I'm sure I read (or watched it, I'm uncertain) somewhere that French was considered an 'old' language (Another word was used but I can't remember it) and I assumed that, as France was so close to Britain, with English being the dominating language, that it simply just 'turned' into English over time. And no, it didn't bother me. Why should a crisp clear English accent put people off?
Patrick Stewart is from Yorkshire....so the English accent is put on. IE "Ee bah gum is that t' Romulans? There reet nasty boogahs!" Do a search for some Yorkshire accent sound samples and have a listen. Oh! I forgot about this example ! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxT-OPkHCc4 or this wonderfull spoof! LOL! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32eSB0ZRPxQ&feature=related
^ You can actually hear some of PS's flat vowels from time to time in TNG. When he says "boldy" in "to boldy go" you can hear it; also occassionally when he says "Picard" - particularly the "i" sound. Also, there's an episode where he says "Grand". That sounds decidely Yorkshire to me, too. Generally, though, his RP is very convincing.
He also occasionaly says words that end in "a" (like Data or Nebula) with an "er" sound. Dater Nebuler.
"Archaic"? I think Data may have used that word to describe it in "Code of Honor", but I'm not sure OTTOMH. I'm sure Stewart must be using his native accent somewhere amongst the various characters in A Christmas Carol.
In that episode, Data traces the origins of the expression "counting coup" to the "obscure" language known as French. Picard then defends French by saying that it used to be the language of civilization. Data begins to take exception by saying "Indeed? But surely, Sir-" before he is cut off. Two basic ways to interpret that. One, French by the 24th century is dead and thus considered obscure. This is why Picard speaks of it in the past tense. Perhaps English became even more dominant than it is today, and killed French, German and various other languages never heard spoken on screen. Russian survived, though... Two, French by the 24th century is still alive and a-kicking, but Data considers all Earth languages besides English "obscure" as they are not being used as the master language of Starfleet interaction or the default language of the Universal Translator. The dialogue itself doesn't support one interpretation over the other, as Picard could well be using past tense to defend French merely because the glory days of the language are in the past even if the language as such survives. However, it is very interesting that Data takes such strong exception to what Picard says. He generally doesn't push his own opinions that way, and virtually never goes "But surely". Does he find logical fault to something Picard said? Does he perhaps think France was not in fact particularly civilized when forcing her language on the globe? Timo Saloniemi
I suppose Stewart's accent changed because of his theatrical roots - performing the classics in a strong Yorkshire accent could be a drawback for an aspiring ac-tor... Although he does know the Yorkshire Dialect (I saw him do it on a TV show once), which is almost like a different language at times in the same way that old Cornish is. I mean - I'm from Yorkshire, but I don't understand half of the Yorkshire Dialect...
Actually, it's not put on as such. He's admitted to having elocution lessons and polishing the accent when he part of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Though he has slipped into the old Yorkshire accent a bit more since he came back to England a few years ago... I always assumed the accent was down to the producers thinking "well... France is LIKE England, isn't it? They're practically the same..." and just getting away with it like that Probably the same reason English programmes sometimes use Canadian actors to play Americans Two words for you as to why the French accent would never have worked: Genevieve Bujold
As an American, please allow me to apologize if you feel that any Americans may have mistaken you for the French. I imagine he was about to say something along the lines of, "But surely the fact that you speak English as your native tongue attests to the decline of the French language."
All of Picard’s family have British accents, so to me there would seem to be two rather obvious explanations: 1. Picard’s family could be from the UK. Just because he has the name ‘Picard’ doesn’t mean the family haven’t spent several generations living in the UK. One of his parents could have been completely British. 2. In the 24th century, the French accent may have died out in certain immigrant communities. There are immigrant communities in England today where the traditional English accent is rarely heard (people sound more Jamaican, or Indian). Really, ‘Picard’ is just a surname. When everyone can travel to the other side of the planet in an instant, I would imagine accents become a lot less location-specific. First of all, a Yorkshire accent is an English accent. Second, Patrick Stewart’s “Picard” accent is not put on. I am from almost the same village as Patrick Stewart (I grew up about 5 miles away from Mirfield) and today I speak more or less the same as captian Picard speaks. A person’s accent often becomes diffused if they live in more than one part of the country. Especially so if their career involves speaking and communicating with people. Like Patrick Stewart (and a great many British people), I have a non-specific accent. Stewart may have had elocution lessons, which may have improved his speech, but change in an accent occurs naturally over time, not overnight. Our career, location and lifestyle are what shape our accent. It is quite normal for a person born in Yorkshire to lose their accent if they spent half their life living somewhere else (especially in America, where most people have a hard time understanding regional British accents). Because I spend so much time talking to Americans, everything about the way I speak has become far less regional, and far less British in general. But it’s not put on — it’s just me trying to communicate clearly.
Picard, his brother, his sister-in-law, his father, and nephew all had English accents. In my personal canon, England conquered France. Picard's mother had a French accent, because she was from Corsica. England never bothered to conquer that.