Dialect Impressions                              
                       Notes & Links to Dr. Howard's Audio Samples                                                      

                            
                                                    Dr. Diane Howard                     
                                                      Voice Bank
                                                   Copyright © 2010                      
  

                   (Dialect  and Voice-Over Training is part of Dr. Diane Howard's Voice and Diction course at UMHB.
                    Professor Howard's book with Lainie Frasier, Speak Skillfully and Successfully: A Guide to Developing
                    Diction and Voice-Over Excellence (McGraw-Hill, 2005) is available online and at the UMHB Bookstore.
                    Further, Dr. Howard provides private coaching, as her schedule allows.  Fees depend on necessary
                    remediation and degree/time required for needed training.)


                Below are some idiosyncrasies or unique marks of dialects for dialect impressions 
                                                                             

• Standard British Dialect
  
  a. resonance focused toward front of the mouth
  
  b. rounded vowels, especially a’s
  
  c. diminished r’s
  
  d. liquid u such as in duke

                     e. straight, formal sounding, limited pitch variation

• Cockney Dialect
  
  a. resonance focused in back of throat
  
  b. dropped h’s
  
  c. elongated diphthongs
  
  d. emotional, great deal of pitch variation
  
  e. glottal stops with such words as throttle, gentleman
  

• Irish Dialect
  
  a. resonance focused a few inches in front of lips
  
  b. musical dialect, lilting downward in pitch during vowels
  
  c. a’s pronounced as "ah" as in art, balm; short as in hat, bat;
       or as "aw" as in broad, morning
  
  d. oy diphthong as in poise, boy
  
  g. long i as in tight, sight
  
  h. long o in grow, toe
  
   i. long oo in blue, soon
  
   j. long e in see beat, meat
  
   h. o’s short in shot, tot
  
   k. short e in ten, when
  
   i. rolled r’s
  
  

• Scottish Dialect
  
  a. resonance focused under the tongue
  
  b. trilled r’s
  
  c. glottal stop substituted for medial and final t’s, such as in bottle, bit, bitter
  
  d. g dropped in ing endings, such as in singing,  prancing
  
  e. doesn’t have external musical lilt, but does have internal vowel lilt with
       upward rise in pitch during vowels and diphthongs of stressed words
  
   f. ah-oo in words such as house, mouse
  
   g. long a in words such as great,   way
  
   h. long o in words such as grow,   bow
  
   i. long e in words such as see, meat
  
   j. long oo in words such as blue, tune
  
   k. short oo as in could, stood, boot
  
  

• Russian Dialect
  
  a. tone or resonance focused high and in back of mouth
  
  b. rolled r’s
  
  c. w’s become v’s
  
  d. ending g’s become k’s
  
  e. long a in great,  they

          f. long o as in go, home

          g. short a as in cat, bag

          h. short i as in sit, sin

          i. short e as in get, met

• Yiddish Dialect
  
  a. tone or resonance focused tongue tip and front of teeth
  
  b. musical lilt with pitch rising at end of stressed words and ends of phrases
  
  c. ending g’s become like k’s
  
  d. w’s become v’s
  
  e. long e in such words as see, me
  
  f. long a in such words as great, day

                    g. long oo as in duke, boot

                    h. long o as in snow, slow

• German Dialect
  
  a. resonance focused at top edge of bottom front teeth
  
  b. often dominating, hard, reserved sounding
  
  c. ach is guttural
  
  d. short "i" in words such as sit, still
  
  e. short "e" in such words as get,  tent
  
  f. short "oo" in such words as good book

          g. th pronounced like a d in such words as they,  therefore

          k. w becomes a "v"   in such words as where, was, what

• Dutch Dialect

                    a. resonance focused at top edge of bottom front teeth

                    b. th pronounced like a d in such as in father (fader)

                    c. ending d like t in such as in Lord (Lort)

                    d. v pronounced like f such as in love (lof)

                    e. r’s slightly rolled

                    f. w pronounced like slight v such as in we’re (vere)

                    g. ending g not hard as in Russian going (goink) 

                    h. short "i" in words such as sit, still, list

• French Dialect

         a.  resonance is focused in the back of the throat

         b.  full nasal sound which progressively decreases

         c.  extended upper lip

         d.  slight dilation of the nostrils
  
         e.  emphasis on final syllable of words

         f.   long "e" in words such as see, speed, knee, free

         g.  short "i" in words such as city, in, sit, pit

         h.  long "a" in words such as way, say, day

         i.  short "e" in words such as feather, whether 

 

                   b.  single and double trilled or tapped r's with tip of tongue behind top teeth

                   c. th sounds like d

                   d. z sounds like s

                   e.  g dropped at end of ing

                   d.  aggressive tongue

                   e.  long "e" in words such as speed, knee, tree

                   f.  short "i" in words such as pit, sit, split   
 

         
          References-

          David A. Stern's dialect acquisition/reduction audio tapes

• Tips for Good Vocal Delivery for Live or Pre-Recorded Audio:

          Use vocal variety.

          Use good diction.

          Use effective breath support.

          Keep your voice healthy.

(1) Drink plenty of water.
(2) Use relaxation techniques.
(3) Get adequate sleep.
(4) Don't stress your voice by shouting, whispering, pushing it.

• Voice and Diction, course syllabus
  

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