Talk:2665: America Songs

Many of these rely on "ia"/"ie"/"io" serving as the 3rd and 4th syllables, so every song would be sung like "God Bless Olimpiya Algeriya". Virginia Beach appears to be the only one to escape this.--Magtei (talk) 19:39, 29 August 2022 (UTC)

As a Washingtonian, I pronounce Olympia without the diphthong (so four syllables; the “a” being distinct). It’s probably a dialect thing, and some pronunciations are more common than others, but as long as one fairly-common pronunciation scans, I think it’s fine. [User:Szeth Pancakes|Szeth Pancakes] (talk) 03:37, 30 August 2022 (UTC)

Alright, bad example. Skipping it is unheard of in areas further south. Do you (or a large part of the US) fully pronounce most dipthongs, Syria with three syllables, etc.?--Magtei (talk) 07:02, 30 August 2022 (UTC)

There are also some locations with three-syllable names, such as Detroit Lakes or Fergus Falls (both located northwest of St. Cloud, Minnesota) which, although not listed by Randall, will also work and not use the noted syllables. RAGBRAIvet (talk) 02:35, 30 August 2022 (UTC)

This phrase, "scans to", has me confused. Can the explanation address what this is supposed to mean? --anon 16:23, 29 August 2022

You betcha Szeth Pancakes (talk) 20:38, 29 August 2022 (UTC)

What does scanning mean in relation to sung verse? Just syllables and their stress pattern, or is their more? 172.69.34.28 23:11, 29 August 2022 (UTC)

I'm not familiar with the term, but I assume it's related to scansion. If I'm right, it's probably just syllables and stress pattern. GreatWyrmGold (talk) 06:52, 30 August 2022 (UTC)

- There was a young man from Japan

- Whose limericks never would scan.

- And when they asked why,

- He said "I do try!

- But when I get to the last line I try to fit in as many words as I can."

...though – and this is me talking, not the famous limerick – after making sure your poetry rhymes (if you want it to; and/or assonate, consonate, etc) and scans (some words are tricky, as mentioned, according to dialect/accent/etc) you also need to check the meter (does it obviously flow and split in patterns like the iambic one where "da-DUM da-DUM-da DUM-da DUM-da-DUM" might be how it works with word-boundries).

You might be wise to avoid words like "vehicle" with theoretically, two to four syllables and all kinds of stress-patterns and vowel-sounds (c.f. stereotypical Deep South, north British, Aussie, etc), at least as an early (establishing) element. Maybe you can set up its far more knowable rhyme/scan/metering partner first and rely upon the reader adopting the intended variation (give or take the relatively opposing strengths of writer/reader accents, etc) after being given the prior clue.

I would personally say the scan(sion) is mostly the simple syllable count, and may need some writing tricks ("learned" as in "I learned something" and "learn'ed" as in "a very learned person") to convey well during sight-reading or initial internalised read-through.

On that, I personally have some problems reading "-ya" syllables as singular (depending upon what the preceding symbol is, I would consider it a "-ee-ah"/"-ee-uh" (or mid-point) with a cut-down "-ee-"), while I have no problem with the "-lm" dipthong/whatever (c.f. Northern Irish tends to clearly enunciate as "fill-um" for 'film', whilst I might almost consider it a syllable/beat of its own). But I suspect the right voice (internal or external) could convince me of any of those examples as given, eventually... ;) 162.158.159.105 13:46, 30 August 2022 (UTC)

Aussie here: we tend to say (and sing) "Australia" with three syllables. For example, see the Australian national anthem. Occasionally two syllables: Straya mate!! But saying it with four syllables is perhaps an American thing. 162.158.2.207 21:19, 29 August 2022 (UTC)

Interesting! It probably is a dialect thing. As an American, I've always pronounced it with four. Szeth Pancakes (talk) 21:23, 29 August 2022 (UTC)

In the comic, Saskatchewan is spelled as Sasketchewan. Might be fixed later?

Just putting this here: https://www.quora.com/A-lot-of-place-names-in-the-USA-have-four-syllables-Minnesota-Chattanooga-Albuquerque-Tallahassee-Talladega-Massachusetts-Massapequa-Mississippi-Cincinnati-Sacramento-Indiana-Alabama-Oklahoma-etc-Is-there-a (with the understanding that "scanning" doesn't necessarily mean only the number of syllables, e.g. Al-BUH-ker-key has the wrong stress pattern.)172.70.210.49 21:51, 29 August 2022 (UTC)

Hot dog, jumping frog, Albuquerque! 172.69.79.211 22:03, 29 August 2022 (UTC)

AlBUquerque, AlBUquerque, God shed his grace on theee...! 172.70.207.8 22:46, 29 August 2022 (UTC)

Does anyone know how to craft a Wikidata query for all the place names with four syllables following the .'.. stress pattern? We should probably say how many there are. 172.70.214.183 23:15, 29 August 2022 (UTC)

Jurassic park, Jurassic park, how lovely are thy branches… Fabian42 (talk) 23:31, 29 August 2022 (UTC)

The pronunciation of Vidalia, Georgia, is "vi-DAIL-ya" -- three syllables, not four. It doesn't actually scan like "America". Seems like the comic is assuming the pronunciation is "vee-DAHL-ee-ah", which would scan.ing

And the age old question of whether an optional schwa constitutes a syllable rears its head. 172.69.134.161 05:14, 30 August 2022 (UTC)

I came to say a similar thing about Montpelier. In Vermont, at least, it has three syllables. CeramicMug (talk) 10:42, 30 August 2022 (UTC)

I simply wish to note the similarity to "Thighs" (#321), which is one of my favorite xkcd comics and one that I find comes to mind surprisingly often.

For changing the tune of a song but not the lyrics (or the lyrics in entirety but not the tune), see the title text to 788: The Carriage 172.70.131.126 11:24, 30 August 2022 (UTC)

Shirley [surely] there must be some overlap between XKCD and "Weird Al" Yankovic fans, but no one has yet mentioned that Randall missed the "American Idiot"/"Canadian Idiot" overlap, mentioning the former but not the latter? --BigMal // 172.70.114.87 14:12, 30 August 2022 (UTC)