Vos 'Accents' (meta)

Way back when I was Maori-ifying the Kiwis' lines in the Omnibus, I found some information on that; turns out Aussie, Kiwi, and South African English all have similar sounds. I don't know where I saved the original link, but here are some others:

http://dialectblog.com/2011/05/04/south-african-kiwi-aussie/
http://www.antimoon.com/forum/2003/2895.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian\_English\_phonology
Both New Zealand English and Australian English are also similar to South African English, so that they have even been grouped together under the common label "southern hemisphere Englishes".[16] Like the other two varieties in that group, Australian English pronunciation bears some similarities to dialects from the South-East of Britain;[17][18][19][20] Thus, it is non-rhotic and has the trap-bath split although, as indicated above, this split was not completed in Australia as it was in England, so many words that have the bath vowel in England retain the trap vowel in Australia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New\_Zealand\_English (see also "Historical Developments")

* Like South African English, some Australian and some Southern American dialects, the dress vowel /ɛ/ has moved to become a close-mid vowel [e] for some, although the New Zealand /e/ is closer to [ɪ]. This was played for laughs in the American TV series *Flight of the Conchords*, where the character Bret's name was often mis-heard as "Brit", leading to confusion. In broader uses very often the dress vowel becomes thefleece vowel so that in the sentence "you are my best mate", this is heard as "you are my *beast* mate." In the sentence "I bet you ten dollars" this could easily be heard as "I beat you teen dollars" by a non-New Zealander. In other broader uses, the dress vowel in some single-vowel words becomes a diphthong as with broad Southern American English, so that words like *pen* become [ˈpiː(ə)n] and *pest* becomes[ˈpiːəst].[*citation needed*]
* As with Australian English the start/palm vowel in words like *park* /pɑrk/, *calm* /kɑːm/ and *farm* /fɑrm/ is central or even front of central in terms of tongue position and non-rhotic.[34] This is the same vowel sound used by speakers of the Boston accent and other non-rhotic areas of North Eastern New England in the United States. Thus the phrase "park the car" is said identically by a New Zealander, Australian or Bostonian.[35] *Can't* is also pronounced /kɑːnt/ in both New Zealand and Australia and not /kænt/ as in United States and Canada.
* The most obvious vowel shift in New Zealand English from other kinds is the trap vowel /æ/ which is usually realised as a slightly raised [æ] in the majority of New Zealanders. In Broader varieties it is often raised to [ɛ], so that /æ/ encroaches on /ɛ/ for some speakers. This vowel shift is shared by South African English speakers and is one of the main reasons American English speakers may mistake New Zealanders for South Africans. In the phrase "the cat sat on the mat" this is heard by the rest of the English speaking world as "the ket set on the met". A "laptop" is heard by non-New Zealanders as "leptop" and a "tablet" as a "teblet." Some older Southland speakers use the trap vowel rather than the start vowel in *dance*, *chance* and *castle*.[36] In contrast, the trap vowel in young Australians is tending towards start or strut in some words so that "the cat sat on the mat" can be heard as "the kaht sut on the maht", "laptop" is heard as "lahp-top" and "tablet" as "tub-let." This comparison serves to illustrate the progressive distancing of the New Zealand and Australian accents.
* The nurse vowel /ɜr/ is rounded and often fronted in the region of [ɵː~œː~øː].[37]
* The thought vowel /ɔː/ is a close-mid back rounded vowel [oː], as is in Australian and South African English.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South\_African\_English

* /æ/ (as in *trap*) is usually realised as a slightly raised [æ] in Cultivated and General. In Broad varieties it is often raised to [ɛ], so that /æ/ encroaches on /ɛ/ for some speakers.[5] A good example of this is South **A**frica sounds more like South **E**frica. This vowel shift is shared in New Zealand English and one of the notable similarities that cause American English speakers to mistake South Africans for New Zealanders. On the other hand, [a] seems to be the new prestige value in younger Johannesburg (specifically in the Northern Suburbs) speakers of General SAE.[6]

* /iː/ (as in *fleece*) is a long close front vowel [iː] in all varieties. This distinguishes SAE from Australian English and New Zealand English, as the vowel can be adiphthong [ɪi~əi~ɐi] in the latter varieties.

Awesome! Thanks!

You're very welcome!

That gives me a good idea of how to handle the accent in stories where American English is the baseline (unaccented) speech.

Excellent, I'm very glad.

What do you think of using the South African English shifts when /Australian English is the 'unaccented' English. Griet's probably going to be the only character to need them, unless we want to shift Pietr's a little, too, to give the unique flavor of his BSL.

I like that idea! They'll be nice and subtle, too--easy linguistic accuracy! I /do want to shift Pietr's a little, too, I'm just not sure how http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British\_Sign\_Language#Relationships\_with\_other\_sign\_languages).

Well, SASL is apparently a descendant of BSL and's considered part of the same family with BSL and the Australian and New Zealand variants:

"Since there is little historical evidence, it is presumed that South African Sign Language has a mixture of the Irish influence from the Dominican Irish nuns, and British influence as well as the American influence. (Sign Language is the natural language of the Deaf.)"[31] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South\_African\_Sign\_Language

So ... my uneducated guess would be that Pietr's BSL is more 'occasionally idiosyncratic' than 'accented' in a systematic way. But how to get /that across ....

Hmmm... hmmm...

What if, when Pietr and an a non-Vos are signing, the other person'll have an '?' moment 'cause he's used an odd synonym, like 'wagon' for 'cart'.

And here's a wrinkle, the people Pietr signs to most often (Griet, Izzy, Anni, Rika, Fenna) learned BSL from him, so his version would be the 'unaccented' one to them. Pietr would 'sound' accented to Tsuki and other PPDC interpreters and they would 'sound' accented to him and his family. So which would be our baseline, 'unaccented' sign?

Because the Vosses are whom we see sign most often, they'll be the baseline.

\*throws up hands\* Why must this be so complex?! XD

Me vs. phonology never goes well. All those little symbols make my head spinny. Would you take the first shot at shifting Griet's speech? I learn better from seeing the shifts in use.

Sure thing!