I hope everyone has had a chance to work these IPA charts. The more you do, the easier the words will roll from your tongue. Meaning is secondary yet simultaneous with sounding the words correctly. You'll notice most words with more than one syllable have one stress which is stronger than the rest. (NO-tice, STRONG-er, SYLL-a-ble).
Also the metre of the verse is likewise simultaneous with the sounding of the words. It acts like a drum beat rhythm behind everything you say. You provide the melody.
It is the act of speaking the verse that breathes new life into it. The final stressed syllable of a verse line helps to set up the next line where the stressed second syllable provides new energy for that line leading to its last syllable and so anew. Verse then is a self-generating energy machine.
Prose does not adhere to any kind of metre and cannot be treated like verse. There is no ta-tum to listen up for. However that said Shakespeare often makes his prose feel like verse. It's one of the innovations that Sh created. His development in prose is as marked as his development in verse.
Therefore you need to know when you're speaking verse and when prose. The simplest rule as Tim said is verse lines are capitalised at the beginning of each line. Always keep an extra little attention for if the verse goes irregular on you. EG Antipholus speech to Luciana 1st and 3rd lines where the 'not' hangs the feminine line ending. It shows the disjointed nature of his questioning, how he can't believe what's happening.
Also important to know for those that don't know Comedy of Errors. The island where they are is reputed to be a magic island where strange things happen.
And finally if you want a good synopsis of the story of any of the plays go to the back of Shakespeare's words or click on this link for the website:
https://www.shakespeareswords.com/Synopses.aspx
The following takes you to Paul Meier's website and free e-book on speaking shakespeare.
You don't need to go into his method of speaking in Original Pronunciation.
The pdf also goes into the musicality of speaking shakespeare.
If people have difficult words they want to know how to pronounce, I can be your go to guy.
Read the following piece called
Comma gets a cure
A print version can be found here:
(I suggest you make a copy and keep it with your Shakespeare scenes)!
Well, here's a story for you: Sarah Perry was a veterinary nurse who had been working daily at an old zoo in a deserted district of the territory, so she was very happy to start a new job at a superb private practice in North Square near the Duke Street Tower. That area was much nearer for her and more to her liking. Even so, on her first morning, she felt stressed. She ate a bowl of porridge, checked herself in the mirror and washed her face in a hurry. Then she put on a plain yellow dress and a fleece jacket, picked up her kit and headed for work.
When she got there, there was a woman with a goose waiting for her. The woman gave Sarah an official letter from the vet. The letter implied that the animal could be suffering from a rare form of foot and mouth disease, which was surprising, because normally you would only expect to see it in a dog or a goat. Sarah was sentimental, so this made her feel sorry for the beautiful bird.
Before long, that itchy goose began to strut around the office like a lunatic, which made an unsanitary mess. The goose's owner, Mary Harrison, kept calling, "Comma, Comma," which Sarah thought was an odd choice for a name. Comma was strong and huge, so it would take some force to trap her, but Sarah had a different idea. First she tried gently stroking the goose's lower back with her palm, then singing a tune to her. Finally, she administered ether. Her efforts were not futile. In no time, the goose began to tire, so Sarah was able to hold onto Comma and give her a relaxing bath.
Once Sarah had managed to bathe the goose, she wiped her off with a cloth and laid her on her right side. Then Sarah confirmed the vet's diagnosis. Almost immediately, she remembered an effective treatment that required her to measure out a lot of medicine. Sarah warned that this course of treatment might be expensive-either five or six times the cost of penicillin. I can't imagine paying so much, but Mrs. Harrison-a millionaire lawyer-thought it was a fair price for a cure.
[Comma Gets a Cure and derivative works may be used freely for any purpose without special permission, provided the present sentence and the following copyright notification accompany the passage in print, if reproduced in print, and in audio format in the case of a sound recording: Copyright 2000 Douglas N. Honorof, Jill McCullough & Barbara Somerville. All rights reserved].
Now some of you have English accents (eg Claire)
and some of you have American accents (eg Maud and Amber)
Many of you have Dinglish accents, which means you might start off the story with, and I exaggerate:
Vell, hiersh a shtory for yoe,
For this we go back to basics:
Words are made up of two kinds of sounds: Vowels and Consonants.
Important for actors is that:
vowels carry the emotion
consonants make the sense.
Vowels always have voice. i.e. (dwz) sound is made by the vocal folds vibrating.
A little experiment to feel the vibration!
Put your fingers on your throat and say the word /Sweet/.
You will notice the /s/ is voiceless the /w/ is voiced, as is the vowel sound /i/ and the final /t/ is voiceless.
Now try the word /mouth/.
The /m/ is voiced, the diphthong (i.e. 2 vowel sounds) /au/ is voiced and the final /th/ is voiceless.
Finally try the word /power/.
The /p/ is voiceless, the triphthong (i.e. 3 vowel sounds) /aue/ and the final r is voiced in General American and not even pronounced in RP (received pronunciation or standard English)!
Vowels, dipthongs and tripthongs then are short, long, or longer:
eg bid, bead, beard, bower.
Vowels are always voiced i.e. you can feel a vibration.
TO PRACTICE these vowel sounds in either RP or GenAm click this link:
And when you look at the chart you will see it is shaped like a mouth and tells you the vowels are front, mid, or back.
Consonants are either voiceless or voiced:
compare p, t, k, with b, d, g,
Notice how you move from the front of your mouth to the back when pronouncing these sounds.
We call this the place of articulation. These consonants above all share the same place of articulation.
The only difference with b,d,g is your vocal folds vibrate, i.e. they are voiced.
Consonants also fall into groups that share the same type or manner of articulation.
Plosives: where the sound is stopped and then released.
e.g. /p/ /t/ /k/ /b/ /d/ /g/
Fricatives: where the sound is continous but slightly obstructed.
Voiceless: /f/ /th/ /s/ /sh/ /h/
Voiced: /v/ /th/ /z/ /zh/
Nasal: where the sound is resonated in the nose area.
/m/ /n/ /ng/
Some consonants approximate and are actually semi-vowels. They need special attention.
/w/ /l/ /r/ /j/
TO PRACTICE go to this consonant chart. Do NOT panic at the amount of symbols. The IPA or International Phonetic Alphabet shows all sounds that can be made in all languages. Find the ones above and rollover with your mouse and you'll hear them with the consonant at the beginning of a syllable (lettergreep):
e.g. /ta/ then in the middle e.g. /ata/ then at the end /art/
The /s/ is particularly funny!
Methinks this to be enough for today. If you don't understand any of this or are having difficulties, let me know.
Oh yes a final note for everyone about understanding the texts you've been given. I looked at them yesterday and even I don't get it the first third or tenth time I say it. With Shakespeare you don't need to understand it before you say it. Say it with confidence and the meaning will be there. Or in other words you don't act the text, it acts you. Follow the rules Tim gave us and you are in safe hands. Remember Shakespeare knows best. (though Tim might know better)!
William
Q&A Pronunciation
Pronunciation
william s. | 05/12/2011