Introduction
Identifying and analyzing the specific changes in the accent’s pronunciation of English speech sounds should be your next step after listening and observing. Pay attention to pitch, tone, rhythm, tempo, and musicality as you dive deeper into a particular accent or dialect.
This page includes tips for finding material in the library catalog as well as some recommended books and online resources to get you started.
Search Tips
Conducting a keyword search in the library catalog is always a great place to start. Use the "Material Type" filter on the right of the "Advanced Search" screen to limit your results to "Books."
After finding a relevant book in the catalog, use the topics (listed in the subject field of the record) to find related materials. At this point, if you've identified several promising materials that have the same subjects listed, consider clicking on any of the subject headings to launch a new search for similarly classified items - this is a great way to get hints for future searching!
To get started, try searching the catalog with some of the subjects listed below:
- English language--Dialects (or, substitute another language and perform the same search - e.g. Spanish language--Dialects)
- English language--Phonology (or, substitute another language and perform the same search - e.g. Italian language--Phonology)
- English language--Pronunciation by foreign speakers
- Phonetic alphabet
- Acting
- Voice culture
Selected Books from the Catalog
Introduction to Speechwork for Actors by Call Number: PN2071.S65 C37 2023Traditional speech work has long favored an upper-class white accent as the model of intelligibility. This much-needed textbook redresses that trend and encourages actors to achieve intelligibility through rigorous language analysis and an exploration of their own accent and articulation practices. This work breaks down a process for analyzing language in a way that excites the imagination. Informed throughout by notes from the author's own extensive experience working with directors and acting teachers, this book serves as an ideal speech-training resource for the 21st -century actor, and includes specially commissioned online videos.
Accents and Dialects for Stage and Screen by Call Number: MPAL PE1711 .M45 2012Includes instructional text and a collection of 12 CDs. Accents and dialects included: 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.
Dialects for the Stage by Call Number: MPAL PN2071.F6 M3 2006 (Companion CD also available)Dialect work is one of the actor's most challenging tasks. Need to know a Russian accent? Playing a German countess or a Midwestern farmhand? These and more accents, from Yiddish to French Canadian. are clearly explained in Evangeline Machlin's classic work.
Stage Dialects by Call Number: MPAL PN2071.F6 B5 1996Location: Music & Performing Arts Library
A "definitive work," this book presents eleven of the most popular dialects used in plays and drama, breaking them down into key sounds, including "vowel substitutions, dipthongal changes, consonant subsititions, special pronunciations, and pitch patterns." The phonetic alphabet is also included, along with readings for drill and practice.
Studying Dialect by Call Number: LitLang Stacks A ; PE1711 .P46 2018This book provides an accessible yet comprehensive introduction to the study of the dialects of English as they are spoken around the world, from the earliest dialect dictionaries of the sixteenth century to contemporary research emerging from the field of geolinguistics.
African Accents: a workbook for actors by Call Number: MPAL PN2071.F6 M36 2016This is a comprehensive workbook for actors, covering the key characteristics and profiles of a wide range of African accents of English. Full breakdowns of each accent cover: an introduction giving a brief history of the accent, its ethnic background, and its language of origin preparatory warm-up exercises specific to each accent a directory of research materials including documentaries, plays, films and online resources key characteristics such as melody, stress, pace and pitch descriptions of physical articulation in the tongue, lips, jaw, palate and pharynx practice sentences, phoneme tables and worksheets for solo study.
New England English by Call Number: Online ResourceFor nearly 400 years, New England has held an important place in the development of American English, and "New England accents" are very well known in the popular imagination. While other projects have studied various dialect regions of New England, this is the first large-scale academic project since the 1930s to focus specifically on New England English as a whole.
The Jamaican Dialect by Call Number: MPAL PE3313 .M45 2016 and CDISC PE3313 .M45 2016This user-friendly book (33 pages and 30 minutes of recording on the accompanying CD) is an instructional manual in the Jamaican dialect from world-renowned dialect/accent coach Paul Meier.
Dialects of the British Isles by Call Number: MPAL PE1711 .M45 2019 and CDISC PE1711 .M45 2019An instruction manual for nine of the most commonly used stage dialects from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
English Accents and Dialects by Call Number: Available OnlineAn essential guide to contemporary social and regional varieties of English spoken in the British Isles today. Provides a detailed description of key features of Received Pronounciation (RP) as well as several major non-standard varieties of English.
Languages of the World by Call Number: Stacks A ; P53 .P4443 2021 (Lit and Languages Library)This book guides beginners through the rich diversity of the world's languages. It presupposes no background in linguistics, and introduces the reader to linguistic concepts with the help of problem sets, end of chapter exercises and an extensive bibliography. Charts of language families provide geographical and genealogical information, and engaging sidebars with demographic, social, historical and geographical facts help to contextualise and bring languages to life. Supplementary online materials include links to all websites mentioned.
Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics by Call Number: Online ResourceDavid Crystal's A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics has long been the standard single-volume reference for its field. Now available in its sixth edition, it has been revised and updated to reflect the latest terms in the field.
The Cambridge Guide to Theatre by Call Number: Online ResourceCovers all major playwrights, works, traditions, theories, companies, venues and events; details the origins of popular theatre tradition; discusses the work of actors, directors and designers; and explains theatre architecture and design. The book is written by over 100 expert contributors and is illustrated throughout.
Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics by Call Number: Online ResourceThe first edition of ELL (1993, Ron Asher, Editor) was hailed as "the field's standard reference work for a generation". Now the all-new second edition matches ELL's comprehensiveness and high quality, expanded for a new generation, while being the first encyclopedia to really exploit the multimedia potential of linguistics.
Oxford bibliographies: Linguistics by Call Number: Online ResourceOffers peer-reviewed annotated bibliographies on linguistics. Bibliographies are browsable by subject and keyword searchable.
Online Phonetics and IPA Resources
In addition to the catalog recommendations listed above, there are many free, online resources that can help you as you study phonetics. Check out the list below for some suggestions to get started!
- The International Phonetic Alphabet and the IPA ChartThe aim of the IPA is to promote the scientific study of phonetics and the various practical applications of that science. In furtherance of this aim, the IPA provides the academic community world-wide with a notational standard for the phonetic representation of all languages - the International Phonetic Alphabet (also IPA). The latest version of the IPA Alphabet was published in 2015, and IPA charts are re-issued annually.
- Interactive IPA ChartCreated by the UCLA Phonetics Lab Archive, this page lets you hear the sounds that the symbols represent, but remember that it is only a rough guide. There is lots of variation in how these sounds are said depending on the language and context.
- eNunciate! from the University of British ColumbiaInteractive IPA chart provides articulatory information – including ultrasound-enhanced videos and high-quality animations – about the sounds of the world’s languages. Watch introductory videos to learn about phonetics and the use of ultrasound in speech research.
- Seeing Speech IPA ChartThis online resource is a product of the collaboration between researchers at six Scottish Universities: the University of Glasgow, Queen Margaret University Edinburgh, Edinburgh Napier University, the University of Strathclyde, the University of Edinburgh and the University of Aberdeen. The resource provides teachers and students of practical Phonetics with ultrasound tongue imaging (UTI) and lip video of speech, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) video of speech, and 2D midsagittal head animations based on MRI and UTI data.
- Sounds of SpeechThe Sounds of Speech website provides a comprehensive understanding of how each of the speech sounds of American English, Spanish, and German are formed. It includes animations, videos, and audio samples that describe the essential features of each of the consonants and vowels of these languages.