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Accent and dialect - often a contentious subject in fiction. There's a tension between writing prose that is easy to comprehend, and writing evocative and/or authentic prose. But first, some terminology. Accent refers to how language is pronounced, whereas dialect refers to the words, phrases, and idioms of a variety of language. Writing using so-called non-standard English (The idea of a standard, correct, form of English is an artificial construction that has more to do with politics than linguistics) can lend authenticity to writing - clearly, an American will not sound quite the same as an Englishman, and neither would sound the same as a New Zealander. Likewise, authors have deliberately used non-standard English to reflect experiences as minorities or subcultures.
Quite how to use this is a more difficult issue. Using dialect words is relatively straightforward, though it runs the risk of failing to get meaning across to the audience. Accent is harder to convey. English orthography (i.e: spelling and the method of conveying sounds with letters) is complex and contradictory, so writing an accent phonetically is prone to ending in confusion.
Some questions to begin the discussion:
Quite how to use this is a more difficult issue. Using dialect words is relatively straightforward, though it runs the risk of failing to get meaning across to the audience. Accent is harder to convey. English orthography (i.e: spelling and the method of conveying sounds with letters) is complex and contradictory, so writing an accent phonetically is prone to ending in confusion.
Some questions to begin the discussion:
- Where is non-standard language best used?
- Where have you seen it done well? Where have you seen it done badly?