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latet
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2005 8:10 am
Post subject: Accents in "The Aviator" |
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Hi,
I've just seen "The Aviator" and I was surprized
by a strange accent that Cate Blanchett
(playing Katharine Hepburn) was speaking.
What kind of accent was that? I've never
heard anything as strange (in a freaky way) as that.
Was it real?
Thanks,
latet
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Areff
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2005 8:10 am
Post subject: Re: Accents in "The Aviator" |
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Lars Eighner wrote:
| Quote: | Kate Hepburn had a thick New England accent.
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I'm not sure this is correct. Her stage accent didn't sound like any sort
of conventional New England accent (compare it, say, to the accent of John
F. Kennedy). Moreover, she was apparently from the Hartford, Conn. region,
and I think that's in the western New England dialect group, which is
unrelated to the stereotypical accents of Eastern New England.
Certainly I've known natives of the Hartford region, and they didn't have
the eastern-style New England accent. But there are parts of eastern
Connecticut where you do hear that sort of accent, near where
Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island come together.
--
Steny '08! |
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Lars Eighner
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2005 8:11 am
Post subject: Re: Accents in "The Aviator" |
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In our last episode,
<38cuopF5l0q5oU3@individual.net>,
the lovely and talented Areff
broadcast on alt.usage.english:
| Quote: | Lars Eighner wrote:
Kate Hepburn had a thick New England accent.
I'm not sure this is correct. Her stage accent didn't sound
like any sort of conventional New England accent (compare it,
say, to the accent of John F. Kennedy). Moreover, she was
apparently from the Hartford, Conn. region, and I think that's
in the western New England dialect group, which is unrelated
to the stereotypical accents of Eastern New England.
Certainly I've known natives of the Hartford region, and they
didn't have the eastern-style New England accent. But there
are parts of eastern Connecticut where you do hear that sort
of accent, near where Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode
Island come together.
|
Neither Kennedy nor Hepburn spoke the "Down East" or "Yankee"
New England accent, but both of them spoke a variety of the upper-crust
or Brahmin accent. Kennedy's, I think, was really less typical,
but is now more familiar - partly for having so many of its
atypical features subjected to parody. Katharine Hepburn also
had a peculiar voice quality, quite apart from her accent, and
impressionists of her have tended to go for that voice quality
rather than the accent.
--
Lars Eighner eighner@io.com http://www.io.com/~eighner/
What we have to learn to do, we learn by doing. --Aristotle
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Areff
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2005 8:11 am
Post subject: Re: Accents in "The Aviator" |
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Lars Eighner wrote:
| Quote: | In our last episode,
38cuopF5l0q5oU3@individual.net>,
the lovely and talented Areff
broadcast on alt.usage.english:
Lars Eighner wrote:
Kate Hepburn had a thick New England accent.
I'm not sure this is correct. Her stage accent didn't sound
like any sort of conventional New England accent (compare it,
say, to the accent of John F. Kennedy). Moreover, she was
apparently from the Hartford, Conn. region, and I think that's
in the western New England dialect group, which is unrelated
to the stereotypical accents of Eastern New England.
Certainly I've known natives of the Hartford region, and they
didn't have the eastern-style New England accent. But there
are parts of eastern Connecticut where you do hear that sort
of accent, near where Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode
Island come together.
Neither Kennedy nor Hepburn spoke the "Down East" or "Yankee"
New England accent, but both of them spoke a variety of the upper-crust
or Brahmin accent. Kennedy's, I think, was really less typical,
but is now more familiar - partly for having so many of its
atypical features subjected to parody.
|
I don't think so. I'm very familiar with ordinary non-rhotic or
non-rhotic-origin Boston-region accents, and JFK's is quite obviously
related to them. Both of these Boston types are related to the "Down
East" Maine type of accent -- they all sound "Boston-ish". I'm not as
sure about the "Brahmin" accent.
With Hepburn, however, there's no "Boston-ish" quality to hear speech at
all. And again, she wasn't from coastal New England. |
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Areff
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2005 8:11 am
Post subject: Re: Accents in "The Aviator" |
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latet wrote:
| Quote: | Hi,
I've just seen "The Aviator" and I was surprized
by a strange accent that Cate Blanchett
(playing Katharine Hepburn) was speaking.
What kind of accent was that? I've never
heard anything as strange (in a freaky way) as that.
Was it real?
|
It was clearly an effort to copy the sort of accent Hepburn used in her
movies. I believe it matched her real-life accent (based on some interview
of her I once saw), but it's possible that her real-life accent was itself
an acquired one, so to say.
--
Steny '08! |
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Guest
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| Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2005 8:11 am
Post subject: Re: Accents in "The Aviator" |
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"Lars Eighner" <eighner@io.com> wrote in message
news:slrnd229k7.ors.eighner@goodwill.io.com...
| Quote: | In our last episode,
cvr8ma$cnv$1@host102-ursus.spray.net.pl>,
the lovely and talented latet
broadcast on alt.usage.english:
Hi,
I've just seen "The Aviator" and I was surprized
by a strange accent that Cate Blanchett
(playing Katharine Hepburn) was speaking.
What kind of accent was that? I've never
heard anything as strange (in a freaky way) as that.
Was it real?
Kate Hepburn had a thick New England accent. It is not natural
to Blanchett, but hers is as reasonable a rendition as art may
allow.
--
Lars Eighner eighner@io.com
http://www.io.com/~eighner/
She spent a lot of time watching Hepburn movies to get it right, she said in |
a recent tv interview. I've not seen The Aviator so I don' t know how well
she did.
A friend was in it. I got great fun out of congratulating his hair on
winning a BAFTA. (Hair and make-up, in fact.)
Cheers, Sage |
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Lars Eighner
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2005 8:13 am
Post subject: Re: Accents in "The Aviator" |
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In our last episode,
<cvr8ma$cnv$1@host102-ursus.spray.net.pl>,
the lovely and talented latet
broadcast on alt.usage.english:
| Quote: | Hi,
I've just seen "The Aviator" and I was surprized
by a strange accent that Cate Blanchett
(playing Katharine Hepburn) was speaking.
What kind of accent was that? I've never
heard anything as strange (in a freaky way) as that.
Was it real?
|
Kate Hepburn had a thick New England accent. It is not natural
to Blanchett, but hers is as reasonable a rendition as art may
allow.
--
Lars Eighner eighner@io.com http://www.io.com/~eighner/
I'm always amazed that people will actually choose to sit in front of the
television and just be savaged by stuff that belittles their intelligence.
--Alice Walker |
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Sara Lorimer
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2005 12:41 am
Post subject: Re: Accents in "The Aviator" |
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Areff <me@privacy.net> wrote:
| Quote: | With Hepburn, however, there's no "Boston-ish" quality to hear speech at
all. And again, she wasn't from coastal New England.
|
I know a woman with an speaking manner similar to Hepburn's. This woman
is in her seventies and has lived in New England for a long time. I
think she's originally from California, from a well-off family.
--
SML |
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Jess Askin
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2005 6:04 am
Post subject: Re: Accents in "The Aviator" |
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"Areff" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:38cuipF5l0q5oU2@individual.net...
| Quote: | latet wrote:
Hi,
I've just seen "The Aviator" and I was surprized
by a strange accent that Cate Blanchett
(playing Katharine Hepburn) was speaking.
What kind of accent was that? I've never
heard anything as strange (in a freaky way) as that.
Was it real?
It was clearly an effort to copy the sort of accent Hepburn used in her
movies. I believe it matched her real-life accent (based on some interview
of her I once saw), but it's possible that her real-life accent was itself
an acquired one, so to say.
|
She's often said to have had a Bryn Mawr accent (that being her alma mater),
but there may not actually be such a thing [1]. Google gives only 346 hits
for "bryn mawr accent" (which amounts to existential nonentitude), and if
you add -hepburn to the search the number goes down to 15.
In any event the implication is clearly that her accent was acquired at some
point. In her era, most American actresses tried for some sort of
"mid-Atlantic accent," but since this accent is poorly defined they each
ended up with their own version of it. Hepburn doesn't sound like Bette
Davis doesn't sound like Rosalind Russell doesn't sound like Margaret
Sullavan etc.
[1] Unlike in the UK, there aren't really any colleges in the US that have
their own accents. Discuss. |
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The Grammer Genious
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2005 7:14 am
Post subject: Re: Accents in "The Aviator" |
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Jess Askin wrote:
| Quote: | ...> In her era, most American actresses tried for some
sort of
"mid-Atlantic accent," <...
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You mean, like, Delaware?
\\P. Schultz |
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John Dean
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2005 7:42 am
Post subject: Re: Accents in "The Aviator" |
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Jess Askin wrote:
| Quote: |
[1] Unlike in the UK, there aren't really any colleges in the US that
have their own accents. Discuss.
|
There are no colleges in the UK that have their own accents. Discuss
with illustrations.
--
John Dean
Oxford |
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Bill Bonde ( ''The chambe
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2005 8:17 am
Post subject: Re: Accents in "The Aviator" |
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latet wrote:
| Quote: |
Hi,
I've just seen "The Aviator" and I was surprized
by a strange accent that Cate Blanchett
(playing Katharine Hepburn) was speaking.
What kind of accent was that? I've never
heard anything as strange (in a freaky way) as that.
Was it real?
I only saw a clip, but it seemed to include some relevant features. |
--
Personal accounts are good because they lessen the liability against
future taxes of the retiree while sequestering the funds he's been
paying in so they cannot be used to mask current general fund deficits. |
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Jess Askin
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2005 3:45 pm
Post subject: Re: Accents in "The Aviator" |
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"John Dean" <john-dean@frag.lineone.net> wrote in message
news:cvtp9l$2gi$1@news8.svr.pol.co.uk...
| Quote: | Jess Askin wrote:
[1] Unlike in the UK, there aren't really any colleges in the US that
have their own accents. Discuss.
There are no colleges in the UK that have their own accents. Discuss
with illustrations.
|
Sorry, universities. But I'm pretty sure you'll still disagree. |
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Jess Askin
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2005 3:47 pm
Post subject: Re: Accents in "The Aviator" |
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"The Grammer Genious" <schultzp@erols.com> wrote in message
news:sntUd.66308$8a6.23792@trndny09...
| Quote: | Jess Askin wrote:
...> In her era, most American actresses tried for some
sort of
"mid-Atlantic accent," <...
You mean, like, Delaware?
|
I hadn't thought of it that way. I guess "mid-Atlantic" could be ambiguous,
except that the states usually considered to be in the mid-Atlantic region
[1] have such a variety of accents that the term wouldn't be very
meaningful.
[1] NY, NJ, PA, DE, MD? Where's our expert on all things accentual and
mid-Atlantistical? |
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the Omrud
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2005 4:20 pm
Post subject: Re: Accents in "The Aviator" |
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Jess Askin typed thusly:
| Quote: |
"John Dean" <john-dean@frag.lineone.net> wrote in message
news:cvtp9l$2gi$1@news8.svr.pol.co.uk...
Jess Askin wrote:
[1] Unlike in the UK, there aren't really any colleges in the US that
have their own accents. Discuss.
There are no colleges in the UK that have their own accents. Discuss
with illustrations.
Sorry, universities. But I'm pretty sure you'll still disagree.
|
I'll save him the trouble. I disagree. Could you enlighten us?
--
David
=====
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