r's in their words. At this same time, many English were settling America, and, absent the influence of London and later the BBC, this inadvertently preserved the older form of English speech in the American colonies. This is why Americans and pirates both pronounce the 'r's strongly in nearly all words. Nowadays, Londoners imagine that they are pronouncing words more correctly, and deride their own original tongue as rustic and amusing.
This recording (skip in 30 seconds) of the Somerset (part of West Country) dialect may be similar to how our Mayflower ancestors spoke. This is a more comedic take on Somerset, which I never get tired of watching:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ng3fG1u4Xg
Supposedly it's not far off from how a few of the older folk actually speak there, though with so much slurring, no one would call this proper English in any time period.
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Oubliette
Apognophos, great clip, thanks for sharing and thanks for your really interesting commentary. This is obviously a subject which you enjoy!
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Apognophos
Yes, I am a language nut
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breakfast of champions
Great video! Thanks for sharing, fascinating.