ACCENT RETRACTION ON PROCLITICS IN CONTEMPORARY ACTORS’ SPEECH A CASE STUDY OF TWO THEATRE PERFORMANCES

Sa？etak In contemporary implicit standard speech accents are almost never regularly realized on proclitics. This is true especially for the most recent retraction or the weakened accent retraction. Much research has shown that accents are not transferred regularly on proclitics even from shorter one- or two-syllable words, just like they are not transferred to polysyllabic prepositions, and most of all, they are not transferred to conjunctions despite the strict recommendations of orthoepic “classic” norms (although such transferences exist, they are connected to style and are considered to be detachments from the implicit speech standard). The authors of this article are studying accents on proclitics in actors’ speech. The difference between the classic or implicit norm and usage is usually observed by public speakers: announcers, journalists, anchors, lecturers, politicians and even actors, but this usually takes place in controlled studio conditions with the best actors. Actors’ speech in a real performance (in a theatre performance, film, radio play) often is not studied. This work studies actors’ speech and the realization of accents on proclitics in the theatre performances of the Gavella theatre in Zagreb. The theatre performances that were chosen for this research had to be performed in standard speech, had to have a speech counselor, had to be performed for a few seasons and had to have won awards at festivals. The performances were also available as video recording as well as in written form. The research has shown that regarding actors, just like other public speakers, the accents on proclitics are not realized when the rule allows for it. Even if accents are realized it is connected to the character that the actors are playing or it can be a serious mistake in speech, since we are talking about an accent retraction that is not allowed by the rules