The BBC regularly re-broadcasts Sign Language versions of their programmes, as seen here, late at night. It was, obviously, during this time that I happened across this documentary. As no un-signed version is available on TH-cam, I assume those interested in the subject will agree that this video is better than nothing.
Thank you for bringing this to light. I guess I'm a bit of an Anglophile, but since I've found my direct ancestral home land mentioned in the opening lines of Finnegans Wake, and since my grandmother spent her golden years in Dublin, Ireland.... not just Dublin Georgia, where she was born, I've felt a kinship and a longing for the homeland, and this document has given birth to some wonderful ideas and the wonderful sounds of the English Language that I will be able to share with my Daughter as well as others. Thanks again for putting this information up for those of us in the U.S. to digest. I had tears during most of this documentary. Us Yanks tend to think that we were the only ones who sacrificed in any of the wars of our century, it's so good to be reminded that others paid the price for freedom, and others were left to bring the boys back home.
After the first minute or so, I was unaware of the translator, just as I forget, moments into a movie with subtitles, that I am reading. The mind adjusts!
No at at all true! People who can't hear are, perhaps even more interested, than the hearing, in the study of dialects and sounds of languages as they strive to better understand sound. I sure would be. Regarding your comment, please give it some more thought. If you were blind, wouldn't you want every opportunity to learn of the color red or blue? To me it's hardly unwatchable, but rather a brilliant and enlightening thing to see. Kudos to the signer and producers. I would also guess this documentary is part of a course of study in schools for the deaf!
I've just stumbled across this amazing documentary, and paused to google the very impressive and knowledgable presenter, Joan Washington, only to find that she passed away 4 days ago. I'd seen news reports that the wife of Richard E Grant had died, but I had no idea that this was the same woman. I'm really sad to know that this fascinating person has just passed, and wish her family peace and strength as they grieve.
Oh no! That's so sad! I remember seeing this documentary years ago and being fascinated! I found her knowledge and passion for her subject to be so impressive! I was so glad to find the documentary on YT and her death is a real loss to the field in which she worked. Had no idea she was married to Richard E. Grant either. RIP Joan and thank you for passing on just a small part of your treasury of knowledge on a little known subject.
Thank you Claire. The same happenstance for me, right now. God bless Joan.....a truly amazing woman, that has gifted us all a strong strand to our incredible past.
My grandfather fought in WW2 (against the Russians in the Finnish army) and died in 1970 at the age of 50. I never got to meet him, but he had recorded his memoirs on a tape recorder. He was traumatized by the war; he never talked about it to anyone. The recording was a form of therapy, I suppose. Hearing his voice makes me emotional - and the stories are horrifying yet absolutely fascinating. I so wish he had lived longer.
My uncle had a breakdown through fear as he was forced into the army. He never recovered and became psychotic. His father beat him for weakness. He died at 56, he was so sweet and clever and lived his life in a mental institution. It hurts, he was a lovely man. Here we are once again at war.... do we never learn ✌
I love the connection she draws between the landscape and the accent. Beautiful part of life that we unfortunately often miss...is how nature and our surroundings affect our thinking and so many things about us.
A lot of Brits have mixed accents, my mum came from Cambridgeshire, and I lived there for the first eight years of my life, then we moved to Surrey, and were joined by my father who came from Gloucestershire. I now live in Wiltshire, but I don't think I have an accent; but on holiday in the USA, a man standing behind me in Yellowstone Park, said "Bristol," which astounded me, it's about 30 miles away! Took a Yank to spot it.
My grandfather grew up in Cornwall. He fought in the first world war and he sounded so much like these men. He talked about his "fayther" and his "mether" I miss him so much. Dear man.
Everyone was certainly more articulate. I love reading Dickens, too. English was beautiful, then. You could insult someone with the most eloquent words!
Each of the recorded men could sing. I suppose in those days people were more social, spoke to each other and sang for fun. No mobile phones or computer games. Fascinating program.
Why is a flat landscape like Norfolk productive of a monotone and a hilly landscape like S. Wales: the absolute reverse? How come? Which is the tougher landscape to live in? Which landscape makes humans happier? Post war, could this impact upon planning and house prices? Wonderful to hear Shackleton and Pankhurst, and some locals from WW1
As a teenager on the train in the 1970s, me and my sister once had a half hour chat with a lovely elderly lady. At one point she referred to the Great War and we asked how old she was, she said she was born in 1884. She sounded pretty much the same as anyone else in our area. The accent has changed very radically with people born in the 1990s and after, in my country. Everyone only has about three nasal vowels, a transatlantic accent learned from US TV shows in a childhood spent indoors.
Same as my Grandmother who spoke english with a light scottish accent. Her sister born in 1874 did the same. Their diction was very clear and it impressed me as a child.
As an Asian I did notice that English speaking people are sounding more American and it saddens me. I love British shows and occasionally there's an American accent from an American and it spoils the flow.
Oh my goodness...this brought me to tears! How wonderful that these recordings from WW1 survived! I am absoultely blown away by the beauty of their voices ❤ .. it's one thing to see old photos... but to actually hear old voices... now that is a wonderful thing! I would have liked, very much, to hear so much more.
I once worked with a lady who sounded every bit as Southern as anybody from the state of Georgia in the US. However, one day, I noticed a bit of accent creeping into her voice. I said to her, "You're from Liverpool!" and she looked startled and asked me how I knew that. I explained I have a degree in English and made a hobby of identifying accents. She told me she and her parents left England for the States when she was three, and that her accent would change when she was tired or stressed. I feel it might be arguable that fatigue and stress could well be a factor in why some of these men might sound so very 'down home' in these recordings.
I have a rather uninteresting accent that is close to standard received English when I am working or amongst strangers. As soon as I am amongst friends and relatives, my centre Leeds accent floods back. Few, even local people, can place the city centre Leeds accent, it has a hint of the city posh underpinned by the Yorkshire U hard vowel and a down the nose adenoidal sound. Its a bit as though I am ''putting it on'. It is very much an accent of commerce trying to step up. People rarely realise it is an accent not an affectation.
@@toforgetisagem8145 Received English is the synthetic accent. It was developed in Court by nobles to differentiate themselves from the common classes during the Early Victorian Era. If you listen to Original Pronunciation Shakespeare it is a very different thing than the usual high-flown eloquence of the usual performance. Romeo and his mates really do sound rather more like an East End gang of toughs roaming the streets. Hamlet sounds like a West Virginia "hillbilly". I've heard the Leeds accent, but it has been a very long time. Now I shall have to review it.
@@natfoote4967 I am well aware that Shakespeare's English is said to sounded more USA than modern English. English. It's not quite true. USA accent probably sounds more like Elizabethan English. Wordsworth's water rhymed with matter. My work voice is clear and clipped a bit like a relaxed BBC announcer of the late 1970's it is not particularly attractive. As you would expect Leeds has several varieties of accents. You can sometimes hear the centre of Leeds accents in the locally born office workers and some solicitors and city workers like bar staff. I think it maybe dying out a bit because of foreign influences. Mine comes from the Harehills area towards town. To hear it you might have to listen to older white people from that area. Some nurses at St James and LGI have it. Certainly there are psychiatric nurses at Beckling centre and other units in to the city centre have it know they have an accent like mine because I can't hear an accent! I think it might be an accent influenced by commerce, retail and engineering.
Bet she can’t do the difference between Blackburn and Darwen, Lancashire. They say Darron and we say Darrwon. It’s quite différant (or was 20 years ago when people actually met other people all the time spending time in pubs, clubs and fields etc. Btw, it’s 4 miles from centre to centre by road and 3 miles by train.
I thought this looks like an interesting historical video so I clicked on it but never expected to cry all the way through it. God bless those men, their families and may God rest their souls. The love goes on.
Just wanted to say, what an incredible talent was Joan Washington. She could swing into any Accent, just like that.... amazing. Bbc to find those First World War soldiers recorded in Germany, living history. Ah well RIP Joan, how would we know about your amazing span of dialects if it wasn’t through your other ‘talented half’. Liz Pearson, Stroud.
Indeed. So much better than tedious subtitles, eh? You get to see a large image of a man, signing furiously, drawing attention away from the subject matter. Brilliant!
@@michaelmaselly9164 No, Michael, this is British Sign Language. It is an indigenous language of the UK, grown since at least medieval times. Most countries have their own developed sign language, except countries where deaf people have been isolated amongst hearing people.
My great grandfather was born in 1881 and lived for 96 year's, his wife 94 year's, as a cabin boy he'd been round the world by 1900 and lived to see a man on the moon
@@VNExperience no sorry, he rarely spoke, he wasn't unfriendly but he and his wife just got on with thing's, he was a painter and decorator working for himself and didn't retire till he was 75, he always wore a flat cap, navy 40s style suit and studded collar shirt and tie, shiny black lace up boot's, smoked 12.5 grams of tobacco every day of his life. Never ever swore and spoke with a edwardian london accent, I never knew his first name, just granddad and grandmother
@@roberthayes9842 He was fortunate to have been born at a time when the technological revolution had kicked off and changed our way of life at an incredible rate. From telegrams and horse-drawn carriages to computers, TV and voyages to the moon. I wonder what stories we will be able tell our grandchildren's generation if we get to live a long life and remain sharp.
@@VNExperience haha I'm nearly dead my friend, I do wonder about flying cars, the eradication of cancer and heart problems, genetic birth defects, fortunately I won't be here to see the future as within 50 year's food, water and rising sea levels will possibly be the beginning of the end of us, sorry to be pessimistic, so I think my great grandfather father may have seen the best of time, who really knows
@@roberthayes9842 We have not evolved to solve problems as big as climate change and water scarcity, everything stemming from unbridled population growth. Alas, I share your sentiment. But no matter how messed up things are 50 years from now, there will be a campfire somewhere where stories are told of excess and greed.
I love the old lady whose hands are filmed very dramatically while listening to her brother's voice, and they surely would have liked her to sob and tell us about how emotional this is, and - nothing at all, she just says the record didn't sound like all like her brother, and that was it. Priceless!
@@janehendry-webb1944 And they had spent a long time with other lads, different accents make you speak differently its still like that in the military now... in the Navy anyway its a huge melting pot of class, brilliant.
@@SR-ol6xm Correct. and modern communication, and travel, spreads the changes. While on a 2 week sales meeting 20 yrs ago, sales staff from most large cities ,were gathered close together, during work and in the evenings. By the events ending, we all admitted that we had all picked up the SCOUSE Reps accent the most.
I am in awe at the presenter, Joan, at how she switches accents, with her knowledge of many, with such ease and speed ! A mesmerising feat that I was so impressed with and the whole video was so well put together - thank you for putting so much time and effort into this incredible feat for future generations to hear and see ❤ ( I said all that with my Geordie accent ! ).
I am age 60 now. When I think back regional accents were stronger even 40 years ago. In more recent times I think people have been influenced by film, television and online.
I would agree wholeheartedly, and place a particular stress on the proverbial telly. Accents, wherever or whenever, come about historically by local communication, geography, and outer influences such as (unfortunately) wars and migratory flow. It's extremely hard to express regional accents in the written form; because language is oral- it's all about SOUNDS, added to which are rises and dips. A fascinating study in human communication. You might want to look up "The Story of the English Language"- a series on that precise subject that came out in the seventies I believe, and covered the subject of English spoken across the earth and through the ages. Highly recommendable. Please forgive me if you already know this series. Best regards.
@@diane9247 The average young men and women from Louisiana Arkansas Tennessee Virginia NC Georgia and Texas talk with a Tom Brokaw type accent. It's shocking to hear individuals under 27/28 yrs old from the "Deep South" talk like someone from Pennsylvania.
@@etherealcatholic5711 Right, it's a nation of newscasters! 😮 A southern accent I really miss hearing is New Orleans, which has a certain elegance and sometimes a slight North Eastern flair. As for micro-regional accents, the Upper Mission Dist. of San Francisco sounded Brooklyn-ish until about the late '60s. It can still be heard among the elderly. (In that case it's about a change in immigrant groups.)
I loved it when she said that Shackleton didn't have much of an accent, simply because his was close to her own very posh (to my ears) southern, middle class accent.
Never have I listened to something more fascinating! This is absolutely, absolutely amazing! Being a Serb, I cannot help but wonder whether the Germans recorded any Serbian prisoners... I do know that they did record soldiers from Bosnian and Croatian regiments, but they were their own soldiers, and they mostly recorded their songs in 1916. (some of them quite bawdy). But here I am, straying from the subject with which I started... I am fascinated by the lady who narrated and researched all this... In every sound, one can feel that she truly loves what she is doing... and it gives me hope for the humanity, because, surely, this world can't be doomed if there are people like her in it... Well, at least I hope so...
Yes there is hope. For me, one of the heroes of this clip is an old German gentleman from the start, who upon the discovery of voice recordings wanted to make a world archive of languages, the way they were spoken then. Oh, and by the way, greetings from Beograd, sa Slavije :-)
@@quirkessence9446Pozdrav, brate i sunarodniče! I am glad that I am not the only Serb who is interested in old sound recordings. I feared that, after the death of Milan Milovanović, only two or three of us are left alive.
A treasure, amazing! Thank you so much Joan Washington and all behind the making of this monumental documenting of our past heroes. Rest peacefully Joan, you're an inspiration xx
My grandmothers were born in 1891 and 1900 respectively. Both were working class Glaswegians and nobody left alive speaks like they did, but I remember their voices clear as day.
My Grandmother was born in Kilmarnock 1886 died in Boston, MA 1973 when we were out of the house my Grandmother had no accent at all, but the minute she was around other Scots she would just sing! makes my heart 💔 to think she suppressed her speech out fear of sounding foreign. Miss her today.
@@jeanwinders9556 I'm American and I was traveling in Canada and I stayed at a hostel where there were Canadians and a Scotsman. I noticed that the Scotsman was stiff and formal when he spoke to me & his English was typically British, if you will, but when I said that I think that Scotland should have its freedom and I am for freedom for All nations, he switched into a Scottish accent which hed been using with the Canadians & which I could understand completely and it was so lovely. AND THEN I thought of the power of language and WHAT people DO TO BE accepted or fit in or to avoid censure you from a snobby person. WHICH brings to my mind my doctor's appointment here in Texas yesterday-- the doctor was Asian and she spoke with a strong Texan accent which seemed so incongruous with her face and her body language which was NOT Texan BUT much MORE Asian. IN time she realised I had NO Texan accent and so I must be from elsewhere and she relaxed into a type of English similar to what I was speaking-- which is sort of considered Standard English that you hear on the radio or TV-- & again I thought of the POWER of language and HOW people try to reflect the accent used by the persons they associate with, even if it means suppressing their own true way of speaking and feeling. AS Shakespeare would say: THAT IS THE RUB. BECAUSE language and HOW we use it, contains feelings and if we cannot use language the way we want to, THAT means THAT our feelings are bottled up; repressed; & suppressed; making us feel oppressed, if you will. IT occurs to me that with the removal of local accents you have removed the feelings that were embedded in those accents and that is where our sadness comes from. I think the relatives-- that heard their ancestor from 90 years ago speak-- were sad because he was gone BUT also BECAUSE of the lost of the feelings embedded in the type of accent that he used so very naturally AND THAT THEY NO LONGER used and SO NO LONGER had access to the feelings of this long gone soul and his generation, albeit they shared the same bloodline.
To everyone baffled by the signing on a sound-focused programme: I'm deaf, went deaf at 14. I can hear a little but really need to see your face to read lips and understand you. But I can hear a bit and learning about accents really helps me understand people in day to day interactions. In this case signing is like having subtitles on a film in a language you speak as a second language.
pomosapiens May I ask what caused the deafness. To have normal hearing then to lose it suddenly at a an age where life is beginning to become challenging must have been extremely difficult to deal with. I’m guessing you had good family support at least I hope so.
My grandad fought in that war as a teenager. I was born 50+ years later in Canada so only knew him and his brothers as old men who'd spent decades away from home. Interesting program, we've seen photos and written accounts but to hear the voices shines a whole new light on it.
It is so strange to think that as a small boy, I knew and talked to "Edwardians". They were already very old by then, but born under Victoria, and grew up under Edward VII. World War I seemed like a thing of the not too distant past. Now, it is truly a century ago. The difference in perception that makes today is remarkable. This is a beautiful program.
My dad was born in 1896, so Victorian, fought in, and survived WW1, trained soldier's in the Transport units of WW2. I was born in 1941, so, although he has now departed, we two linked 3 centuries.
When Nicola says she doesn't think she has an accent, it reminds me of what Prince Charles said at the beginning of his interview on the David Letterman Show in New York: "Since I'm the only one here without an accent, I'll speak slowly." Gotta love that Brit sense of humor, I mean uh, humour.
@@andyjarman4958 No it was changed from Saxe-Coburg (the family of Prince Albert) to Windsor in 1917 because of anti-German sentiment in WWI. Three days earlier the Battenburg family resident in England changed their name to Mountbatten for the same reason. Thus the title of Prince Philip's mother Princess Alice of Battenburg became Mountbatten, a name that Philip himself adopted in 1947 (though strictly he was a Schleswig-Holstein- Sonderburg-Glücksburg). Thus some members of the Royal Family are entitled to use the surname Mountbatten-Windsor, though the official name of the family is Windsor.
I always feel so sad with anything involving WW 1 and WW 2 ! Whole generations of young men gone and forgotten. Useless, futile wars that accomplish nothing but enrich those behind these wars; all wars ! I am glad we at least have these documentaries from those times !
Superb vid. I live in Lincolnshire and my grandad who was local spoke differently to people around me. My great grandfather from Kings Lynn ,Norfolk delighted me no end with his accent. I love the different voices that still remain in the British isles, I've been all over on my 125cc scooter and talk to as many people as I can. From a lad in Buxton sweeping up outside Morrisons in Buxton, Derbyshire to the old artist and lovely man Lord Longleat. Carry on, accents are so fascinating, well done
What a captivating documentary. The presenter is so moved by the voices of men she didn't even know and she finds it difficult to understand why the man who hears his father's voice isn't more emotional upon hearing it again. I found them extremely emotive.
Oh, my! How touching to see these families listening to their "Tommies". I have many photos of my daughter who died at 9 and they make me smile. But after 28 years I still can't listen to the little tapes the children made. There's nothing like hearing the voice.... these are like visitations at dawn of loved family.
I can't even imagine how you find the strength to carry on after the loss of a child. Although with others depending on you and loving you, there isn't a choice. The only words I think of at times of loss for someone, is to remind them that their loved one has gone to a world infinitely better than this one. God bless!
The death of a child has been described as a mortal wound from which you do not die. I can quite understand why you cannot yet listen to those recordings I would be exactly the same, don't let anyone rush you do it in your own time or not at all if it's just too upsetting. Sincere condolences for your loss.
when you move away from where you grew up, it warms your heart to hear your home accent spoken by someone, and if you go back, your voice goes right back to join in the accent that your home town speaks, even if it has changed while you are away. It is such a joining feeling, it must be to do with tribe identity
A brilliant piece - intelligent, emotional and educational. A wonderful narrator who brought out the best from her interviewees. Classic BBC that the world admires. Respect and greetings from Poland.
Completely blown away. My father, from Sheffield, went to war at age 17. He got sent back, as underage, to an officer’s school and went back to France in 1918. He spoke perfect “gentleman’s English” as well as broad Yorkshire although I mostly heard just the former, sadly. What memories this brings back. Thank you for a fascinating and moving video
This was an absolutely fascinating documentary. We in Italy also have many different accents not only based on regions but at times valleys. And I must add, I became emotional watching how the family became emotional hearing their great grandfathers voice recording ....priceless ...
Surely one of the best documentaries on Youutbe not just for it's content but for the enthusiasm of the presenter Joan Washington, what a fascinating woman and a great loss not only to us but also I'm sure to her husband Richard E Grant the actor. Some people come into your life and leave an indelible impression.... thank you Joan R.I.P.
No, not one of the best Documentaries on You Tube…. Do look, and you’ll see countless better ones, however, this is fun to watch. A strange one, is the conversation with Quentin Crisp, back in the seventies. It’s all out there, and quite extraordinary!
Great programme. I don't know how the fella from Aberdeen held it together hearing his dad sing like that. I was on the verge of tears and I don't know him from Adam.
Yep, mass media in general were a big leveller of dialectal differences, beginning with literacy and the general reading of orthographically standardised texts like prayer books and newspapers.
Very unusual for someone from that area to think they are accentless and we are far more self deprecating about it too. I'm from the other side of the Cat and Fiddle to Macclesfield in Derbyshire and we are accutely aware of our terrible rural dialects. I do like some dialects, Gloucestershire for one. But North Midlands, my own, not one of the better ones.
Much less than that in parts. Where I live there are three accents within a 3 mile radius; if I went ten miles north, I'd cross an accent zone and be in another!
@@naturalbornchiller158 agreed there. I was born in Coventry, spent my early and mid teens near Birmingham and my parents live in Nuneaton. I now live in Lincolnshire and have done for about 15years. I can Definately say Coventry and Birmingham have little in common. Similar elongation on certain syllables but the Coventry accent is faster with its speech patterns and much more nasel then Birmingham. Nuneaton is like a countrified Birmingham. Lincolnshire to my ears is a diet coke version of East yorkshire. Im a magpie for picking up accents once I've been there long enough (doesn't take long though. Lol). So I guess my accent is a bit of a mongrel nowadays. Lol
I’m forever and eternally grateful for this documentary... I’m taking a deep breath for I cannot stop crying... I thank those that have passed and those that had a part of putting this together... You have all touched my heart ❤️
I too am from the old country of Germany and I ll comment on the minstrels of the Europeon ancestry that had to leave their homes,lands andjust bring with them the tools of their trades. Alpng The Homestead and Oregon trails families after hauling thwir menial prized possessions with them to the New World were forced to leave them behind on the trails. Whatever happened to all those old marvelous machines that they painstakingly loaded so they as craftsman could start all over once they attained a settlement to rebuild their once stable lives? Who were the miners and pickers who aquired their precious tools of their trades? Dod anyone ever wonder?
@@shirleyfunte3063 I’ve not been able to stop my sobs either. My family are from all over the uk so itmakes less sense that I’d cry. Very moving watching the family members listen along and what a gorgeous gift from this presenter ❤️ I understand it, sending you a hug. Be well 🌻 xxv
#Liza ❤️ I’ve not been able to stop my sobs either. My family are from all over the uk so itmakes less sense that I’d cry. Very moving watching the family members listen along and what a gorgeous gift from this presenter ❤️ I understand it, sending you a hug. Be well 🌻 xxv
Accents can be very precise. In Sussex some forty years after leaving my home town I was working with a young woman and asked her if she was from Retford in Nottinghamshire. Quite startled she said yes, that was my home town and the accent was - to me - quite distinctive.
Really nicely done. As an American- growing up in central Kentucky in the middle of the 20th Century I am amazed that I often see more remote British accents which mirror ours. These accents are getting diluted now- but to here certain vowels or the r pronounced in these British regions long ago makes me feel the linked history
Like everyone.who has watched this programme I was totally, totally utterly and completely charmed by the beautiful presenter of this fantastic programme . I welled up often whilst watching it . So determined to discover who she was I googled How the Edwardians Spoke. Her name is Joan Washington ,Richard E. Grants wife who passed away September 2021. How very very sad . How poignant that her beautiful personality and cultured voice will live on in this programme along with the WW1 POWs. Now I come to something very strange indeed .As I'm writing this Richard E Grant is on the Tele . In Michael McIntire's The Wheel. Stranger than fiction .
When he was promoting his new book about Joan I tweeted to him about how much I love this program and how I'd always hoped it would spawn a series.. He sent me a very heartfelt and sweet reply.. Such a lovely man. He was crazy in love with her, and I can totally see why
What an amazing piece of work and how fascinating. I am impressed with the female presenter who truly loves her subject. A privilege to listen to all those forgotten voices. Long may our wonderful British isles maintain its accents and dialects.
@@andrewgoodbody2121 The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles (Orkney and Shetland), and over six thousand smaller islands. They have a total area of 315,159 km2 (121,684 sq mi) and a combined population of almost 72 million, and include two sovereign states, the Republic of Ireland (which covers roughly five-sixths of Ireland), and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Channel Islands, off the north coast of France, are normally taken to be part of the British Isles, even though they do not form part of the archipelago.
Here in Darlington we are not Geordies, Teessiders, Yorkies, or Pennine people, but we speak completely differently from all of them, & also from places as little as 4 miles away. I can identify dialect boundaries up river, down river, & up county in all directions.
I don't doubt that she's quite an expert accent coach. But this American is struck by how she speaks (in her normal voice) with a locked jaw! How very British!
I have an hour of my grandmother talking on cassette answering questions about her life, She recalls her school teacher telling the class the `Titanic` had sunk, she`d have been seven. It was recorded in 1995 she was born in 1907. My aunt plays a copy every Christmas. It`s become her tradition.
This lady's command of accents and her ability to hear tiny differences is quite amazing. I agree with her idea that landscape can influence pronunciation. I think you can sometimes also hear hints of the influence of landscape and other features of life in folk tunes. It would be an interesting thing to study.
sassulusmagnus - Here in Holland, we have dozens of very distinct accents in a very small area and the landscape everywhere is exactly the same: COMPLETELY FLAT. So much for the landscape theory. Not only regions, but inner-city, suburbs, countryside, and, of course, working class, middle class, upper class, etc., with subtle or not so subtle variations within each. What's funny is that the pompous upper crust accent in Holland shares with that in England in that speakers of each sound like they are speaking with a hot potato in their mouth.
@HerrNilssonTheMonkey I don't see the correlation. What's wrong or imprecise about the gentleman's comment? The fine language expert herself voiced those very words. I think you ought to take an extensive course in geography and especially in linguistics. A very piteous remark of yours, indeed.
@@virvisquevir3320 That's probably because they walk around with hot potatoes in their mouths, but feel they have to talk all the time. Mind you, the Eastenders of London loved their steaming hot chips, while doing their Cockney Rhyming Slang- a gem in it's own.
@Nim Boo A very coherent and logical approach have you Sir. We are a mixture of frailties at all times, and are also subject to the influence of outer circumstances, which are a myriad of possibilities, accidents, and circumstances of all sorts.
I was confused with the signing at first, but it's equally facinating to see how he uses his body language and facial expressions (esp from the eyes up) to convey not only the accent, but also the attitude and inflection of the person speaking. My perspective widened a little today. Super cool. Thank you.
I’m astounded by the number of people making snarky comments about deaf people showing interest in a programme about accents. Consider this: 1. Deaf people have, by necessity, deep interest in speech. 2. Most deaf people were born with full hearing and lost it through accident, illness, or age. 3. Most deaf people use vocal as well as signed speech. Not all of us hearing folk are bilingual in terms of sign language. 4. Most deaf people lip-read. Accents can change the shape and movements of the mouth, even when native English speakers say the same words. 5. Being deaf doesn’t automatically exclude people from being interested in history, language, and culture. 6. Closed captioning: English may not be the first language of those watching. 7. Deaf people are not automatically excluded from enjoyment of visual presentations. This is a programme about accents and relies on vocal speech to communicate. Those put off by the signer do not have to watch to get the most of the experience. You could sit with your back to the TV, or put your mobile device facedown, and you’d still hear everything. The visuals are embellishment. Snarky about the signer using strong facial expressions? Ask somebody to videotape you while you tell a story!
Bravo, well put! This should be a highlighted comment! Somebody at last with something sensible to say and intelligently and coherently expressed! I was beginning to believe such commentators didn't exist! 😄
Thanks for posting! love this! I'm a raving Anglophile, so I can't get enough of regional accents. Also, I'm a 7th generation Texan, and my ancestors come from places like the West Country and Scotland. It's interesting to hear what has been retained and what has changed, especially in the way my grandparents spoke. And her notion that accents reflect topography is really interesting to me. Texas is a big place with a lot of accents, and they generally reflect this idea. Also, the non-nasal sound of port cities is spot on: native folks from New Orleans all have that kind of stopped-up quality.
My grandmother, from deepest Somerset, had travelled very little and had an accent incomprehensible to most outsiders. When she first heard someone speaking a foreign language on the television she said (accent toned down for sake of clarity), “You don’t reckon they can understand each other do ‘ee? I’d reckon ‘tis just a lot of showing off and when they’m at ‘ome they do talk just the same as what we do” 😂
This is an astonishing programme - linguistically, genealogically and historically. I've always spoken about accents having a 'tune' from different parts of the UK but I hadn't thought about them being related to the landscape/townscape. I wonder if there's a way of hearing these now - if they've been catalogued? Marvellous food for thought here. Thank you for posting.
Barry Poupard This is very obvious inIreland. Midland accents are very flat as is the landscape but in cork with many hills, the accent is very sing-song
I am from Glasgow. The younger generation there might use the word faither in jest, but my 80 year old mother uses it earnestly. My sister in law comes from about 20 miles along the Clyde from there in Greenock. She pronounces the same word as fe thur. It sounds like the word feather. Fascinating little differences in such short distances.
My cousin recently sent me a recording that my uncle made of my Grandmother and Grandfather on New Years Eve, 1966 that was sent to my other uncle in New Zealand. Fascinating to hear their voices but more so, myself when I was 6 years old.
Oh how beautiful. This researcher is filled with such conviction. She sees a voice as a product of its environment. And how heartbreaking that Phillip's family heard their great-uncle reciting the Prodigal Son, when Phillip himself experienced 'lost years' from PTSD. Emotional, harrowed, frightened. I won't forget you, Mr. Jarvis. Farmers, fishermen, shepherds, and the illiterate. These men, so far from home. Imprisoned by the enemy. No wonder these recordings have a note of melancholy. Singing the songs of Home. Reciting passages they learned as a child from mother and father. Of course they clung to the sounds of their parents and grandparents, to remind themselves of home. George's voice is just heartwrenching. Beautiful, lonesome. Bonny, Bonny Banks of Loch Lomond. It's so intimate and personal. And how cheeky, for him to be the first to volunteer. Thank you for uploading this video. Please never take it down. What a treasure.
Wonderful. I go to the WW1 battlefields every year and have always wondered what it would be like to listen to the soldiers. I never imagined it might be possible to do so. Deeply moving.
Fascinating. Dialects and accents are part of our history. I was bought up in Surrey, Sussex and Hants. I have relatives with broad accents. I have lived in South Wales for nearly 20 years and it's amazing how people in Swansea can sound different from Llanelli or Neath, just a few miles away. Interesting subject.
Once Rome had conquered the known world and had it all unified by one Speech LATIN. Then the classical World fell, and a multiplicity of dialects evolved into separate tongues. With the threat of worldwide global Conflict, fueled by escalating Terrorism, it could conceivably happen again, in all parts of the world with their own unifying mode of communication in each region of the globe breaking down into conflicting babble talk, as in the Biblical Story of The Tower of Babel. But then, it may not, God willing. With cell phones, computers, and libraries, hopefully, every possible dialect will be preserved like every species of animal on Noah's Ark!
I'll never forget attending an AA meeting in Edinburgh decades ago. I could not understand someone talking and it was explained to me that they were from the Outer Hebrides - it seems everyone else there had no difficulty. As an American, I was bemused that they had no trouble knowing exactly what I said. 🤗
I am originally from Colombia in South America. I have lived in London 22 years now. I hold now a British passport and therefore I am a British citizen too. I found this video most moving and beautiful. It is a shame regional accents are dying out in England and how emotional to hear the voices from the past.
I totally agree even in this country we don't have as many different accents but they're going away to you know the Brooklyn accent that you see an old movies doesn't exist anymore if it ever did yes I hate to see them going away
Thank you. What a fabulous documentary. So emotional especially when the family heard fear in the voice 😢 The presenter is wonderful; enchanting. Much love to all that took part 💝
I’m finding that most of these documentaries work just as well without the picture, so I just close my eyes and go to sleep listening to the sound only. It’s like a podcast. Most all the visual stuff in these BBC docs are superfluous.
My Grand Father served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force 57th Western Scots of BC. Wounded and invalidated out in 1916 later dying at the age of 42 in 1926 from those wounds leaving my Grand Mother,, My Dad 15 and His 8yr old brother. No matter how bad the POW's life was it must have been better than the hell that was the trenches.100+ years ago now, if this isn't melancholic I don't know what is.So long ago but, I hope never forgotten.
My great grandfather was taken prisoner at Cambrai in 1917 serving with the London Rifle Brigade. He was held in two different camps in Westphalia. The prisoners were gradually starved by the Germans (who themselves had little or no food due to the blockade of their seaports by the Royal Navy) and a Russian prisoner kicked my GGF's teeth out when he bent down to pick up a biscuit thrown down by a guard.
Why do I feel so sad? My grandfather came from Dorset and his dad used to walk with Hardy. I never knew him and have always wanted to hear how the Folletts from West County spoke,
That is beyond an incredible story - i would love to know the recollection of Hardy - my God the quintessential Victorian novelist and one I had alwys focused on.
@@writeract2 It's so hard to say. The more popular works I've read so many times, but I think, perhaps, "The Mayor of Casterbridge", and a more obscure work I first read only two years ago, "The Woodlanders". (I did a mini-thesis on "The Return of the Native" at UCT a gazillion years ago, but cannot recall the book at all. Will definitely rectify this.) Thanks for the chat. Hardy is all about hubris, fatal character flaws, and dark synchronicities, which are so much part of life.
@@maggiefollett636 I've only read his poetry which I love (he considered himself more of a poet than noveliest but his novels fared better), I've yet to tackle the novels but I know I will get through all or most one day. Jude The Obscure is a major one, also Tess of the D'ubervilles. I watched Barchester Chronicles BBC adaptation - - not bad. If hubris and human character flaws major themes, that would be interesting for me.
This lovely teacher of accents is fascinating. They way she describes the differences is the first time I have ever considered the tones and the lilts. I loved it.
If you were asked to speak to the first voice recording apparatus ever, so that 100 years later the record of your voice can be played to millions of strangers from all over the world you would feel frightened too.
One of my great-grandfathers Samuel was a prisoner of the Germans during the first world war. He was treated well. He had a photograph of his family and one of the German officers had it copied for him with a photograph of Samuel in his uniform patched in. I still treasure that family photograph. Samuel died before I was born and I wonder whether my ancestor is in those recordings. I would love to hear his voice.
That German bloke might have the most relaxing voice I've ever heard. Also, I always find that when Germans speak in English, they sound incredibly camp.
I'm from Stockport, 12 miles from Macclesfield. I moved to Lincs, where the locals have the laziest accent imaginable almost 30 yrs ago. About 25 years ago, locally, I heard a very old lady speak & knew immediately she was from Stockport. Her accent was in the older dialect, a dialect which belonged to my parents generation & which is in some parts receding almost blending into the awful Mancunian. We should cherish our accents, they ground us & keep us within the origins & peculiarities of the communities from which we originate.
We have all this round here,east and north of Bristol on the farms. I couldn't understand the farmers when I 1st moved here 15 years ago. . V few of them left as all about to croak and the younguns don't want to go into farming, what with all the cow prejudice and other difficulties. There is also the BBC which is v prejudiced agai at the west country accent from Birmingham onwards. What a shame we can't have a couple more episodes? Ms Washington introduced a fascinating subject.
I don’t know when this video was made, Imam seeing it now in 2021. But this has been one of the best programs that I have seen on TH-cam yet! I love all things Brit. Have met many many who have visited the US on Holiday. I am probably in more packed away photo’s than most Americans! This was a great great program!!
This was an incredibly interesting documentary. And how touching it was to hear samples of the records. I also think it's a real shame that many accents/dialects in the world are disappearing rapidly.
I am from Louisiana and I feel the same. There are so many unique accents some so distinct but only 30 mins apart in geography. As the world becomes more global the more we lose these community identities without really gaining the “global one”.
@@Bambisgf77 interesting that you said that. Here in the UK it’s said that accents go in 15 mile bands. But then again, the UK is much smaller than the US but more densely packed per square mile.
11:59 Dorset accent but debatable might be Somerset. 13:25 singing. 16:03 Philip Garvis 1917 23:43 Philip Garvis played to his lovely family. 28:51 Photo of a recording being made. 31:19 Charlie Shears Wiltshire 31:52Charlie Shears Wiltshire 35:59 Charlie Shears Wiltshire 39:19 Philip Garvis 1917 40:17 Oxfordshire 45:40 George Campbell Aberdeen 48:04 George Campbell Aberdeen singing 49:43 George Campbell Aberdeen speaking 51:19 George Campbell Aberdeen singing 52:07 Charlotte Patterson Posh voice . 53:34 Shackleton Boarding school person . 56:12 ....58:16 Philip Garvis
My great grandmother lived in the Edwardian era though she was born in the late Victorian era of 1898. I tried to capture her voice on my tape recorder, but she was afraid it would capture her soul so I declined. I was just ten years old and I respected her wishes.
What a fantastic broadcast , I live in New Zealand now ,and when i am out with my dog waking i come across quite a few people from the Old Country and we stop and have a chat and fall back to our accents and me with my broad Scots accent we all enjoy listening to each other. I was born in Edinburgh !952 ,And my Grandfather was in the Black Watch WW1
This was fascinating. I live in Derbyshire and, as with most areas, there are local accents within the county that vary greatly from town to town. People from outside Derbyshire probably only hear one regional accent, but for those within we hear dozens and can tell from which town someone hails. It’s good to know that people are making such recordings for posterity.
Fascinating and moving. I have always loved listening to regional accents and attempting to identify their origin. How wonderful to hear those voices from a century ago.
I was born and raise in the Southern USA, and the accent at 12:00, "Tis of a farmer's Daughter …", etc. sounded very much to me like some of our mountain folk. I think this person could get along quite well with folks in the Appalachians of Tennessee.
Some of the accents in the USA, maybe around Virginia or towards the south, are supposed to be close derivatives of the British settlers' dialects at the time. There is a little bit of linguistic history in them thar hills.
That reminds me of when I first heard yall comm bak now yehere... I dutifully walked back to ask why I had to go back 😆🤣 I thought I'd forgotten to pay the bill 😃😄😂
![🎮เกมยิงปืนใหม่ ภาพสวย และ สมจริงที่สุดในโลก [ BODYCAM ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/My3l1owRY9I/mqdefault.jpg)
The BBC regularly re-broadcasts Sign Language versions of their programmes, as seen here, late at night.
It was, obviously, during this time that I happened across this documentary.
As no un-signed version is available on TH-cam, I assume those interested in the subject will agree that this video is better than nothing.
Thank you for bringing this to light. I guess I'm a bit of an Anglophile, but since I've found my direct ancestral home land mentioned in the opening lines of Finnegans Wake, and since my grandmother spent her golden years in Dublin, Ireland.... not just Dublin Georgia, where she was born, I've felt a kinship and a longing for the homeland, and this document has given birth to some wonderful ideas and the wonderful sounds of the English Language that I will be able to share with my Daughter as well as others. Thanks again for putting this information up for those of us in the U.S. to digest. I had tears during most of this documentary. Us Yanks tend to think that we were the only ones who sacrificed in any of the wars of our century, it's so good to be reminded that others paid the price for freedom, and others were left to bring the boys back home.
After the first minute or so, I was unaware of the translator, just as I forget, moments into a movie with subtitles, that I am reading. The mind adjusts!
Well, thanks for putting it up, but it makes it unwatchable, and it's totally absurd in a programme about how people sounded.
No at at all true! People who can't hear are, perhaps even more interested, than the hearing, in the study of dialects and sounds of languages as they strive to better understand sound. I sure would be. Regarding your comment, please give it some more thought. If you were blind, wouldn't you want every opportunity to learn of the color red or blue? To me it's hardly unwatchable, but rather a brilliant and enlightening thing to see. Kudos to the signer and producers. I would also guess this documentary is part of a course of study in schools for the deaf!
Thanks for that explanation, man. Just a shame that the sign language guy was so annoying.
This lovely lady died recently at a relatively young age. What a very sad loss. She had such a store of knowledge.
RiP
Really? She really seemed very lovely indeed. RIP
I've just stumbled across this amazing documentary, and paused to google the very impressive and knowledgable presenter, Joan Washington, only to find that she passed away 4 days ago. I'd seen news reports that the wife of Richard E Grant had died, but I had no idea that this was the same woman. I'm really sad to know that this fascinating person has just passed, and wish her family peace and strength as they grieve.
Oh no! That's so sad! I remember seeing this documentary years ago and being fascinated! I found her knowledge and passion for her subject to be so impressive! I was so glad to find the documentary on YT and her death is a real loss to the field in which she worked. Had no idea she was married to Richard E. Grant either. RIP Joan and thank you for passing on just a small part of your treasury of knowledge on a little known subject.
Peace and strength in our Lord.
Thank you Claire.
The same happenstance for me, right now.
God bless Joan.....a truly amazing woman, that has gifted us all a strong strand to our incredible past.
So sad to hear that. As you, I have stumbled on this documentary.
Someone really needs to write her a Wikipedia page.
My grandfather fought in WW2 (against the Russians in the Finnish army) and died in 1970 at the age of 50. I never got to meet him, but he had recorded his memoirs on a tape recorder. He was traumatized by the war; he never talked about it to anyone. The recording was a form of therapy, I suppose. Hearing his voice makes me emotional - and the stories are horrifying yet absolutely fascinating. I so wish he had lived longer.
You should contact the lady who made this doco.
Kiitos!
He lives through you
🙏🙏💕
My uncle had a breakdown through fear as he was forced into the army. He never recovered and became psychotic. His father beat him for weakness. He died at 56, he was so sweet and clever and lived his life in a mental institution. It hurts, he was a lovely man. Here we are once again at war.... do we never learn ✌
I love the connection she draws between the landscape and the accent. Beautiful part of life that we unfortunately often miss...is how nature and our surroundings affect our thinking and so many things about us.
Fascinating , I have taken the hint and recorded my 91 yrold grandma recently , so her great great great great grankids can hear her when she's gone
Pundy Amazing!!!!:) you're done a great service.
A lot of Brits have mixed accents, my mum came from Cambridgeshire, and I lived there for the first eight years of my life, then we moved to Surrey, and were joined by my father who came from Gloucestershire. I now live in Wiltshire, but I don't think I have an accent; but on holiday in the USA, a man standing behind me in Yellowstone Park, said "Bristol," which astounded me, it's
about 30 miles away! Took a Yank to spot it.
I want to record my parents, each telling tale of how they fell in love..
@@lesleyhawes6895 Brizzel!
this good idea I lost my grandmother record I feel bad
My grandfather grew up in Cornwall. He fought in the first world war and he sounded so much like these men. He talked about his "fayther" and his "mether" I miss him so much. Dear man.
my ancestors came from Cornwall and always wondered if they sounded british
@@deanawade5878 your Cornish ancestors, if you go back far enough, would likely have spoken the Cornish language.
Like how the Queen speaks
Everyone was certainly more articulate. I love reading Dickens, too. English was beautiful, then. You could insult someone with the most eloquent words!
I would love to hear that. I love these country accents in England. They are so comfortable-sounding.
Each of the recorded men could sing. I suppose in those days people were more social, spoke to each other and sang for fun. No mobile phones or computer games. Fascinating program.
What an amazing presenter. I could listen to her insights for hours. RIP
Am I the only one who's wondering how people watching this with sign language are distinguishing accents???
yes, clearly you are.
No you are not.
I have a hard time imagining that.
btw, What's a jordi(?) accent?
pair of assholes here guys
Ron Jitter Why are they assholes for wondering?
jfhow Geordie accent is the accent spoken in and around Newcastle
I love how she ties the accents to the environment the people live in. It really brings the whole subject to another level
Why is a flat landscape like Norfolk productive of a monotone and a hilly landscape like S. Wales: the absolute reverse? How come? Which is the tougher landscape to live in? Which landscape makes humans happier? Post war, could this impact upon planning and house prices?
Wonderful to hear Shackleton and Pankhurst, and some locals from WW1
As a teenager on the train in the 1970s, me and my sister once had a half hour chat with a lovely elderly lady. At one point she referred to the Great War and we asked how old she was, she said she was born in 1884. She sounded pretty much the same as anyone else in our area. The accent has changed very radically with people born in the 1990s and after, in my country. Everyone only has about three nasal vowels, a transatlantic accent learned from US TV shows in a childhood spent indoors.
Indeed, and I find this rather sad.😊
Cockneys already weren't speaking like they ough'a. Language constantly changes
Same as my Grandmother who spoke english with a light scottish accent. Her sister born in 1874 did the same. Their diction was very clear and it impressed me as a child.
As an Asian I did notice that English speaking people are sounding more American and it saddens me. I love British shows and occasionally there's an American accent from an American and it spoils the flow.
What's wrong with American accents? All accents are interesting?
Oh my goodness...this brought me to tears! How wonderful that these recordings from WW1 survived! I am absoultely blown away by the beauty of their voices ❤ .. it's one thing to see old photos... but to actually hear old voices... now that is a wonderful thing! I would have liked, very much, to hear so much more.
I once worked with a lady who sounded every bit as Southern as anybody from the state of Georgia in the US. However, one day, I noticed a bit of accent creeping into her voice. I said to her, "You're from Liverpool!" and she looked startled and asked me how I knew that. I explained I have a degree in English and made a hobby of identifying accents. She told me she and her parents left England for the States when she was three, and that her accent would change when she was tired or stressed. I feel it might be arguable that fatigue and stress could well be a factor in why some of these men might sound so very 'down home' in these recordings.
I've lived away from the south for decades, but my accent comes back for the same reasons as hers.
Very interesting
I have a rather uninteresting accent that is close to standard received English when I am working or amongst strangers. As soon as I am amongst friends and relatives, my centre Leeds accent floods back. Few, even local people, can place the city centre Leeds accent, it has a hint of the city posh underpinned by the Yorkshire U hard vowel and a down the nose adenoidal sound. Its a bit as though I am ''putting it on'. It is very much an accent of commerce trying to step up. People rarely realise it is an accent not an affectation.
@@toforgetisagem8145 Received English is the synthetic accent. It was developed in Court by nobles to differentiate themselves from the common classes during the Early Victorian Era. If you listen to Original Pronunciation Shakespeare it is a very different thing than the usual high-flown eloquence of the usual performance. Romeo and his mates really do sound rather more like an East End gang of toughs roaming the streets. Hamlet sounds like a West Virginia "hillbilly".
I've heard the Leeds accent, but it has been a very long time. Now I shall have to review it.
@@natfoote4967 I am well aware that Shakespeare's English is said to sounded more USA than modern English. English. It's not quite true. USA accent probably sounds more like Elizabethan English. Wordsworth's water rhymed with matter. My work voice is clear and clipped a bit like a relaxed BBC announcer of the late 1970's it is not particularly attractive. As you would expect Leeds has several varieties of accents. You can sometimes hear the centre of Leeds accents in the locally born office workers and some solicitors and city workers like bar staff. I think it maybe dying out a bit because of foreign influences. Mine comes from the Harehills area towards town. To hear it you might have to listen to older white people from that area. Some nurses at St James and LGI have it. Certainly there are psychiatric nurses at Beckling centre and other units in to the city centre have it know they have an accent like mine because I can't hear an accent! I think it might be an accent influenced by commerce, retail and engineering.
I would love a film of just this lady pointing to a map of England and speaking the accent of each particular region.
Hahaha trust me 🤣
I saw a very old American show that did exactly that (on TH-cam)
There is actually a TH-cam video of a girl who does it as a party trick and she does something like 20 different English accents it's pretty cool
Great idea
Bet she can’t do the difference between Blackburn and Darwen, Lancashire. They say Darron and we say Darrwon. It’s quite différant (or was 20 years ago when people actually met other people all the time spending time in pubs, clubs and fields etc. Btw, it’s 4 miles from centre to centre by road and 3 miles by train.
I thought this looks like an interesting historical video so I clicked on it but never expected to cry all the way through it. God bless those men, their families and may God rest their souls. The love goes on.
Just wanted to say, what an incredible talent was Joan Washington. She could swing into any Accent, just like that.... amazing. Bbc to find those First World War soldiers recorded in Germany, living history. Ah well RIP Joan, how would we know about your amazing span of dialects if it wasn’t through your other ‘talented half’. Liz Pearson, Stroud.
Whoever invented this sign language was a brilliant genius. The human spirit and need to communicate cannot be suppressed.
American Natives
Indeed. So much better than tedious subtitles, eh? You get to see a large image of a man, signing furiously, drawing attention away from the subject matter. Brilliant!
@@Bhatt_Hole I suppose it can get on one’s nerves after a while.
@@michaelmaselly9164 No, Michael, this is British Sign Language. It is an indigenous language of the UK, grown since at least medieval times. Most countries have their own developed sign language, except countries where deaf people have been isolated amongst hearing people.
Also, quite pointless in a study of how people sound.
My great grandfather was born in 1881 and lived for 96 year's, his wife 94 year's, as a cabin boy he'd been round the world by 1900 and lived to see a man on the moon
The stories he must have told! You don't have any recordings of him by any chance?
@@VNExperience no sorry, he rarely spoke, he wasn't unfriendly but he and his wife just got on with thing's, he was a painter and decorator working for himself and didn't retire till he was 75, he always wore a flat cap, navy 40s style suit and studded collar shirt and tie, shiny black lace up boot's, smoked 12.5 grams of tobacco every day of his life. Never ever swore and spoke with a edwardian london accent, I never knew his first name, just granddad and grandmother
@@roberthayes9842 He was fortunate to have been born at a time when the technological revolution had kicked off and changed our way of life at an incredible rate. From telegrams and horse-drawn carriages to computers, TV and voyages to the moon. I wonder what stories we will be able tell our grandchildren's generation if we get to live a long life and remain sharp.
@@VNExperience haha I'm nearly dead my friend, I do wonder about flying cars, the eradication of cancer and heart problems, genetic birth defects, fortunately I won't be here to see the future as within 50 year's food, water and rising sea levels will possibly be the beginning of the end of us, sorry to be pessimistic, so I think my great grandfather father may have seen the best of time, who really knows
@@roberthayes9842 We have not evolved to solve problems as big as climate change and water scarcity, everything stemming from unbridled population growth. Alas, I share your sentiment. But no matter how messed up things are 50 years from now, there will be a campfire somewhere where stories are told of excess and greed.
I love the old lady whose hands are filmed very dramatically while listening to her brother's voice, and they surely would have liked her to sob and tell us about how emotional this is, and - nothing at all, she just says the record didn't sound like all like her brother, and that was it. Priceless!
Maybe he was having them on by doing the wrong accent, his little rebellion like when he nicked the bread rolls ! 😅
@@janehendry-webb1944 And they had spent a long time with other lads, different accents make you speak differently its still like that in the military now... in the Navy anyway its a huge melting pot of class, brilliant.
And maybe they worried if they didn't sound "educated" they would be killed!
@@SR-ol6xm Correct. and modern communication, and travel, spreads the changes. While on a 2 week sales meeting 20 yrs ago, sales staff from most large cities ,were gathered close together, during work and in the evenings. By the events ending, we all admitted that we had all picked up the SCOUSE Reps accent the most.
@@almister 😂 that's what I actually thought then I read your comment eee funny comment that was you made Me laugh thanks.
I am in awe at the presenter, Joan, at how she switches accents, with her knowledge of many, with such ease and speed ! A mesmerising feat that I was so impressed with and the whole video was so well put together - thank you for putting so much time and effort into this incredible feat for future generations to hear and see ❤ ( I said all that with my Geordie accent ! ).
There are many youtubers much better than her.
@@keptins can you name them ?
I am age 60 now. When I think back regional accents were stronger even 40 years ago. In more recent times I think people have been influenced by film, television and online.
I would agree wholeheartedly, and place a particular stress on the proverbial telly. Accents, wherever or whenever, come about historically by local communication, geography, and outer influences such as (unfortunately) wars and migratory flow. It's extremely hard to express regional accents in the written form; because language is oral- it's all about SOUNDS, added to which are rises and dips. A fascinating study in human communication. You might want to look up "The Story of the English Language"- a series on that precise subject that came out in the seventies I believe, and covered the subject of English spoken across the earth and through the ages. Highly recommendable. Please forgive me if you already know this series. Best regards.
It's a shame accents have all but disappeared in the USA.
The "Southern Accent" is gone & we wont hear it once people over 43 are dead.
Same in the US. There was so much variety when I was under ten, fifty five± years ago.
@@diane9247 The average young men and women from Louisiana Arkansas Tennessee Virginia NC Georgia and Texas talk with a Tom Brokaw type accent.
It's shocking to hear individuals under 27/28 yrs old from the
"Deep South" talk like someone from Pennsylvania.
@@etherealcatholic5711 Right, it's a nation of newscasters! 😮 A southern accent I really miss hearing is New Orleans, which has a certain elegance and sometimes a slight North Eastern flair. As for micro-regional accents, the Upper Mission Dist. of San Francisco sounded Brooklyn-ish until about the late '60s. It can still be heard among the elderly. (In that case it's about a change in immigrant groups.)
Brilliant program. What is very fascinating is how much this well spoken lady knows about accents. She is incredible in herself.
I loved it when she said that Shackleton didn't have much of an accent, simply because his was close to her own very posh (to my ears) southern, middle class accent.
It's possible that she doesn't consider her 'RP' accent a proper regional accent.
Never have I listened to something more fascinating! This is absolutely, absolutely amazing! Being a Serb, I cannot help but wonder whether the Germans recorded any Serbian prisoners... I do know that they did record soldiers from Bosnian and Croatian regiments, but they were their own soldiers, and they mostly recorded their songs in 1916. (some of them quite bawdy). But here I am, straying from the subject with which I started... I am fascinated by the lady who narrated and researched all this... In every sound, one can feel that she truly loves what she is doing... and it gives me hope for the humanity, because, surely, this world can't be doomed if there are people like her in it... Well, at least I hope so...
❤️👍
Yes there is hope. For me, one of the heroes of this clip is an old German gentleman from the start, who upon the discovery of voice recordings wanted to make a world archive of languages, the way they were spoken then. Oh, and by the way, greetings from Beograd, sa Slavije :-)
@@quirkessence9446Pozdrav, brate i sunarodniče! I am glad that I am not the only Serb who is interested in old sound recordings. I feared that, after the death of Milan Milovanović, only two or three of us are left alive.
A treasure, amazing! Thank you so much Joan Washington and all behind the making of this monumental documenting of our past heroes. Rest peacefully Joan, you're an inspiration xx
My grandmothers were born in 1891 and 1900 respectively. Both were working class Glaswegians and nobody left alive speaks like they did, but I remember their voices clear as day.
My Grandmother was born in Kilmarnock 1886 died in Boston, MA 1973 when we were out of the house my Grandmother had no accent at all, but the minute she was around other Scots she would just sing! makes my heart 💔 to think she suppressed her speech out fear of sounding foreign. Miss her today.
@@jeanwinders9556 I'm American and I was traveling in Canada and I stayed at a hostel where there were Canadians and a Scotsman. I noticed that the Scotsman was stiff and formal when he spoke to me & his English was typically British, if you will, but when I said that I think that Scotland should have its freedom and I am for freedom for All nations, he switched into a Scottish accent which hed been using with the Canadians & which I could understand completely and it was so lovely. AND THEN I thought of the power of language and WHAT people DO TO BE accepted or fit in or to avoid censure you from a snobby person.
WHICH brings to my mind my doctor's appointment here in Texas yesterday--
the doctor was Asian and she spoke with a strong Texan accent which seemed so incongruous with her face and her body language which was NOT Texan BUT much MORE Asian. IN time she realised I had NO Texan accent and so I must be from elsewhere and she relaxed into a type of English similar to what I was speaking-- which is sort of considered Standard English that you hear on the radio or TV-- & again I thought of the POWER of language and HOW people try to reflect the accent used by the persons they associate with, even if it means suppressing their own true way of speaking and feeling.
AS Shakespeare would say:
THAT IS THE RUB. BECAUSE language and HOW we use it, contains feelings and if we cannot use language the way we want to, THAT means THAT our feelings are bottled up; repressed; & suppressed; making us feel oppressed, if you will. IT occurs to me that with the removal of local accents you have removed the feelings that were embedded in those accents and that is where our sadness comes from. I think the relatives-- that heard their ancestor from 90 years ago speak-- were sad because he was gone BUT also BECAUSE of the lost of the feelings embedded in the type of accent that he used so very naturally AND THAT THEY NO LONGER used and SO NO LONGER had access to the feelings of this long gone soul and his generation, albeit they shared the same bloodline.
My mum was Glaswegian moved to Liverpool lived here for over 40 years and never lost her accent.
@@alice-rm5hgyou only lose ye accent if ye want to
To everyone baffled by the signing on a sound-focused programme: I'm deaf, went deaf at 14. I can hear a little but really need to see your face to read lips and understand you. But I can hear a bit and learning about accents really helps me understand people in day to day interactions. In this case signing is like having subtitles on a film in a language you speak as a second language.
pomosapiens thank you for taking time to explain your experience 😊 there’s a lot of ignorant people here!
pomosapiens May I ask what caused the deafness. To have normal hearing then to lose it suddenly at a an age where life is beginning to become challenging must have been extremely difficult to deal with. I’m guessing you had good family support at least I hope so.
Do regional accents make it harder to read lips? I'm from the US and we have varying accents much like the UK.
pomosapiens
Thank you for taking the time to explain. It makes sense now.
@@bugler75 HOw ignorant of us. I didnt know they could sign accents
My grandad fought in that war as a teenager. I was born 50+ years later in Canada so only knew him and his brothers as old men who'd spent decades away from home. Interesting program, we've seen photos and written accounts but to hear the voices shines a whole new light on it.
It is so strange to think that as a small boy, I knew and talked to "Edwardians". They were already very old by then, but born under Victoria, and grew up under Edward VII. World War I seemed like a thing of the not too distant past. Now, it is truly a century ago. The difference in perception that makes today is remarkable. This is a beautiful program.
My dad was born in 1896, so Victorian, fought in, and survived WW1, trained soldier's in the Transport units of WW2. I was born in 1941, so, although he has now departed, we two linked 3 centuries.
@@MrDaiseymay wow born so early. Any stories or vivid memories?
I as thinking that too. As a child I was surrounded by Victorians and Edwardians. Now they are mostly gone.
Agreed
When Nicola says she doesn't think she has an accent, it reminds me of what Prince Charles said at the beginning of his interview on the David Letterman Show in New York: "Since I'm the only one here without an accent, I'll speak slowly." Gotta love that Brit sense of humor, I mean uh, humour.
As The only Englishman speaking English on the show he kind of has a point
@@ludovica8221 so English his grandfather had to change their family surname from Battenburg to Windsor, just in case anyone had any doubts.
Idiotic if you ask me. She sounds like she's got a golden egg 🥚in her gob
@@andyjarman4958 No it was changed from Saxe-Coburg (the family of Prince Albert) to Windsor in 1917 because of anti-German sentiment in WWI. Three days earlier the Battenburg family resident in England changed their name to Mountbatten for the same reason. Thus the title of Prince Philip's mother Princess Alice of Battenburg became Mountbatten, a name that Philip himself adopted in 1947 (though strictly he was a Schleswig-Holstein- Sonderburg-Glücksburg). Thus some members of the Royal Family are entitled to use the surname Mountbatten-Windsor, though the official name of the family is Windsor.
@@andyjarman4958 I thought they changed from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
I always feel so sad with anything involving WW 1 and WW 2 ! Whole generations of young men gone and forgotten. Useless, futile wars that accomplish nothing but enrich those behind these wars; all wars ! I am glad we at least have these documentaries from those times !
Frances Van Siclen War. What is it good for? Absolutely nothing.
War is neccessary to further enrich the already rich and the tools required to do so are the ready supply of people.
Spot on. So many young lives lost to make others rich🤮
Now those same people have co-opted nearly every government in the world into a third war. An unconventional war against us the people.
@@daevaskye Small Hats are causing so many problems.
Superb vid. I live in Lincolnshire and my grandad who was local spoke differently to people around me. My great grandfather from Kings Lynn ,Norfolk delighted me no end with his accent. I love the different voices that still remain in the British isles, I've been all over on my 125cc scooter and talk to as many people as I can. From a lad in Buxton sweeping up outside Morrisons in Buxton, Derbyshire to the old artist and lovely man Lord Longleat. Carry on, accents are so fascinating, well done
What a captivating documentary. The presenter is so moved by the voices of men she didn't even know and she finds it difficult to understand why the man who hears his father's voice isn't more emotional upon hearing it again. I found them extremely emotive.
Oh, my! How touching to see these families listening to their "Tommies".
I have many photos of my daughter who died at 9 and they make me smile. But after 28 years I still can't listen to the little tapes the children made. There's nothing like hearing the voice.... these are like visitations at dawn of loved family.
I wish you strength and courage. There are no words for your loss.
I can't even imagine how you find the strength to carry on after the loss of a child. Although with others depending on you and loving you, there isn't a choice. The only words I think of at times of loss for someone, is to remind them that their loved one has gone to a world infinitely better than this one. God bless!
❤️❤️❤️❤️
♥️Please listen to those tapes ! 🙏🏻♥️
The death of a child has been described as a mortal wound from which you do not die. I can quite understand why you cannot yet listen to those recordings I would be exactly the same, don't let anyone rush you do it in your own time or not at all if it's just too upsetting. Sincere condolences for your loss.
when you move away from where you grew up, it warms your heart to hear your home accent spoken by someone, and if you go back, your voice goes right back to join in the accent that your home town speaks, even if it has changed while you are away. It is such a joining feeling, it must be to do with tribe identity
A brilliant piece - intelligent, emotional and educational. A wonderful narrator who brought out the best from her interviewees. Classic BBC that the world admires. Respect and greetings from Poland.
Completely blown away. My father, from Sheffield, went to war at age 17. He got sent back, as underage, to an officer’s school and went back to France in 1918. He spoke perfect “gentleman’s English” as well as broad Yorkshire although I mostly heard just the former, sadly. What memories this brings back. Thank you for a fascinating and moving video
I found accents matching to topography of the region amazing. I had not thought about that until this post. It is a fact.
This was an absolutely fascinating documentary. We in Italy also have many different accents not only based on regions but at times valleys. And I must add, I became emotional watching how the family became emotional hearing their great grandfathers voice recording ....priceless ...
Surely one of the best documentaries on Youutbe not just for it's content but for the enthusiasm of the presenter Joan Washington, what a fascinating woman and a great loss not only to us but also I'm sure to her husband Richard E Grant the actor. Some people come into your life and leave an indelible impression.... thank you Joan R.I.P.
youtube lol
@@8ballphil150That all you picked up from their comment which is actually a tribute to Joan the presenter
No, not one of the best Documentaries on You Tube….
Do look, and you’ll see countless better ones, however, this is fun to watch. A strange one, is the conversation with Quentin Crisp, back in the seventies. It’s all out there, and quite extraordinary!
Great programme. I don't know how the fella from Aberdeen held it together hearing his dad sing like that. I was on the verge of tears and I don't know him from Adam.
I loved the lovely put togetherness of that man and how he so resembled his father.
Fascinating! She's brilliant. Television will have had a massive influence on regional accent and dialect.
Yep, mass media in general were a big leveller of dialectal differences, beginning with literacy and the general reading of orthographically standardised texts like prayer books and newspapers.
@@muenzfernsprecher Interesting never considered that before.
27:02 "I don't think I've got any accent." Priceless.
Very unusual for someone from that area to think they are accentless and we are far more self deprecating about it too. I'm from the other side of the Cat and Fiddle to Macclesfield in Derbyshire and we are accutely aware of our terrible rural dialects. I do like some dialects, Gloucestershire for one. But North Midlands, my own, not one of the better ones.
stewart fearn Yet they have one of the heaviest accents of all lol.
I don't think I have an accent, I just speak normally. It is everyone else who has an accent.
Oxford vs Oxfordshire
The German music librarian is also so charming. So wonderful to see such clever experts share their knowledge.
(Being german): Could they have found anybody with a more stereotypical (bad) german accent?
@@mediagirl Sein Englisch war ziemlich schlecht für eine studierten Menschen.
The English accent changes slightly every 10 miles.
Less than that i'd say. I grew up in Warwickshire and my accent was different to where i went to school in Nuneaton. My school was 4 or so miles away.
Thatreettheer
@@naturalbornchiller158 I roughly think its 10 miles. But the town 6 miles from me have a different accent. So it could be as little as 5 miles...
Much less than that in parts. Where I live there are three accents within a 3 mile radius; if I went ten miles north, I'd cross an accent zone and be in another!
@@naturalbornchiller158 agreed there. I was born in Coventry, spent my early and mid teens near Birmingham and my parents live in Nuneaton. I now live in Lincolnshire and have done for about 15years.
I can Definately say Coventry and Birmingham have little in common. Similar elongation on certain syllables but the Coventry accent is faster with its speech patterns and much more nasel then Birmingham. Nuneaton is like a countrified Birmingham.
Lincolnshire to my ears is a diet coke version of East yorkshire.
Im a magpie for picking up accents once I've been there long enough (doesn't take long though. Lol). So I guess my accent is a bit of a mongrel nowadays. Lol
I’m forever and eternally grateful for this documentary... I’m taking a deep breath for I cannot stop crying... I thank those that have passed and those that had a part of putting this together... You have all touched my heart ❤️
❤️❤️
My heart goes out to you.
I too am from the old country of Germany and I ll comment on the minstrels of the Europeon ancestry that had to leave their homes,lands andjust bring with them the tools of their trades. Alpng The Homestead and Oregon trails families after hauling thwir menial prized possessions with them to the New World were forced to leave them behind on the trails. Whatever happened to all those old marvelous machines that they painstakingly loaded so they as craftsman could start all over once they attained a settlement to rebuild their once stable lives? Who were the miners and pickers who aquired their precious tools of their trades? Dod anyone ever wonder?
@@shirleyfunte3063 I’ve not been able to stop my sobs either. My family are from all over the uk so itmakes less sense that I’d cry. Very moving watching the family members listen along and what a gorgeous gift from this presenter ❤️ I understand it, sending you a hug. Be well 🌻 xxv
#Liza ❤️
I’ve not been able to stop my sobs either. My family are from all over the uk so itmakes less sense that I’d cry. Very moving watching the family members listen along and what a gorgeous gift from this presenter ❤️ I understand it, sending you a hug. Be well 🌻 xxv
Accents can be very precise. In Sussex some forty years after leaving my home town I was working with a young woman and asked her if she was from Retford in Nottinghamshire. Quite startled she said yes, that was my home town and the accent was - to me - quite distinctive.
Same thing happened with me and wolverhampton the other day
Really nicely done. As an American- growing up in central Kentucky in the middle of the 20th Century I am amazed that I often see more remote British accents which mirror ours. These accents are getting diluted now- but to here certain vowels or the r pronounced in these British regions long ago makes me feel the linked history
Like everyone.who has watched this programme I was totally, totally utterly and completely charmed by the beautiful presenter of this fantastic programme . I welled up often whilst watching it . So determined to discover who she was I googled How the Edwardians Spoke. Her name is Joan Washington ,Richard E. Grants wife who passed away September 2021. How very very sad . How poignant that her beautiful personality and cultured voice will live on in this programme along with the WW1 POWs. Now I come to something very strange indeed .As I'm writing this Richard E Grant is on the Tele . In Michael McIntire's The Wheel. Stranger than fiction .
Yes, a real loss. I wish she had made more as this is one of the most interesting programmes I've ever seen.
When he was promoting his new book about Joan I tweeted to him about how much I love this program and how I'd always hoped it would spawn a series.. He sent me a very heartfelt and sweet reply.. Such a lovely man. He was crazy in love with her, and I can totally see why
What an amazing piece of work and how fascinating. I am impressed with the female presenter who truly loves her subject. A privilege to listen to all those forgotten voices. Long may our wonderful British isles maintain its accents and dialects.
There is no such place as the 'British isles'
@@andrewgoodbody2121 The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles (Orkney and Shetland), and over six thousand smaller islands. They have a total area of 315,159 km2 (121,684 sq mi) and a combined population of almost 72 million, and include two sovereign states, the Republic of Ireland (which covers roughly five-sixths of Ireland), and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Channel Islands, off the north coast of France, are normally taken to be part of the British Isles, even though they do not form part of the archipelago.
For such a relatively small country geographically the UK has an astonishing range of accents.
I wonder why that is.
@@tamaliaalisjahbana9354 - Me too!
Because we are the centre of western civilisation
@@hoggarththewisesmeagol8362 Ah, a very British response
Here in Darlington we are not Geordies, Teessiders, Yorkies, or Pennine people, but we speak completely differently from all of them, & also from places as little as 4 miles away. I can identify dialect boundaries up river, down river, & up county in all directions.
When I lived in Germany, each village had its own accent. Not only state to state, region to region but village to village differences.
Joan Washington coached me with an American accent on "After The Fall" by Arthur Miller at the National Theatre in 1990. A brilliant dialect coach.
Thanks for sharing this
I’m trying to work out where Joan Washington comes from.
I don't doubt that she's quite an expert accent coach. But this American is struck by how she speaks (in her normal voice) with a locked jaw! How very British!
During the film, when she was interviewing in Scotland, I believe she stated she grew up in Aberdeen.
Were you playing the role of Quentin?
I have an hour of my grandmother talking on cassette answering questions about her life, She recalls her school teacher telling the class the `Titanic` had sunk, she`d have been seven. It was recorded in 1995 she was born in 1907. My aunt plays a copy every Christmas. It`s become her tradition.
So your grandmother was 98 AT what age did she actually die?
@@ladybug5859 No she wasn`t.
1907 to 1995 is 88 years. She died at 91 years old.
This lady's command of accents and her ability to hear tiny differences is quite amazing. I agree with her idea that landscape can influence pronunciation. I think you can sometimes also hear hints of the influence of landscape and other features of life in folk tunes. It would be an interesting thing to study.
sassulusmagnus - Here in Holland, we have dozens of very distinct accents in a very small area and the landscape everywhere is exactly the same: COMPLETELY FLAT. So much for the landscape theory. Not only regions, but inner-city, suburbs, countryside, and, of course, working class, middle class, upper class, etc., with subtle or not so subtle variations within each. What's funny is that the pompous upper crust accent in Holland shares with that in England in that speakers of each sound like they are speaking with a hot potato in their mouth.
I thought that was fascinating, how the landscape could potential he affect an accent!
@HerrNilssonTheMonkey I don't see the correlation. What's wrong or imprecise about the gentleman's comment? The fine language expert herself voiced those very words. I think you ought to take an extensive course in geography and especially in linguistics. A very piteous remark of yours, indeed.
@@virvisquevir3320 That's probably because they walk around with hot potatoes in their mouths, but feel they have to talk all the time. Mind you, the Eastenders of London loved their steaming hot chips, while doing their Cockney Rhyming Slang- a gem in it's own.
@Nim Boo A very coherent and logical approach have you Sir. We are a mixture of frailties at all times, and are also subject to the influence of outer circumstances, which are a myriad of possibilities, accidents, and circumstances of all sorts.
I was confused with the signing at first, but it's equally facinating to see how he uses his body language and facial expressions (esp from the eyes up) to convey not only the accent, but also the attitude and inflection of the person speaking. My perspective widened a little today. Super cool. Thank you.
As an American this is really interesting! Watched a similar video of dialects in the US changing over time. Great to find this one as well!
I’m astounded by the number of people making snarky comments about deaf people showing interest in a programme about accents.
Consider this:
1. Deaf people have, by necessity, deep interest in speech.
2. Most deaf people were born with full hearing and lost it through accident, illness, or age.
3. Most deaf people use vocal as well as signed speech. Not all of us hearing folk are bilingual in terms of sign language.
4. Most deaf people lip-read. Accents can change the shape and movements of the mouth, even when native English speakers say the same words.
5. Being deaf doesn’t automatically exclude people from being interested in history, language, and culture.
6. Closed captioning: English may not be the first language of those watching.
7. Deaf people are not automatically excluded from enjoyment of visual presentations.
This is a programme about accents and relies on vocal speech to communicate. Those put off by the signer do not have to watch to get the most of the experience. You could sit with your back to the TV, or put your mobile device facedown, and you’d still hear everything. The visuals are embellishment.
Snarky about the signer using strong facial expressions? Ask somebody to videotape you while you tell a story!
Wonderful comment 10/10
Well said.
A beautiful, beautiful comment, that needed to be written. Thank you so much. 💖
Bravo, well put! This should be a highlighted comment! Somebody at last with something sensible to say and intelligently and coherently expressed! I was beginning to believe such commentators didn't exist! 😄
Well said
Thanks for posting! love this! I'm a raving Anglophile, so I can't get enough of regional accents.
Also, I'm a 7th generation Texan, and my ancestors come from places like the West Country and Scotland. It's interesting to hear what has been retained and what has changed, especially in the way my grandparents spoke.
And her notion that accents reflect topography is really interesting to me. Texas is a big place with a lot of accents, and they generally reflect this idea. Also, the non-nasal sound of port cities is spot on: native folks from New Orleans all have that kind of stopped-up quality.
My grandmother, from deepest Somerset, had travelled very little and had an accent incomprehensible to most outsiders. When she first heard someone speaking a foreign language on the television she said (accent toned down for sake of clarity), “You don’t reckon they can understand each other do ‘ee? I’d reckon ‘tis just a lot of showing off and when they’m at ‘ome they do talk just the same as what we do” 😂
I wish someone in our generation can talk like her , she seems like she has a wonderful accent
The fact I read this with an accent
Love your grandmothers observation! .. she sounds just like my own dear granny did all those many years ago!
Brilliant!
This is an astonishing programme - linguistically, genealogically and historically. I've always spoken about accents having a 'tune' from different parts of the UK but I hadn't thought about them being related to the landscape/townscape. I wonder if there's a way of hearing these now - if they've been catalogued? Marvellous food for thought here. Thank you for posting.
Fascinating. I've never heard anyone make a connection between landscape and accent before.
My exact thought! 👍
Its so true though
Neither have I. I'm wondering if there is any truth to this.
The Orcadian writer George Mackay Brown mentions this in one of his short stories (can’t remember which one!)
Barry Poupard This is very obvious inIreland. Midland accents are very flat as is the landscape but in cork with many hills, the accent is very sing-song
I am from Glasgow. The younger generation there might use the word faither in jest, but my 80 year old mother uses it earnestly. My sister in law comes from about 20 miles along the Clyde from there in Greenock. She pronounces the same word as fe thur. It sounds like the word feather. Fascinating little differences in such short distances.
My cousin recently sent me a recording that my uncle made of my Grandmother and Grandfather on New Years Eve, 1966 that was sent to my other uncle in New Zealand. Fascinating to hear their voices but more so, myself when I was 6 years old.
What a wonderfully talented and beautiful woman Joan Washington was. So sad to lose her so early. 😢
Oh how beautiful. This researcher is filled with such conviction. She sees a voice as a product of its environment.
And how heartbreaking that Phillip's family heard their great-uncle reciting the Prodigal Son, when Phillip himself experienced 'lost years' from PTSD. Emotional, harrowed, frightened. I won't forget you, Mr. Jarvis.
Farmers, fishermen, shepherds, and the illiterate. These men, so far from home. Imprisoned by the enemy. No wonder these recordings have a note of melancholy. Singing the songs of Home. Reciting passages they learned as a child from mother and father. Of course they clung to the sounds of their parents and grandparents, to remind themselves of home.
George's voice is just heartwrenching. Beautiful, lonesome. Bonny, Bonny Banks of Loch Lomond. It's so intimate and personal. And how cheeky, for him to be the first to volunteer.
Thank you for uploading this video. Please never take it down. What a treasure.
Lovely comment! 🙂
Beautifully expressed.
I wonder how many of these guys were doing a 'telephone voice' (ie a bit posher) when they were being recorded.
What a lovely comment and beautifully put. I couldn't agree with you more. I feel very emotional watching this programme.
@@mesolithicman164 I wonder how many men would have had access to a telephone back in the UK. Not that many, I'm guessing
Wonderful. I go to the WW1 battlefields every year and have always wondered what it would be like to listen to the soldiers. I never imagined it might be possible to do so. Deeply moving.
How and who organises battlefield visits? I would like to visit.
Bless you for visiting...and not forgetting.
This generation will have very little photos of this time since pics are on ph. not developed into film.
Fascinating. Dialects and accents are part of our history. I was bought up in Surrey, Sussex and Hants. I have relatives with broad accents. I have lived in South Wales for nearly 20 years and it's amazing how people in Swansea can sound different from Llanelli or Neath, just a few miles away. Interesting subject.
It's just the same with the industrial Midlands (Black Country), great variation with just a small distance.
Once Rome had conquered the known world and had it all unified by one Speech LATIN. Then the classical World fell, and a multiplicity of dialects evolved into separate tongues. With the threat of worldwide global Conflict, fueled by escalating Terrorism, it could conceivably happen again, in all parts of the world with their own unifying mode of communication in each region of the globe breaking down into conflicting babble talk, as in the Biblical Story of The Tower of Babel. But then, it may not, God willing. With cell phones, computers, and libraries, hopefully, every possible dialect will be preserved like every species of animal on Noah's Ark!
I'll never forget attending an AA meeting in Edinburgh decades ago. I could not understand someone talking and it was explained to me that they were from the Outer Hebrides - it seems everyone else there had no difficulty. As an American, I was bemused that they had no trouble knowing exactly what I said.
🤗
I grew up in Liverpool and it's amazing how many different accents there are within the city.
Very interesting especially as my grandfather, John Critchlow from Tamworth is one of those recorded.
Came across this documentary quite by accident and what a wonderful film it is! Wondrous and utterly compelling. Thank you for posting it.
I am originally from Colombia in South America. I have lived in London 22 years now. I hold now a British passport and therefore I am a British citizen too. I found this video most moving and beautiful. It is a shame regional accents are dying out in England and how emotional to hear the voices from the past.
I totally agree even in this country we don't have as many different accents but they're going away to you know the Brooklyn accent that you see an old movies doesn't exist anymore if it ever did yes I hate to see them going away
Thank you. What a fabulous documentary. So emotional especially when the family heard fear in the voice 😢 The presenter is wonderful; enchanting. Much love to all that took part 💝
I’m finding that most of these documentaries work just as well without the picture, so I just close my eyes and go to sleep listening to the sound only. It’s like a podcast. Most all the visual stuff in these BBC docs are superfluous.
Great idea! Pretending you're blind, instead if being forced to pretend you're deaf. Malicious compliance in its rawest form. Respect.
My Grand Father served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force 57th Western Scots of BC. Wounded and invalidated out in 1916 later dying at the age of 42 in 1926 from those wounds leaving my Grand Mother,, My Dad 15 and His 8yr old brother. No matter how bad the POW's life was it must have been better than the hell that was the trenches.100+ years ago now, if this isn't melancholic I don't know what is.So long ago but, I hope never forgotten.
Not forgotten as long as people read books like Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain.
My great grandfather was taken prisoner at Cambrai in 1917 serving with the London Rifle Brigade. He was held in two different camps in Westphalia. The prisoners were gradually starved by the Germans (who themselves had little or no food due to the blockade of their seaports by the Royal Navy) and a Russian prisoner kicked my GGF's teeth out when he bent down to pick up a biscuit thrown down by a guard.
The accent teacher is briliant.
That teacher is the best!!!
Joan Washington was my voice teacher at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. She hasn’t changed much since the early 70s!
It’s awesome how they allow deaf people to hear how they sounded too.
Why do I feel so sad? My grandfather came from Dorset and his dad used to walk with Hardy. I never knew him and have always wanted to hear how the Folletts from West County spoke,
That is beyond an incredible story - i would love to know the recollection of Hardy - my God the quintessential Victorian novelist and one I had alwys focused on.
@@writeract2 I was a huge fan too and studied him at University.
@@maggiefollett636 what's your favorite work of his?
@@writeract2 It's so hard to say. The more popular works I've read so many times, but I think, perhaps, "The Mayor of Casterbridge", and a more obscure work I first read only two years ago, "The Woodlanders". (I did a mini-thesis on "The Return of the Native" at UCT a gazillion years ago, but cannot recall the book at all. Will definitely rectify this.) Thanks for the chat. Hardy is all about hubris, fatal character flaws, and dark synchronicities, which are so much part of life.
@@maggiefollett636 I've only read his poetry which I love (he considered himself more of a poet than noveliest but his novels fared better), I've yet to tackle the novels but I know I will get through all or most one day. Jude The Obscure is a major one, also Tess of the D'ubervilles. I watched Barchester Chronicles BBC adaptation - - not bad. If hubris and human character flaws major themes, that would be interesting for me.
This lovely teacher of accents is fascinating. They way she describes the differences is the first time I have ever considered the tones and the lilts. I loved it.
To watch families listen to a 100yo recording of their relatives.. What an amazing experience!
If you were asked to speak to the first voice recording apparatus ever, so that 100 years later the record of your voice can be played to millions of strangers from all over the world you would feel frightened too.
One of my great-grandfathers Samuel was a prisoner of the Germans during the first world war. He was treated well. He had a photograph of his family and one of the German officers had it copied for him with a photograph of Samuel in his uniform patched in. I still treasure that family photograph. Samuel died before I was born and I wonder whether my ancestor is in those recordings. I would love to hear his voice.
The facial gestures are considered sign language accents. Just a heads up for those confused or annoyed
Eryn Smith I was curious about that but wasn't sure how to ask. Thanks for that info!
oh thats interesting thank you
Yeah that guy is a PRO
Quite admirable.
That German bloke might have the most relaxing voice I've ever heard. Also, I always find that when Germans speak in English, they sound incredibly camp.
Kitsch
He probably sounds kamp in German as well.
@@andrewhoward7200 mein kampf?
@@dperson9212 ha ha
concentration camp?
I'm from Stockport, 12 miles from Macclesfield. I moved to Lincs, where the locals have the laziest accent imaginable almost 30 yrs ago. About 25 years ago, locally, I heard a very old lady speak & knew immediately she was from Stockport. Her accent was in the older dialect, a dialect which belonged to my parents generation & which is in some parts receding almost blending into the awful Mancunian.
We should cherish our accents, they ground us & keep us within the origins & peculiarities of the communities from which we originate.
as someone with a mancunian accent I'm sure the accent of you're parents generation was actually awful
We have all this round here,east and north of Bristol on the farms. I couldn't understand the farmers when I 1st moved here 15 years ago. . V few of them left as all about to croak and the younguns don't want to go into farming, what with all the cow prejudice and other difficulties. There is also the BBC which is v prejudiced agai at the west country accent from Birmingham onwards.
What a shame we can't have a couple more episodes? Ms Washington introduced a fascinating subject.
I don’t know when this video was made, Imam seeing it now in 2021. But this has been one of the best programs that I have seen on TH-cam yet! I love all things Brit. Have met many many who have visited the US on Holiday. I am probably in more packed away photo’s than most Americans! This was a great great program!!
@ 48 minutes in. This man singing brought tears to my eyes. Thank you for sharing this video.
I loves stumbling across videos like this
Stumble? The TH-cam algorithms are rubbing their hands in glee!
This was an incredibly interesting documentary. And how touching it was to hear samples of the records. I also think it's a real shame that many accents/dialects in the world are disappearing rapidly.
The say that the Cockney accent will disappear in a few years time.
I am from Louisiana and I feel the same. There are so many unique accents some so distinct but only 30 mins apart in geography. As the world becomes more global the more we lose these community identities without really gaining the “global one”.
@@Bambisgf77 interesting that you said that. Here in the UK it’s said that accents go in 15 mile bands. But then again, the UK is much smaller than the US but more densely packed per square mile.
Fascinating documentary, brilliantly done. I was rivetted.... Joan Washington is a very talented woman
11:59 Dorset accent but debatable might be Somerset.
13:25 singing.
16:03 Philip Garvis 1917
23:43 Philip Garvis played to his lovely family.
28:51 Photo of a recording being made.
31:19 Charlie Shears Wiltshire
31:52Charlie Shears Wiltshire
35:59 Charlie Shears Wiltshire
39:19 Philip Garvis 1917
40:17 Oxfordshire
45:40 George Campbell Aberdeen
48:04 George Campbell Aberdeen singing
49:43 George Campbell Aberdeen speaking
51:19 George Campbell Aberdeen singing
52:07 Charlotte Patterson Posh voice .
53:34 Shackleton Boarding school person .
56:12 ....58:16 Philip Garvis
Thank you!
You're brilliant thank you so much!
52.07 Christabel Pankhurst-Suffragette. 53.34 Sir Ernest Shackleton-Great Antarctic explorer.
I live in South Somerset on the borders of Dorset but I am from London/Surrey. Difficult to distinguish South Somerset dialect with North Dorset.
Jarvis *
My great grandmother lived in the Edwardian era though she was born in the late Victorian era of 1898. I tried to capture her voice on my tape recorder, but she was afraid it would capture her soul so I declined. I was just ten years old and I respected her wishes.
AMAZING! IT'S like countries where people think IF YOU take a picture you capture THEIR souls, and maybe YOU do WHAT DO YOU think?
This is why i am passionate about traditions being upheld, as language is very much part of this.
What a fantastic broadcast , I live in New Zealand now ,and when i am out with my dog waking i come across quite a few people from the Old Country and we stop and have a chat and fall back to our accents and me with my broad Scots accent we all enjoy listening to each other. I was born in Edinburgh !952 ,And my Grandfather was in the Black Watch WW1
Really interesting programme, especially when the recordings were played to living relatives 90 years after they were recorded. Fascinating.
These men sound terrified and under immense pressure. I’m so glad this was found, but the circumstances under which it was made is so very sad.
This was fascinating. I live in Derbyshire and, as with most areas, there are local accents within the county that vary greatly from town to town. People from outside Derbyshire probably only hear one regional accent, but for those within we hear dozens and can tell from which town someone hails. It’s good to know that people are making such recordings for posterity.
Fascinating and moving. I have always loved listening to regional accents and attempting to identify their origin. How wonderful to hear those voices from a century ago.
I enjoyed this so much. It got tearful hearing the men's voices and I'm not even from those areas, I'm from the mediterranean
I was born and raise in the Southern USA, and the accent at 12:00, "Tis of a farmer's Daughter …", etc. sounded very much to me like some of our mountain folk. I think this person could get along quite well with folks in the Appalachians of Tennessee.
Yes, we need an analysis of US and Canadian regional accents before they are all gone.
Some of the accents in the USA, maybe around Virginia or towards the south, are supposed to be close derivatives of the British settlers'
dialects at the time. There is a little bit of linguistic history in them thar hills.
That reminds me of when I first heard yall comm bak now yehere... I dutifully walked back to ask why I had to go back 😆🤣 I thought I'd forgotten to pay the bill 😃😄😂
I’m fascinated by the way this German cataloguer knew the speed in which to play the record. That’s pretty clever.
It's called best judgement - a quality that's sadly-lacking in people now.
Kammerton 440hz - that's how musicologists think.
@@11Kralle since it was recordings from the Edwardian period wouldn’t 432 hz be the standard?
@@ejne2 I see - it would have been "the internationaler Normstimmton" of 435hz. I was wrong nevertheless...
@@11Kralle I only discovered it after you left your initial reply, this frequency battle is also very fascinating, thank you for your input.