What kind of accent would a dwarf have?

Discussion in 'Character Development' started by Ellipse, Mar 6, 2011.

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  1. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    if they were german dwarves, i'd expect them to sound german... and so on...
     
  2. Elgaisma

    Elgaisma Contributor Contributor

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    Mine are japanese with red hair and green eyes sort of. Also tend to be portly and just under six foot tall :) - they are average for mortals, but are the shortest of my pre-mortal elemental peoples. However they still speak with Somerset accents.
     
  3. Melzaar the Almighty

    Melzaar the Almighty Contributor Contributor

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    I was not aware Somerset was in Japan. :p
     
  4. Elgaisma

    Elgaisma Contributor Contributor

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    Well technically they are not even on Earth lol however they use a corrupted version of Japanese/Chinese but in my head it is spoken in an accent/tone kind of like the Wurzels singing Ooh Aah Just a Little Bit (listen to that and tell me you don't think dwarves lol).

    Their eyes are almond-shaped and their style of dress is a version on a martial arts suit.
     
  5. Annûniel

    Annûniel Contributor Contributor

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    Why would the dwarves have an accent that is related to Earth at all? They certainly don't live here so they can't actually have one of our accents.

    Just a thought.
     
  6. Melzaar the Almighty

    Melzaar the Almighty Contributor Contributor

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    There is an awful lot of fantasy that blends our world and the realm of mythology and folklore - although, a lot of the better stories I've read have made it funnier by giving the magic creatures unexpected accents. For all we know the scottish dwarf stereotype came from one guy having a laugh writing a silly fantasy novel/computer game, and made the dwarves scottish because he thought it would be a good joke.

    Point is, I'd rather use dwarves in an earth context than an Other world, because it's cliché, old hat stuff to rip off dwarves from Tolkien these days, but folklore is such a good mine people can never get fed up of the old beliefs being dragged back out for another airing in a nice safe fantasy environment.

    Plus, all the old folklore critters were a lot more interesting than the kind in Fantasy now. Elves and the like have a much longer history of being mean than nice. :p
     
  7. guamyankee

    guamyankee Active Member

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    I believe even with fantasy, there are certain things that people have to be able to relate to. Accents might be one of them. Nobody is going to know what an off-Earth accent sounds like, so you can either just not use accents at all, or go with a known dialect of the world.
     
  8. Annûniel

    Annûniel Contributor Contributor

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    I'd agree with movies, TV shows, and other such things where we are required to hear the character talk, but not with books. You're better off going without a described accent. Not only are they hard to write, they don't fit well with a fantasy setting, IMO.

    The most accent descriptions I've done is with slurred words or having a character described as having a vague, "thick" accent that is hard to understand.
     
  9. guamyankee

    guamyankee Active Member

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    I agree. If you do use accents don't over-do it. An occassional Y'all here and there, or what have you, should get the point across. Otherwise it can get annoying.
     
  10. Melzaar the Almighty

    Melzaar the Almighty Contributor Contributor

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    *is now imagining a Texan dwarf* :p
     
  11. Elgaisma

    Elgaisma Contributor Contributor

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    It depends on the world you have built in the case of my world all creatures in the universe (including Earth humans) were intially created on this planet. Then later on Noah Flood brought his spaceship of Christian Pioneers/missionaries.

    Noah was from Southhampton could have been from Somerset originally, and the pioneers from all over the place. One his descendents fathered the next generation of Pre-mortals - which include my dwarf/elf/ogre/assasin/priestly/prophet equivlents.

    I came up with it to explain why my dwarves were called Alexander and Mark, my ogres Michaelangelo and Damocles, assasin is Horatio or Qing etc
     
  12. SeverinR

    SeverinR New Member

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    Any person can have any accent. It depends on where you grow up(ie learn to speak.)
    Dwarves could have an english accent, german, oriental, etc.

    Dwarves are traditionally miners, so they would have deeper voices, possibly a louder voice then normal, but that would not offer a accent in itself.

    Dwarf grows in up in Cali in the 80's, could speak Valley girl.:D
     
  13. madhoca

    madhoca Contributor Contributor

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    You could give them a small idiosyncrasy in their speech rather than an accent as such. Like rising at the end of a sentence, so that Earthlings sometimes misunderstand--they think the dwarf is asking a question (or Welsh LOL), or a falling intonation so the dwarf appears to be rude but really he's a cutie.
     
  14. KillianRussell

    KillianRussell New Member

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    An dwarf speaking Ebonic ?
     
  15. SeverinR

    SeverinR New Member

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    gangsta rapping short chillin Dwarf?:p
     
  16. KillianRussell

    KillianRussell New Member

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    Why not a hip hop dwarf from the mean streets of suburbia ? A wanna-be thug dwarf ? With rims on a mini-van . The flava (flavor) possibilities are limitless !
     
  17. Elgaisma

    Elgaisma Contributor Contributor

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    Cos the Wurzels didn't do that one - they drove their tractors through haystacks, drank cider and ooh ahh'd just a little bit :) - think they didn't look back in anger.

    Seriously look em up and you tell me dwarves don't sing like that lol :D
     
  18. SeverinR

    SeverinR New Member

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    Everythings big in Texas even the little people?
     
  19. Ellipse

    Ellipse Contributor Contributor

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    I see it now. Wild west dwarves! :cool:

    Fear them.
     

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