The Intricacies Queen's English and "Sherlock"

            Are there any “Sherlock” fans among you? Any movie fans of Colin Firth, Helen Mirren, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, “Harry Potter”, “Downton Abbey”, or “Pride and Prejudice”, to name a few of the hundreds of actors and performances provided by our cousins across the Atlantic Ocean? Watching the most recent “Sherlock” episode, I was struck by a couple of “odd” pronunciations I didn’t understand the origin of. Many of you know that I am originally from Atlanta, Georgia, home to citizens with SERIOUS Southern Drawls. What you may NOT know is that the true Southern Regional Dialect or “Drawl” is, actually, the closest American dialect to Queen’s English! That probably sounds very strange to most of you but it is true. For the most part, ALL regional dialects (whether Cockney or Queen’s English, or Southern, Bostonian, or Pittburghese) draw their origin from ancestral settlers. I have known for years that my proud Southern heritage was that of a “Baker” from England who was immigrated here rather than serving in Debtor’s Prison in England, as well as my Cherokee Indian ancestors. MUCH of the Eastern seaboard of the United States was settled with English settlers from differing areas, which is to say, ALL English speakers from England do NOT pronounce words in the same way. HOWEVER, for the purposes of this discussion, I am referring to HIGH Queen’s English or “Posh” pronunciation. The couple of words that seemed most “provocative” to my ears were: Sahr, rather than Saw; Herb, instead of Erb; and Shedewel, for Schedule. I thought maybe you’d enjoy understanding WHY these pronunciations are important for a true “Posh” accent.

            Just as General American English has many “Rules” of pronunciation, such as:  ‘Night’ being pronounced NITE, rather than NIFT; ‘New’ and ‘Stool” have “Rhyming” Vowel sounds; and ‘Read’ and ‘Read’ have two different pronunciations, Queen’s English also has some Pronunciation idiosyncrasies.  3 different “Rules” govern these examples of pronunciation. Here are some helps for you.

            ‘R’ sounds in Queen’s English are treated a bit differently than those in American General English or other “Romance” languages. “R” sounds are not ROLLED, as in Spanish. However, the “R” sound in Double “r” words, such as ‘Mirror” IS pronounced. In many areas of America, ‘Mirror’ is pronounced as “Mere” but in British English, it is pronounced as “Mih-ra” or “Mih-ror”. The most unusual “R” sound is “foreign” to American English. In phrases with Double Vowel Sounds, meaning one word ends with a Vowel Sound and the next word BEGINS with a Vowel Sound, the “R” sound is inserted. Examples of this would be: “I saw it”, becoming “I SAHR it” in Queen’s English; “Bacteria are small” to “BacteriaR-ar-small”; or “You say I can” pronounced “You SayR I can” in High Queen’s English. Hopefully, this clears up a few mysteries with British “R” sounds.

            The Long “U” Sound in Queen’s English is also different from our American version. American English generally pronounces the LONG “U” as ‘oo’, as in the word ‘stupid’. In Queen’s English, ‘stupid’ is pronounced ‘shtew-pid’. Another example is the word ‘duty’. In American General English, this is pronounced ‘doo-dee’; in British English, it is “d-yew-tee” or even “jooty”. ‘Schedule’ in British becomes “Sheh-dewel.” These are details, which will allow you to successfully maneuver through maintaining a High Queen’s British accent.

            Our last “detail” has to do with the beginning “H” Sound. In American English, words starting with “H” are usually pronounced WITHOUT the “H” Sound, such as “Herb”, which becomes “Erb”. The same word in Queen’s English is “Herb”. The Brits almost always pronounce the “H” Sound, whereas we Americans often leave it out. Another example is ‘heir’, which the British pronounce as “Heir”.

            Hopefully, this has been a helpful guide for you, so that the next time to watch “Sherlock” or “Harry Potter” or “The King’s Speech”, OR read for the part of a Brit, you’ll be better “armed” and ready to show off your British roots.  Thank you for reading this blog post. If you have any questions about my lessons, or me please check out my website at www.SingitForward.net. Otherwise, please leave your comments and questions below. I always love hearing from you. Sing it Forward!