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While re-reading the Alvin Maker books, I discovered that I had developed a bit of an accent (Well, bad grammar and a drawl at any rate), something similar to what I pictured Alvin as having. Has this ever happend to anyone else? And does anyone know why this might have occured? It's never happened before...
Posts: 1215 | Registered: Apr 2005
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Oh, no! Calvin's altered the part of your brain that handles language! You need to go burn all the copies of those books you have, immediately. Then buy more, and burn them too! Keep buying and burning until you're out of money. Then buy a shotgun and hole up in a closed room with a year's supply of food and water to see if the impulse goes away. If not, it's time to go get a job, make some money, burn some more books. If so, you're cured forever.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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This happened to me with Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. Instead of "wtf" in video games, I started typing, and later saying "Blood and Bloody Ashes!" and everyone was confused. I also imagine alvin having some type of drawl, despite the fact he is from about ohio or so. Could it be that we have come to associate bad grammar with those from the south? Mayhaps, mayhaps indeed.
Posts: 31 | Registered: Apr 2005
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I can't watch Raising Arizona or O Brother, Where Art Thou? without talking in a faint redneck accent for the next few hours. And it's not uncommon to unconsciously mimic the accent of foreigners when you're talking to them. I imagine this is simply the same sort of thing.
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It always happens with me. Doesn't matter the book. I'm reading a book now set in 1725 London, and I feel myself wanting to talk in that slightly affected, way too polite manner of English speakers with some education of that time. OSC tends to stick in my brain longer than others - I find myself thinking in the rhythm of his prose for at least a week after finishing a book.
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When I read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for the first time, I spoke with a British accent for a week. And after I read Ender's Game , I spoke using the Battle School slang for quite awhile. Annoying, neh?
Posts: 6026 | Registered: Dec 2004
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I made a slip of the tongue from time to time meself, like saying "barrels" instead of tanks after reading Harry Turtledove series. Then there is indeed the BS slang which I use more often in instant messaging.
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Read some PG Wodehouse, and watch your accent go upperclass British, old chap. Quite the Done Thing, what?
Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
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I had that same thing happen to me when I read the Alvin Maker books!
And I also started putting “neh” after everything I said when I read all eight of the Ender and Bean books back to back. Most of my friends have read some of the books, so they didn’t mind too much.
After I read Dune I would unconsciously start saying the Litany against Fear to myself, “I must not fear. Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration…”
Posts: 43 | Registered: Mar 2005
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There are three dialects that I've found myself mentally adopting after reading a book, and two of them have already been mentioned:
1) Taleswapper's narration from the first three Alvin books 2) Wodehouse's Bertie Wooster 3) Stephen King's "thankee-sai"
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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I reckon them as thinks it's "bad grammar" just don't know too much about dialect. Just because it ain't the standard dialect don't mean it's wrong.
Anyway, yeah, I always imagined Alvin et al. as speaking with something of a drawl. I'm not sure if that's accurate, though. It brings up an interesting question. What kind of accent do the dwellers of rural areas in the Old Northwest have?
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quote: I reckon them as thinks it's "bad grammar" just don't know too much about dialect. Just because it ain't the standard dialect don't mean it's wrong.
Well, when they make a point of drawing it to your attention every other time he speaks (Thinking of Alvin here), me thinks it is bad grammar.
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I actually used to live a hop, skip and a jump from Vigor Church, and rural Hoosiers do have an accent.
It’s not so much of a drawl though. They tend to elongate words, but not run the together.
Rural people also pronounce some words differently.
Like “wash,” most country folk say “warsh.” Basically anything that ends with a “sh” sounds gets an “r” put in front of it.
If the rural folk happen to be Amish they have a Dutch accent. Most Amish families around here, about an hour south of South Bend, speak Pennsylvania Dutch.
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I meant that it’s not a stereotypical drawl. Like a Southern drawl where everything is run together.
They just speak a little slower, so the words are longer.
I don’t think I’m doing a good job of explaining it. It’s hard to describe an accent you’re biased to because you have heard if your whole life.
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I get the drawl thing you're describing. I just don't get how a Southern accent both drawls and runs words together.
Posts: 9945 | Registered: Sep 2002
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I think enunciate is the word I am looking for. Up north the beginning of a word is stressed, while down south no part of the word is specifically emphasized.
Again, this is all just how it sounds to me. When I listen to someone with a southern drawl speak it’s hard for me to hear where words end and begin.
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"Has this ever happend to anyone else? And does anyone know why this might have occured? It's never happened before..."
Yes. It happens to me, while I'm writing the books. Especially with the first three - I got so into the accent that I would answer the phone and talk to my family in the accent of the narration.
The fact that it's happening to you means that you are an intense reader who lets the language and story sweep you away. You don't keep your distance. You get involved. I think those are good things.
Posts: 2005 | Registered: Jul 1999
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I think the accent thing is something akin to watching a movie and noticing that you're mimicking the actor's facial expressions.
It's an immersive thing. I also notice myself doing it, and i always assumed it was because I was an actor, and i was going over how *i* would do the accent, or how *i* would react to the scene.
obviously it's much broader than that Posts: 3516 | Registered: Sep 2002
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Heh, I do this quite a bit with some things. Such as The Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack. I listen to the prelude said by Patrick Steward and talk like him for a while. Then after watching a Sean Connery movie I mimic his accent for a while.
I never really had a problem with Ender's Game, but the Alvin Maker series I did have troubles with accents with. When I read Verily's parts I would speak in a rough british accent for a while... heh, it was especially hard not to when we had Mock Trial. Also with the Homecoming books, I would through in extra y's in peoples names for some reason. Even when I say my own name, I sometimes slip up and say Ryob instead of Rob.
Or there's the books from different countries or about different countries. I have such a hard time not speaking in a german accent for a while after reading a book like "if i should die, Before I Wake."
But the biggest problem I'm having is with Model U.N. I keep consitently leaning to a faux accent of the country I'm playing. Usually I'm playing Syria, but at times I've played Zimbabwe, Japan, and some... other... one. Yet with all of them I want to really get into character and speak in an accent close to their country. (Though, I'm not saying I'm necissairly good at it, I just do it. probably embarrass most.)
Posts: 1831 | Registered: Jan 2003
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I do it when I'm writing, too. I get into certain modes of thinking and expressionisms for specific characters which can be problematic trying to get out of later. My husband just laughs at me when I talk funny. Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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I do this quite a bit. It's annoying to my wife though...
Another thing I noticed is that I am now reading Achilles as 'a-sheel' instead of 'a-kill-ees'. I just laugh and curse OSC for a second.
Posts: 33 | Registered: Apr 2005
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I am currently living in Japan, and I found it very funny when I got here that the Expressions Neh, and Eh are part of the language. of course they are spelled differently, but pronounced the same and used for the same meaning. -dab
Posts: 104 | Registered: Apr 2005
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That happens to me too when I read the Alvin books. Mary laughs at me.
I am also one of those people who slightly takes on the speaking style of the people I'm around. This is most noticable when I am talking to someone who stutters -- I start stuttering myself. It's so strong that I have had people think that I was mocking them.
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quote:I think enunciate is the word I am looking for. Up north the beginning of a word is stressed, while down south no part of the word is specifically emphasized.
Again, this is all just how it sounds to me. When I listen to someone with a southern drawl speak it’s hard for me to hear where words end and begin.
Ah, okay. That makes a lot of sense. Danke schoen.
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quote: Another thing I noticed is that I am now reading Achilles as 'a-sheel' instead of 'a-kill-ees'. I just laugh and curse OSC for a second.
Me too! Drove my professor crazy last semester in my mythology class, because I would just go off on this "a-sheel" guy, and nobody would have a clue who I was talking about until I explained myself...
The worst, though, was when I was in Europe last summer. Our courier was French, and she had the thickest accent I've ever heard. Within a week (and we were there for a month), all of us were having to stop ourselves from saying "cat-e-dral" instead of "cathedral" and who knows what else. And every country we were in, if we were there for more than a couple of days, we'd start to pick up the accent, and then we'd feel bad because we were afraid they'd all think we were mocking them.
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But with "neh" you'd fit right in in Brazil.
Vadon, I believe you may be the ONLY person who took seriously my admonition that all the names have at least one palatalized vowel. I bow before you. A cooperative reader! Usually people just give up on pronunciations; you went the extra mile.
I'd like to think that the book was SO much more enjoyable for you ...
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I couldn't do that with Vas, and Rasa took effort. Everyone else I could. And it wqas tough to pronounce Gabyaloofix instead of Gabalyoofix, until I started thinking of him as Gabya.
I remember my sister asking me a question about the series, and referring to "Shuh-dee-mee." I nearly choked laughing.
quote:But with "neh" you'd fit right in in Brazil.
I catch myself doing this a lot when I speak portuguese if I've read Ender's Game recently. Unfortunately the people I speak portuguese with are NOT from Brazil so while they understand what I mean they think I'm weird. Sigh.
Posts: 251 | Registered: Apr 2005
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It happens me always, when I read a book later Alvin not influence me notably because in the translation it appears as the accent of the south of Spain to which already I am accustomed though in the thinking way yes.
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