Last month NPR asked listeners to put themselves in the shoes of Oscar nominees and imagine what they would say if they won. People submitted many samples, imitating some of the nominees or the characters they play, accent and all.
Some submissions can be found at
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7409845
It's interesting to notice that when attempting to speak like the Queen, many people got the voice quality and intonation quite close, seemed to enunciate more clearly, but still kept it rhotic. The Queen is clearly non-rhotic in her speech and this should be striking to American ears. Is it that they perceive her as speaking "correct" English and that "correct" in their mind means pronouncing the r's?
Some submissions can be found at
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7409845
It's interesting to notice that when attempting to speak like the Queen, many people got the voice quality and intonation quite close, seemed to enunciate more clearly, but still kept it rhotic. The Queen is clearly non-rhotic in her speech and this should be striking to American ears. Is it that they perceive her as speaking "correct" English and that "correct" in their mind means pronouncing the r's?