Seanchan Texan Accent?

[Leopoled Boothe]

I recently read an interview with Robert Jordan in which when asked what accents the various peoples in the wheel of time he equated the Seanchan accetn the with that of texans. So was RJ for real or was he making a joke?

[Jeppit Groccin]

One can only assume he was being truthful, since he does refer to the seanchan accent as a "drawl" in the books.

[Rational_Solutions]

In all of his interviews i have never know him to joke about an answer he gives. plus in my head that is how i play out thier speech.

[Kadere]

I try to, but I suck at imagining accents.

[RobertAlexWillis]

You know ... that makes for some really funny mental pictures, because frankly, the Seanchan are definitely NOT like people in the South and southern Midwest of the United States .... :lol:

[Guest Majsju]

Well, they do condone slavery...

[RobertAlexWillis]

That would get you in trouble if you said it here, Majsju .... not from ME (you couldn't PAY me to own a slave), but the South in particular is very sesitive about that still. When slavery WAS legal here it was many times more brutal than the almost socialized slavery described among the Seanchan. I'm certainly not condoning either one, but slavery in the South was much different than the concept of da'covale described in the books, where "property" includes people like Karede, a banner-General, and so'jhin.

 

Seanchan slavery seems more to me like an enforced caste system, with rules for moving up and down, than chattel slavery.

[Zardi]

Well, they do condone slavery... ;)

You know, most of us don't anymore :roll:

 

A "drawl" simply means that vowels are drawn out. The Texas drawl is only one example of that. Personally, I wouldn't be able to stand it if all the Seanchan sounded like Hank Hill, so I made up my own accent for them.

[Gentled Ben]

*pokes head in* See, and all along I've pictured Tuon as sounding just like Boomhauer: "Thatdangedol'Toy,man,he'dbetterletmeleashthoseMarath'Damane,man,I'lltellyouwhut." :P

[Zardi]

Aaaah, that must be why Mat hasn't kicked her in the butt yet. He just has no idea what she's saying :D

[Rhetrus]

Weird, I always pictured the Seanchan as an Asian culture. Saying that, I imagined the drawl to be that of an Asian culture, as opposed to Western culture.

 

Funny how our imaginations make each book quite personal

[t_6005]

I don't know, I picture it as kind of a drawl, and yet not. If you can picture a cultured drawl (and I can tell you that I can, having been many places - Seattle is a perfect example), that what I always imagined the Senchean as.

[smashingsilver]

One thing RJ likes to do with his cultures in these books is to combine elements of one culture with another. While the Seanchan have artistic elements from an Oriental culture and a definite East Indian caste system, their speech happens to be slow and drawn out, like a laid back southerner. RJ obviously does this on purpose so that he does not mimic any one specific nation or ethnic group in his books, yet allows for these nations to be easily identified by the reader by using well known, common elements. This just causes us to work a little bit to adjust our already conceived mental pictures of a culture when applying to nations in WoT. Just because Taraboners speak like the French doesn't mean they act or look like them.

[t_6005]

Just because Taraboners speak like the French doesn't mean they act or look like them.

Amusingly, being French, and having read the series several times (though, I must admit, never with any specific focus on Tarabon aside from Falme), I never noticed that.

[aznprince001]

I've always seen some similiarites in the WOT countries. Ebou Dar always seemed like New Orleans to me. Their celebrations sound like mardi gras.

 

Andor could be somewhat of an England. Being that they have queens and such. They also are more 'moderately' dressed then Cairhien. They also have lands they dont "tax" such as the Two Rivers, a colony. My theory is that Andor also employs bowmen and infantry more often that calavary in war, like England.

 

Cairhien's lordship is called the "Sun Throne" similiar to the French King, Louis's XIV nickname "The Sun King" Fashion is big in Cairhien, as in France, Cairhien also employs Lancers to their armies just like the French. And France and England were sworn enemies in the past, similar to Cairhien and Andor.

 

Countries and Cities will always be similiar in RJ's stories. It will be more appealing to try hook up our lands with WOT.

 

note: Shienar is the coolest!

[Mardragon]

It is interesting how we imagine things! Although I guessed RJ probably meant a southern US accent, for some reason I keep imagining it as more Irish. One of those very broad irish accents ("Alllllrairt der paddy!") I mean not the softer one ("Well I don't roightly know, so I don't").

 

Yeah I know... bit of a cliche. Almost as bad as some of those English accents I hear on American TV sometimes. Trust me, few English people I know (including myself) sound like that. Oops. Bit off topic there....

 

I agree, the Andorans are similar to medieval English is some ways, appart for the matriarchal system of government. Yes I know we have a queen but that's because she didn't have a brother who could take the throne...

 

And yes the two rivers folk could be rural medieval English... although more likely welsh.

[Guest Majsju]

A very good analysis on some of the real world's influences on WOT. Including what RJ has said about some accents.

 

http://www.darkfriends.net/wheel/3_sources/3.14_countries.html

[JenniferL]

The Seanchan accent is definately Texan. Jordan didn't bat an eye when we were joking about Chinese Texan husband being a Seanchan at Dragon*Con.

[RJJT86]

I've been wondering about accents for a while. Of course I don't change their accents in my head. But the thing about the southern drawl is definately a good one. I do know a few people at home who'd sound just like it. But I'm not thinking Boomhower, or however it's spelled, or Hank from King of the Hill. That's hill country Texas, I'm thinking more along the lines of East Texas, real laid back. If not that then I'm thinking one of those soft slow Irish accents. Mat always says that it sounds like honey coming out of a jar.

 

And in reference to they "do" condone slavery. I don't know anyone back home who would condone it and it's immature and ignorant to even joke, using such generalities. Especially using such an immoral topic. Half my family has lived in the south for who knows how long and to my knowledge none of my family owned slaves, but we did fight in the Civil War on the Confederacy, because we believed that the individual states should have some rights. But I believe the better side won, and we kept the country together. But I'm getting into politics now, almost as touchy a subject as personal Randland theories so I'll drop it there.