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Super Zaraki · Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 12:51 pm Post subject: Mohinder's Accent

Haha... I was just watching episodes 1 to 20 again (I have 'em on my comp, so yeah, I'm not allowed to say how though), and I noticed something weird, well, not weird, just made me go "Haha... dude."

In the first episode, Mohinder's voice has that Indian accent to it-- it's high and it sounds like a true Indian accent. But in the subsequent episodes, his voice changes from a hard Indian accent to a somewhat more British overtone.

Haha... I dunno, maybe I'm just over-analyzing here, but it's weird with how his accent changed after the first few episodes...

Fatalmoon · Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 1:37 pm Post subject:

Well, one possible explanation if you want to stay in realism as much as possible...

Have you ever moved somewhere with a significantly different accent of your same language? You'll find yourself changing your own accent gradually.

Mohinder moved to New York and was speaking mainly to people with a different accent, so gradually adapted his own speech to match as much as possible.

I grew up in Utah. The accent there is American Northwest (the 'default' American accent aka the ones you most hear in hollywood). I then moved to the South for a year and I noticed a significant change in my accent. I still drawl my R's often and say y'all. I'm living now in Hawaii, which has an extremely different accent and speech pattern than the other two. I do find myself quickening my speech and speaking more with the accent here over time.

There are base things that don't change about your speach, but others will change.

Mohinder's change is quite easily explained Smile

shinobi · Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 10:35 am Post subject:

Thats all well and good but how do you explain that happening over a matter of weeks?

Uinku · Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 5:58 pm Post subject:

I also noticed this. And Fatalmoon is wrong. Why would it turn into a British accent if he is in new York? And his accent changed from an Indian to British one instantly. he already spoke with a British accent when he arrived at the apartment of his father!

Jormengrund · Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 6:44 pm Post subject:

Actually, depending on where he went for his masters, he could very well have ended up with the British accent. After all, in India, most doctorate students have gone voerseas to Oxford or some university in England for at least one year of instruction. As such, he would have picked up the british accent while learning English.

Now, while in his home, he's going to talk more Indian-style, high pitched, lilting tongue. However, as he becomes more relaxed in NYC, he's going to be speaking more lazily, and he's going to revert to the accent that he learned english in. Thus, the British accent while speaking. After all, I'm fluent in three languages, but according to friends of mine in Germany and France, I have quite the accent while talking with them. Mainly because of the instructor who taught them to me. I learned how to speak with his accent.

BYD · Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 3:05 pm Post subject:

moving to general

.Vault · Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 8:06 pm Post subject:

i noticed that when i watched the last episode, then i watched the first episode again. when i watched the first episode i was like "his accent is different!"

Claire_Bear<3 · Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 2:40 am Post subject:

I noticed in the finale episode how his voice is now totally British. At the start when you hear him talking. Considering he starts of with a ''Indlish'' accent. I'm Indian or of Indian origin and most people in India when speaking English put on the British accent so...

Karunya · Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2007 12:33 pm Post subject:

I noticed this too. I think that part of the reason for the change in accent is that when Mohinder first came to New York, he was dealing with a more personal/family issue (the circumstances surrounding the death of his father), but after being drawn into the bigger picture, he instinctively needed to reassert his status as a scientist (therefore making his speech more formal).

I know many well-educated people who use their regional accent for personal stuff, but switch to a formal accent when they are at work, or in a situation where they wish to assert their expertise/authority. I'm a reference librarian and a Pennsylvania "Dutchie" (the Tamil name Karunya was given to me by a spiritual teacher), and my accent at work is perfectly unaccented generic American. At home, I have a distinct German accent and I use many dialect words.

Mohinder has a tendency to smolder rather than to explode. I wonder if he would sound like a hardcore Tamil if he ever totally lost his temper? In the meanwhile, while fuming, he'd speak with a rigidly formal accent to "hold himself together".

Or as I say when my last nerve has most thoroughly been plucked:

"Ach! Was the #$%^& ist dis????!!!!"

Karunya

AnaMuse · Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2007 4:08 pm Post subject: Mohinder´s Accent

I assume that he´s that kind of " british colony indians"...but I like the british accent more than the indian "true" one,haha

take care everybody

Ana-------------------- phones

Jormengrund · Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2007 6:17 pm Post subject:

Honestly? My take is that on the pilot episode he was still trying to impress the directors with his acting skills, and was paying very close attention to details. As the series progressed, he became more lax, and the dialect slipped into an accent he was more comfortable and familiar with. Thus, you see the accent change from episode 1 and episode 3. That's when I first started to really notice the accent change...