Masaryk University Faculty of Education Department of English Language and Literature Comparative Analysis of an NYC Accent as Performed by Non-native NYC Actors Bachelor Thesis Brno 2020 Supervisor: Author: Mgr. Irena Headlandová Kalischová, Ph.D. Pavla Spalová Bibliographical record Spalová, Pavla. Comparative Analysis of an NYC Accent as Performed by Non- native NYC Actors: bachelor thesis. Brno: Masaryk University, Faculty of Education, Department of English Language and Literature, 2020. 48 pages. The supervisor of the bachelor thesis: Mgr. Irena Headlandová Kalischová, Ph.D. Bibliografický záznam Spalová, Pavla. Comparative Analysis of an NYC Accent as Performed by Non- native NYC Actors: bachelor thesis. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, Pedagogická fakulta, Katedra anglického jazyka a literatury, 2020. 48 stran. Vedoucí bakalářské práce: Mgr. Irena Headlandová Kalischová, Ph.D. Abstract The title of this thesis is “Comparative Analysis of an NYC Accent as Performed by Non-native NYC Actors”. This accent is one of the most easily recognizable accents of American English, so it is interesting to see what it is about and how it is possible that some actors can imitate an accent that is not natural to them and yet sound natural. The thesis consists of two parts. The first part provides basic information about the differences in pronunciation of standard American English and the specifics of the New York accent. There is also information about accent coaching or mentoring and basic information on how such coaching works. The second part then presents the results of data analysis from pre-selected movie scenes, clearly comparing the selected samples in graphs and tables. Anotace Název této práce je Srovnávací analýza newyorského přízvuku herců nepocházejících z New Yorku. Tento přízvuk je jeden z nejsnadněji rozpoznatelných přízvuků americké angličtiny, a tak je zajímavé podívat se, co tento přízvuk tvoří a jak je možné, že někteří herci dokáží napodobit přízvuk, který pro ně není přirozený, a přitom znít přirozeně. Práce se skládá ze dvou částí. V první části jsou základní informace o rozdílech výslovnosti standardní americké angličtiny a specifikách přízvuku angličtiny v New Yorku. Dále jsou zmíněné informace týkající se koučování či mentoringu přízvuků u herců a základní informace, jak takový koučink funguje. Druhá část následně předkládá výstupy analýzy dat z vybraných filmových scén, přehledně v grafech a tabulkách následně porovnává vybrané vzorky. Keywords Accent, New York City, actors, movies, phonology, phonetics, analysis, comparison, dialect coaching, American English. Klíčová slova Přízvuk, město New York, herci, filmy, fonologie, fonetika, analýza, porovnání, poradenství v oblasti dialektů, americká angličtina. Acknowledgement I would like to thank Mgr. Irena Headlandová Kalischová, Ph.D. for her helpful advice and for supervising my bachelor thesis with patience. Declaration I hereby declare that I have worked on this bachelor thesis on my own and that the information I used has been fully acknowledged in the text and included in the reference list. Prohlášení Prohlašuji, že jsem bakalářskou práci vypracovala samostatně, s využitím pouze citovaných literárních pramenů a zdrojů uvedených v seznamu literatury v souladu s Disciplinárním řádem pro studenty Pedagogické fakulty Masarykovy univerzity a se zákonem č. 121/2000 Sb., o právu autorském, o právech souvisejících s právem autorským a o změně některých zákonů (autorský zákon), ve znění pozdějších předpisů. In Brno, 20.4.2020 Pavla Spalová Table of Contents 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 9 2. THEORETICAL PART .......................................................................................... 11 2.1. Definition of key terms ............................................................................................... 11 2.1.1. Accents vs. dialects ...................................................................................................... 11 2.2. The New York City Accent ....................................................................................... 11 2.2.1. Brief history of NYC Dialects .................................................................................. 12 2.2.2. Contemporary NYC Dialects .................................................................................... 14 2.2.3. NYC Dialect Speakers ................................................................................................ 15 2.3. English phonology ....................................................................................................... 15 2.3.1. SAA vowels ................................................................................................................... 16 2.3.2. SAA consonants ............................................................................................................ 19 2.3.3. NYC accent features .................................................................................................... 19 2.3.3.1. NYC accent vowel features ....................................................................................... 19 2.3.3.2. NYC accent consonant features ............................................................................... 23 2.4. Dialect coaching ........................................................................................................... 24 2.4.1. Dialect coaching and accent modification in motion picture industry .......... 25 2.4.2. Notable NYC accents in movies and TV shows ................................................. 26 3. PRACTICAL PART ................................................................................................. 28 3.1. Sample 1 – Margot Robbie as Naomi Lapaglia ................................................... 28 3.2. Sample 2 – Richard Gere as Clifford Irving ......................................................... 29 3.3. The method ..................................................................................................................... 29 3.3.1. Non-rhoticity.................................................................................................................. 30 3.3.2. Intrusive ‘r’ and linking ‘r’ ........................................................................................ 32 3.3.3. That - [ð] vs. [d̪ ] / [dð] and This - [θ] vs. [t̪] / [tθ] .............................................. 33 3.3.4. Tense [ɛə] ........................................................................................................................ 35 3.3.5. Palm, lot, thought [ɑ], [ʊǝ] ........................................................................................ 36 3.3.6. Now - /aʊ/ to [æʊ] ........................................................................................................ 38 3.3.7. Friday - /aɪ/ to [ɑɪ] ........................................................................................................ 39 3.4. Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 41 4. Sources ............................................................................................................................ 45 1. Introduction The motion picture industry has been a source of entertainment for many generations. Each year, billions of dollars are spent on creating new movies, television series or internet shows bringing in more money for future productions. Directors, producers and actors push their boundaries to deliver something never seen before. One of the ways to go about that is making sure that the experience is authentic and the audience credits the movie as believable. To ensure that, actors put hours, days and sometimes months into training different skills that are required for their characters. Drastic weight changes, hard physical training, martial arts, shooting, dancing classes – those are just some of the most typical things actors do to prepare for a new role. Often, the training is not only physical but it goes beyond what most people would ever have to learn to land a new job. To be convincing on the screens, actors prepare emotionally or by studying the characters’ past, their motives, and other aspects which could influence the perception of the character. Connecting the dots often means paying attention to such details as movements and speech. And speech, or the way a character speaks, their intonation, accent and dialect is one of the significant qualities people easily notice because they leave a strong first impression. There are dialect coaches, accent experts, and speech therapists or other professionals who are able to equip actors with the set of skills they will need to master accents which are completely new to them. It is not always easy, and certainly not always is it a success, but with enough time and direction, it is possible to create a character who speaks with a completely different accent than the actor who portrays them. This thesis aims to analyze the New York City (NYC) accents spoken by actors who are non-natives of NYC and compare them against the distinctive features of the NYC accent and each other. In order to do that, the theoretical part deals with establishing what the author refers to by the NYC accent as there are different dialects with distinctive phonemic features. The theoretical part also includes a brief history of the accent and the changes it has undergone