Halfling Accent Explained!

[Larry Shortoak 297]

Time to learn the accent!

Now, many people have approached myself or some other experienced halflings and have continued to ask the same question.

"How do you speak with the accent of a Halfling?" OR "Why is the accent so hard to do on Halflings?"

~*~

Now! Onto the class!

Typically, the newer Halflings tend to not have a strong accent like their ancestors, however, it is still strong enough to make a difference. Current Halflings tend to have an accent similar to that of a modern day's Irish accent. There are still some differences, so make sure to read it closely and pay attention!

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Halflings have a difficult time saying and pronouncing the letter 'T'.

Normal : This is a test statement.

Halfling : This is a tes' sta'emen'.

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Notice how in 'statement', the first 'T' is still said, the 'ST' sound remains pronounceable. This is due to Halflings still being able to pronounce 'T's' under certain conditions. Not every 'T' has to be replaced.

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Another things Halflings have a difficult time saying is the letter 'H'.

Normal : How are you doing today?

Halfling : 'ow are ye doin' teday?

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Former Halflings wouldn't pronounce the 'ER' sound at the end of a word and instead replaced it with an 'A'.

Normal : How are you, Mister Shortoak

Halfling : 'ow are ye, Mista Shortoak/Shor'oak

This however is not as common as it used to be.

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In words you can also drop the 'OO' sounds in words, this can either remain or either change it with an 'E' or 'A'.

Eg. You --> Ye, Ya

See above for an example.

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Depending on the Halfling, they may change the sounds of 'TO' and 'TOO' and replace it with either 'TER' or 'TE'.

Normal : Today is a good day to farm in the fields.

Halfling : Teday is a good day te farm in the fields

Halfling : Terday is a good day ter farm in the fields.

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Tips for Halflings

- You character will be able to pronounce letters at the beginning of words. 'Green or Blue' would not change into ''reen or 'lue'

- Some, not all Halflings choose to replace the 'TH' sound and replace it with a 'D' (The --> Da)

This however is not a common thing, it can be done though.

- Halflings typically don't pronounce all of the 'ING' and instead remove the 'G'

Eg. Doing --> Doin'

- You don't need to copy everyone else, you are able to make your own accent unique.

 

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All credit goes to cmack1028 for the original guide found in the Halfling Information Mega-Thread

Found here.

I re-wrote it due to many people asking for a new guide.

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Example text found from the first page of 'The Hobbit'.

In a 'ole in the groun' there lived a hobbi'. No' a nasty, dir'y, we' 'ole, filled with the en's of werms an' an oozy smell, nor ye' a dry, bare, sandy 'ole with nothin' in i' te si' down on or te ea': i' was a hobbi'-'ole, an' tha' means comfer'.

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Any other tips or questions I will answer below. Please, any words, questions, etc, don't hesitate to put it below.

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[Weabootrash 412]

where do you get all these gifs, wtf

[Larry Shortoak 297]

Just now, Weabootrash said:

where do you get all these gifs, wtf

The gif is my answer ;)

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[trinn 5139]

Spoiler

 

A wonderful guide! I hate accents, still. I just can't understand them most of the time.

Its still a wonderful guide, and it'll help me from dying next time I meet a halfling and fail to understand his accent!

 

 

 

[Jentos 9422]

Halfling accent is redneck accent

[Kvasir 1121]

Thank. :D

[Crowbill 493]

Fun fact: If you have issues with the dwarven accent, this guide can assist since it's pretty similar in how it works! The only major difference probably is that the dwarves don't says h-s instead of t's, and dehs and doses instead of ters and tes. To use the example above "Tudeh's ah gud day tuh do some farmin'! I just 'ope it won't rain..."

[Larry Shortoak 297]

1 hour ago, Croleo676 said:

Fun fact: If you have issues with the dwarven accent, this guide can assist since it's pretty similar in how it works! The only major difference probably is that the dwarves don't says h-s instead of t's, and dehs and doses instead of ters and tes. To use the example above "Tudeh's ah gud day tuh do some farmin'! I just 'ope it won't rain..."

Well if I somehow assisted the Dwarves then that is a win-win. Hope it helps some of you guys too.

[garentoft 9265]

that is one nice accent

[Gladuos 869]

Now some o' the new un's won' be so flustehed come the time teh be learnin' their Ps an' Qs.

 

. . .

 

[_Jandy_ 3519]

Fantastic work! I love it.

[Stump 709]

Although one thing I think a lot of people seem to forget is slang.

 

I find slang to really tie an accent together, in fact being more effective than just erasing letters out of words. Personally I've only done research on Scottish slang (read: heavy slang, 'not every scot' etc) and so I am sadly uneducated on the slang of other more southern accents like the Halflings sport, but I found it a very fun subject to explore. 

 

Perhaps also it'd be hard to simply.. Write up a list of slang and be like, "this is our official slang" since the nature of slang is very unofficial, differing a lot from place to place. Though a majority of the time I'd just think to myself, "how can I shorten this?" or "how can I simplify this?" Because people are often lazy, forfeiting words for the sake of time, even people without heavy accents- Unless they're uppity High Elves of course.

Examples off the top of my head:
"Where do ye' come from?"
"Far abouts ye' frae?"

"I'm tired, I'll see ye' t'morrow!"
"Am pure knackered, see ye' th' morn!"

Notice how it actually makes it more confusing too, but not in the unappealing "woah that's a lot of apostrophes" way. Even the internet thrives off slang, just look at the front page of Urban Dictionary. Ah well, just food for thought, guys.

[cmack1028 549]

easier to follow and more relevant examples from my old one, very nice larry :)

[Larry Shortoak 297]

3 hours ago, Starry •ε• said:

Although one thing I think a lot of people seem to forget is slang.

 

I find slang to really tie an accent together, in fact being more effective than just erasing letters out of words. Personally I've only done research on Scottish slang (read: heavy slang, 'not every scot' etc) and so I am sadly uneducated on the slang of other more southern accents like the Halflings sport, but I found it a very fun subject to explore. 

 

Perhaps also it'd be hard to simply.. Write up a list of slang and be like, "this is our official slang" since the nature of slang is very unofficial, differing a lot from place to place. Though a majority of the time I'd just think to myself, "how can I shorten this?" or "how can I simplify this?" Because people are often lazy, forfeiting words for the sake of time, even people without heavy accents- Unless they're uppity High Elves of course.

Examples off the top of my head:
"Where do ye' come from?"
"Far abouts ye' frae?"

"I'm tired, I'll see ye' t'morrow!"
"Am pure knackered, see ye' th' morn!"

Notice how it actually makes it more confusing too, but not in the unappealing "woah that's a lot of apostrophes" way. Even the internet thrives off slang, just look at the front page of Urban Dictionary. Ah well, just food for thought, guys.

I understand where you're coming from, I even thought about writing up a list of words at the bottom that could be useful in helping get the hang of it quicker. I left it out however because accents and slang differ from place to place like you said and I imagine this wouldn't change regarding Halflings, but this allows for the new Halflings or others the ability to learn the slang and try and make their own. Thanks for the input though, really appreciate the thought. 

Best way to learn in is to immerse yourself in it. :)

~*~

 

2 hours ago, cmack1028 said:

easier to follow and more relevant examples from my old one, very nice larry :)

I've never been happier, the original writer approves. 

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[Stump 709]

Just now, Larry Shortoak said:

Best way to learn in is to immerse yourself in it. :)

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Absolutely! I sometimes wish people gave it more thought, only because I enjoyed it so much when I did. I wouldn't try it press it on people though.

I did realize that I hardly remember how to replicate my old character's accent now after writing that post, however. She was killed off last year, sad feels.