Help: A linguistic project

[grendel]

Hello everybody,

I'm an MA student at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland, and in order to finish writing my MA thesis, I'm going to need some help from speakers of Australian, New Zealand and South African English.
My MA project includes some research on the vowel systems of the above varieties of English, and for that I need samples of authentic, natural speech.
Unfortunately, I don't have any money to pay you for your help, but your input into linguistic studies will be highly appreciated.

Now, all I want you to do is make a recording (preferably in .mp3) of yourself reading a short text which I'm going to send you.
After that, you would send me a copy of your recording (directly via e-mail or by uploading the file e.g. to rapidshare.com...).

I would also need some information such as your age, education and possibly region (e.g. New South Wales, Australia; Northern Cape, South Africa; Wellington, New Zealand etc.), as accents differ according to these factors.
However, you don't have to give me your exact address or any minute details, etc... In the study, you will be referred to simply as “Speaker 5”, and so on...

To conclude, if you're a speaker (or know any speakers) of Australian English, New Zealand English or South African English and would like to help me out – please, let me know!
I need at least 30 recordings in total before my research is considered “valid”.

Thanks in advance!

[naphazoline]

are you into motorbiikes at all?:blink:

[grendel]

Potentially, yes... But currently I'm into linguistics more than anything else; hence my post above :)

[nodrog]

how much are you paying?

[Number One]

how much are you paying?
Can you not read man? Sheesh :rolleyes: :lol:

MR Poland: I would help but I don't have anyway of recording my velvety dulcet tones for you :blip:

[Mom]

Can you not read man? Sheesh :rolleyes: :lol:

MR Poland: I would help but I don't have anyway of recording my velvety dulcet tones for you :blip:

And they are velvety and dulcety tones too :love:

I dont have a mic either :rolleyes:

[Nasty]

Can you not read man? Sheesh :rolleyes: :lol:

MR Poland: I would help but I don't have anyway of recording my velvety dulcet tones for you :blip:

I am sure I can help you with that ... you have such lovely ducet tones :) and I have multiple computers and recording stuff set up .. and I know how to use it (I think)!

[Number One]

OK MR Poland. When do you need this recording by?

It's not a dirty story you'll be having me read is it? :innocent:

[KiwiRat]

You girls stop playing with the poor noob.

He doesn't realise the trouble he's in.:laugh:

[grendel]

Alright then :) I need the recordings within the next few months, but the sooner the better... I'm not sure whether I can post direct links here, but this is where you can download all the necessary stuff: http://rapidshare.com/files/171451812/ma_project-package2.zip - the package contains a questionnaire, the main text to read, and a couple of sentences to read as well.

For recording, you can use Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/) or any similar software of your choice. The output format can be .mp3, .wma, or .wav.

Now, if you feel a bit tired and bored with the sentences in the 3rd file, you can skip some of them, although that data is of some significance to me. If you don't feel like answering all the questions in the questionnaire, that's fine as well. The part that is of most importance is the passage called "The Dream", as it shows most of the features which I want to study in detail.

Also, if you feel like adding anything to the recordings, e.g. talking about your near-death experience or contemporary Kiwi slang, feel free to do it! :)
Similar studies have been conducted here: http://web.ku.edu/idea/australiaoceania/newzealand/newzealand.htm , so you can check it out to see how it usually works.

I promise to provide you with my final results and the whole MA thesis as soon as it's finished (around June).

Lastly, if you know other people around that are as open to such stuff as yourselves (your family or friends), I'll be more than happy to listen to their voices as well :D

Thanks & looking forward to your response (PM me whenever you're ready).

And please... You can just call me Greg :P

[grendel]

It's not a dirty story you'll be having me read is it? :innocent:

It's not that dirty :/ It's actually based on my own dream that I had some time ago... Anyways, I've adjusted it a bit so as to elicit the sounds and phonological processes that I'm interested in...

[klingon]

Oooh that sounds fascinating! I majored in linguistics for my BA at Auckland University, and I find the idea of a modern Kiwi vowel-shift very intruiging indeed.

Radio New Zealand National has a regular segment called "Sounds Historical" where they play news items sourced from the NZ Sound Archives. It's wonderful to hear the accents of ordinary New Zealanders and hear how we have changed even in the last few decades.

Good work Mr Poland - and good luck with your project.

[Ixion]

Radio New Zealand National has a regular segment called "Sounds Historical" where they play news items sourced from the NZ Sound Archives. It's wonderful to hear the accents of ordinary New Zealanders and hear how we have changed even in the last few decades.
.

Some of us have not, even in the last few centuries. Although I am a sixth generation Kiwi on one side and a seventh on the other (ignoring the Maori line), and have never lived outside NZ, I am constantly told that I have an English accent. Even to the point of those who claim to have linguistic training telling me that they can identify the county I was born in (Shropshire apparently!).

The interesting thing is, listening to recordings of family members ,and questioning older members ( "Do I sound like great great granddad ?"), my "accent" is pretty much exactly that of my parents/grandparents/great grandparents etc, going back as far as about the middle of the 19th century.

I suspect that my "English accent" is simply the original, undefiled, New Zealand accent, and the claimed "New Zealand vowel shift" (I do know what it is) , is a result of immigration in recent years.

[Hitcher]

Nuw Zullin vowels. Gahh!

[klingon]

Some of us have not, even in the last few centuries. ...

I suspect that my "English accent" is simply the original, undefiled, New Zealand accent, and the claimed "New Zealand vowel shift" (I do know what it is) , is a result of immigration in recent years.

Well Mr Ixion, you sound like exactly the kind of person who is required for this data-gathering exercise! Having had the opportunity to study your speech up-close-and-personal (so to speak) I suspect it may be your intonational patterns that lead people to be mistaken about your accent, rather than your vowels.

If, next time I see you, I appear to be listening very intently to what you are saying, please do not be mistaken. I will actually be studying your vowels rather than the meaning of your words. :bleh:

[ManDownUnder]

If, next time I see you, I appear to be listening very intently to what you are saying, please do not be mistaken. I will actually be studying your vowels rather than the meaning of your words. :bleh:

You can't understand him either huh?

[grendel]

Oooh that sounds fascinating! I majored in linguistics for my BA at Auckland University, and I find the idea of a modern Kiwi vowel-shift very intruiging indeed.

Radio New Zealand National has a regular segment called "Sounds Historical" where they play news items sourced from the NZ Sound Archives. It's wonderful to hear the accents of ordinary New Zealanders and hear how we have changed even in the last few decades.

Good work Mr Poland - and good luck with your project.

Thanks heaps - I'm gonna need plenty of luck with this :)
As regards the NZ vowel-shift - it's becoming more and more trendy in linguistic circles, as one can observe sth similar to the English Great Vowel Shift in real time... Very intriguing, as you said...
Thx for that Radio New Zealand National tip; it's actually available online, so I'll have a look at it as well... Language change is absolutely fascinating, and the more we know about it from a linguistic point of view, the more we'll hopefully know about the world in general...

[grendel]

Some of us have not, even in the last few centuries. Although I am a sixth generation Kiwi on one side and a seventh on the other (ignoring the Maori line), and have never lived outside NZ, I am constantly told that I have an English accent. Even to the point of those who claim to have linguistic training telling me that they can identify the county I was born in (Shropshire apparently!).

The interesting thing is, listening to recordings of family members ,and questioning older members ( "Do I sound like great great granddad ?"), my "accent" is pretty much exactly that of my parents/grandparents/great grandparents etc, going back as far as about the middle of the 19th century.

I suspect that my "English accent" is simply the original, undefiled, New Zealand accent, and the claimed "New Zealand vowel shift" (I do know what it is) , is a result of immigration in recent years.

This is very interesting... You can send me your recording if you like... It's possible that you don't sound English, but simply a bit conservative... Not everybody is equally prone to linguistic changes - as long as your message gets across to those around you, there's no need to change...

[klingon]

...
Thx for that Radio New Zealand National tip; it's actually available online, so I'll have a look at it as well...

Unfortunately it's only available for one week after the programme went to air so it's a bit random whether you'll get a particular interesting snippet that week.

As for Ixion, I don't think he's in danger of changing any time soon. ;)

[eelracing]

Thanks heaps - I'm gonna need plenty of luck with this :)
As regards the NZ vowel-shift - it's becoming more and more trendy in linguistic circles, as one can observe sth similar to the English Great Vowel Shift in real time... Very intriguing, as you said...
Thx for that Radio New Zealand National tip; it's actually available online, so I'll have a look at it as well... Language change is absolutely fascinating, and the more we know about it from a linguistic point of view, the more we'll hopefully know about the world in general...

What i find fascinating concerning the english language are the different saying and there meanings. eg,If a kiwi says "Well f*%k me with a spoon sideways" he actually means "Golly thats interesting".But when an aussie says it,he means it literally.

When a Seth Efrican says it...run like hell

[Blossom]

Whats cracking me up about this thread is this.
Grendel, Why on earth did you pick a motorcycle forum to get your subjects from? I mean I get that we are all really cool and all that but wtf?

:bleh:
no offence.. just entertaining myself. Its raining and I have the toddler at home so cant go for a ride just yet.

[PirateJafa]

Whats cracking me up about this thread is this.
Grendel, Why on earth did you pick a motorcycle forum to get your subjects from? I mean I get that we are all really cool and all that but wtf?

:bleh:
no offence.. just entertaining myself. Its raining and I have the toddler at home so cant go for a ride just yet.

Because this is probably the largest site in New Zealand where the forum-dwelling population's voices have cracked.

[Blossom]

Because this is probably the largest site in New Zealand where the forum-dwelling population's voices have cracked.

:clap: of course.. I had not considered that.

[Number One]

You girls stop playing with the poor noob.

He doesn't realise the trouble he's in.:laugh:

Tee hee hee - that's when it's even MORE fun :devil2:


You can just call me Greg :P



Good work Mr Poland - and good luck with your project.

:lol: see - Mr Poland sounds far more exotic - it's what US girls prefer...MR POLEand :lol: oh gawsh I am naughty titter titter titter


It's not that dirty :/ It's actually based on my own dream that I had some time ago...

CRIKEY MAN STOP IT! I'm getting all flustered over here :shit:



What i find fascinating concerning the english language are the different saying and there meanings. eg,If a kiwi says "Well f*%k me with a spoon sideways" he actually means "Golly thats interesting".But when an aussie says it,he means it literally.

When a Seth Efrican says it...run like hell

Bwahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaa sooooooo true :laugh:

[Number One]

BTW - calling all Welly based BITCHES...

I think this could be a good night all us girls cackling and recording our gorgeous dulcet tones

....hell Mr Poland - we could even do some singstar recordings and send those to ya :chase:

[grendel]

What i find fascinating concerning the english language are the different saying and there meanings. eg,If a kiwi says "Well f*%k me with a spoon sideways" he actually means "Golly thats interesting".But when an aussie says it,he means it literally.

When a Seth Efrican says it...run like hell

Wow! That's nice! The branch of linguistics that deals with such kinda stuff, i.e. the meaning of particular phrases, is called semantics.
I'm more interested in phonetics and phonology... phonetics – the way you physically produce and receive speech sounds; phonology – the way those sounds are stored in your head... So when you think you're producing a given sound, you're saying sth different due to various contexts in which the sound can occur, e.g. the last sound in the word “on” is usually stored in your mind as /n/, but in a phrase such as “on fire”, if spoken with a natural tempo, it becomes something like [m] produced with the upper teeth and lower lips.

[grendel]

Whats cracking me up about this thread is this.
Grendel, Why on earth did you pick a motorcycle forum to get your subjects from? I mean I get that we are all really cool and all that but wtf?

:bleh:
no offence.. just entertaining myself. Its raining and I have the toddler at home so cant go for a ride just yet.

Yeah, as PirateJafa noticed, this forum's big, it's Kiwi... and yeah, I was hoping to find some cool people here as well ;)


:lol: see - Mr Poland sounds far more exotic - it's what US girls prefer...MR POLEand :lol: oh gawsh I am naughty titter titter titter
You really ARE naughty! :P I almost forgot the word Pole has other meanings besides the North/South Pole and Polish... nice one :P

btw - does anyone know why I can't answer PMs? It says "Your post count isn't high enough to use the Private Message system", and when I look at my post count, it actually says "Posts: 0". What the...?!

[PirateJafa]

You really ARE naughty! :P I almost forgot the word Pole has other meanings besides the North/South Pole and Polish... nice one :P

btw - does anyone know why I can't answer PMs? It says "Your post count isn't high enough to use the Private Message system", and when I look at my post count, it actually says "Posts: 0". What the...?!

Posts do not "count" if you make them in this Rant or Rave section. Being a bike site, it was decided post counts should reflect posts made about bikes, not general shit-talk. Of course they didn't take into account the fact that most posts about bikes is just shit-talk anyway.

Unfortunate for you, of course, as being bikeless you will not have made any posts in the "bike" areas.

[xwhatsit]

Wow! That's nice! The branch of linguistics that deals with such kinda stuff, i.e. the meaning of particular phrases, is called semantics.
I'm more interested in phonetics and phonology... phonetics – the way you physically produce and receive speech sounds; phonology – the way those sounds are stored in your head... So when you think you're producing a given sound, you're saying sth different due to various contexts in which the sound can occur, e.g. the last sound in the word “on” is usually stored in your mind as /n/, but in a phrase such as “on fire”, if spoken with a natural tempo, it becomes something like [m] produced with the upper teeth and lower lips.
Lol yup, I just got my results back for a stage 1 linguistics paper (yay!) -- I passed, thank goodness. Phonetics was fascinating; of particular interest was stuff like complementary distribution and things like that; half the time you just don't realise the sounds you're actually making. So many rules governing what phoneme comes out -- I didn't know my mouth was so smart!

I'd be happy to do your recording, but I think my accent is decidedly non-standard, as those who have met me know.

@Ixion: you sound dead normal to me. A lot like my mother's mother, whose family were pretty much `first fleet' New Zealanders.

[grendel]

Posts do not "count" if you make them in this Rant or Rave section. Being a bike site, it was decided post counts should reflect posts made about bikes, not general shit-talk. Of course they didn't take into account the fact that most posts about bikes is just shit-talk anyway.

Unfortunate for you, of course, as being bikeless you will not have made any posts in the "bike" areas.
I see... It's a shame, but I'll have to deal with it somehow... Thanks for the explanation.



Lol yup, I just got my results back for a stage 1 linguistics paper (yay!) -- I passed, thank goodness. Phonetics was fascinating; of particular interest was stuff like complementary distribution and things like that; half the time you just don't realise the sounds you're actually making. So many rules governing what phoneme comes out -- I didn't know my mouth was so smart!

I'd be happy to do your recording, but I think my accent is decidedly non-standard, as those who have met me know.
That's OK, you don't have to speak a standard variety, I'm looking for certain tendencies that seem to be taking place in the southern-hemisphere Englishes, so your contribution will be valuable too.

As I cannot respond directly to PMs, we can do it this way:
1) PM me with anything you need, with links to your recordings, etc., and I'll respond here in this thread... or:
2) PM me with your e-mail address and we can correspond simply via e-mail (I think it's a better option)

To Naki Rat and anybody interested: I've posted the details on the previous page... Lemme quote it here:



I'm not sure whether I can post direct links here, but this is where you can download all the necessary stuff: http://rapidshare.com/files/171451812/ma_project-package2.zip - the package contains a questionnaire, the main text to read, and a couple of sentences to read as well.

For recording, you can use Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/) or any similar software of your choice. The output format can be .mp3, .wma, or .wav.

Now, if you feel a bit tired and bored with the sentences in the 3rd file, you can skip some of them, although that data is of some significance to me. If you don't feel like answering all the questions in the questionnaire, that's fine as well. The part that is of most importance is the passage called "The Dream", as it shows most of the features which I want to study in detail.

Also, if you feel like adding anything to the recordings, e.g. talking about your near-death experience or contemporary Kiwi slang, feel free to do it! :)
Similar studies have been conducted here: http://web.ku.edu/idea/australiaoceania/newzealand/newzealand.htm , so you can check it out to see how it usually works.

So, the texts to record are under the first link...
Thank you!

EDIT: I've changed my profile options a little so that you can download my e-mail address and stuff... So if you decide to e-mail ME first rather than the other way round - go ahead :)

[grendel]

It's me again... Returning to my research project for a moment... I'm still lacking Kiwi recordings, so if you can share your voice with me, I'd appreciate your help...
Once again, you'll find everything I need here: http://rapidshare.com/files/171451812/ma_project-package2.zip
Dealing with the recordings and the questionnaire should take you no more than 5 minutes (I know this, 'cause I've already got a couple of packages from S.Africa, and these good people said they had spent less than 5 minutes on this). Your 5 minutes can literally change my whole life :)
Also, if you don't feel like doing anything yourself, perhaps there's someone around ya who's really open to such stuff...
Thank you!

PS.
you can always reach me at: gkrawczyk6 at gmail.com

PS.2
I'm especially counting on #1 and her 'team of dulcet tones' ;) as I can already see there's a problem with female voices in general within this study...

[MisterD]

I can already see there's a problem with female voices in general

Married men will be nodding their heads at I this I'd say....:dodge:

I'd love to help, but I'm English, so I'll just wait and laugh at the results.

[martybabe]

[QUOTE=MisterD;1840228
I'd love to help, but I'm English, so I'll just wait and laugh at the results.[/QUOTE]

Ditto on the English thing, the main reason I come on here is because I can understand written kiwi. In the real outside world we have kind of a mutual misunderstanding arrangement going on.

I.e. "Twenty Benson and Hedges please"

"sorry?"

"Twenty Benson and Hedges please"

"I don't think we sell them"

"they're right behind you!"

"what are sorry?"

"them there look your hands leaning on them"

"OH, Benson and Hedges we call them"


Mummy!:crybaby:

[kezzafish]

Ditto on the English thing, the main reason I come on here is because I can understand written kiwi. In the real outside world we have kind of a mutual misunderstanding arrangement going on.

I.e. "Twenty Benson and Hedges please"

"sorry?"

"Twenty Benson and Hedges please"

"I don't think we sell them"

"they're right behind you!"

"what are sorry?"

"them there look your hands leaning on them"

"OH, Benson and Hedges we call them"


Mummy!:crybaby:

Ha haaaaaa, that's funny as fuck.
They're called B&H mate
Pronounced bee'nayche!
For example:
ME: bee'nayche twennys pleeze mate?
HIM: den dollars dwenty, dank you please
ME: Cheers
HIM: dank you, gum again

[martybabe]

Ha haaaaaa, that's funny as fuck.
They're called B&H mate
Pronounced bee'nayche!
For example:
ME: bee'nayche twentys pleeze mate?
HIM: den dollars twenty, dank you please
ME: Cheers
HIM: dank you, gum again

:clap: Your on it dude. Daily occurrence I'm afraid, how about

"A pint of old Dark please"

"A jug of VB ? Right you are"

Not once but twice man, I'd got piss coming out me nostrils by the end of the night.

Or

"A steak pie please"

"Mince and Cheese it is, anything else?" :confused:

Life's exciting when you never know what your gonna get eh.:D

Good luck with the study Grendel, Let us know how it turns out mate.

[Number One]

I'm especially counting on #1 and her 'team of dulcet tones' ;) as I can already see there's a problem with female voices in general within this study...

I haven't forgotten sir. I wonder though, would a youtube video work? Just thinking of the quickest way we can get it to you is all.

[jrandom]

would a youtube video work

Show us yer tits!

[Number One]

Show us yer tits!
You first :bleh:

[fire eyes]

wait til you hear the aussie tones :blink:

[Her_C4]

BTW - calling all Welly based BITCHES...

I think this could be a good night all us girls cackling and recording our gorgeous dulcet tones

....hell Mr Poland - we could even do some singstar recordings and send those to ya :chase:

Hmmm I have a digital dictaphone (with a multidirectional microphone) and all the appropriate software to download and email off an MP3 file if you're that keen?! :Punk: :blink::wari:

[grendel]

Very interesting instances, these three... The occurrences of “den dollars” and “gum again” are very nice, as they show how important aspiration of syllable-initial plosives before vowels is in English. Here, the speaker (the shop assistant) probably does say “[t]en dollars” and “[k]ome again” (as well as “[t]ank you”), but it's the lack of the additional puff of air after the [t] and [k] (i.e. aspiration) that creates the impression of exaggerated voicing (rather than lack of additional devoicing = aspiration); hence, [t]->/d/, [k]->/g/, etc...
In other words, the shop assistant does distinguish between /t/ and /d/ in his own speech, but his /t/ is realized without any aspiration and can be interpreted as /d/ by e.g. Kiwi English speakers... Nice one, I'll show it to my fellow students some time :) (we also don't have the process of aspiration in Polish by default, so we have to learn it if we want to sound more natural or native-like for whatever purpose)


Good luck with the study Grendel, Let us know how it turns out mate.

I sure will ;)
Cheers

[grendel]

I haven't forgotten sir. I wonder though, would a youtube video work? Just thinking of the quickest way we can get it to you is all.

I guess it would work, as it's rather easy to convert a video/audio file into pure audio... As long as the quality is OK, it should work :)

[jrandom]

YouTube audio is horribly over-compressed.

Just record a raw sound file onto the computer and use LAME (http://lame.sourceforge.net/) to turn it into an MP3.

[grendel]

wait til you hear the aussie tones :blink:

I have listened to an Aussie recording that I'd received from a young bloke from a small rural town in New South Wales, it was done really well and his speech had all the features that I want to investigate; though I'm looking forward to sheila voices :), as linguists say women are usually one step ahead of men when it comes to certain aspects of speech – I'd like to check whether this holds water or not (my supervisor is really sceptical with respect to this theory)

[Number One]

ooo that sounds interesting. I'm a bit of a 'creative speaker' at times and don't have hang ups about good engrish dying out. I have a time and a place for my perfunctly put together communications - both written and verbal :lol: So I would not be surprised to find that my speech is a bit evolved - somewhere Hitcher and others would probably cring to go if I am completely honest :lol:

Change is inevitable - growth is optional and all that.

So, which of my split personalities voices would you like to hear Mr Poland? :blip:

[Slyer]

Groovy!
I'll see what I can do to help tonight.

[grendel]

ooo that sounds interesting. I'm a bit of a 'creative speaker' at times and don't have hang ups about good engrish dying out. I have a time and a place for my perfunctly put together communications - both written and verbal :lol: So I would not be surprised to find that my speech is a bit evolved - somewhere Hitcher and others would probably cring to go if I am completely honest :lol:

Change is inevitable - growth is optional and all that.

So, which of my split personalities voices would you like to hear Mr Poland? :blip:
Yep, there's nothing wrong about change... “Of the four seasons, none lasts forever... and the moon waxes & wanes...” [Sun Tzu]. There's a nice book out there, by the way – it's called Language change: Progress or decay? by Jean Aitchison – very readable, very interesting, highly recommended...

As for the split personalities – I'm not sure, but I gather the naughty one would display more variability and innovation ;)


Groovy!
I'll see what I can do to help tonight.
Thanks heaps! Looking forward to it...

[Slyer]

To pay me back I hope you at least investigate the idea of buying a motorbike. ;)

[grendel]

To pay me back I hope you at least investigate the idea of buying a motorbike. ;)

haha... yeah, sure! I mean, I AM kinda into motorbikes – I've already got the attire (a traditional leather jacket & boots) due to my heavy metal past :Punk: and so after finishing with this project (and providing my financial income increases) I'll seriously consider buying a bike... The only problem is that a biker somehow doesn't fit into the landscape of my town too well; I envy you guys your beautiful surroundings (and much better roads, I reckon) :)

[Slyer]

Bah, bikers never fit in anywhere! :bleh:
A few suggestions... see if you can use an alternate file type for the bits that we have to read as not everyone has microsoft word in order to read the .doc files.
rtf or txt and everyone can read it without installing anything.
I'm just installing word now and then I'll record.

Also, heavy metal "Fashion leather" might not protect you that well in a crash. :D Our roads are definitely twisty and interesting but not of the highest quality :bleh:

[Slyer]

Alright I've recorded, heres a link:
http://www.9thrangers.com/Sam-Linguistic.zip
I didn't try to correct any of my speech just like you asked!
Have you received many other contributions?

[grendel]

A few suggestions... see if you can use an alternate file type for the bits that we have to read as not everyone has microsoft word in order to read the .doc files.
rtf or txt and everyone can read it without installing anything.
I'm just installing word now and then I'll record.
OK... Following your suggestion, I've saved each file as rtf as well as pdf, so I suppose everyone will be able to read them now... Here's the updated package: http://rapidshare.com/files/171451812/ma_project-package2.zip


Alright I've recorded, heres a link:
http://www.9thrangers.com/Sam-Linguistic.zip
I didn't try to correct any of my speech just like you asked!
Have you received many other contributions?
THANK YOU! That's a job well done, indeed :)

As for the number... Well, around 20 people said they were going to do it, but I've received just 5 packages (mostly South African English), so I'm still waiting... My supervisor says I should have at least 30 people for the study to be treated seriously (and she's right obviously; in order to draw any conclusions about how people speak, one needs a bigger sample). So I hope those other people are simply busy, but are going to deliver their recordings some time soon... Perhaps this project is slightly too ambitious for an MA thesis, but I don't want to give up just now, I still have some time...

My colleague's got a greater challenge – she's writing about speech processes in bilingual kids, and she wants to study an English-Polish (or Polish-English) bilingual child... That's a huge problem because firstly, she needs to find such a child (and it should be preferably something like 6-months old), and then she has to ask its parents for permission to study the child.
And she actually had everything done (!), but one day, the child's mother came from work and found my colleague (and I must say she's a good-looking girl) chatting with the dad about the child... Everything was absolutely normal, but the mother had interpreted their smiles and the whole situation as an affair of some sort! She asked my colleague to leave and never approach her family again, or else... :)
As a result, the girl didn't manage to finish her work, and what's more - she cannot use those recordings because she hasn't got the parents' consent anymore... She has to start all over again :/

[Slyer]

Hahaha gutted!
Women eh. :)

[Dilligaf]

I'd help but my accent's all over the place.
Growing up in Australia, I was mocked by my peers because of my "English" accent - thanks to my British parents. Of course, they thought that I sounded 'Strine...
Now living here, most Kiwis peg me as an Aussie but foreigners sometimes ask if I'm English and now of course my Aussie family reckon I sound like a Kiwi.
I can't win :weep:

[grendel]

Hahaha gutted!
Women eh. :)
Exactly :)


I'd help but my accent's all over the place.
Growing up in Australia, I was mocked by my peers because of my "English" accent - thanks to my British parents. Of course, they thought that I sounded 'Strine...
Now living here, most Kiwis peg me as an Aussie but foreigners sometimes ask if I'm English and now of course my Aussie family reckon I sound like a Kiwi.
I can't win :weep:
I think you could still help. I'm investigating just a few tiny features of southern-hemisphere accents (which my texts are supposed to elicit), and if your speech had them as well, that would certainly mean something. Your linguistic background would be taken into consideration, and besides – English English has more in common with Aussie or Kiwi pronunciation than, say with Northern American English. It could work in my opinion, so if you have some free time, you can have a go at the texts.
Perhaps there's someone around ya who could do it too?

Cheers

EDIT: I've just received your e-mail! That was quick :) Thank you!!!

[kezzafish]

Grendel. I've emailed you my attempt, lemme know if it works. Have a go peeps, it's kinda funny listening to your own muppet voice

[grendel]

Grendel. I've emailed you my attempt, lemme know if it works. Have a go peeps, it's kinda funny listening to your own muppet voice

Thanks for the input! Works very well... :)

And I 'd like to say one more thing. I don't want to disclose the features that I'm seeking in these accents just now, but I do want to say something about the research at this point.
The MA thesis can go two ways: 1) I observe a feature, I create hypotheses about it, or certain assumptions and then the results confirm the assumptions, or... 2) I assume something, but then the results are contradictory and indicate that I was totally wrong... Either way – it's all good! What's more, those contradictory results are often more interesting. :)

So what I'm trying to say is that even if I don't find too many instances of the features I want to observe in your speech, it will still be OK and I'll most likely pass the exam; it'll just show that there is some kind of a change on the horizon, but it's progressing slowly and it's too early to make new generalizations about a given variety.
And there's another good thing about the whole project, even if it fails to prove my assumptions – it provides modern descriptions of the discussed dialects. It can confirm what has been written in similar publications or show that they are wrong here and there due to language change. Hence, it will be extremely valuable for other researchers and will provide a point of reference for them. Aussie-Kiwi-South African English from 2008/09, supported by recordings – there are a lot of linguists out there who'd like to read such a work.

To conclude, try to be as natural as you can and don't worry if you think you pronounce something which contrasts with my hopes. Nothing like that is going to happen :) There are linguists who, in a way, fabricate their results and force people to say things they would normally never (or rarely) produce. I'm not one of them, I'm interested in real language, language that is used by real people. Real language is not perfect, just as we ourselves are not perfect, and nothing we create will ever be perfect. There will always be exceptions to the rules...

Alright, enough of my monologues :P

[Pixie]

Hello everybody,

I'm an MA student at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland, and in order to finish writing my MA thesis, I'm going to need some help from speakers of Australian, New Zealand and South African English.
My MA project includes some research on the vowel systems of the above varieties of English, and for that I need samples of authentic, natural speech.
Unfortunately, I don't have any money to pay you for your help, but your input into linguistic studies will be highly appreciated.

Now, all I want you to do is make a recording (preferably in .mp3) of yourself reading a short text which I'm going to send you.
After that, you would send me a copy of your recording (directly via e-mail or by uploading the file e.g. to rapidshare.com...).

I would also need some information such as your age, education and possibly region (e.g. New South Wales, Australia; Northern Cape, South Africa; Wellington, New Zealand etc.), as accents differ according to these factors.
However, you don't have to give me your exact address or any minute details, etc... In the study, you will be referred to simply as “Speaker 5”, and so on...

To conclude, if you're a speaker (or know any speakers) of Australian English, New Zealand English or South African English and would like to help me out – please, let me know!
I need at least 30 recordings in total before my research is considered “valid”.

Thanks in advance!

This is easy: New Zealand English (New Zild) has only one vowel sound - u

All five vowels are pronounced the same.

[klingon]

... I'm interested in real language, language that is used by real people. Real language is not perfect, just as we ourselves are not perfect, and nothing we create will ever be perfect. There will always be exceptions to the rules...



I'm with you there, grendel. I'm fascinated by 'descriptive' linguistics and rather annoyed by the 'prescriptive' approach - the one that tries to tell us we're wrong if we pronounce something in a way that the listener doesn't approve of. [And I positively endorse ending sentences with prepositions.]

A good Kiwi accent is nothing to be ashamed of (or proud of for that matter). It just is what it is. There is no reason that we should sound like people in any other part of the world.

Sorry I can't help you with your research (no microphone) but I wish you the best of luck! :niceone:

[grendel]

This is easy: New Zealand English (New Zild) has only one vowel sound - u

All five vowels are pronounced the same.
LoL :D


I'm with you there, grendel. I'm fascinated by 'descriptive' linguistics and rather annoyed by the 'prescriptive' approach - the one that tries to tell us we're wrong if we pronounce something in a way that the listener doesn't approve of. [And I positively endorse ending sentences with prepositions.]

A good Kiwi accent is nothing to be ashamed of (or proud of for that matter). It just is what it is. There is no reason that we should sound like people in any other part of the world.

Sorry I can't help you with your research (no microphone) but I wish you the best of luck! :niceone:
I totally agree! On the one hand, speech standards are important... but they should not serve as a weapon against anybody.

If you happen to visit someone with a microphone then, please remember about the study ;)
All the best to you too :)

[grendel]

Two technical things:
1) If you're new to audacity, you may have problems with saving your recordings... So, instead of selecting “Save Project As”, choose “Export As WAV” or “Export As MP3”. WAV files are great, although their size can be big. If you decide to export your files as MP3 (which isn't that necessary), you'll need to do one more thing – http://audacity.sourceforge.net/help/faq?s=install&item=lame-mp3
2) Remember that I cannot answer your PMs because of forum restrictions. However, if you prefer to contact me privately instead of posting here, feel free to send me an e-mail: gkrawczyk6 at gmail.com

And I've got a silly question: an Australian person is an Aussie, most of you guys are Kiwis... What do you actually call a South African? :blink: (forgot to ask the South Africans when I had the chance...)

[Ixion]

A South African is called either a Saffer, or a cunt. Depending on . Or hairyback, a term of endearment. trust me on this.

Who was Adam Mickiewicz? And why did they name a University after him?

[Slyer]

I go with saffa cunt.

[grendel]

A South African is called either a Saffer, or a cunt. Depending on . Or hairyback, a term of endearment. trust me on this.

I go with saffa cunt.
Lovely names, these... I'll try to remember :)


Who was Adam Mickiewicz? And why did they name a University after him?
Adam Mickiewicz was a prominent and inspiring Romantic poet of the 19th century. He was living in exile in Russia for some time, which had a great impact on his patriotism, reflected in his writing. One of his greatest works is Pan Tadeusz (literally 'Mr Ted' :)), which includes the author's memories of Poland before the wars that divided the country. You could say that, nowadays, he means just as much to Poles as Goethe does to Germans, or Pushkin to the Russians.
Why did he become the University's patron? It's a good question; it is said that the dean of the Philosophy/History Department proposed the candidate in 1955, and I'm not really sure why it was Mickiewicz and not some other patriotic bloke, but apparently what others had had in view was to name the institution after Joseph Stalin, so something had to be done quickly in order to prevent it :)

[grendel]

Hello again, my biker friends...

I wish you all the best in the new year 2009(!) and I'd like to remind you about my request (as well as thank those who have already helped!!!)
I'm presenting my first results this Tuesday to my fellow phonetics/phonology students... Although I haven't got many samples, I hope we'll have a nice discussion on the topic and some useful comments will pop up.

Take care & be good ;)

G

[Fudmucker]

Sorry I'm too late to participate in your research.
Here's a site with examples of many of the dialects of South African English:

http://web.ku.edu/idea/africa/southafrica/southafrica.htm
(South Africa 25 is a good example)

South Africans are called 'Saffricans' or 'Sowfafricans'. :2thumbsup:

We can tell Ozzies and Kiwis from Saffricans because they speak differently to both us and the English...and because they can't play cricket very well.

:2guns::ar15: (Ducks to avoid hurled abuse and sundry missiles)

Good luck with your research.:done:
:bye:

[grendel]

Sorry I'm too late to participate in your research.
Here's a site with examples of many of the dialects of South African English:

http://web.ku.edu/idea/africa/southafrica/southafrica.htm
(South Africa 25 is a good example)

South Africans are called 'Saffricans' or 'Sowfafricans'. :2thumbsup:

We can tell Ozzies and Kiwis from Saffricans because they speak differently to both us and the English...and because they can't play cricket very well.

:2guns::ar15: (Ducks to avoid hurled abuse and sundry missiles)

Good luck with your research.:done:
:bye:

Hey, you're not late at all!
I'm going to present my initial findings this Tuesday, but I still need a larger number of recordings in order to have 'full' results, so to speak. The whole thing finishes around June, however I'd like to have the 'recordings part' finished a couple of months before that, so as to have time for writing about it...

So, if your PC (or Mac or Laptop...) is equipped with everything that's needed, I could still use your help.

As to the website, I know it very well :) but thank you for the link anyway. I am also aware of most of the differences among the three accents (as well as within them). What I am interested in are specific features that seem to be undergoing some kind of a change nowadays and I wanna find out how far the 'new' variants have spread already and which target groups are affected to what extent (hence the questionnaire about the age, sex, region etc.). I will also try to explain where this change comes from and what possible implications for the future it may have...

Looking forward to your input if you have some time to spare :)

G