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Speak like a Roe Dyelinda at your own risk
06/12/2003

BY BRYAN ROURKE
Journal Staff Writer


PROVIDENCE -- On the blackboard, John de Nugent writes the seemingly incomprehensible: daboata youze.

His students look lost. So de Nugent, a voice and accent trainer from Johnston, pronounces the phrase. He puts it in context, too, pointing to two students as he speaks.

"I'm talking to daboata youze," he says.

Oh, now the students understand. He's speaking their language, the Rhode Island dialect of English: the both of yous.

No, the plural of you is not yous, and "the" is not pronounced "da." But then this is Rhode Island. And this is the Great Rhode Island Accent Reduction Program.

"If your accent is too heavy, you sound like a cast member in The Sopranos," de Nugent says. "If you're a sophisticated business person trying to give a presentation to Californians or Midwesterners and out comes Tony Soprano, you've lost them."

Four students are enrolled in this Learning Connection class. Three are Rhode Islanders. All ask for anonymity. It would be embarrassing to be identified, they say. They don't want to look like linguistic defectors, renouncing their Rhode Island roots.

The fourth student is Chinese. She's trying to diminish her Asian accent. However, she is married to a Rhode Islander. But, curiously, he wasn't interested in the class.

"He thinks his language is perfect," says Katie Bogue of North Kingstown. "It makes me laugh all the time. That's the Rhode Island mentality."

Go figga. Rho Dilandahs say dey talk bedda dan anybody.

de Nugent, 48, was born and raised in Rhode Island, studied linguistics at Georgetown University, and lost what little accent he had. Now, he feels a little badly about criticizing the Rhode Island accent.

After all, he says, "these are my people I'm talking about."

But the painful truth, de Nugent says, is people with Rhode Island accents don't sound so bright. They drop Rs from words. (Ladder becomes ladda.) They add Rs to words. (Idea becomes idear.) Most especially, they emphasize their As. (Car becomes caaa.)

"Think of a braying jackass," de Nugent says. "That's what this sounds like to people in California."

California? you say. Yes, de Nugent says, Los Angeles in particular. It's the home of movie stars and the ideal American accent.

"I hate to say this about my beloved Little Rhody, but the accent sounds barbaric to other people," de Nugent says. "It's too severe."

But it's a lot less severe than it used to be, according to de Nugent. He recently returned to Rhode Island after living 30 years elsewhere in the country and the world.

"I've seen the accent halfway disappear," he says. "Rhode Islanders are conscious that it's not the most elegant accent."

The Rhode Island accent is not too different than the Boston accent or, for that matter, the Charleston, S.C., accent. All are slight variations on what de Nugent calls a 17th century fad.

Between 1680 and 1776, England couldn't agree on a monarchy, de Nugent says. So it brought in Dutch rulers, followed by German rulers, none of whom pronounced their Rs.

"The nobles and the court started imitating the king," de Nugent says. "People wanted to talk like the king to show they were cool. This fad barely made it across the Atlantic."

Shortly after the fad arrived, the Colonialist's imitation of all things English abruptly ended. A war will do that. But the linguistic legacy continued, but only along the Eastern seaboard.

"No one should be ashamed of the New England accent, but it shouldn't be too heavy," de Nugent says. "People will listen to your accent and not you."

Do you have a Rhode Island or New England accent? A tape recorder will tell you. Or more basic, de Nugent suggests you stand in a corner, cup your hands to your ears and push them forward. Now, start talking.

"That's what your voice really sounds like," he says.

In Rhode Island, as elsewhere in the world, de Nugent says, the local accent is retained longest in people of the blue-collar class.

"The more you rise up the pyramid, the more you're forced to discard the accent," he says.

A strong accent stunts professional and social advancement, de Nugent says. Think of the movie My Fair Lady. The main character was still the same person from the beginning of the film to the end. The only thing about her that changed was her accent.

Pick one you like. Then practice.

"All success in life involves acting," de Nugent. "It's all self presentation."

People are judged by how they sound, de Nugent says, and how they look, how they dress and what they drive.

"Animals size each other up instantly by externals," de Nugent says. "You can't get rid of that."

Rather than fight that, work with it, de Nugent says. Use your voice to your advantage. Reduce your accent. Former Providence Mayor Joe Paolino did so in the 1980s with the help of speech coach.

The goal is not just softening your accent, de Nugent says, but improving your sound. Men, he says, should aspire to sound deeper, and women lighter. And everyone should enunciate and pronounce properly. Throw in a little modulation for good measure.

"People think 'That's a phony voice. I'm not on the radio,' " de Nugent says.

"We don't have a love affair with the English language. For most Americans, the English language is a tool. When we hear the French speak, we think it's too much. But if they've gone over the top in style, we've gone under the bottom."

Watch some movies. Imitate well-speaking actors. Act yourself. That's de Nugent's advice.

For Rhode Islanders, when you come upon a word with an R, he says, think of the letter, and a growling dog -- rrrrr. Then speak.

Before you can correct a problem, de Nugent says, you must identify it, or at least acknowledge it.

"Once you're aware of it, it's very easy to clean up that R situation," de Nugent says.



http://www.projo.com/yourlife/content/projo_20030612_riaccent.a49cd.html