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How The Edwardians Spoke
Most people realise the English language has changed profusely over the centuries, and that we would not recognise Ye Olde Englishe as written in the "Domesday Book", but how much has it changed since the First World War? Probably more than you think. Presenter Joan Washington has an extremely unusual calling; she is a voice coach who has accumulated literally hundreds of dialects which she displays with gay abandon throughout this documentary.
While celebrity voices have appeared on record since Edison came up with the phonograph, the voices of ordinary people were largely lost. It is here we come across an amazing resource. During the First World War, pioneering German collectors recorded the voices of British POWs, voices which have survived, and their accents are very different from those of today.
In her travels, Washington comes up with a couple of other surprises including, in her native Aberdeen, the son of one of the voices concerned, and the 98 year old sister of another. The former also had a surprise for her: a photograph of her father in German captivity. Fascinating stuff.
While celebrity voices have appeared on record since Edison came up with the phonograph, the voices of ordinary people were largely lost. It is here we come across an amazing resource. During the First World War, pioneering German collectors recorded the voices of British POWs, voices which have survived, and their accents are very different from those of today.
In her travels, Washington comes up with a couple of other surprises including, in her native Aberdeen, the son of one of the voices concerned, and the 98 year old sister of another. The former also had a surprise for her: a photograph of her father in German captivity. Fascinating stuff.
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- a_baron
- Dec 17, 2020
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