20 February 2011

Map your voice

From the British Library comes Map Your Voice. Follow the link and click on a red dot on the map to play a clip of a person in that location reading a short children's text. Click a green dot to hear six words "controversy, garage, neither, scone, schedule, attitude" spoken by people, often not natives of the area.

How did your immigrant ancestors pronunciation change? From my own experience pronunciation can shift fairly quickly to that of the community in which you are immersed. When I moved to Colorado in the 70s I soon found myself saying zee rather than zed, and equally quickly changed back on return.

You can also contribute your own recording.

Map your voice is part of the British Library's Evolving English exhibit online.

2 comments:

Ellen Thorne Morris said...

Thank you for this very interesting language link of tracking and recording dialects. My sister in Georgia has a slight southern tang, which, after the second week of a visit in NJ, shifts to sound more like her original voice. I wonder if people adapt to local sounds to blend in, to not be seen as an outsider.

Cannuk said...

Link is not working, John.