Library & Learning Commons: Drama: Voice, Accents, and Dialects

Electronic Resources

Linguistics Database This link opens in a new window
Includes full-text journals and other sources in linguistics, covering all aspects of the study of language including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics.
Transparent Language Online This link opens in a new window
Provides an engaging experience for learners of all levels looking to build their listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills in a foreign language. Combining robust courses, supplemental vocabulary, extensive grammar resources, and mobile apps, Transparent Language Online is the most complete language-learning system. With over 110 languages to choose from, including English for speakers of over 30 languages, there is something for every learner. Create an account and login to get access.

Audio Archives

IDEA: International Dialects of English Archive
Primary-source recordings of English-language dialects and accents. Roughly 1,400 samples from 120 countries and territories. IDEA’s recordings are principally in English, are of native speakers, and include both English-language dialects and English spoken in the accents of other languages. (Many include brief demonstrations of the speaker’s native language, too.)
Accents & Dialects: British Library
Collections of audio recordings from the British Library. Includes the Evolving English WordBank, which captures English dialect and slang worldwide; the Evolving English VoiceBank, which includes contemporary English accents worldwide; the Survey of English Dialects, which features dialects from 313 localities across England (1950-1961); and the Millennium Memory Bank, which contains oral histories of British citizens from various parts of England, aged 5 to 107 years old.
The Speech Accent Archive
From George Mason University, the speech accent archive presents a large set of speech samples from a variety of language backgrounds. Native and non-native speakers of English read the same paragraph and are carefully transcribed.

Books

American English by Walt Wolfram; Natalie Schilling
ISBN: 9781118391433
Publication Date: 2015
Covers regional, ethnic, and gender-based differences in American English. Now accompanied by a companion website with an extensive array of sound files, video clips, and other online materials to enhance and illustrate discussions in the text.
Longman Pronunciation Dictionary
Call Number: Ref. PE1137 .W45 2008 - Drama History & Performance, Browsery (2nd Floor)
ISBN: 1405881186
Publication Date: 2008
Features full coverage of both British and American pronunciations using the International Phonetic Alphabet. Accompanying CD-ROM available at 4th floor service desk.
Accents and Dialects for Stage and Screen by Paul Meier
Call Number: PE1711 .M45 2012 - Stacks (3rd Floor)
ISBN: 9780615461502
Publication Date: 2012
Standard on accents and dialects of the English language. Accompanied by collection of 12 CDs. Includes 24 of the most valuable accents and dialects for actors: Afrikaans (South Africa), American Deep South (Mississippi/Georgia/Alabama), American Southern (Kentucky/Tennessee), Australian, Cockney, Downeast New England, French, General American, German, Hampshire, Indian, Irish, Italian, Liverpool, New York, Northern Ireland, Russian, Scottish, South Boston, Spanish (Castilian & Colonial), Standard British English (Received Pronunciation), Welsh, Yiddish, and Yorkshire.
Voice: Onstage and Off by Robert Barton; Rocco dal Vera
Call Number: PN4162 .B27 2017 - Stacks (3rd Floor)
ISBN: 9781138918573
Publication Date: 2017
A comprehensive guide to the process of building, mastering, and fine-tuning the voice for performance. Covers the initial speech impulse and the creation of sound, right through to refining the final product in different types of performance.