Ok, this is a going to be a long banter, so skip it if you are not interested

Lately, I've been considering putting in an application for, among other things, a voice actor. Before I get out all the equipment and set it up to record some examples, I want a little more feedback on the accents of M.E. Earlier, there was a long discussion over whose accent was better; however, I was able to find a few recent posts that seem pertinent...

"If you think inventing a new accent for Elves is the only way possible to display them adequately in-game, do so (but note that not any corruption of the English language is a new accent). But you don't have to. Thinking about which existing English accent would fit them might suffice."
-Morgoth
And


"We have done extensive work on accents, and we will ensure that the accents are portrayed accurately"

"- familiarity with contemporary UK regional accents
- familiarity with archaic UK accents"
Theta Orionis

This seems to be Greywolf and Theta Orions' department,

Many people seem to want UK accents to dominate ME, understandable, they are very interesting accents; however, I don't believe this to be accurate. First, keep in mind that for our purposes, English is Common Tongue (CT), meaning it will not be the natural language of many characters within ME. This in itself begs for a more broken form of speech and accent, as the average character isn't going to be of more than average intelligence. (Think orcs mumbling through a sentence in CT)
I believe CT is spoken throughout Arnor... as the shire is based on the Midlands, one could expect the Hobbits to carry a similar accent... Also, I don't think Tolkien would mind if the inhabitants of Bree spoke a little 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'
Gondor seems to have an archaic touch, but I don’t think a trip to the white city should be an exercise in Beowulf (I might not mind, but I'm thinking about more than just me )
Beyond this, however, I find it hard to believe many other cultural groups would have UK accents.
One thing I'm certain of it that dwarves do not have Scottish accents! They might actually be the best candidates for an American accent. The thought of a fiery dwarf with a harsh Northeaster accent, or a country-bumpkin Appalachian accent just seems to fit well.

For Rohan, a Russian or Baltic style accent seems fitting, getting progressively more eastern (Siberia, Mongolia) as one progress farther through Rhovanion, this judging by cultural and geographic similarities.

Elves bring up a whole new set of problems. First is the apparent tie to Icelandic and Scandinavian folklore, which implies accents to follow suit. Also, would all elves have a similar accent, as they have a more unified and codified background than men, or would accents still vary regionally. Also, elves' long lifespan could lead one to conclude that their rendering of CT would be the most old fashioned and archaic of all, as they would be less likely to change it through time.

As for as creating a new accent, I don't know that anyone here has enough linguistic background to plausibly accomplish this, it sounds like a crazy undertaking that Tolkien would try.


Uhh, where was I again?

Oh right. I guess that's my longwinded, quasi-analytical method of asking what accent(s) might be good to focus on in an example.

As previously stated, we have carried out a lot of research into accents.

If you wish to apply for voice acting it is familiarity with contemporary regional and archaic UK accents which we require, and samples of several of those accents with your application.

o.0

Where did Russian come from?

If you read the information on languages Tolkien himself provided you'll find that the language of the Rohirrim is based on Anglo-Saxon...

"The language of Rohan I have accordingly made to resemble ancient English..." (The Lord of the Rings, Appendix F, On Translation)


*wonders if people did their homework*


I would recommend reading the appendices to LotR, and also The Peoples of Middle-earth (History of Middle-earth Volume XII), to anyone interested in the languages and accents of Middle-earth.

I think perhaps people did their homework, but ignored the bits that stopped them from looking like a smart-arse. Which is actually rather hypocritical of me as I take every oppurtunity to be a smart-arse.



Sorry, sorry, will try not tt do it again. And it was supposed to be a general statement on human nature.

meow

I certainly hope your post is not intended as an insult - however, since it can be interpreted as such I suggest you may wish to work on your communication skills.

You may also wish to read certain threads in the Morrowind Source forums with regard to forum etiquette, in particular the definitions of spam, trolling and flaming.


I would hope that you have something actually useful to contribute to this thread, Celad.

"For Rohan, a Russian or Baltic style accent seems fitting, getting progressively more eastern (Siberia, Mongolia) as one progress farther through Rhovanion, this judging by cultural and geographic similarities."
-Me

Where did Russian come from?

If you read the information on languages Tolkien himself provided you'll find that the language of the Rohirrim is based on Anglo-Saxon...
-Theta Orionis


Forgive me, I was merely considering basic cultural and geographical similarities when considering the accent I was thinking of (horse cultures of the Asian steppes, also what I see as some cultural similarities between the Rohirrim and early Baltic cultures). As I (indirectly) mentioned before, CT is not the primary language of the Rohirrim, thus, in my mind, I wanted to separate them from the accents of the natural CT speakers (UK accents).

"I think perhaps people did their homework, but ignored the bits that stopped them from looking like a smart-arse."
-Celad

I admit I simply forgot to research the etymological background of Rohirric, but knowing its Old English, based origins, I would still support the same conclusion that the Rohirrim should not have one of the traditional UK accents.

As far as sounding like a smart-arse, I genuinely apologize; it was far from my intention... I'm not really sure how to remedy this, as I do try to gather information before I write. Trying to be nit-picky about this sort of thing is the only time I get to use my head while away from university, so I guess that’s where it comes from.

Thanks also for the quick direct response Theta Orionis... of course I learned today that my work hours are going up, so that basically nulls my hopes of applying for the mod

My internal monologue is parched from all this talking though, so I think I'll give it a rest for now.

No need to apologize


And if you find you have the time, don't hesitate to put in your application to join MEMod. Your ideas of what accents should be like might be different from ours, but we're always looking for people with an awareness of different accents, and an ability to work with them.

Before I started work on MEMod I had been aware of some of the linguistic background of the languages of Middle-earth, but I hadn't realized that there was quite so much information given by Tolkien himself. We have used that information, and information about the cultures of Middle-earth, as a basis for the design of the accents of Middle-earth.


There is such a variety of accents in the UK - some of them very distinctive, some even almost incomprehensible to people from other parts of the UK - that even if you were to compare the common tongue to one particular accent you could always find others which sound quite different.

In my humble opinion Rohan is heavily linked in language to Englisc (Anglo-Saxon English) but in nature to the Norse. The explanation of the golden hall is similar to that of a viking long house. I would say North West of England (around Wales) around the later Anglo-Saxon days (lets say 800-1066AD), when the vikings and the Anglo-Saxons were cohabiting would have had a good accent.

As for Dwarves, I think a Celtic twang, be it Northern or Western, would be perfect for the dwarves. Tolkein described the Dwarvish tongue as gutteral in sound and Celtic was nearly erradicated by the Anglo-Saxons' Englisc, hidden from all, sounds very similar in nature to Dwarvish.

To be honest I think given it's historical background Old English should really be regarded as the common tongue...

I'm really tired.... need to sleep... need to stop talking.<make a comment on me needing to stop talking and suffer someone's wrath.

Dwarves should speak scottish

But if they did, I'd think of Groundskeeper Willie everytime I heard a Dwarf and would be too busy laughing to fight a Dwarf!