Detroit accent in translation

[Ruth Abou Rached]

Hello,

I have just read an old thread about different Detroit accents which I found really fascinating. As a Brit who has never visited the US, it really got me thinking about a novel I am researching for my PhD. This novel is about a second-generation Iraqi woman living in Detroit who speaks Arabic and English. And this is where I know I could do with some Detroit accent expertise.

In the Arabic version of the book, the woman is clearly thinking in the Iraqi accent. In the English translation though, she sounds like a Brit! This has been commented on by US reviewers - quite basic things like "crisps" and "biscuits" have been used instead of "chips" and "cookies". And there's nothing that marks the accent as US in the grammar or in any of the language flow.

I know accents in different language communities can vary in one town. But I have been told that whichever country they are born in, most people living in Detroit since childhood, including Iraqis, would speak English with a Detroit accent, not BBC London style.

What I'd like to do is show how the translators could have translated her speech into US English Detroit-style. But as I've never been to Detroit and I'm a Brit, I really need to ask people who know, like yourselves.

What vowels should I be looking out for? Are there any particular expressions or turns of phrase that mark someone's accent as particularly from Detroit? Does generation make a difference? The era is 2003 in the book, and the woman is in her twenties.

Any thoughts or comments would be much appreciated! Many thanks!
Ruth:-)

[Lowell]

Pace should be considered. Detroiters speak more slowly than Brits who seem that whatever they are saying is the last chance they will have ever have to say it so they jam it all out as fast as they can. Listening to muffled speech with indistinguishable words at distance will expose that difference.

Having lived among Brits for a couple of year in the past, accent-wise pronunciation the short a is the most immediate giveaway to me. Brit: You Bah-starrd. Detroit: You Bass-turd.

Then there are significant differences between Euro-Detroit and Afro-Detroit accents, pronunciations and word choices. For example: Brit: ahsk Euro-Detroit: assk Afro-Detroit: ax

[Dumpling]

This post won't help much for your book translation but will help with the
thread flow.

Here are my linguistic run-ins with British style English speakers.

Visiting Australian student that I used to live with: "I'm going to bike a kike!"
Whoa! You are taking a Jewish person you don't regard highly at all
out for a spin on your Harley? No, the flour confection you put in the
oven for an hour and frost when it is cool is about to be prepared.

Scottish coworker: "Do you know where there are more bones?"
You want me to check around to see who had barbecue for lunch today?
No, more rubber pads [[bungs) to cushion plastic bottles are needed.

Scottish neighbor: ell eck tricity Detroit: ee lectricity or eh lectricity
Neighbor: Tack o Bell Detroit: Tah ko Bell
[[Not sure if you have Taco Bell, it is a ubiquitous chain of quasi-Mexican
fast food restaurants in this area)
Scottish neighbor: have you hair'd of Tack o Bell
Detroit: have you hurd of Tah ko Bell

[Dumpling]

What may be more helpful for your book project is to look online
for clips of Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, a Flint pediatrician involved
in the Flint Water Crisis. She has Iraqi cultural origins but speaks
an English that is easily understood in metro Detroit.

[archfan]

In my experience, first generation immigrants that learned English in British-influenced countries often will use British words and pronunciations [[torch/aluminium). Usually by the second generation, the accent is the same as other Detroiters - even if they still speak their parents' native language in the home.

This site may give you a few local quirks: http://michigannative.com/ma_idiosyncrasies.shtml

[Ruth Abou Rached]

Thanks everyone, all the examples and links are really helpful