SOUND CHANGES
Vowels
1) OH
Sounds like EH-OO
Start with the EH (red, bed) sound, and slide into OO (who)
Practice Words:
Boat, Home, Wrote, Cone, No, Flow, Toast, Roast, Mope, Throne, Throw, Show, Crow, Stone, Hope, Toe, Alone, Thrown, Open, Sacramento, Ohio
2) AH
Sounds like AW
Substitute the AW (law, claw, bought) sound
Top, Stop, Hop, Potter, Cop, Prop, Shop, Tom, Hot, Mop, Dock, Pots, Mom, Sock, Rock, Rocket, Pocket, Odd, Body, Modern, Shot, Got, October, Oxygen
3) A
Substitute the AH (stop) sound when A falls BEFORE:
F Behalf, half, staff, laugh
FT Stagecraft, engraft, daft
NCE Dance, chance, France
NT Can't, plant
PH Graph, epitaph
SK Ask, task, mask
SP Grasp, raspberry
SS Grass, pass, glass, class
ST Last, cast, nasty, mast
TH Path, wrath
4) AW
Keep the same vowel sound, but round the lips over it (as if you're whistling)
Law, Straw, Thaw, Claw, Paw, Flaw, Crawl, Stall, Mall, Palm, Bought, Thought, Taught, Fought, Caught, Walk, Talk, Chalk, Beanstalk
Consonants
1) D's and T's
Make them EXCEPTIONALLY crisp and clear
Connect, Succinct, Tent, Part, Dent, Dent, Expect, Respect, Different, Parent, Mint, Heart, Hard, Hurt, Pit, Fit, Hard, Card, Forward, Ward, Bored, Flawed, Wasted, Worked, Pointed
2) R
a) DROP the R when it's the last SOUND in a word
Far, Near, Hear, There, Car, Floor, Under, Over, Door, Four, Stair, Glare, Where, More, Stir, Sure
b) DROP the R when it falls BEFORE a consonant
Hard, Heart, Forgive, New York, First, Morning, Afternoon, Person, North, Orphan, Hearth, Worth
c) Keep the R when it comes BETWEEN 2 vowels (or Y)
Around, arrest, irritate, Eric, torrid, sorry, berry, forest
d) Keep the R when it ENDS a word, and this next word starts with a vowel
Pair of, or else, for us, over it, order another
e) Keep the R when it BEGINS a word
Right, ready red, rain, river, run, rip, roast, rule, rust, root role
f) ADD the R when a word ends with A, and the NEXT word starts with a VOWEL
Virginia-R-and Maryland, Victoria-R-and-Bob
Melody
Add a "dip" in your voice at the ends of sentences
arriving
I expect we'll be soo- oon.
oo-
Questions:
- Y/N questions USUALLY end on a DOWNWARDS swing:
Are you going la-
ter?
- Other questions, throw in the "dip" at the end.
What's your favorite oo-
Words to Practice
1) Brilliant: Amazing, awesome, incredible...
2) Dodgy: Sketchy, shady
3) Mental: Crazy
4) Bloody: Very, really
5) Cheers: Thanks, goodbye
Steps for Learning Dialects
1) Isolate the major sounds
Choose FUN, engaging examples that reflect the sound you're going for
(movies, TV shows, YouTube)
2) Listen for different melody patterns, vocal inflections, and stressing
3) Identify what sounds are EASY and HARD for you to duplicate
4) REAL LIFE PRACTICE
Play with the sounds in real life AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE
(brushing teeth, folding laundry, studying)
5) Pick up a script and test yourself!
Great, right? Will be updating on plays I've seen and other workshops I'll do tomorrow!
Maison