A map of North American English dialects by Rick Aschmann. You can zoom in on areas of the map to hear audio samples.
Tag: english
Shakespeare in original pronunciation
Paul Meier, a theatre professor at the University of Kansas, has been researching the original pronunciation of Shakespeare, enabling audiences to hear what the plays would have sounded like in the Bard’s time.
“The audience will hear rough and surprisingly vernacular diction, they will hear echoes of Irish, New England and Cockney that survive to this day as ‘dialect fossils.’ And they will be delighted by how very understandable the language is, despite the intervening centuries.â€
The clip above features an interview with Meier, and some examples from an OP production at the university. For a longer scene, check out this video for a longer scene.
Oh no, words!
Nation Shudders At Large Block Of Uninterrupted Text. The Onion, spot on as usual.
Unable to rest their eyes on a colorful photograph or boldface heading that could be easily skimmed and forgotten about, Americans collectively recoiled Monday when confronted with a solid block of uninterrupted text.
Dumbfounded citizens from Maine to California gazed helplessly at the frightening chunk of print, unsure of what to do next. Without an illustration, chart, or embedded YouTube video to ease them in, millions were frozen in place, terrified by the sight of one long, unbroken string of English words.