06-26-2011, 08:40 PM
Accent may affect the (audible) syllables spoken. In Sheffield, for example 'Tintintintin' means 'The tin (money) is not in the tin'. Plainly, it needs a similar metre and rhyme to follow it, rather than one to fit my translation. As Leanne points out, there are a number of words where the stress is disputed, usually longish words where there are plenty of syllables to choose from. They are so numerous that not one springs to mind, even though just a week ago, I had a discussion with my family about one word, and could not make up my mind what my own usage was -- probably both! Stress can change over time: Chekhov's play 'Ivanov' had the stress on the last syllable; but in post-Revolutionary Russia, it fell on the more proletarian penultimate.
There are non-English native speakers who find stress very difficult, principally,I think, those who come from places where it does not play the same part. A German or Russian, having mastered English, will not have a problem with stress, but, say, a Frenchman will.
Cadence is all. While at work, there was an Indian (Sid) who did not work for me, but near me. I observed that he felt very frustrated. The lit of his speech was so heavy, and in such peculiar places, that he was almost incommunicado, which was not helping his career-prospects. I noticed, however, that once one did understand, he was grammatically almost flawless. He had done a thing which many people learning a language do: take it to a 'get by' stage, and then fail to complete that final step. I took it upon myself to be fairly blunt, and said that he had little to do. I was on the point of urging him to simply mimic some stereotypical posh chap, when he spontaneously said 'You mean speak like this, old boy?' I told him that was precisely what I meant, and I don't know which of us went away the more bewildered. However, the cadence natural to him obviously would not have made sense in a written poem, save to him.
Billy -- The English dialects have derived from ancient roots, as has Lowland Scots. I wish pronunciation did unlock a wealthy key. And I am with Leanne over the Irish -- a case apart.
There are non-English native speakers who find stress very difficult, principally,I think, those who come from places where it does not play the same part. A German or Russian, having mastered English, will not have a problem with stress, but, say, a Frenchman will.
Cadence is all. While at work, there was an Indian (Sid) who did not work for me, but near me. I observed that he felt very frustrated. The lit of his speech was so heavy, and in such peculiar places, that he was almost incommunicado, which was not helping his career-prospects. I noticed, however, that once one did understand, he was grammatically almost flawless. He had done a thing which many people learning a language do: take it to a 'get by' stage, and then fail to complete that final step. I took it upon myself to be fairly blunt, and said that he had little to do. I was on the point of urging him to simply mimic some stereotypical posh chap, when he spontaneously said 'You mean speak like this, old boy?' I told him that was precisely what I meant, and I don't know which of us went away the more bewildered. However, the cadence natural to him obviously would not have made sense in a written poem, save to him.
Billy -- The English dialects have derived from ancient roots, as has Lowland Scots. I wish pronunciation did unlock a wealthy key. And I am with Leanne over the Irish -- a case apart.