Date:  Mon, 5 Jan 1998 09:21:31 EST
From:  Dfcoye <Dfcoye[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]AOL.COM>
Subject: Re: British actors in US

As someone who has coached dialects and used them on stage I heartily second
Greg Pulliam's assessment - and would only add that the original posting is
another good example of the "I know all about language just because I speak
it" phenomenon. Saying things like "learning British for an American involves
dropping sounds so it's easier" is absurd.  I assume they're referring to the
/r/, but other sounds have to be "added" for an American learning RP- you
have to distinguish metal from medal, you have to distinguish the vowels
before /r/ in marry-merry-Mary, hurry-furry, mirror-meer if like most of
Americans you don't.  You have to merge the vowels of lore and law, and
perhaps add a connecting R to the latter if followed by a vowel sound...

Dale Coye
Dept. of Eng.
The College of NJ