you may have noticed that the actors

don't sound like British people in the 21st century

they've changed their accents

in order to fit into the time period

in which the show is set.

in this video, I'm going to show you some of the sound changes

the actors have made

and I'll compare them

to clips of the real Queen Elizabeth in 1947

actress Claire Foy plays a young Queen Elizabeth in the show

in the following video clip

is she saying word number (1) or word number (2)?

She's actually saying word number (1)

linguists give vowels names to make it easier to talk about them

the vowel in the word "man" is called the TRAP vowel

in the early to mid-20th century

it sounded closer to an "e" type of vowel

here's a clip of the real Queen Elizabeth in 1947 saying the same word

it's an "e" type vowel here

though she's actually saying a diphthong

moving from one vowel to another.

now here's a clip of Claire Foy being interviewed

she's British and she's using her normal accent

here the vowel is closer to an "a" type sound

so in the early to mid-20th century

the TRAP vowel sounded like

but nowadays it sounds like

listen to Claire Foy in The Crown

say the final vowel sound in this word

next listen to the real Queen in 1947

say the final vowel sound in this word

notice that both of them say an "i"-type vowel

like in the word KIT

now listen to Claire Foy using her normal accent

say the final vowel sound in this word

here she's using an "ee" vowel sound like in the word FLEECE

linguists call this the HAPPY vowel

it's often spelled with the letter "y"

at the ends of words

in old-fashioned Standard British English it was pronounced as

but nowadays it's pronounced as

listen to Claire Foy in The Crown say the vowel in this word:

next listen to the real Queen say this word

now listen to Claire Foy in her normal accent say this word

notice that the vowel sound in the first two clips sounds darker

that's because it's made further back in the mouth

in the final clip it sounds brighter

because it's made more forward in the mouth

linguists call this vowel the GOOSE vowel

you may have heard of the term GOOSE-fronting

and this describes the process of this GOOSE vowel

moving ever more forward in the mouth over the past century

these are just a few of the accent modifications

that the actors in The Crown have used to sound more old-fashioned

have you noticed any others?

comment below and let me know

please share this video with anyone who likes the Crown or the royal family

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