[HPFGU-Movie] Accents

[TACtalk at adelanta.co.uk]

Richelle said:-

>Oh, goody.  This is fascinating.  A few questions here.  I can see obviously
>with the adults, such as Maggie Smith, how they would shift their accents from
>one production to another.  The kids, however, would seem to (based on
>interviews)talk as they normally do.  Therefore, what would explain, for
>example, Daniel's accent being RP but lapsing into a London accent?  Schooling
>versus home?

Yes, possibly. If DR's parents speak RP, but he is surrounded at school by
Londoners with more or less of an accent, he would probably have both
elements in his speech. Don't get me wrong; DR is almost entirely RP; there
is just the occasional hint of a London accent, and I doubt that it would
be noticeable to anyone but a freak like me who picks up on accents.

snip the Nawlins example:-

> That aside,
>what would account for the difference in, say, Rupert Grint and Daniel
>Radcliffe's accents?  Regional?  Schooling?

Judging purely by the way in which they speak, I would say that DR's family
is probably slightly higher on the social scale than RG's. RG is London in
accent and intonation, which indicates that he hears that at home as well
as at school. His accent is not the strong Cockney of central/east London,
but it is very plainly from that part of the country.

In Britain, or at least in England, we do tend to judge people by how they
speak; the lighter the accent, the higher up the social scale. That's why
the Dursleys speak as they do; they are striving to be seen as higher up
the social scale than they are. This is the case until you get past the
middle classes, when the RP becomes distorted by the kind of aristocratic
twang which you can hear in Lucius Malfoy's voice. The Royal Family does
not speak RP; they have a particular accent which is identifiable as 'top
of the social scale'.

>
>As for Tom Felton's frequent lower class London accent, what would be
>considered upper class accent?  London as in Rupert Grint or RP?

No, London has its own accent; the strongest form of it is Cockney, it is
very noticeable and not considered upper class. RP is not regional; it's
more indicative of education and social status. I suppose it's rather odd;
we go from working class with strong regional accents, through middle class
which moves further away from regional accents and towards RP the higher
you go; then into the aristocracy and royalty, which have their own strong
accent.

>
>Yes, I'm full of questions!

Hope this helps!

Regards,
Nicholas