accents

[PhineasNigellus]

How did you all imagine the different charecters to sound? (to a lot of people who are not from the UK did you just imagine them with your own accents?).


Reason i was asking is because i was listening to a cassete tape of HP and noticed that some charecters had accents (i always imagined they mostly spoke exactly the way i do...)

Having now realised that it is unlikely for this to be true i was proposing a hunt for the correct accents...

[Fleurdelacour]

I imagine all the Brits in the book with British accents, obviosuly, people like Seamus, Fleur, and Krum all have Irish, French, and Bulgarian accents. But Seamus has a Kerry accent, he sounds like my cousin...!

For some odd reason, I imagine Molly with a Northen accent with a slight Irish twinge! lol, so weird.

Harry's voice, ever since the film's keeps on turning into Daniel Radcliffes...Gah... But was slightly croaker as his voice is breaking in OotP in my head :p

Ron's... Where does he get his accent from?! He speaks with London isms, although he lives in Devon!

Remus... erm... English gentleman! Like an older Will Young! :D

Where does Hagrid come from though? Is it West Country? Is it Yorkshire?...

[PhineasNigellus]

Hmm i always thought of the weaslys as being west country folk - except Mr weasly who sounds like a bbc presenter...

I agree with remus i think he must be really mild but not probably as camp as will young!

I would have given hagrid a scottish accent but i now just think of him as sounding like Robbie Coltrane

A friends of mine told me that on the tapes in the US version Tonks has a cockney accent...that just doesn't seem right to me.


Sirius i think would speak very posh english coming from an old family.

What a bout Moody, can't place him...

[ChianaWeasley]

I'd imagine Moody to have a rather gruff english bark. Always sounds a bit harsh, but is softer when he's being compassionate.
Couldn't give you an example, it's very hard to put into words.

[Fleurdelacour]

He's not as camp as those stylists on This Morning though!

Yeah...I imagined Tonks as a bit of a cockney, maybe its ecause she kept on saying "Wotcher." Is that her version of hello? cos it really confused me...

Thats how I imagined Moody too, with a gruff english bark hehe, or a kinda growl lol.

Aww, Arthur, I love him! But a bbc preseter?! which one?!

[Drizella]

When I read the books I read them in my own voice, which is American. :rolleyes: I think Lucius Malfoy is the only one with whom I really associate with the movie actors now. And Hermione. :D

I'm no expert on British accents, so I don't think I'll say much on this matter. Except that Lupin's is nice and posh.

And because I don't know where else to stick this question--can anyone define the word 'peaky' for me? I've never heard of it before the 5th book. Tonks with her 'wotcher' confused me as well. Anyone? Brits?

[xKatiexBellx]

I always have the same voice for the young/teen girls (like Hermione, Ginny, Luna, etc.) all with the same high voice with the same Canadian accents as me, same w/ the guys like Colin Creevy, Harry, Ron, etc. except they all have a low voice... Same with the adults as the kids... though the women's voices arent all high pitched and girly... more... woman like i guess... hard to explain.

[Lord Schaudt]

I thought about them all sounding like most of the kids i know, the adults might sound like my more liked teachers and umbridge like a long time friend/enemy of mine

[PhineasNigellus]

Aww, Arthur, I love him! But a bbc preseter?! which one?! i don't actually know the guy's name but he sounds kinda weedy and scientific (only its not science but muggles)

[glaelia]

I would have given hagrid a scottish accent but i now just think of him as sounding like Robbie Coltrane


--------- bwahahahaha, robbie coltrane IS scottish... i have no idea how he's trying to portray hagrid though... i would say its a poor scotmans' attempt at a west country accent!

*snogs*

glae
xx

[Fleurdelacour]

Originally posted by PhineasNigellus
i don't actually know the guy's name but he sounds kinda weedy and scientific (only its not science but muggles)

Is it the science bloke... Professor Altman, or something, he does all the science documentaries and has the fuzzy black hair and glasses...

but, I have to say, Alan Rickman did how I imagined Snape's voice perfectly!

[Colli]

LOL.. I can't remember how I originally imagined everyone, but I'll give it a shot.

All the characters speak with an American accent unless otherwise noted. :)

Snape: Sometimes when I'm reading a little bit of Alan Rickman creeps in there, but I just imagine a semi-deep voice with LOTS and LOTS of bitter anger pent up.

Ian whatshisname did a perfect job as Professor Quirrell. :)

McGonagall: I think now I imagine Maggie Smith when I read.

Lupin: Before I start crying again, Lupin has a very gentle, very clear voice (and an American accent, but I can get past that). He doesn't sound harsh at all, he talks to Harry as if he (Lupin) WERE James. Actually, I think my voices for Lupin and James are the same.

Robbie Coltrane does a perfect job of Hagrid.

Oliver Wood: Nothing like Sean Biggerstaff, that's for sure. :D I imagined him sounding a little bit older, a little bit sportier, not so nicey nice!

LOL, Katie, I never imagined them with Canadian accents. That's funny. :D

[Lanen]

Drizella and whoever else asked -

First, because it's easier, 'peaky' means looking sort of pale and wan, unwell with overtones of 'been out of the sun too long' - OED has "(1) sickly, unwell (2) white-faced".

Wotcher - this it sorta kinda means 'hi how ya doin'', by way of "what are you (wotcher) up to/ what have you been doing/wassup?" The Oxford English Dictionary has "wotcher (interjection) British slang: a form of casual greeting [corruption of what cheer ]

You asked! :D

I will now always associate Snape with Alan Rickman's :swoon: dark velvet voice. Lucky bloody Snape, is all I can say!

Given the way Rowling writes Hagrid, I think Robbie Coltrane has his accent down. I wouldn't care to try to pinpoint it to a particular part of England, though, I'm not good enough for that.

BTW, did anybody else find it annoying that in OotP, Ron all of a sudden calls everybody (or is it just Harry) "mate" ? I don't remember that from the earlier books. Or is Ron just trying out a style, as we all do when we're teenagers?

I have always seen Hermione as looking very different from Emma Watson, though who knows....

[Drizella]

Thanks Lanen--I did wonder where 'wotcher' came from. Thanks for clearing it up for me! (Although the phrase 'what cheer' as a greeting still confuses me...)
by Lanen
BTW, did anybody else find it annoying that in OotP, Ron all of a sudden calls everybody (or is it just Harry) "mate" ? I don't remember that from the earlier books.
Lanen--are you American? The American publications of HP have slowly stopped (hooray!) taking away British slang and phrases. Maybe that's why you noticed so many 'mate's in OotP? Unless in the British editions he never said it before there either... who knows. Maybe Ron's trying something new.

[Kristin]

I can hear the characters speaking with the appropriate British accents ... but it's something I have to make a conscious effort to do. So I really have to work and concentrate to hear the accents. And sometimes I do it. Otherwise, I just hear the characters using American accents (because I'm American).

[Seriphus]

BTW, did anybody else find it annoying that in OotP, Ron all of a sudden calls everybody (or is it just Harry) "mate" ? I don't remember that from the earlier books.
----------------------------------------------------------------

The American publications of HP have slowly stopped (hooray!) taking away British slang and phrases. Maybe that's why you noticed so many 'mate's in OotP? Unless in the British editions he never said it before there either... who knows. Maybe Ron's trying something new. No it's not just the American books, I noticed it in the British version as well. And it's not just Ron saying it, it's Harry, Fred, George... even Sirius. :p I think it's JKR trying something new. ;)

[Fleurdelacour]

Ah, I'm glad I'm not the only person who noticed the extra amount of 'mates' :p I didn't find it annoying, I say mate all the time...

Ah thanks for that Lanen :)

They finally stopped? Oh that's a relief... It was so annoying, the publishers changing the phrases... it made it un-british... When I read To Kill A Mockingbird, the phrases dont change to british ones they stay the same, and I imagine everyone with an American accent...

[Pippin]

JKR says in the Royal Albert Hall interview that Hagrid´s accent is supposed to be a Forest of Dean accent because that´s where she went to school so she knows it well.



It´s funny - not being a native speaker of English, whenever I read the books I "hear" the characters speak like I´d sound if I said their lines - which probably means they all have a hefty German accent! :D


In the German audio book versions, the speaker gives Snape a Russian accent - you know, like the bad guys in the old James Bond movies. I wonder where he got that idea? :confused:




Can anyone explain what sort of accent Mundungus Fletcher is supposed to have? Is it anything in particular?

[Fleurdelacour]

I think ole Mundungous is a real east ender, a proper cockney!

A Russian Snape? :LOL:

Where's Forest of Dean? :confused: My geography isn't very good...

[Kristin]

Originally posted by Pippin
In the German audio book versions, the speaker gives Snape a Russian accent - you know, like the bad guys in the old James Bond movies. I wonder where he got that idea? :confused:


:rotfl:

"Mr. Bond ... our new celebrity." :p

[PhineasNigellus]

I think ole Mundungous is a real east ender, a proper cockney! Yeah i agree with you on that BUT i don't think that Tonks would b posher than Dung, perhaps because she went to Hogwarts and thats a posh place...do you think Tonk's voice changes when she is changing faces? Do you reckon dung went to Hogwarts?

[Little Miss]

well seeing as there doesnt seem to be any other wizarding schools in britain written into the books (least i dont think so) i'd guess dung went to hogwarts. they take anyone ther as long as they do magic, i mean, they took hagrid didnt they? and i dont imagine dung could have gone there too far away from hagrids time (considering, if i remember correctly, hagrid's about 60)

i kind of imagine tonks to have a slightly northern accent, possibly one she's been trying to lose for a while. i like the idea of her being a mischevious northern lassie trying to metropolise herself, but i doubt thats it. i spose she's supposd to have a south london accent. not exactly cockney but not particularly posh either.

[Fleurdelacour]

I remembered the science blokes name! Robert Winston! anyway...

There's no reason as to why he woudnt have gone to Hogwarts just because he's a bit rough around the edges, and got a cockney accent...

[PhineasNigellus]

There's no reason as to why he woudnt have gone to Hogwarts just because he's a bit rough around the edges, and got a cockney accent... He would probably have tried selling on half the items in the school and spent the rest of his time in *the other pub i have forgotten the name of.)

I wonder if wizards can be home educated...?

[Little Miss]

didt they say in OotP that he got banned from that pub a while ago? and thats why he had to go in dressed as a woman to keep an eye on harry, because the bartender has a loooong memory?