The Illian speech patterns

[badhead]

such a small detail, but it adds so much to the world of wheel of time.

[Orderofolde]

I imagine that the Illianer manner of speech is derived from one of the British sub varieties of accent such as Cornish, Gaelic, Welch, Scottish, etc.  It certainly has the brogue and gruffness and I heard a sampling of accents years ago, some I could barely understand they were so thick and the words not traditional English I was used to.  I'd like to find that youtube video but it was so many years ago, I just can't remember which.  It wasn't the traditional "Hollywood" British accent and speech mannerism we've all been exposed to but a local flavor.  Maybe one of our fellows from across the pond knows what I am getting at?  

 

RJ used real history, real religion, real folk tales and mythology changing them to his needs and blending them in a retelling of us, our past, and our future.  He rewrote a little Tolkein, borrowed from George Lucas, gave a nod to GRRM and others, but chiefly used peoples of the world, bastardized and blended languages...Algoda which the Aiel garments are made from for instance which is cotton for all purposes is similar to the Spanish word for cotton which is Aldogon.  Writers do this all the time, remaining close to things we've come across or experience but we change it to make it ours.  It is a common concept I myself use, and hard not to do with my mind always working.  I'll hear an accent I like or see someone and while they may not fit it is enough of an outline that the character snaps into existence, a history and background unfolding even as that person's part in my writing unfolds, weaving into the story.

[James al'Dylan]

It reads like Robert Newton's portrayal of Long John Silver in Treasure Island (1950). Newton was from Dorset and gave his character an exaggerated West Country accent. So successful was his characterisation that he is now the 'patron saint' of International Talk Like a Pirate Day (19 September)!

Now I should say that I also hail from the West Country, in Somerset, so know more than a little about the accents around here! To my ear there are many variations and to be honest very few now speak with a pronounced accent at all. Very broadly the accents of the rural/farming counties of Somerset, Dorset, Devon and to a lesser extent Cornwall are softer. Bristol and the Bristolian accent is quite broad and a bit stronger, but you can hear pockets of similarity in parts of coastal Cornwall too. To me, Bayle Domon sounds like he's from Bristol, though I don't recall him calling anyone "me babber".

This said, however, I thought I remember reading somewhere that RJ said that the Illian accent was Dutch?! I might have that wrong, but either way, it's a West Country accent and fortune prick me if that's not the truth of it.

[damandred]

I always thought of it as a Yorkshire accent. Dont no why. Maybe because they still use thees and thines up there, but no logical reason other than thats how it sounded in my head when reading.

 

Ps. Was in dorset last summer had a night out in bournmouth and salisbury. And met one of the funnyist lads ever. Good times!

[mb]

http://wotfaq.dragonmount.com/node/164

the last section of that page lists language influences.

 

It tells dutch for Illian.