INTRODUCTION TO

DIALECTS FOR ACTORS

“I be a pirate,
me favorite 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

[æ] as in “cat” [α] as in “father”

[‫ ]ם‬as in “not” Bring the corners of the mouth

slightly forward.

[^] as in “love” More open, like [α]

 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

 [t] as in “little”  Becomes a glottal stop

[?], “li’l”
 Stressed [i] as in “bee”
 Becomes [eI] as in “paid”
 Unstressed [i] as in “silly”
 Becomes [I] as in “bit”
and “country” and “little”
 [aU] as in “out”
 Becomes [æ + ƏU]
 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  Irish
“They’re always
after me lucky
charms!”
 [ai] as in “I”, “might,” “sky” and  Special triphthong: [ΛOΙ]; try on
“aspire.” “Mike,” “fine,” “night,” and “time.”
 [aU] as in “how now brown  [ΛOU]; try on “out,” “town,” and
“now.”
cow”
 [g] as in “running” or “bring”  The [g] of –ing is often dropped
 [ð] as in these, those, and  *in Dublin, the [d] replaces the [ð]
other
Mike is running into that other town.
 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]

 From [ε]  to [i]

 From [t]  to the glottal stop

“It’s not a
skirt,
it’s a kilt!”
 THE LORD OF THE RINGS
Transcribe 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

 The [r] at the ends of  Dropped (but stays

words when it is between
two vowels)
 [eI]  [ai]

 [ε]  [^]

 [əU]  [æ] + [əU]

 STRICTLY BALLROOM
Transcribe 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 BALLROOM
with 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 American
The trick: imagine you have numbed the upper part of your face.

 Standard American  Southern American

 [r] as in “sincere” and  Gets dropped

“car”
 [g] in suffix –ing  Gets dropped
 Medial [t] as in  Becomes “I have
“better” and “water” [d] always
 Unstressed final [i] as 
depended
Becomes on the
in “silly” kindness of
[I] strangers.”
 STEEL MAGNOLIAS
Transcribe 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 York
The trick: chewing a piece of gum to manipulate the cheeks and the
lips.

 Standard American  New York

 [α] as in “father”  Is flattened

 [‫ ]ם‬as in “not”  Becomes [α]
 [aI] as in “right”  Becomes [‫ב‬I] as in
“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