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What did William Shakespeare's accent sound like?

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How were William Shakespeare's words pronounced more than 400 years ago? ... been nagging Shakespeare scholars for a long time: What did Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio, Portia or Puck really sound like when ... On how researchers study what people sounded like four centuries ago. read more

A new recording from the British Library aims to replicate the authentic accent of Shakespeare's day. Above, a depiction of the dramatist at work in his study, by A.H. Payne. read more

Shakespeare was from the Midlands, areas of the West Midlands used to be very important in the Middle Ages and so the accent from that area was seen as a mark of prestige. The 'brummie' accent these days is now more commonly associated with comedy. read more

The eminent Shakespearean scholar John Barton has suggested that Shakespeare's accent would have sounded to modern ears like a cross between a contemporary Irish, Yorkshire and West Country accent. Others say that the speech of Elizabethans was much quicker than it is in modern-day Shakespeare productions. read more

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