The Weasley's accents

[Donna]

No: HPFGUIDX 81873

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "sylviablundell2001" 
<sylviablundell at a...> wrote:
> The Weasleys certainly don't sound Devonian, or indeed West 
Country.  
> As a child, I had a Devon accent you could cut with a knife, so I 
> know whereof I speak.  The Weasleys all seem to me to speak what is 
> usually referred to as "standard English".  The cockneyfication of 
> Ron in the films seems to me entirely wrong and grates on me rather.
> I think Hagrid probably speaks with a West Country accent - 
certainly 
> not Scots, whatever Robbie Coltrane's origins.
> Sylvia (who lost her accent years ago, alas)

As an American whose only exposure to English Accents is from PBS, 
let me say that I don't associate Ron's accent with Cockney.  It is 
not what I would call "King's English" either.  It seems to me a 
working class accent.  Harry and Hermione seem to be more of the 
standard accent.  At least that is how the voices sound in my head as 
I read the stories.  

I do hear Seamus speak with an Irish accent.  Neville has to me a 
more Liverpudlian accent (ala the Beatles.  And I am sorry about the 
spelling.  But could that be contamination from the films?)  When 
Hagrid speaks, I hear a Yorkshire accent.  But you see, I am an 
American.  We don't hear the distinctions our British brothers and 
sisters hear.

It would be like having a British person try to distinguish between a 
southern Texas accent and someone who comes from Mississippi.  To the 
untrained ear, they probably sound the same, but to someone from the 
South, they would know instantly where that person was from.

I have been reading the stories aloud to my son, and trying to give 
distinct accents and voices to the characters.  But I find myself 
being very "Masterpiece Theatre" when I do that.  I would love to 
spend some time learning the differences between the regional accents 
of the British Isles.

D