Syria 2

Listen to Syria 2, a 20-year-old Syrian man from Saudi Arabia and the United States. Click or tap the triangle-shaped play button to hear the subject.

Both as a courtesy and to comply with copyright law, please remember to credit IDEA for direct or indirect use of samples.  IDEA is a free resource;  please consider supporting us.

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

AGE: 20

DATE OF BIRTH (DD/MM/YYYY): 1982

PLACE OF BIRTH: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

GENDER: male

ETHNICITY: Syrian (exact ethnicity unknown)

OCCUPATION: student

EDUCATION: some college study in business-administration accounting

AREA(S) OF RESIDENCE OUTSIDE REPRESENTATIVE REGION FOR LONGER THAN SIX MONTHS:

The subject was born in Saudi Arabia and moved to the United States in 1999. In fact, he has never lived in Syria and was labeled Syrian because of his ethnicity and because he considers himself Syrian. (For better examples of Syrian subjects, see Syria 3 and 4.)

OTHER INFLUENCES ON SPEECH:

He speaks both Syrian Arabic, which his family speaks at home, and Saudi Arabic.

The text used in our recordings of scripted speech can be found by clicking here.

RECORDED BY: Averyn Mackey (under the supervision of Paul Meier)

DATE OF RECORDING (DD/MM/YYYY): 05/12/2002

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF SCRIPTED SPEECH: 

wɛl hɛz ə stɒɹi fɔ̜ ju̜ sɛɹə pɛɹi wɑz ʔa vɛtəɹinɐɹi nɜs hu̜ had bɪn wɜ˞kʰɪŋ deli æt̚ æn oldzɐ zu̜ ɛn ʔɐ dɪstɹɪs dɪstɹɪk tɒv ðə tʻɛɹitʻɒɹi sɐ ʃi wɒz vɛɹi hæpʰi tʰʊ staɾtʻ ə nju̜ d͡ʒɑb ʔæt̚ ʔɐ sʊ̹p̚ su̜pɜ˞b̚ pɹaɪvɪtʼ pɹæk̚tʰɪs ɪnɒ˞θ skɜ˞ ni˞ ðə dju̜k̚ stɹit̚ tʼaʊə˞ ðʌt ʔɛɹiə wɒz mʌʃ niə˞ fɒ˞ hɜ˞ æn mɒ˞  tʰə hɜ˞ laɪkʰɪŋ ɪvn̩ ɪvn̩ so̜ ɒn hɜ˞ fɜ˞s mɒ˞nɪŋ ʃi fɛɫtstɹɛs ʃi et̚ a bol bo pɒɹɪt͡ʃ t͡ʃɛk̚t hɜ˞sɛlf ʔɪn ðə mɪɹə˞ ʔænd wɑʃtʼə˞ fes ʔɪn ə hɜɹi ðɛn ʃi pʊt̚ ʔɒ̜n ʔɐ plen jɛlo drɛs ʔænd ʔə flis d͡ʒæk’ɪtʼ bɪktʰ ʔʌp̚ hɜ˞ kʰɪt̚ æn hɛdɪd fɔ̜˞ wɔ̜˞kʰ wɛn ʃi gɐt̚ ðɛ˞ ɐ ðɜ˞ wɑz ʔə wʊmən wɪð ɐ gʊːs weɪtʰɪŋ fɔ̜˞ hɜ˞ ðə wʊmn̩ gev sɛɹə ʔæn ʔɒ̜fɪʃl lɛtʰər fɹəm ðə vɛt̚ ðə lɛtʰə˞ ʔəmpʰlaɪd ðæd̚ ðə ʔanɪmʊl kʰʊd bi sʌfəɹɪŋ fɹɒm ʔə ɹɛ˞  fɒ˞m ʔɒ̈ fʊ̹t ʔæ̈n maʊθ dɪzɪz wɪt͡ʃ wɑs sɜ˞bɹaɪzɪŋ bɪkɒz nɒməli jʊ wʊd ʔonli ɪkspe ʔɛkspɛk tʰʊ si ʔɪn tʰə si ɪtʰ ʔɪn ʔɐ dɑg ʔɒ˞ ʔə gotʰ sɛɹə wɒ̜sːɪn tʼəmɛntal sŏ ðɪs med hɜ˞ fil sɒɹi fɔ̜ ðə bju̜tʰɪfl̩ bɜ˞t bɪfɔ̜˞ lɒ̜ŋk ðætʼ ʔɪt͡ʃlɪ gʊs bɪkæn tˢ tʊ̜ tʊ̜ stɹʌt̚ ʔəɹaʊ̆n də ɒfɪs laɪk̚ ʔə lʊnətʰɪkʰ wɪt͡ʃ med ʔæn ʌnɪsnt̚ ənsæn tɜɹi mɛs ðɛ gʊsɪz ʔonə˞ mɛɹi hɛɹɪsn̩ kʼɛptʼ kɒlɪŋ kʰamɐ kʰamɐ wɪt͡ʃ sɛɹə θɒtʰ wɒ̜z æn ʔɒd t͡ʃɔɪs fɒɹə nem kʼamɐ wɐstɹɑŋ gæn hju̜d͡ʒ̥ so ɪtʰwʊd̚tʼek sʌ̈m fɒ˞s tʰʊ tɹæpʰɜ˞ bʌtsɜɹə hæd ʔə dɪfɹəntʰ ʔaɪdɪə fɐsʃi tɹaɪ d͡ʒɛntlɪ stɹokʼɪŋ ðə gʊsɪz̥ loə˞ bæk wɪð hɜ˞ palm ðɛn sɪŋɪŋ ʔa tʰʊn tʼʊ hɜ˞ faɪnəli ʃi ʔædmɪnəstɹetʰɪd ɪðə˞ hɜ˞ ɐˈfɔ̜˞ts wɜ˞ nɐt̚ fʊ tʰɪl ʔɪ no tʰaɪm ðə gʊs bɪgɛn tʰʊ taɪə˞ sɐ sɛɹə wɒ̜z ʔebl tʼə hɒ̜ld̚ əntʊ kamɐ ʔæn gɪv hɜ˞ ʔ ʔə ɹɪlɛksɪŋ bɐθ wʌn sɛɹə hæd̚ mænɪʒ tʰʊ bæθ ðə gʊs ʃi waɪp̚tʰɜ˞ ʔɑf wɪð ʔɐ klɒð ʔan led hɜ˞ ʔɐn hɜ˞ ɹaɪtsaɪd ðɛn sɛɹə kɒnfɜ˞m də vɪts dɪgno̜səz̥ ɒlmɐs ʔɪmidɪətli ʃiəmɛmbə˞d ʔan ʔɐfɛk̚tʼɪv tɹitʰmən ðatʼ ɹɪkwa˞d hə˞ tʼə mɛʒə˞ aətʰ ʔə lɑtʰ ʔəv mɪdəsn̩ sɛː waːn ðæt̚ ðɪs kɔ̜s ʔɒ̜v tɹɪˑtʼmənt̚ maɪt̚ bɪ ʔɪkspɛnsəv ɪðr faɪv ɔ˞ sɪks daɪms ðə kɒ̜st ʔɐv pɛnəsəˈlɪːn aɪ kæntʼ ʔɪmɛʒ ʔɪmæʒɪn peɪŋ mʌt͡ʃ bʌt̚ mɪsɪz hɛɹĕsn̩ ə mɪlɪənɛə˞ lɒjə θɒ̜tʔɪtʼwɐz̥ ʔə fɛ˞ pɹaɪs fɒ̜ ʔɐ kʊ

TRANSCRIBED BY: Paul Meier

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 25/05/2022

ORTHOGRAPHIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH:

OK, I was born in Syria, uh, actually, no sorry, I was born in Saudi Arabia, but my original country is Syria. Uh, the city is Riyadh. It’s the capital of Saudi Arabia. I studied there, spent my life until I was 18, and then I moved here to U.S. to study. My business, my major is business-administration accounting. Uh, I am a junior. In Syria, it’s the same language as Arabic, but, like, every Arabic country has a different accent. Uh, I can speak and understand both accents since I live there, and I’m from Syria. Like, home with my family, I speak Syrian, but outside with my friends, if they are Syrian, I speak Syrian; if they are Saudi, I speak Saudi. Yeah. I know other, like some other accents, but I can’t speak it like Egyptian or Moroccan. They’re all Arabic, but they use different accents. OK, I will say: My favorite sport is soccer. Uh, in Syrian accent, we say: [speaks in Syrian dialect of Arabic] and Saudi’s accent: [speaks in Saudi dialect of Arabic].

TRANSCRIBED BY: Averyn Mackey (under the supervision of Paul Meier)

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

SCHOLARLY COMMENTARY:

His accent is still very thick, but he does well with the American signature vowels. When trying to re-create this accent, I found you must focus on rhythm and pitch. Some signature sounds were tapped r’s and darker l’s.

COMMENTARY BY: Averyn Mackey (under the supervision of Paul Meier)

DATE OF COMMENTARY (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

The archive provides:

• Recordings of accent/dialect speakers from the region you select.
• Text of the speakers’ biographical details.
• Scholarly commentary and analysis in some cases.
• In most cases, an orthographic transcription of the speakers’ unscripted speech.  In a small number of cases, you will also find a narrow phonetic transcription of the sample (see Phonetic Transcriptions for a complete list).  The recordings average four minutes in length and feature both the reading of one of two standard passages, and some unscripted speech. The two passages are Comma Gets a Cure (currently our standard passage) and The Rainbow Passage (used in our earliest recordings).

 

For instructional materials or coaching in the accents and dialects represented here, please go to Other Dialect Services.