Let’s Discuss Clichés: the Fonetic Acksent (Phonetic Accent) · 7:20am Dec 16th, 2017
My previous LDC post was about a very omnipresent cliché. Today, I’d like to discuss a similarly common, and no less frustrating trope; the phonetic accent.
What is it? The phonetic accent is when a writer attempts to spell a word how it sounds. There is (usually) no guidelines or reasoning to it, and it’s often far disconnected from normal spelling.
This highly subjective spelling is used to represent all sorts of accents, speaking styles, and cultures (fantastical or otherwise).
Why do people still use it? The main reason this cliché persists is pretty simple. Speaking style and diction are a huge part of characterization. Many times, how a character says something is as important as what they are saying. Showing that in writing doesn’t have a lot of different options, and the phonetic accent is the most straightforward way to portray non-standard speaking styles.
Writing an accent this way is also fun. It lets writers be a little silly, a little extravagant, while still having a purpose. It lets a writer make something incredibly unique, and it often is interesting exploring all the different ways to spell a given sentence.
Why is it a bad idea? What makes it trite? This cliché has one major problem. It damages the readability and ease of understanding when reading. I often espouse the idea that clarity is paramount to storytelling. If your reader has to re-read something—even as small as a word—that damages their ability to understand and enjoy your work. The phonetic accent is often used in quantity, and that makes each word and sentence a struggle for the reader to digest.
Even when not used at length, the phonetic accent is a very subjective thing. Ironically, the writing down of an accent can warp it away from how it’s supposed to sound. “Phonetic,” “funetik,” “fonetic,” “phanetic”...there is a discernible difference between them all, but if you are trying to mimic an Ozarks or Californian or New Yorkan accent, who’s to say any of them are more correct than any other? Short of an actual phonetic alphabet (which is obtuse in its own way), any invented spelling is going to be too subjective to have the intended effect.
The most severe and common example of this in our fandom is Applejack, and writers writing her “I”s as “Ah”. It is distracting and difficult to read—mutating a common, short word into a longer, invented one. It also doesn’t match her accent at all. AJ has an Ozarks/Midwestern accent, and both the show version and real life variants don’t mutate the letter I that much (if at all).
How could we, as writers, improve on this? This is one of those clichés where I think the main issue stems from overuse. With a little more restraint, it’s possible to sprinkle bits of alternate spelling in dialogue, offering some additional characterization without sacrificing clarity. This particularly means avoiding phoneticizing common words, and making the words one alters easily recognized.
There is also some precedent for altering words to fit accent. The dropped letters of some accents do have rules to represent them (writin’ vs. writing), and there are some other situations that have a small amount of precedent and clarification.
One also needs to be consistent, both with real life and with oneself. Listen to examples of the character or accent you are trying to replicate, and try and match some keys words or phrases in writing. If you invent a spelling for a particular word, try and stick to it, so that readers don’t need to relearn what it means multiple times.
Further, there are other, often less obtrusive verbal identifiers that you can give characters. Perhaps your character has a stutter, or speaks very formally, or uses smaller vocabulary. Each of these can also provide a lot of characterization, in more subtle ways.
And of course, fiction is often about mirroring real life, not copying it exactly. Even if your character has a very specific accent, then focusing on one or two identifying features will make it easier to read, while still making their accent clear enough to the reader.
How might the above look? Let’s first take a look at some clearly overdone phonetics;
“Oh, Ah’m fain t’day. How’re yoo doin’, Twailaight?” Applejack said.
Now let’s take that same sentence, and use less phonetic liberty.
“Oh, I’m fine t’day. How’re you doin’, Twilight?” Applejack said.
Notice how with the second sentence, we still get a clear sense of AJ’s accent, while still being able to easily understand the sentence. The first sentence also seems like it could be more Scottish or Northern Britain than anything.
For some examples of some other speaking styles, I took a few lines from some of my fanfics;
Rainbow Dash, simpler words:
“Geez, that was the most boring thing I’ve ever heard.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “You two sure suck at talking to ponies.”
“Yeah, well, we could still make choices. It was a bad situation, sure, but everypony still had to handle it.” Rainbow Dash waved a hoof. “Besides, that was different. I don’t see you having your brain and stuff changed by magic.”
Princess Luna, archaic:
Luna frowned. “And here I thought the guards were well-versed in youthful candor.”
Luna’s ear flicked. “The principle might be similar, but your execution is lacking. I avoid such fantasies completely—their content is a mystery to me. Your implicit approval of these absurd scenarios is disconcerting.”
Rarity, overly formal:
Rarity shook her head. “Even considering the idea is beneath me. It’s just one bad day, I can weather it without resorting to such petty, uncouth tactics.”
“Yes, yes, and her mane is gorgeous. We covered this already.” Rarity bit her lip for a moment. “I am just saying, perhaps trying to…hit on an alicorn bent on creating eternal night may not be the best idea.” Rarity glanced at Twilight. “Especially when there are equally attractive, less uncouth options available.”
Princess Celestia, stutter:
“Oh it’s f-f-fine,” the other Celestia said. “I’m j-just not in the mood for tea right noww.”
The other Celestia leaned forward. “Tell me, j-j-just how much do you know about your sister?”
Conclusion: Like all tropes and cliches, this has situations where it can be useful to writers. But this comes with a very important caveat. Even in situations where it is a good idea, it still needs to be used carefully and with restraint. There is even the occasional exception (ex: a character is unintelligible to everyone, including the reader and other characters). But every time you make your reader sit through a wad of illegible text, you run the risk of losing their attention.
How your characters speak can often be as important as what they say. But turning comprehension into a chore or daunting task is a risky move. Especially when a lighter approach or less obtuse word choice can often have a similar effect.
As usual, I wish I could like a blog post. Instead I'm force to leave a comment expressing my satisfation therein. Dam you, knighty, for forcing me to engage constructively on the internet discussion! *shakes angry hoof fists*
Anyway, interesting blog! And I agree entirely. I've historically used the 'ah thing before, but have been culling it back when I have the opportunity because I've personally seen the effects it can have on readability. It feels like a cheap hack, really, to make Applejack's dialogue sound like herself. A Jack hack, so to speak.
Altering word choice and phrasing is a little more subtle, but can still have the intended effect--sometimes better, in fact--whilst also working a bit more naturally into the story.
Great blog! Also, love the Magilou avatar.
Another solid blog, I'll make sure to smack my authors with it when I need some good examples of why AJ does not talk like a mush mouthed hick.
I honestly don't know where AJ saying "Ah" came from. You don't hear it in her accent at all. I guess people just assume a southern character has to talk that way even if they audibly hear otherwise.
4750208 The issue is that it doesn't match her accent at all. It feels more like an offensive stereotype than a sincere attempt to mirror her accent. I guess you might call it an attack on Jack.
4750522 I think it's one of those cases where one author did it, and everyone else copied them without considering if it was a good idea or not. The earliest fic I know of that used it was Ah Ain't Got no Ack-cent!, though it could certainly predate that. (That was before I got into the fanfic part of the fandom, so I can only speculate).
4750564
Yeah, I hadn't thiught of it like that. I pretty much started off copying other aithors who did it as well - no idea where it originated.