Using Accents in Stories

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Do you use accents in your stories? Sometimes they can add an entertaining touch I find. Such as an Irish, scottish, posh, drunk, chinese or lisp can twist a sentence into a new meaning

EG
"Hello, my friends, I welcome you to my home." while this can portray a number of things - evil master of the house or friendly person. Adding a stereotypical chinese way of saying like:
"Herro, my fliends, I wercome you to my hom." This gives the image of a friendly Chinese man

Adding accents can age your characters and changing certain words.
"Really? Don't you try that again, young man." Can give the impression of an old man
"Weally? Don't you twy dat again, nasty man." Can give the impression of a six year old girl - given in the correct context.

Adding accents can give an idea of the characters appearence or history.
In a story I'm writing I have - "Och, what do ye need noo? Ain't ye emptid me supplies enough?!" Is a Dwarf who is always slightly drunk. "Sso, the hisstorical one. Haven't you sseen enough of mine self?" Is the Blind Gorgon who shares her wisdom for a rather high price.

Perhaps you could give examples of accents you've used or perhaps where it's sometimes more difficult to do so.

 

Believe me, that is in no way of a stereotypical Chinese man.

I suggest using apostrophes often; the less refined, the more.

-A very refined aristocrat: Do you think that the Duchess of Surnsanarr will be coming tonight?

-Your average middle-class person: D'you think that the Duchess of Sunsannar'll be comin' tonight?

-Unrefined person (possibly): D'you t'ink dat the Duchess of Sunsenner'll be comin' tehnight?

Just adds flavor to dialogue. I haven't seen accents used to actually describe a person, though; I think that is usually better left to the words themselves.

[ December 17, 2002, 03:33: Message edited by: C'Jakob ]

 

How about German?
"Ach, do you sink zat ze Duchess of Sunsenner vill be comeeng tonight?"

Thought I'd add in my two cents.

 

Accents should be used rarely, not many people can do it right and often it just makes things confusing.

 

Gforce makes a good point, and I believe that only certain character's accents should be written out on the page, so that people like you and me with creative imaginations can dream up an accent we deem appropriate.

 

On the other hand, the narrator can simply describe a character's accent, making it easier for the reader to visualize.

 

If you use accents, you have to be very consistent. The only one I've used is one in which "ye" and "yer" are used instead of "you" and "your" (respectively).
I find that describing an accent and using it often have very different effects, and I prefer actually using them. Unfortunately, there are cases in which the accent *has* to be described (ex. when a character rolls their R's).