I. History and Social Context

For centuries, Africa contained thousands of smaller groups or states that governed subdivisions of the continent. Trade, including the slave trade, brought Europeans to Africa, and in the 19th century, there was a major rush toward colonization. Significant areas were claimed and governed by the UK and France, in addition to some colonization by Germany, Portugal, Spain, Belgium and Italy. The Berlin Conference in the 1880's resulted in agreements by these various nations about the political divisions of the continent, which led to many of the national borders that still exist today. Calls for national independence grew after World War II, leading colonial rule to gradually fade over the course of the second half of the 20th century.

It is not uncommon for African nations to contain speakers of dozens or even hundreds of different languages, though many Africans speak multiple languages, and the primary linguistic influences are English, French and Arabic. Even with the thousands of languages spoken in Africa, there are many common elements present in this wide range of African accents focused on in this collection.

These materials cover the major elements present in African accents, with two exceptions: The variations in South African accents will be covered in their own set of materials in the AccentHelp collection. Similarly, the Arabic-speaking accents of North Africa will be taught in AccentHelp materials that cover a variety of Arabic accents in North Africa and the Middle East.

II. Sound Placement

Where the sound “lives” in the mouth.

The sound is placed in the middle of the mouth. This may feel a bit lower and further back than a neutral American accent, so it may be helpful to focus on more chest resonance and a deeper pitch or tone, at least initially, as you work on this accent. It may be helpful to allow your tongue to relax further back in your mouth.

III. Intonation Pattern

Musicality, lilt, inflection, and stress.

Probably the most prominent element of intonation in African accents is the tendency to equalize stress. It may feel as though you are emphasizing each and every word in a phrase – punching each one. This is especially prominent for Africans from countries that were colonized by the UK – by English speakers.

This stress relates not just to words in a phrase, but also to syllables within words. Syllable stress may seem equalized or even reversed at times. Unstressed syllables may become a distinct vowel: again, become, opinion.

For speakers from nations that were colonized by France, there is often a bit more linking of one word onto the next; whereas speakers from countries colonized by England usually have more choppy speech.

Similarly, the English influence often results in pitch changes happening from one word or syllable to another in steps, while French often results in some flow from one pitch to another on a single word or syllable.

All African accents are commonly choppy, which is an element of the equalization of stress, but English speakers often do this more than French speakers.

IV. Helpful Hints

It's usually helpful to do any accent to an extreme, cartoonish stereotype when you are first learning it. It's much easier to ease off of a strong accent than it is to strengthen a light one. You may not get a handle on the sound changes if you do them too mildly, so start off strong. These recordings will focus on working to these extremes, both with sound changes and intonation.

Physicalize whatever elements you are working on. Move your hands in a punching or a chopping or stair step motion when you are learning that intonation element. Stretch an imaginary piece of taffy with your hands when you are elongating a vowel. Getting the sensation into your body will help you to get it into your speech.

Try adding more chest resonance into your voice, which will bring out a deeper tone. This will probably help you with the placement, and it may help you to feel more comfortable slowing down your speech. This may initially make you feel more aggressive or less expressive, but it's helpful to start with the extreme.

Be aware that there are two other accents that people commonly slip into when working on these accents: Caribbean and Indian/South Asian.

V.  Sound Substitutions

Changes in individual speech sounds (from a neutral American dialect). Listen carefully to the recordings that will guide you through this section. The phonetic symbols are decoded in the shaded boxes.

Consonants:

1. /r/ at the beginning of a word or a stressed syllable may be like most American dialects, though it can also be tapped /ɾ/, especially when it comes after an initial consonant or is between vowels:

red, rules, Ralph, running, reach, rope, rage, wrong;

bring, pride, growth, crowd, trying, drives, strong, friend;

around, arranged, corrupt, derived, surround, terrain

But /r/ is often dropped (elongating the vowel before) when preceded by a vowel sound and followed by a consonant sound or when ending a word:

nurse, letter, near, square, start, north, force;

cure, tour, hurry, moral, merry, Mary, marry

The R-sound is usually reinserted as /ɾ/ when used to link into a vowel sound in the next word:

power of, bear on, wire it, farther along, fair enough, fear of

Practice: We'd better bring another one in case they are all ruined.

2. The TH-sounds of /θ/ and /ð/ may happen behind the teeth, so that they are similar to /t/ and /d/, especially at the beginning of a word:

theme, thing, thistle, nothing, myth, breath, cloth;

these, them, there, bathing, other, breathe, clothe

Practice: We thought they'd both be here by then.

3. /z/ is usually devoiced at the end of a word:

prize, freeze, prose, expose, owns, rides, brags, smiles, clothes

Practice: She stores all of those things behind closed doors.

4. Overall, plosives are lighter—there is less force to them; less aspiration:

pop, bad, good, take, cap, dripping, double, couldn’t

Practice: She keeps talking about it, better than ten times a day.

1. Diphthongs in words like GOAT change to /o/:

goat, slow, blown, post, stone, closed, ocean, known

Practice: Do you know if the door is open over there?

2. FACE diphthongs tend to become /e/: 

face, ache, safe, pay, aid, weigh, amaze, age, invasion

Practice: I made a number of mistakes today.

3. Dipthongs in words like PRICE, MOUTH, and FACE all lose the distinction of the first vowel, becoming /a̽ɪ/, /a̽ʊ/, and /ɔ̽ɪ/: 

price, my, sign, time, science, invite, fight, hide, surprise;

mouth, out, plow, how, amount, bound, down, pronounce;

choice, boy, voice, point, join, employ, rejoice, destroy

Practice: My house was destroyed, burned down in a big fire.

Practice Monologue:

You know you always complain about your work, but you know as well as I do that you would complain no matter where you were. Don't make the mistake of walking away from a good thing. Today is not a good day for you to make choices like this. Go home. Keep your opinion to yourself, and stop spreading your negativity to everyone else who works here. I'm happy, and I refuse to let you make me unhappy. You would be bitter and frustrated no matter where you were, especially on a day like today. I am your friend, so follow my advice: Go home, and don't make a big decision today that you will regret when you wake up tomorrow morning.