> Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Well, to start with, there are many "English" accents -
Cockney:- generic "British" and "Australian" accent as used in American film
and TV
London:- Spike, in Buffy has a fairly generic modern London accent. 30 years
ago, that accent would only be heard in very lowerclass circles, but is now
pretty broadly used.
RP:- "received pronunciation" or BBC English. Jeremy Irons, Kate Winslett
(non Titanic), Tony Blair (British PM) This is the accent most actors etc
used to strive for. Also what upper class colonials used to strive for, with
varying levels of success. As an example, compare Errol Flynn or Peter Finch
with Paul Hogan or Nicole Kidman - Errol and Peter have an Australian RP. RP
is essentially classless except for...
..Upper class received:- Try listening to radio/footage of the young Queen
Elizabeth. Anything up to about the 1980s would probably do, but her accent
has become (marginally) more the "everyman" RP English.
Yorkshire:- Bill Oddie in "The Goodies", any English character that says
"ee, bah-goom"
midlands:- Sting?
west country:- No idea
Liverpool (several of those):- John Lennon, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney
exhibit 3 levels of Liverpool accent, Ringo the broadest, John the typical,
Paul the least.
Welsh:- Richard Burton in "Under Milk Wood"
Scottish,lowland:- ???
Scottish, highland:- NOT Christopher Lambert. Try Robert Carlyle, especially
in "Hamish McBeth" or "the Full Monty"
Scottish, Glaswegian:- Billy Connolly has a pretty toned-down Glaswegian
accent.
Scottish, Central:- Sean Connery This seems to have become the basic
Scottish accent. Edinburgh/Stirling based rather than Glasgow
Irish, Belfast:- British Tory politician Douglas (?) Trimble Can't really
think of anyone else. Unless you can recall Ian Paisley.
Irish, Dublin:- Liam Neeson in "Michael Collins"
And with all of these, class can also affect the accent. Charlie and some of
the other Brits ought to be the best on these.
Brett
