INTRODUCTION TO

DIALECTS FOR ACTORS

“I be a pirate,
me favourite letters ‘B’ ‘R’ and ‘I’!”
AN OVERVIEW
OF YOUR
OPTIONS
Try all these dialects on for
size.
Standard British Southern
Cockney New York
Irish Australian Scottish
 Standard British Dialect
. Standard American . Standard British
. . [α] as in “father”
. [æ] as in “cat” . Bring the corners of the mouth
. slightly forward.
. [‫ ]ם‬as in “not” . More open, like [α]
.

. [^] as in “love”
 THE AVENGERS Transcription –
for example
STEED
You tried to shoot me didn’t you.
EMMA
I would never shoot you. Not without my reasons.
STEED
I remember it clearly. One shot to the heart. But luckily
my trubshaul waistcoat was bullet proof.
EMMA
Silly me. I thought you were just overdressed.
 THE AVENGERS with Standard
American

STEED
You tried to shoot me didn’t you.
EMMA
I would never shoot you. N[‫]ם‬t without my reasons.
STEED
I remember it clearly. One sh[‫]ם‬t to the heart. But l[^]ckily
my tr[^]bshaul waistcoat was bullet proof.
EMMA
Silly me. I th[‫]ם‬ght you were j[^]st overdressed.
 THE AVENGERS with Standard
British changes

STEED
You tried to shoot me didn’t you.
EMMA
I would never shoot you. N[‫]ם‬t without my reasons.
STEED
I remember it clearly. One sh[‫]ם‬t to the heart. But
l[α]ckily my tr[α]bshaul waistcoat was bullet proof.
EMMA
Silly me. I th[‫]ם‬ght you were j[α]st overdressed.
 Cockney the Trick: a nasal tone quality
Standard American Cockney
Becomes a glottal stop [?],
[t] as in “little” “li’l”
Becomes [eI] as in “paid”
Stressed [i] as in “bee” Becomes [I] as in “bit” and
Unstressed [i] as in “silly” “little”
and “country” Becomes [æ + ƏU]
[aU] as in “out”
 MY FAIR LADY Transcribe in groups of 4 or 5
“I ain’t done nothing wrong by speaking to the
gentleman. I’ve a right to sell flowers if I keep off
the curb. I’m a respectable girl: so help me, I never
spoke to him except to ask him to buy a flower off
me.”

“What did you take down my words for? How do I

know you took me down right? You just show me
what you’ve wrote about me. What’s that? That ain’t
proper writing. I can’t read it.”
 MY FAIR LADY with Standard American
“I ain’t done nothing wrong by sp[i]king to the
gen[t]leman. I’ve a right to sell flowers if I k[i]p off
the curb. I’m a respectable girl: so help m[i], I never
spoke to him except to ask him to buy a flower off
m[i].”

“What did you take down my words for? How do I

know you took m[i] down right? You just show m[i]
what you’ve wro[t]e about m[i]. What’s that? Tha[t]
ain’t proper wri[t]ing. I can’t r[i]d it.”
 MY FAIR LADY with Cockney changes
“I ain’t done nothing wrong by sp[eI]king to the
gen[?]leman. I’ve a right to sell flowers if I k[eI]p
off the curb. I’m a respectable girl: so help m[eI], I
never spoke to him except to ask him to buy a flower
off m[eI].”

“What did you take down my words for? How do I

know you took m[eI] down right? You just show
m[eI] what you’ve wro[?]e about m[eI]. What’s that?
Tha[?] ain’t proper wri[?]ing. I can’t r[eI]d it.”
IRISH The Trick: High to Low
Standard American
[ai] as in “I”, “might,” “sky” and
“aspire.”
[aU] as in “how now brown cow”
[g] as in “running” or “bring”
[ð] as in these, those, and other
Irish
“They’re always after
Special triphthong: [ΛOΙ];
me lucky try on
charms!”
“Mike,” “fine,” “night,” and “time.”
[ΛOU]; try on “out,” “town,” and
“now.”
The [g] of –ing is often dropped
*in Dublin, the [d] replaces the [ð]
 FAR AND AWAY
Transcribe in pairs
Then you’re a man of business like
myself. But I warn you, it’s brought me
nothing but misery. I’m lost in a fog of
commerce and compromise. I’d trade it
all away for fifteen minutes of freedom.
 FAR AND AWAY with
Standard American
[ð]en you’re a man of business l[ai]ke
myself. But [ai] warn you, it’s brought
me nothin[g] but misery. [ai]’m lost in a
fog of commerce and comprom[ai]se.
[ai]’d trade it all away for fifteen minutes
of freedom.
 FAR AND AWAY with
Irish changes
[d]en you’re a man of business l[ΛOΙ]ke
myself. But [ΛOΙ] warn you, it’s brought
me nothin but misery. [ΛOΙ]’m lost in a
fog of commerce and comprom[ΛOΙ]se.
[ΛOΙ]’d trade it all away for fifteen
minutes of freedom.
 Scottish The trick: cup your tongue, where the tip and sides are
lifted up but the middle is down forming a “hollow center,” like a canoe.

Standard American Scottish

From [Ι] to [ε]
to [i]
From [ε] to the glottal stop

From [t]
“It’s not a skirt,
it’s a kilt!”
 THE LORD OF THE RINGSTranscribe
in pairs

Soon Master Elf you will enjoy the

favored hospitality of the dwarves.
Roaring fires. Malt beer. Ripe meat off
the bone. This, my friend, is the home
of my cousin Balin, and they call it a
mine, a mine!
 THE LORD OF THE RINGS with
Standard American

Soon Master [ε]lf you w[I]ll [ε]njoy the

favored hosp[I]tal[I]ty of the dwarves.
Roaring fires. Mal[t] beer. Ripe mea[t]
off the bone. Th[I]s, my fr[ε]nd, [I]s
the home of my cousin Bal[I]n, and
they call [I]t a mine, a mine!
 THE LORD OF THE RINGS with
Scottish changes

Soon Master [i]lf you w[ε]ll [i]njoy the

favored hosp[ε]tal[ε]ty of the dwarves.
Roaring fires. Mal[?] beer. Ripe
mea[?] off the bone. Th[ε]s, my
fr[i]nd, [ε]s the home of my cousin
Bal[ε]n, and they call [ε]t a mine, a
mine!
Australian The trick – It’s Cockney
through the nose

Standard American Australian

Dropped (but stays
The [r] at the ends of when it is between two
words vowels)
[ai]
[eI] [^]
[æ] + [əU]
[ε]

[əU]
STRICTLY BALLROOMTranscribe
individually

LIZ

“What do I want? I’ll tell you what I want. I

want Ken Railings to walk in here right now
and say ‘Pam Shaw’s broken both her legs,
and I want to dance with you!’”
STRICTLY BALLROOM with Standard
American

LIZ

“What do I want? I’ll t[ε]ll you what I want.

I want K[ε]n R[eI]lings to walk in he[r]e
right now and s[eI] ‘Pam Shaw’s broken
b[əU]th he[r] l[eI]gs, and I want to dance
with you!’”
STRICTLY BALLROOMwith Aussie
changes

LIZ

“What do I want? I’ll t[^]ll you what I want.

I want K[^]n R[ai]lings to walk in he
right now and s[ai] ‘Pam Shaw’s broken b[æ]
+[əU]th h[^] l[ai]gs, and I want to dance with
you!’”
Southern AmericanThe trick: imagine you have
numbed the upper part of your face.

Standard American Southern American

Gets dropped
[r] as in “sincere” and Gets dropped
“car”
Becomes
[g] in suffix –ing
[d]
Medial [t] as in
Becomes “I have always
“better” and “water”
[I] depended on
Unstressed final [i] as the kindness of
strangers.”
in “silly”
STEEL MAGNOLIASTranscribe individually

Everything is horrible. Bunkie, that’s

my husband, he just vanished last
week. He took all the money, my
jewelry, the car, most of my clothes
were in the trunk. He’s in big trouble
with the law. Drugs or something.
Police keep questioning me but I
don’t know anything. They say that
our marriage may not be legal.
STEEL MAGNOLIAS with Standard American
Everythin[g] is horrible. Bunkie,
that’s my husband, he just vanished
last week. He took all the mon[i],
my jewelr[i], the car, most of my
clothes were in the trunk. He’s in big
trouble with the law. Drugs o[r]
somethin[g]. Police keep
questionin[g] me bu[t] I don’t know
anythin[g]. They say that ou[r]
marriage may not be legal.
STEEL MAGNOLIAS with Southern changes
Everythin is horrible. Bunkie, that’s
my husband, he just vanished last
week. He took all the mon[I], my
jewelr[I], the ca[^], most of my
clothes were in the trunk. He’s in big
trouble with the law. Drugs [^]
somethin. Police keep questionin me
bu[d] I don’t know anythin. They say
that our marriage may not be legal.
New YorkThe trick: chewing a piece of gum to manipulate the
cheeks and the lips.

Standard American
New York
[α] as in “father” Is flattened
Becomes [α]
[‫ ]ם‬as in “not” Becomes [‫ב‬I] as in
[aI] as in “right” “void” and “oil”
Is flattened
[æ] as in “cat”
 NEWSIES try this one by ear, no technical changes
COWBOY
You know who’s up on the roof? Dave.
CRUTCHY
Is that Dave? Hey ya Dave. How ya doin’?
COWBOY
Listen Crutchy, go get your stuff, we’re gonna
get you outta here.
 Pick a Dialect
(Consider your Acting Profile)
Standard British, Southern, Cockney,
New York, Irish, Australian, Scottish

Research and practice the rules

Find a Movie scene

Find a Partner

Transcribe the Dialogue

Prepare and Present the Scene

THE DIALECT PROJECT