Accents

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  • scuffpuppies 26 Jul 2014 11:31:00 383 posts
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    In a movie or game, an English spoken character can put on a German, French, Japanese, Italian, British, American accent while talking (and pretty much any other accent). Is this also possible the other way around? Can a Japanese actor depict an American, or English accent while talking in their native tongue?

    Take GTAV for example, or The Phantom Pain. Can a Japanese actor voicing for their respective region, talk with an American ghetto accent...in Japanese? Or does it just vary via their own nations dialects?
  • Aargh, 26 Jul 2014 11:33:47 292 posts
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    Nope, Japanese people don't have the right type of vocal chords which makes it impossible for them to make sounds other than Japanese ones.
  • scuffpuppies 26 Jul 2014 11:35:46 383 posts
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    Aargh, wrote:
    Nope, Japanese people don't have the right type of vocal chords which makes it impossible for them to make sounds other than Japanese ones.
    What? Then how can you explain a Japanese guy learning English?

    Edited by scuffpuppies at 11:37:21 26-07-2014
  • RyanDS 26 Jul 2014 11:40:08 14,074 posts
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    Nope.  Serious answer is that Japanese is a tonal language where the pitch etc is fundamental.
  • scuffpuppies 26 Jul 2014 11:41:53 383 posts
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    What about German or French? Can a French guy talk, in French, with an English accent in the same way an English actor can talk (in English) with a French accent?

    Edit:
    It just seems very limited for a foreign language when depicting characters from other countries.


    Edited by scuffpuppies at 11:45:51 26-07-2014
  • Deleted user 26 July 2014 11:50:44
    @scuffpuppies
    I'm not sure if you've noticed, but people are making fun of you because it's a ridiculous question. Let me give you an example as to why: here in Prague, I've lost count of the number of times I've spoken to staff in a shop or pub in Czech, and they've immediately answered me in English, because they can tell from the way I speak Czech -- i.e., my accent -- that I'm British.

    You're basically asking if foreign accents are a thing in other languages, and it should really have only taken you a millisecond of thought to realise that yes, they are.
  • scuffpuppies 26 Jul 2014 11:51:24 383 posts
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    YoshiMcTaggis wrote:
    Really the question you should be asking is can a Frenchman impersonate a Japanese man?
    Exactly? If a film or game has characters from numerous countries, will the localisation for France or Germany, Italy etc, be able to depict those different characters accents in their own language? Can the French actor depict a Japanese character?
  • FWB 26 Jul 2014 11:52:32 56,369 posts
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    Accents only exist in English, God's language. The inferior languages are all uniform.
  • Aargh, 26 Jul 2014 11:52:55 292 posts
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    scuffpuppies wrote:
    Aargh, wrote:
    Nope, Japanese people don't have the right type of vocal chords which makes it impossible for them to make sounds other than Japanese ones.
    What? Then how can you explain a Japanese guy learning English?
    That's never happened once, don't be ridiculous.
  • scuffpuppies 26 Jul 2014 11:57:01 383 posts
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    @lucky_jim
    Not going to a apoligise for something I didn't know.

    I didn't know whether Akio Ōtsuka voices Snake with an American accent that only the Japanese speaking audience could pick up, or simply in Japanese.
  • Aargh, 26 Jul 2014 12:00:37 292 posts
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    YoshiMcTaggis wrote:
    Really the question you should be asking is can a Frenchman impersonate a Japanese man?
    Nah, Japanese people don't wear berets.
  • elstoof 26 Jul 2014 12:00:43 28,126 posts
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    The problem is with your ears. An English person putting on a French accent is just as ridiculous to the French as a French person putting on an English accent is to the English.

    You're just too naive to realise.
  • President_Weasel 26 Jul 2014 12:02:10 12,355 posts
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    To give a slightly more serious answer, a Japanese voice actor is extremely unlikely to put on an "American man trying to speak Japanese" accent or anything like that. However just like in English, French, German etc there are different accents and ways of speaking; the Osaka accent is slower than the Tokyo one and is often used for the stereotypical big slow guy or the comic relief, for example. But no, they can't do "an American ghetto accent in Japanese"; they can do a yakuza-wannabe thug type accent though.

    Incidentally black people are not in fact born from coconuts; all other information in this thread is however correct.
  • scuffpuppies 26 Jul 2014 12:04:43 383 posts
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    elstoof wrote:
    The problem is with your ears. An English person putting on a French accent is just as ridiculous to the French as a French person putting on an English accent is to the English.

    You're just too naive to realise.
    Naive? Because I can't recall ever hearing a French actor, talking in French, with an English accent? Link?
  • scuffpuppies 26 Jul 2014 12:06:32 383 posts
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    President_Weasel wrote:
    Incidentally black people are not in fact born from coconuts; all other information in this thread is however correct.
    Thanks. I began to think my wife had been lying about her parents.
  • elstoof 26 Jul 2014 12:08:25 28,126 posts
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    scuffpuppies wrote:

    Naive? Because I can't recall ever hearing a French actor, talking in French, with an English accent? Link?
    Naive because when you hear an English actor say "zis eez komplatlee reedeekulouuuus" you think that's totally an authentic French accent.
  • elstoof 26 Jul 2014 12:09:39 28,126 posts
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    And Dick Van Dyke sounds more London than Jablokie.
  • scuffpuppies 26 Jul 2014 12:10:52 383 posts
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    elstoof wrote:
    scuffpuppies wrote:

    Naive? Because I can't recall ever hearing a French actor, talking in French, with an English accent? Link?
    Naive because when you hear an English actor say "zis eez komplatlee reedeekulouuuus" you think that's totally an authentic French accent.
    Oh I do, do I? Right. Thanks for clearing that up. I can mow the lawn with peace of mind now. Cheers.
  • Deleted user 26 July 2014 12:16:30
    @scuffpuppies

    I didn't ask you to apologise, and you'll note I didn't make fun of you either (well, not much, though I realise now I might have sounded more arsey than I meant to). There's no shame in not knowing something, but it's a bit surprising to me that you couldn't figure this out yourself. But hey, we all have these brain farts sometimes.
  • FWB 26 Jul 2014 12:21:19 56,369 posts
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    Critical age plays a crucial role in pronunciation. When you are younger your bones are far more malleable and as such you can create a greater variety of sounds. As you age, they harden, making it increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to create many sounds. In regards to English and accents, current language acquisition research suggests that it could be as low as 8 years for pronunciation (others say even 4-5). The suggestion is that learning English for the first time after that makes it impossible to develop a full native accent. You'll get close, but never spot on. Of course how close you come will depend on your first language.

    Haven't studied much of language acquisition in other languages, but I suspect the same ideas apply. So, to properly answer the OP, it might actually be difficult, if not impossible, for a Japanese speaker who hasn't learned said language from a young age to accurately mimic particular foreigners speaking their language, as they won't be able to produce particular sounds from it. But then again, who would really be able to tell the difference?
  • TheMayorOfJugs 26 Jul 2014 12:40:51 6,489 posts
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    Deckard1 wrote:
    HALLO SIR, HOW ARE YOU TODAY
    GEWD MAWNING VIETNAAAM
  • Rodpad 26 Jul 2014 12:41:38 2,997 posts
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  • Deleted user 26 July 2014 12:45:36
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