Yesterday, was a very long day for all of us in MacB*th – we were working with our dialect coach, “dialect doug” on the Original Pronunciation of Shakespeare’s English. Making things difficult, was that during this time, the English language was changing, so words pronounced in his earlier plays, such as Twelfth Night, had by the time of James I, were pronounced differently. most interesting of all, is learning that the “k” in such words as “knock”, “knight”, “known” was voiced until about the18th century. 

We went over the basics of phonetics, and the Cardinal Vowels, where the tongue is placed and how the tongue & lips form the sounds of that era. I must state, that “OP” is a scholarly reconstruction, by David Crystal,  based on Ben Jonson’s work, and clues in the works of Shakespeare and earlier playwrights.

It was a long day for all, starting at 2pm, and ending at 10 pm, with a dinner break. As my pia mater tired, I kept trying to focus, and found my working memory had taken a hike. Still, I did my best to properly place my tongue and use a rounded lip, and, it blew. 

“Go slow and let nature take you, always do your best, and be kind to yourself.”- Gary Busey.