Shakespeare: Original pronunciation (The Open University)

[@eXcommunicate1979]

There's a wonderful father-son dynamic in this video.

[@arturwojciechowicz3124]

Shakespeare sounds like county English then and now. BBC made English a bit robotic but it was in 20's-30's.

[@LeslieAM32]

I know!! I loved it!!

[@mrinvader]

Enviably awesome dynamic

[@playingbadgolfwell9732]

Agreed. And it's apparent that they have such esteem for one another as professionals.

[@volvanochaser1099]

The father shows professionalism by wearing a suit for this, but the son is dressed as if his attire doesn’t matter

[@thurstonxander]

I love the pride in the fathers eyes while watching his son perform. As a dad, this made me smile.

[@nouveau_nouveau]

As a son, this also made smile

[@timflatus]

I love the look that passes over Ben's eyes as he tries to remain focused on his father's spiel that he's been listening to since childbirth. :D

[@tranquilrabies]

Loved this Shakespeare nerd father-son duo! They would probably be having this same conversation even if nobody was around.

[@mitchellhawkes22]

Best part of the video, that pair. Makes me miss my dad, who couldn't recite verse, but was my business partner and a fascinating bloke.

[@MaxOakland]

It’s cute. I like how they can work together

[@naturlichich218]

Ben has quite an epic voice. He should record audio books

[@1elt]

👍🏻👍🏻

[@danielsqd]

So deep and so soothing

[@dreaming_cthulhu]

He’s also super handsome

[@aw2740]

ASMR

[@bluesque9687]

Yea record Shakespeare's books especially!!!!

[@robins7730]

For some reason the OP sounds just like Hagrid's accent to me.

[@pianofry1138]

I was gonna say Agird too Aryy

[@TheAngryCoyote]

I thought Barbossa from PotC

[@fds7476]

Yeah, because Hagrid's and Barbossa's dialects are from approximately the same region: Somerset and Avon.

[@georgejo7905]

scots kept it alive

[@metteholm4833]

It sounds rather like some irish -and Yorkshire mix.

[@rolfwolf1346]

As a native german speaker, it was actually easier for me to understand OP than the modern version. It seems to me that OP conforms more accurately to the way letters are pronounced when spelled individually. It sounds more "German".

[@emmetor]

You should search for that Eddie Izzard video where he buys a brown cow from a farmer in Friesland, using middle english

[@TheTaterTotP80]

Well it's a Celtic language and Germanic. There's a lot of research now into how Germanic it really is, both Germanic and Celtic languages possibly come from the same Proto base and Celtic influenced Germanic languages a lot, but for a long time that's gone understated.

[@LoanwordEggcorn]

+TheTaterTotP80 English is a Germanic language with a few Celtic borrowings. It has a lot more French borrowings.

[@한성빈-t3f]

thats because old english is built upon german dumbass

[@LoanwordEggcorn]

Einarr Michaelsson Correct. English is Germanic with mostly French borrowings. If one goes back far enough in the language family tree, most, but not all, languages in Europe in recent centuries have a common ancestor in Proto-Indo-European. That was quite far back in human history.

[@catherinekyngdon327]

I really couldn't 'read' Chaucer's Tales until one day I began to read it with the accent of my former, very elderly, English neighbour. Couldn't stop me then. It rumbled along, brightly and merrily. I could understand it and it rhymed beautifully.

[@Bklyn93]

Could you perhaps make a video of you reading it in said accent? I’d be curious to hear

[@kayamateful]

My favorite thing about this whole video is the relationship between dad and son. Imagine having the same intellectual interests as your dad and being able to study it together -- how cool.

[@oulipolesceptique9449]

I had no idea that David Crystal would be narrating this video with his son. Having read pretty much every book that the father has written about language, but never having heard him talk, I was immensely pleased to find this video, and to find that his son is as much given to the study of language as his father.

[@saltycrunch]

Ben (the son) Crystal needs to narrate Shakespeare for audiobooks.

[@kathleenanaya6721]

Shakespeare playd

[@dububro]

He also needs to make an ASMR channel.

[@jonathanbirst3306]

Its been done!

[@Chaos-232]

Yesssss

[@mariobro3351]

His voice is honey on french toast.

[@joewalker643]

I knew it! It's something that has always bothered me about "The Tyger" a poem by William Blake. The main part goes "Tyger Tyger burning bright, in the forest of the night. What immortal hand or eye, dare frame thy fearful symmetry." It always bothered me during gcse English that he went to such great lengths to make the whole thing rhyme apart from eye and symmetry and I put it to my teacher that perhaps the word at the time was pronounced more like sim-e-try and she had no clue. I knew it.

[@stephenf.8186]

Joe Walker / in this instance, the word 'eye' is pronounced - aye, that would rhyme with symmetry - as should be pronounced - 'sim-e-tray' (short - e). | The 'ay' in pronouncing 'eye' are slurred together almost as if the 'a' can barely but noticeably be heard. Kind of either old-style cockney or Irish accent on the word 'eye'. | 'Symmetry', is not pronounced 'symme-try', but here, as well, the 'y' has an 'a' invisibly sitting on its left, and is also slurred in to the 'y'. ~Now read the lines again, pronouncing them in the above noted fashion. Hope this makes sense. | Again, 'aye' & 'simetray'. | The 'y' in symmetry is cut short, not dragged out. [Don't forget the accent when pronouncing]

[@badjemima]

I think by the time Blake was writing, we were in the modern English period. Shakespeare lived 200 years earlier.

[@StarlitSeafoam]

@@badjemima It's called the Modern English period, but the most widely spread accent in London at the time was probably closer to OP than modern accents. Whether they still pronounced "eye" and "-y" endings exactly as in Shakespeare's day probably depended on the person, since some areas might have held onto the pronunciation longer than others. I *think*, though I'm not sure, that there might be some areas that still use a similar pronunciation. I don't know where Blake was from originally, but he lived in London for years, so quite possibly spoke with an OP like accent. Accents probably changed a bit slower thanks to there being no way to transmit the sound of human speech except actual contact.

[@daviddemar8749]

Me too ! It stumped me in high school and college and for decades afterwards. It's jarring in modern English, but it's stellar in OP !!!

[@andrewdevine3920]

Well, you must be very smart. Give yourself a pat on the back.

[@pineapplepeanuts]

He mentioned the humor. I took an English lit class and got to reading Shakespeare for the first time and noticed the same thing. Couldn't believe how raunchy and irreverent his work was. Everyone assumes that his work is like holy scripture that should be read in a Catholic ceremony or something. Not the case. Very racy at times. And the puns are genius. This info on the accent sheds even more light on it. Great stuff.

[@04nbod]

I knew Shakespeare could be bawdy but I had this reaction to Charles Dickens. We expect the Victorians to be so austere but he is hilarious.

[@pillbobaggins2766]

He also invented a lot of phrases we use today like “wild goose chase”

[@elizabethh8579]

A similar lofty ideal can be applied to Mozart.

[@GenieGin13]

absolutely! for the average person who didn't do music, they know mozart the music prodigy and a fancy composer. for musicians classically trained, we can't not have a laugh about it. "Leck mich im Arsch" (literally "Lick Me in the Ass")

[@Goldenretriever-k8m]

well the bible has a lot of violent and raunchy stuff in it too

[@IamGulzow]

I have honestly never been a big fan of o'l Billy Shookhisspear, but hearing it in op makes it sound down to earth and charming rather than highfalutin and pompous. I could get into this.

[@rage8010]

Interesting, I agree. I think your comment puts it into words for me. It changes the whole tone tbh. Much better imo.

[@mikeschouten4732]

Well said...I’ve always felt the same.

[@ThinWhiteAxe]

@Bigdog Billdog yep, and very bawdy at times 😅 he knew what was popular

[@SXJAYSX]

Also I could listen to this guy read me his grocery list and still fall in love lol

[@pragon1173]

You should see drunk productions of Shakespeare and you'll see how grounded his works are

[@brt5273]

"There's something about working our way back to Shakespeare, rather than dragging him into the 20th century" Very true, and as stated earlier it changes more than just the pronunciation of words. There is a shift in consciousness and an experience that is unrealized otherwise.

[@JR-zi9vj]

Cultures comedy, expression, irony, satire change entirely in languges especially when u go back hundreds of years

[@nonotreallyok]

I need these two to do a podcast of the complete works of Shakespeare.

[@beth9015]

Ben already has several audiobooks including Shakespeare in OP.

[@LQOTW]

@@beth9015 Awesome, thanks!

[@l1233799]

Here from the Today I Found Out channel

[@knewledge8626]

I think Simon is doing things to our heads. 😁

[@23Khameo]

l1233799 me too!

[@wadetisthammer3612]

Me too!

[@KeithCooper-Albuquerque]

As am I.

[@Garryck-1]

Likewise...

[@haleydunning3819]

that "actor impression" Ben did made me laugh my ass off, I know way too many actors who sound EXACTLY like that

[@MichaelBerthelsen]

Pardon the language, but that sounds badass. It's an amazing experience to hear the OP, and how much more alive it feels, compared to modern English.

[@Morfeusm]

Michael Berthelsen you have nothing to apologize. It's fucking amazing accent! It really shows what means to put something out of context. It sterilize the plays in a way, methinks...

[@CelestialExility]

I know this was 3 years ago, but... “Pardon the language”... Boomer spotted

[@MichaelBerthelsen]

@@CelestialExility I'm 32, dipshit.

[@iKSmurf]

@@CelestialExility A boomer in his prime.

[@happyuk06]

Superb. The BBC should start broadcasting late-night Open University modules AGAIN. There was nothing quite like coming home bladdered on a Friday night and sitting through these lectures, which though they tended to go right over my head, I still felt like I was being educated somehow.

[@dawayGodmademe]

The young bloke's voice in op is GORGEOUS. I have already begun planning our wedding.

[@glitterkitty1979]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@Anna-lo5up]

so you're telling me the West Country have been speaking CORRECTLY this whole time?

[@BillClinton228]

Irish... yeah seems like it.

[@eruantien9932]

Actually, it's neither. I can hear bits of Irish and bits of West Country in there, but there's bits of other accents in there too. Which makes sense really, London at the time was as much a melting pot as it is now, and people were also leaving London to go to other places; this is why we hear Irish and West Country, and why in some bits or OP performances you hear bits of Australian accents and US accents too.

[@Anna-lo5up]

@@eruantien9932 there were no British people in Australia until 1788. There were no British people in what is now the USA until 1607. Shakespeare died in 1613. There was no such concept at the time- let alone 'American' or 'Australian' accents, so what you're saying about those is completely irrelevant. My comment was actually a light-hearted dig because a lot of people in the UK have preconceptions about West Country people which don't particularly fit in with the thespian scene, and Irish people sound completely different to OP, so that leaves, well, West Country....

[@EliteRock]

Yep, even if they do have trouble with 'open' vowels. The name of the city of Bath might well be correctly pronounced as it's spelled ('baath'), rather than the way those from the Thames Valley do ('barth'), but at least the latter can do the both the open and closed 'a' (along with the other vowels) required for both pronunciations.

[@jonathanaldecoa1099]

Owen Palmer indeed good sir, sounds very West Country. You can hear West Country in Appalachia America and the islands off North Carolina as well.

[@stevekaczynski3793]

The impression I get is that Shakespearean Londoners spoke rather like West Country people today. Irish and Scots also preserve some aspects of older English pronunciation. Even Americans, perhaps.

[@stevekaczynski3793]

Yes, and scholars studying his work claim to find Warwickshire dialect words here and there. But he wrote his plays for a London audience in the first instance and the actors were probably mostly Londoners too. He could not have afforded to be too Warwickshire, I suspect.

[@stevekaczynski3793]

Given the difficulties of travel in those days, I suspect most of them were from the southern half of England at least. In "A Dead Man In Deptford", Anthony Burgess has Londoners trying to lynch a man from northern England because they believe he is Flemish. Looking at Shakespeare's contemporary playwrights and where they came from, Marlowe was from Canterbury, Ben Jonson was born in London though his family reputedly originated in the Borders near Scotland, Thomas Nashe was from Suffolk and Gabriel Harvey from Essex. In fact Shakespeare's origins lay further north than most of them, and he may well have had a distinctive accent in London terms.

[@AndresLopez-rv9sz]

"Even Americans, perhaps." LMAO!! I love us Americans, but I have to admit that we have the least expressive, least interesting of all the major English-language accents!!! :P

[@AndresLopez-rv9sz]

Good point; the peripheral (read: non-general) accents of American English seem to be far more expressive! Unfortunately I'm "cursed" with having the blandest, most Midwestern of American accents-but don't get me wrong: I completely appreciate sounding like the likes of George Clooney, et al. ;)

[@stevekaczynski3793]

Did Clarice Starling in "Silence of the Lambs" have a Shakespearian accent?

[@frantic1971]

Does anyone else think that Ben Crystal (the younger man) has the dreamiest voice? I could listen to him all day....

[@2HRTS1LOVE]

He needs to read audio books.

[@kathybramley5609]

@@2HRTS1LOVE He probably does...

[@_Cato_]

jack johnson I mean, it also helps that he's a handsome dude

[@jaymcmurdo5584]

Hounds = 'ewnds = West country Lines = laynes = West Country Rounded 'R's = Irish, West Country Dropped 'h's = Yorkshire Film = 'fillem' = North East Fire = 'Fiyer' = North East Port of Mars = Port o' Mars = Yorkshire Hour = 'orr = Northern Irish Interesting!

[@StormkeeperXS]

"Fillum" for "film" (or similar) also appears in Irish.

[@flossie5432]

It does, but my great grandad was still calling film "Fillum" in the 1930's.And he was from Shropshire-not too far from Warwickshire or the Midlands ,where the OP accent derives in this video.

[@gewgulkansuhckitt9086]

Also, Fire = "Fiyer" in the song "Fire" by the Ohio City Players. kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z6nUfoxuiqZ6nck

[@SG-1-GRC]

Fiyer is Yorkshire as well. Depending on how rural the speaker is. I've heard fire pronounced like that in Holmfirth. To me OP sounds like a mix of Yorkshire and Norfolk/Suffolk accent. Often archaic pronunciation and older words have been preserved in more isolated parts of the country. I used Thee and Thou as a child as did my peers. I only dropped it when I had speech therapy to overcome a lisp. Although Thou was pronounced Thar and thy self was thissen.

[@andymac4883]

The comment on the pun of loins/lines in the prologue to Romeo and Juliet makes me wonder if another possible pun was intended; the way scene is pronounced like sin. "In fair Verona, where we lay our sin."

[@VictorStrangeBowling]

Good spot.

[@SammyJ_Studios]

I want to adopt this accent and use it forever

[@VarietyGamerChannel]

You want to be upper class Irish?

[@SammyJ_Studios]

VarietyGamer Actually yes, that would be awesome. I actually love Irish culture. My channel name is even made up of phonetic Gaeilge.

[@captaincinema5066]

No one will ever know what in hell you are talking about. :-)

[@jeffreysetapak]

Never mind, he will suffer the consequence, not you. Who cares???

[@freedomwarrior7734]

Problem is just that most people wont understand you.

[@RonRicho]

Aside from the brilliance of this short video this is a glimpse of a wonderful father/son relationship and I am a bit more than envious.

[@omarahmed83]

Normal People: I'm hungry mom Shakespeare: Birthgiver, let it be known that this stomach consists of emptiness

[@MATRIXDEMI]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/fpyyYYGha7tkldU

[@benparsons4979]

I have a friend who actually speaks like that on occasion and it's the most annoying thing

[@omarahmed83]

@Quentin Shock lol 😆

[@safinarana1974]

😁

[@fajarnur3750]

It’s beautiful tho

[@kirsteni.russell5903]

OP is delightful! I would love to hear a Shakespeare play rendered in that "earthy" accent.

[@ejcm55]

To me this was like music appreciation. Yes. Ben's voice is compelling in any register. You have introduced me to concepts I have never considered. Thank you both.

[@carlmac4446]

I prefer the original pronunciation

[@suzylux]

It's amazing isn't it? Changes everything; so much of the tone, meaning and intention of Shakespeare's plays is not what we thought it was.

[@kevina6416]

I love how pointless and yet not pointless this line of work is. It's beautiful if you think about it. I wouldn't have it any other way. Keep up the good work. I hope new generations follow in your footsteps and keep history alive.

[@iOnlySignIn]

So OP sounds like Hagrid?

[@savagegardenrox]

Thank you! I knew I wasn't crazy

[@fomkaSS]

iOnlySignIn Robert Newton as Long John Silver

[@TunbridgeWellsSpanish]

lol

[@tomservo75]

+iOnlySignIn LOL I was just about to say that!

[@thegayestgoth]

yayyy

[@mixolydian2010]

I am blown away bye the innuendo, puns they have demonstrated. Reminds me of my time battling through Finnegan's wake there are many puns around Shakespeare and many more of the cycle of death and birth and sex. The text as read in OP was a revelation, wonderful video and work they have done.

[@Efreeti]

Exactly my reaction to hearing it as well!

[@RockLegend2A]

Ben's rightward slant in posture makes him look like an Assassin's Creed character.

[@adamharris-batt6333]

That's so specific but I know exactly what you mean lmao

[@sircharlesmormont9300]

Ben's got a fabulous voice! I want him to just sort of growl stuff in the background while I tackle my grad school work.

[@petrosE75]

Great video! You and your son have an amazing passion for history. More than that, your father-son relationship speaks volumes of your dedication as a parent. (I visited the Globe once. The history was palpable.)

[@annosborne-reed2365]

I'll have to say that after listening to OP I understand a bit more about the dialect of the Appalachian people in the US. So very similar.

[@aysardrabick5021]

I love this! Shakespeare was one of my favorite classes I took in undergrad college. The gentleman who taught it was the school's dean: it was his one class he taught, and he would get really into it- he'd jump on top of desks and start sword fights to get us into the play readings! I was indifferent to Shakespeare prior to his class, and left the course loving the plays! I've even been to the Globe theater to watch a play in London since then!

[@bri-annaedwardine1697]

Except it's called the Globe theatre if it's in London dear.

[@_hexes_]

Man, consider yourself lucky: I have an exam tomorrow morning for my undergrad Elizabethan Shakespeare class with the most boring professor of all If I had your professor maybe I would've read the plays a bit more!

[@kentondickerson]

My twelfth grade English teacher danced around the waste basket as she chanted "Double double toil and trouble fire burn and cauldron bubble".

[@whitetigress7448]

Ass is spelled the spelled the same way whether you're British or American.

[@Jillybeth]

Aysar, my Shakespeare prof played all the parts, too, with great gusto! His classes were the most popular in the department!

[@Chief2Moon]

The constant evolution of language does indeed make it a living thing.

[@zaphodbeeblebrox3986]

When Ben speaks OP he sounds like he has a subwoofer in his chest.

[@williamb1195]

Having read so much of Shakespeare I found this awesome. Totally fascinating. And great dynamic between father and son. One of the best videos I have seen on any topic!

[@MATTE.U.K]

Everyone was from devon 300 years ago?

[@randerson1893]

+SQUAREHEAD Kinda makes sense really . Modern english accents came into being with immigration caused by large industrial cites (London,Birmingham,liverpool, Newcastle ect). discounting North Yorkshire and Cumbria (who have been more isolated and culturally distinct until recent times) the only other relativity rural areas (south west, east anglia, welsh border) Have maintained an accent similar to this one

[@DieFlabbergast]

+Robert Anderson The immigration factor that you cite accounts only for those regional urban accents that you mention. But what does that have to do with the content of this video? They are comparing Shakespeare's accent with modern Received Pronunciation, also known as Oxford English or BBC English, which is an accent that has evolved since Shakespeare's day for purely domestic reasons, with no input from immigrants. And, yes, SQUAREHEAD is right, in a sense. The modern West Country accent is one of the most conservative accents in England. People across much of England - with the exception of the north - would have spoken like this in the 16th-17th centuries.

[@t.c.bramblett617]

+SQUAREHEAD Of course, everyone was a pirate then ;)

[@randerson1893]

+channelnw I was referring to Industrial migratation (irish and whatnot rather than a UKIP approach) . didn't know that about American thanks :)

[@randerson1893]

+DieFlabbergast I was just comparing why Norfolk and the south westen accents are so similar and how it links back to the content of this video

[@CaitlinDull]

This is amazing. I wish I could watch these being performed in OP. This is so cool.

[@freitagt1553]

"You're a wizard harry"

[@joanthemad5894]

Freitag T15 lol

[@Nullllus]

Freitag, yer pushin me ovar the fockin loin!

[@Hazel_Velociraptor]

"You're warlike, Harry... Wait..."

[@mythrin]

LMAO

[@brookenjonas]

I’m a what?

[@Bearsca]

Two thoughts run through my head after having watched this: 1) I've never been this excited about anything having to do with Shakespeare before. 2) I'm completely falling in love with Ben.

[@mraaronhd]

As an American, I can't help but feel much closer to my British ancestral heritage after listening to those gentlemen say it in the OP. It's amazing to know that American colonialists and British main landers once had the same accent. Love to the British and the common wealth.

[@debtansey89]

Yes, this explains the North American accents very well.

[@coffeemachtspass]

I had some free time last year and started reading Shakespeare on a whim, which I hadn’t done since school. I’ve really come to enjoy the stories and characters, but more than anything, the tremendous flow of the words. God, what a talent. This video has made it even more intriguing.

[@beckynelson6786]

David Crystal has done some great work on linguistics. Respect!

[@harrycook9041]

I've met Crystal in real life, he's really, really nice and intelligent.

[@kaymuldoon3575]

Trekkie 135 he seems like a really nice guy. Both of them, actually.

[@ianhowlett4682]

I agree. I’ve been to several of his lectures (first in about 1996, last in 2019 I think). He is incredibly knowledgeable but also very friendly and approachable. He’s got an infectious enthusiasm for his subject, and he really brings it to life. An amazing scholar and teacher.

[@ladydusk1]

They both have beautiful voices. I'd like the younger to talk me to sleep every night :)

[@Runabou]

***** Christ, stupid people are quick to jump to the sexuality "insults." Do you kiss your mum with that mouth?

[@Runabou]

Kids, stop taking the internet so seriously. The sooner you stop, the sooner the trolls will go back under their bridges, m'kay?

[@victoriacpurington1742]

Love it! The relationship between father and son is also a marvel to behold. Wonderful!

[@candiduscorvus]

So in Shakespeare's time the English sounded like pirates. It's amazing how much sense this makes.

[@bri-annaedwardine1697]

Joke... why do Shakespearean actors sound like pirates? Because they ARRRRRRR

[@mfulton1608]

A pirates favourite letter isn't Rrrrr . They loves the Cccc !!!

[@TitanFind]

Most modern Americans essentially sound like pirates. It’s all rhotic. Indeed, only a few American dialects are non-rhotic, most obviously Boston, and this is regarded by Americans as sounding very funny. Whereas of course in the UK it’s the rhotic accents that seem comedic.

[@TheTaterTotP80]

No. This is one dialect and accent of the many accents that exists now in Britain and did then.

[@TheTaterTotP80]

Americans don't sound like Pirates at all. Nor West Country (except for that West Country region in North Carolina where they still sound British and somewhere in Virginia with the same). Rhoticism =/= Pirates. There's more to the accent and dialect than that.

[@Jbm0230]

6:35 "No man ever loved..." "Yea" The redhead's voice is so low it gives me anxiety.

[@Industrial_R]

I so enjoyed seeing the love and pride in the father observing his son throughout this video.

[@PLuMUK54]

OP can still be heard in Warwickshire villages, especially in North Warwickshire. When I was at school, over 50 years ago, studying Shakespeare was easy, because it is written in the same rhythm and tempo as that being spoken around me, and then much of the pronunciation was very similar.

[@zahemiazulislami2595]

It is great to have your son inherits your dad's interest and becomes part of the faculty

[@Pliskkenn]

So my Devon accent is actually closer to Shakespeare than my terrible attempts ate a news reader's voice.

[@colinp2238]

Yow shud tri it inna brummie accent bab

[@limeykl]

colin Paterson lol!!!

[@matildas3177]

Personally I think it sounds a bit German. It shows the roots of the English language more than todays modern pronunciation

[@YangSing1]

Matilda S I’m from England I don’t think it sound like German, it sounds like Old English

[@UnintentionalSubmarine]

Got to love how the OP makes the crass humour stand out. I love it. Such a contrast to how Shakeseare is so often portrayed. It really makes the haughty and stuffy modern (or 'classical' for bonus irony) Shakespeare sound horribly out of place, and maybe even a little comical. Ok, it has always been slightly unintentionally comical, but more than that I mean. At it's core. Thank you for forever ruining Shakespeare unless it is in OP.

[@isabelamacavei8418]

What a lovely relationship between father and son! I learned more from this video than ever before about Shakespeare. Ironically, I take an etymology course, and this was an extraordinary lesson for me. Thank you!

[@activeentropy]

Absolutely fascinating, love the extra depth gained to the old English tales.

[@ChrisTopheRaz]

I now must re-read every play from the top. Brilliant....I love this new perspective knowing it was the intended perspective.

[@heleinakirsten8495]

I'd rather listen to Ben's voice all day than srsly do anything else.

[@annereidy7981]

Ben has a beautiful voice, so much so, that I wish all Shakespeare were delivered this way. I think I was one of the lucky audience members at the Globe for this version of 'Romeo and Juliet'! Thank you for this, much enjoyed! And, of course, Ben is so right about theatre times, I saw Mark Rylance play Richard II at the Globe in the early evening, and the performance was brilliant in the sense that you felt you were listening to the appeals of Richard, himself. Never forgot it, making eye to eye contact with Richard II as he sprinkled rose petals into the audience!

[@MeganMcIntosh]

It doesn’t sound as different as I thought it would. All the same, lovely to hear them speaking.

[@Lindeman08]

I'd be perfectly fine with Ben voicing the next installment of Civilization.

[@ThePhantomSafetyPin]

He really sounds like he should VO for Dark Souls or something. It would fit right in.

[@mephostopheles3752]

Ben Crystal’s OP voice is absolutely flooring. Total unit.

[@ianhowlett4682]

If you ever get the chance to see David Crystal speaking, do whatever it takes to go and see him. He is fantastic. So knowledgeable, so enthusiastic, and also very friendly and approachable. He knows so much but never talks down to anyone. He just loves it, really! A wonderful scholar and an amazing teacher and communicator.

[@Reece_Hart]

The OP pronunciation reminds me a bit of the Gloucestershire and other South West English accents.

[@debapambose8907]

+Finnegan Hartross It does, doesn't it. Like Hagrid from harry potter

[@E3ECO]

+Finnegan Hartross Gloucestershire was my first thought when I heard it.

[@Fraxxxi]

jesus christ. I got literal - not figurative - literal goosebumps from that voice. this is beside the fact that the video was very informative and interesting.

[@yojoe5311]

This is so brilliant. It reminds me of the idiomatic translation of Latin in a way. Translation implies transliteration but leaves behind the semantics of the original. That pun really left me in awe of these gentlemen who have devoted their lives to this craft.

[@CitizenSmith50]

At High School 55+ years ago I had a wonderful English (subject) teacher who stressed this topic and made Shakespeare really enjoyable for me. Vale Mrs. Messner!

[@brittakriep2938]

Side note : In german language Messner means ,church servant' , the man , who helps the priest ( Heilige Messe/ holy mess).

[@adoptdontshop7898]

Oh dear Lord, that voice! Talk about "killing me softly"!

[@carwyn3691]

Ben has the sexiest voice I've ever heard

[@nelsonricardo3729]

+Fernando Batista Whether he speaks RP or OP, he makes me melt. I bet he sounds great even in Cockney, Brummie, or Geordie.

[@loriscannataro9000]

I know right!?

[@clairevue2667]

Quite dreamy. And he doesn't hurt the eyes either.

[@BrianzXz]

+Fernando Batista I think he eats gravel. I want to give him water and a cough drop. Also, I feel that my manhood has been challenged.

[@Tmanaz480]

I think it moved.

[@trancehi]

I'm from the West Country (Somerset) but don't have an accent. That example sounded like a Somerset or Devon accent you sometimes here, especially from old people.

[@knucklesamidge]

what accent do you have? received pronunciation?

[@knucklesamidge]

SteveTwoTheO I think he means he doesn't have the Somerset accent. And he may have the neutral received pronunciation accent which can be found all over the country.

[@trancehi]

SteveTwoTheO Where did that aggression come from mate? I don't have a typical regional West Country accent and have a neutral English accent. Why is that hard for you to comprehend and resort to calling me a fucking moron?

[@knucklesamidge]

***** I think he thought you meant that you didn't have any accent at all. Which is commonly thought of because you don't notice your own accent.

[@theowletblog]

That's exactly what I thought; I'm from Bristol!

[@IamtheWV17]

His description of transporting oneself back to the era and raising the hairs... was 100% accurate. My first hearing my skin shivered!

The young guy's voice is amazing.

[@albertgainsworth]

If my memory serves me it seems much like the Devonshire accent I once was familiar with. I was evacuated to the Sandford area in 1940-41. The prevalence of the spoken media since then may have watered down their accents.

[@OoxB505]

Sounds like Bristolian 😉

[@MadnessOfMarmots]

To me, an American, I can say that OP sounded like no American English accent I've heard, especially not northern. It sounds like Irish today.

[@MadnessOfMarmots]

***** Not linguist, but so guy in the comments

[@Shavenhamster]

Its more West country then any modern accent.

[@gamblemadman]

Fennec Besixdouze LMAO what? You're clueless.

[@leod-sigefast]

thinkpol Americans don't know anything about English accents beside arrogant evil queen's English and poor oppressed Irish accents. That is all that exists according to Americans, apparently.

[@maestroCanuck]

As a Canadian, I am all for pronouncing the r after vowels! Enjoyed this video a lot. Thank you for posting it.

[@Swenglish]

I accidentally clicked my way here. Glad I did. Very interesting.

[@janayah2521]

Tasteful Tuna lmao same

[@benjaminwoodrowmusic6070]

We're you watching prosthetic penis videos like me lol

[@Swenglish]

benjamin woodrow I don't believe so.

[@benjaminwoodrowmusic6070]

Not to worry then

[@hglundahl]

3:42 The OP sounds a great deal like Irish pronunciation of English!

[@seradin8029]

More like the West country

[@Problembeing]

That young man can growl in that accent in my ear until his heart be content 😜

[@MATRIXDEMI]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/fpyyYYGha7tkldU

[@misamisaa4547]

Came for Shakespeare, stayed for the kid being absolutely precious

[@BlessedBeyondCompare]

Wow, that was so informative! The original pronunciation is utterly enchanting ❤️

[@johncoppola4636]

Exactly as I thought. The Irish are speaking English more originally than the English!

[@jimiwills]

depends where in England you're from, but definitely more faithful than middle England. as are the Scots and most Americans. same with the spelling re US.

[@swissnor]

+John Coppola David Crystal is actually Northern Irish but grew up on the Main land.

[@PaulThePuppetier]

+John Coppola Erin go bragh! haha

[@colinpovey2904]

This kind of thing often happens. Apparently the English of Gibraltar is like that of the UK from a century or two ago.

[@johncoppola4636]

It doesn't sound a bit more Irish than contemporary English?

[@strafrag1]

Excellent video. Thanks. I especially like the pronounced "R". Just like the pirates' Aargh.

[@Morfeusm]

strafrag1 ahoy!

[@elsakristina2689]

strafrag1 I think that's cause a lot of pirates came from the West Country, or so I read

[@rhiannonramirezchadwick9437]

The weatcountry accent has become synonymous with pirates just because the actor who played long John silver in the original treasure island movie, Robert Newton, was from Dorset. It’s true a fair amount of pirates were from the westcountry, all along the Devon and Cornwall coast there’s smugglers bays. The church in the town I grew up in had a secret tunnel from the church to the pub where they smuggled stuff in from the beach. But the accents then around the UK were more similar than they are now, and pirates did come from all over the UK (all over the world really). We learnt a fun fact at school some years ago: a lot of the pirates were actually gay. Because most of them had been in the navy and were discharged for committing crimes onboard, primarily homosexuality, and sailing was what they were trained in.

[@rhiannonramirezchadwick9437]

Edit: westcountry *

[@TheInkPitOx]

This is fantastic! If I ever visit England I will try to see a performance at the Globe.

[@johnnyb6747]

i could listen to that young man speak all day

[@Zaghzackio]

You're a wizard Harry

[@stephenday9442]

I'm a what?

[@Zaghzackio]

Stephen Day Sounds like hagrid when he does the voice

[@stephenday9442]

Haha I know mate, I was doing the response from Harry in the Gary's Mod video.

[@Zaghzackio]

Stephen Day Cheers

[@frakkintoasterluvva7920]

Because Robbie Coltrane is Scottish, and the OP sounds a lot like a Scottish accenr.

[@marcusalxander9115]

Our accent in Nova Scotia sounds so much like OP I'm dying.... 😂😂

[@sexhaver420]

If it be that I cannot smook nor sware, alas! Then I am well and truely fook'd.

[@shaunpcoleman]

There's 2 accents in Newfoundland. One's Irish and the other West Country. We immigrated to Canada from Somerset in England. Most English people in Canada at the time were from either the north or London and Canadians couldn't figure out our accent. They thought we were Newfoundlanders. :)

[@michaeltroster9059]

I was led to understand that Shakespearean English resembled that spoken today in Newfoundland.

[@JayBenjamin9214]

Great video. I'm an English teacher and this will help my students with considering other perspectives and linguistic points to make. Thank you!

[@AndreyShipilovCom]

At least OP had more consistent pronunciation. Unlike modern English which is basically a huge set of exceptions.

[@FBSidious]

***** Yes, and that's exactly why English is the global language and continues to evolve and improve naturally, whereas Spanish and German have been rotting away for centuries and will likely disappear within the next decades.

[@AndreyShipilovCom]

Enter a name here Exactly why? Spanish and German are easier to learn and comprehend, my friend. In so many ways.

[@SJDPS]

Enter a name here English is the global language because "it won" two world wars.

[@FBSidious]

***** First of all, I'm not your friend. Secondly, you addressing me with "you guys" reveals what a presumptuous and superficial individual you are (try to say that in Spanish or German, fronted gerund.) I was born in Germany (I'm fluent in German) and I speak some Italian and French. I know a thing or two about linguistics, which prompts me to doubt your ability to have a serious discussion on the subject of languages given your outrageous statements. Normally I wouldn't have responded, however your reply is simply too delicious to ignore. You've got it TOTALLY backwards. Your embarrassing bias conceals from you the fact that English not only has by far the largest vocabulary of all languages but is also the shortest and most easily comprehensible. Spanish and German aren't more complex. Their grammar is just more complicated in tense, gender and case markings, all of which are obsolete in English. The more primitive the language, the more complicated its grammar. The proto-indoeuropean language from which almost all languages from Iceland to India descend had the most complicated grammar. It was continuously simplified so that you get Koine Greek and Latin around the first century B.C. before finally arriving at English. Ludicrous language regulation in Spain, Germany and France are the exact reason why these languages don't change, even though linguists agree on a descriptive, not prescriptive approach. One ought to record what the people are saying, not dictate what the people should say. We would still communicate with grunts and barking if language had never changed. (Hey, do you have three different if-clauses in Spanish, too?) English dropped most of that complicated grammar in favor of brevity and a focus on more complex distinctions in meaning. That's why English is the easiest to learn at the start but gets the most difficult once you arrive at idiomatic expressions, tense and aspect. Every linguistics professor I've ever spoken to agrees. Spanish, Italian, French and German may have a shitload of irregular verb forms and case markings you have to slavishly memorize but English possesses true diversity and challenge in meaning. Spanish isn't the third most important language, it has merely the third largest population of native speakers. In the scientific community, German, Italian and Japanese are all more important than Spanish. Furthermore I disagree on the point that most native Spanish speakers are more proficient in their language than the English ones (and it's not the English language's fault that you express yourself so poorly). Clearly you are mistaken since the vast majority of Spanish speakers reside in developing countries whereas the largest population of native English speakers, Americans, also happen to comprise the world's largest middle class as well as its largest and most advanced scientific community. Why would the former be smarter than the latter on average? Your evidence to the contrary must be anecdotal. Besides, I would in turn wager my life that even a fairly uneducated native English speaker could still express themselves about a number of issues more briefly, precisely, adequately and with more wit than even a highly educated native Spanish or German speaker with their lame, antiquated, out-of-touch vocabulary and 800-year-old grammar.

[@FBSidious]

***** It's nice of you to admit your defeat. I knew you'd be afraid to read my reply. By the way. English has more second-language speakers than Mandarin plus it is the international language of science and technology. That's what makes it the global language. And in an increasingly globalized society, other languages including Spanish and German will perish (especially since Europe's population is rapidly declining.) My argument still stands. Yours is unfounded and biased, muchacho.

[@1000FeatheredOwl]

Ben's voice is doing something to me... and I'm a guy LOL

[@gretahemsworth3966]

Joshua Benton I heard better

[@Stone-cutmind]

Joshua Benton hi

[@kathybramley5609]

Duck! Whatsupwiya!? You 'omophobic or something?

[@kathybramley5609]

@@Ricky_Evans1611 B.I.G.O.T.

[@kanani7410]

same

[@EL-ISS]

The voices of both those men when they put on the accent is so easy to listen to I could easily see them working for audio book company or other forms of narration, I need these dudes to voice act in video games 😭😂

[@alwyn73]

What a voice the actor has! It must be such joy to listen to him...

[@jaybee4118]

I grew up in Devon, so it’s all just very familiar to me. My parents are from Liverpool and London though, so my accent is just generic, southern and has been described as RP.

[@ga1actic_muffin]

that young guy's voice is VERY low. i want his contact so he can read some lines for me :P

[@janisdardaris4605]

this is wonderful. the part about performing at 2 in the afternoon so you could make eye contact with the actors. fascinating!

[@MarkLawrence1974]

fantastic exploration of language and impact of pronunciation with implications for what the audience would understand.