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I'm doing a story that includes an upper class character in Wiltshire. I've searched and searched for a decent website that can show me how a person speaks from this region of England. The closest I can find is heavy slang and street-talk which my character wouldn't use.
I'd rather not use the cliche "upper-crust-snobby" speak... unless that's the way they really talk. I can't imagine that being the case.
Anyone out there know of a site or is from the area that might be able to lend a hand?
Comments
They would just speak
normal English, and depending upon what period you're setting it in, may or may not drop G from participles - it was fashionable about 50 years ago, speakin' without soundin' ones Gs. Would probably be less Americanisms though if it's contemporary, they'd speak like most other people. The oo-arr brigade sort of died out twenty or more years ago.
Angharad
Angharad
The character is in her
The character is in her mid-30's, well-educated, well-traveled. Time period is current day. Raised and lives in the area.
This person would speak normal English, according to who? What's normal to you and what's normal to me might be two totally different things. That's my problem. Would a person from Wiltshire "call" someone on the telephone or would he "ring" them? It's the little things like that I'd like to know. There are several websites out there that cover the more cliched ways people speak in different parts of the world, but nothing useful to be found for the way normal people speak.
Or should I just write the story in my own voice and hope my British readers will make allowances for my ignorance. ;)
~Lili
Blog: http://lilithlangtree.tglibrary.com/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/lilith_langtree
~Lili
Write the story that you most desperately want to read.
British language use
I'm not from Wiltshire and I'm sure Ang's comments will be more valuable as she lives down that way (Dorset, I think). However I think most people would 'ring' or 'phone' a friend rather than 'call' them but neither would be totally out of place.
The better educated all over the UK, at least a lot of them, would probably 'crack their jaw', as my Dad used to say, and minimise their local accent to sound like (say) BBC news readers. For example, men's fashion guru, Paul Smith, was in a TV programme a couple of days ago and he spoke with a neutral accent but I detected a hint of the Nottingham accent I know quite well.
Of course everyone has an accent ... except me :)
Robi
Wilshire-Speak
Is that Rodeo Drive across the street?
Does Julia Roberts ever stay here?
Is this really where Mark Wahlberg got his start?
Everyone should stay there at least once. I was there in '94 to accept a national award for doing what comes naturally . . . which is how those things happen.
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Escape from LA
Wilshire-speak escapes me but I do a halfway credible Fairfax, Bubeleh. I find Los Angeles a nice place to be from.
Being cool enough to get myself born in Hollywood was my first (and okay, last...) great achievement in life.
~hugs, Veronica
And remember...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifLqzLEB3E0
Wiltshire accent
Would not be prominent among the upper class. If they are well-to-do, the tradition would have sent the children to boarding school, where (depending on the character's age) they would either have picked up "received pronounciation" (BBC English) or "estuary English" (if they're under 40).
The only difference that is likely to be perceivable is the use of the 'rhotic' R, but even that is becoming less prominent nowadays.
I was born in Wiltshire...
Salisbury actually and as far as I can tell, there is no real accent - neutral, I think has already been said.
After all, you're talking well-to-do here and they generally speak 'proper English', which doesn't mean they sound like they've got a plum in their mouths, but educated.
I think BBC newsreader is perhaps a little too upper crust really, I mean, not many people actually sound like that - even from well-to-dos and they certainly don't sound like the London set with their "okay yah".
They WILL NOT use Americanisms. That means the following:
Knickers - panties
Pavement - sidewalk
Windscreen - windshield
Boot - trunk
Bumper - fender
Trousers - pants/slacks
There are many others, so if you want to know more, let me know, I'll see if I can help.
I don't just look it, I'm totally English
Local accents
Actually, you'd be surprised, I think.
The people you knew probably didn't have much of an accent because you grew up in a relatively large place. Move out to somewhere more rural and you'll start to notice a twang.
I now live near a Berkshire town and although most of the townies here speak with what everyone else calls a 'London' accent (ie none) I am always surprised by people from a dozen miles away who have quite broad accents.
There may be a few local words, too, but I've yet to hear any.
Penny