By their very nature, accents are subconscious beacons of perception.
Even those who pride themselves on reserving judgements will involuntarily process the minor presumptions that are associated to social categories, accomplishments and education that have influenced how a person is speaking.
Accents are like meta-labels that are prone to conjuring a multitude of stereotypical and misguided assumptions. This is what makes rarer accents of the world’s most common languages so peculiar.
And the Antarctic accent is no exception.
How does an Antarctic Accent even exist?
Antarctica is a freezing, inhospitable wasteland that has never had an indigenous population. So, how is an Antarctic accent even possible?
The answer is the 66 remote science bases on the continent – of which 37 are occupied all year round.
This equates to an international melting pot of 4,000 science operatives through the summer months and about 1,000 over winter. The Rothera and Halley bases in Antarctica, operated by the British Antarctic Survey, were the first to recognise the emergence of an ‘Antarctic accent’.
In the long eight months of Antarctic winter, 30 to 45 people are responsible for keeping the stations functioning. Antarctica’s hostile weather conditions make it completely inaccessible during winter, so staff are isolated from the rest of the world. And curiously, these scientists noted a change in how they speak.
In 2019, a study in The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America looked at how vocal phonetics of the scientists changed over the Antarctic winter, studying their vocal characteristics before and during their visit.
The linguists recorded the scientists’ voices speaking at regular intervals, and they compared the results to a computer model used to predict changes in their accents. They found that the scientists showed similar incremental shifts in how they speak were aligning with the predictions of the computation model of the emerging Antarctic accent’s attributes.
What are the Antarctic accent’s characteristics?
The linguists in that study found that the proximity of the scientists from different nationalities developed into a distinct shared accent. Unsurprisingly, the Antarctic accent is a mix from different regions of the world.
Each scientist’s vocal characteristics were contributing to its development!
As the different scientists began speaking similarly to one another, each also began to lose some of their native characteristics and particularly, vowel sound changes. Over time, all of the scientists showed progressive differences in speech, continuously supporting the development of a new shared accent.
The attributes of this new accent begin with the vowel length increasing by up to 30 milliseconds. The most pronounced change was in the ‘oo’ sound in words liked cooed. The Antarctic accent shifts where in the mouth the ‘oo’ sound is produced.
For most of the study’s participants, the ‘oo’ sound changed from being made at the back of the mouth, moving in the middle to near-back direction. This process is known as vowel fronting.
So, how is any of this relevant?
In voice over, rare accents provide crucial insights into casting voice actors. Choosing an accent, whether common or uncommon, is a strategic decision. Here are four classic accent stereotypes that can impact audience perception:
– Local accents create familiarity and accessibility.
– Upper-class accents imply prestige and wealth.
– Foreign accents suggest honesty and independence.
– Unusual accents bring mystery and intrigue.
Every accent triggers associations, influencing audience engagement positively or negatively depending on its context. Producers and casting directors must avoid hasty decisions influenced by budget or time constraints, as mismatched accents can alienate listeners.
For example, while the Antarctic accent has limited applicability outside Antarctica, its nomadic influences resonate similarly with other global accents gaining popularity. At Voquent, accents like Transatlantic English, Euro-Neutral English, and International English are widely used across diverse media, from global commercials to futuristic video games.
The creative industry’s embrace of rare accents doesn’t replace traditional dialects but underscores accents’ evolving role in shaping perceptions regardless of geographic origin.
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