The Accent Thread

[Dex]

A chat with Ulpian in the Rumours forum inspired this. Hopefully it won't die a quick death because I'm genuinely interested.

Accents! People love them. People hate them. People fetishize them. Everyone has one, no matter what they might insist to the contrary. And in many cases they are really tied up with a persons identity. Let's talk about them.

What accent do you have? What accents do you love? Do you think people make assumptions about you based on your accent? Go!

I'm from a rather linguistically boring part of the world (Western Canada) where everyone sounds pretty much the same for a good 1000 miles around, so I never developed much of an "ear" for accents. I've been very guilty of using those hated phrases "British accent" and "Southern (American) accent" in the past, as if I'm speaking about very specific things and not a wide and diverse accent group, as is the reality. I like to think I'm learning quickly, though.

The better half has a West Country farmer-ish English accent (think Hagrid, Harry Potter fans) that has (perhaps regrettably) been somewhat neutralised by his self-consciousness about it while living in the Southeast, and also, perhaps, by living with me. But it's so much fun when we head back to his home country and it all comes back to him. He really pronounces the ever-loving-s*** out of those r's. Perhaps its primitive of me, but to me he really does come off as somehow a different person when his accent adjusts like that (no less loveable, though). I'd like to say I don't pay attention to people's accents in that way, but I think I really do when I'm honest with myself. I guess I'm lucky to have an accent that doesn't seem to have been culturally stereotyped in any particular way as far as I can tell, but I could be wrong and it's just that nobody's told me.

[bluefox4000]

I have a Long Island/New York accent which I slip in and out of, lol I never really thought about which accents I like. Not something I ponder.

Mick

[holidayroad]

I live in Alabama, but I am not originally from there. People here talk with a very 'country' accent. A lot of people away from the South think people here talk like Scarlett from Gone With the Wind, but that isn't the case. More of that accent seems to be in places like Florida, Southeast Georgia, Virginia, and the Carolinas.

I don't really have an accent. I try my best to not start sounding like the accent I hear around me every day!

I think other people would make assumptions about the people who have a 'country' accent. Not to be rude, but every day I hear speech full of gramatical errors and mispronunciations and it makes these people sound uneducated.

[WildHearted]

I'm American, so I suppose I would have an 'American' accent, if that's what you would call it. But truly I don't have much of a regional one. I'm from the South but somehow managed to come out of here unscathed and speaking about as neutrally as is possible for anyone to speak. I guess growing up around a large city (Atlanta) helped me out in that respect.

I can't even fake a typical "country" accent, which is kind of depressing. I always end up sounding like Scarlett O'Hara which is a different thing altogether.

[darkcat]

I am from Nova Scotia, Canada, but live in Maine. I have been told I have a very distinctive Maritime Canadian accent, which makes me laugh because the Mainer accent is so ridiculously distinctive (sounds somewhat like a Boston accent)

[Dex]

Darkcat, I'm ashamed to admit I'm largely unfamiliar with the Maritime accent in Canada. I know the Newfoundland accent, which to me just sounds like the accent of an Irish person who's lived in Canada for a while. But everyone I know who comes from the maritimes seems to have either dropped that accent or never had it to begin with, so my exposure is sadly nil.

Holidayroad, I'm one of those non-southerners who is guilty of lumping all southern accents together even when there are clearly many different varieties. I need to travel around that area of the globe some more and get more of an ear for it.

I find it really interesting that when Americans (and a lot of Canadians) want to put on a caricature of an unintelligent person, they immediately put on a southern "country" accent. I know that strong regional accents are often thought of as signifying a lack of education/worldliness, but there are a lot of strong regional accents in the US to choose from beyond the southern, yet they are rarely used in that way. I guess there's some strong historical connotations that have stuck with us.

Kathy Griffin making fun of the women on I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant is a prime example of this. She employs a fake southern accent despite the fact that the women on that show rarely seem to be from the south: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfc4PQkhuLA

[GypsySorcerer]

I live in Kentucky, but I grew up in Illinois. So I guess you could say that I have the "standard Midwestern" accent. People in the North think I sound "southern." People in the South think I sound "northern."

There are dozens of variations of accents in Kentucky alone. Personally, I think accents are fascinating and are identifiers of regional culture. I'd hate for everyone to sound alike.

I love Australian accents. I've always wanted to listen to an American accent through the ears of someone British, Canadian, or Australian.

[seekerj]

If you really want to hear some accents, check out the film "Snatch". Seriously. There are many accents, and sometimes the characters can't even understand each other! I'm not sure if I ever truly understood a word Brad Pitt was saying!

[Ulpian]

Very happy to have inspired this thread!

I grew up in northwest England with a Scottish mother. I went to a school where they looked down on regional accents and tried to give us elocution lessons. The result? A totally bland, BBC accent which is virtually untraceable!

[Jondalar]

I'm from Ohio but I love Canadian and Southern accents. Canadian's seem to like me.

[becca]

I used to think my Western Canadian accent didn't exist until in parts of the U.S. people wanted me to say things like "out and about on the roof with my Mom" and then laughing.

I think I do have a bit of a British accent in there though from relatives and neighbours as well as various telly programs. I'd say Vancouver Island has a distinct difference from the mainland anyway. I can definitely hear an Ontario accent in many people, there used to be a character on the U.K. 'Kiss Me Kate' comedy that was hilarious to me as he had it.

[jenniferuk]

I am from London and Surrey and lived in Australia for a time and have been in the US for about 6 years. We are in Ohio and most people ask if I am from England, with a few asking about Oz and Ireland. I think that I have a generic English accent-not particularly posh or plummy-with a sprinkling of Aussie slang. My husband is American born with much time spent in Britain and Oz and he sounds neither American nor English. Our children are mainly English sounding yet the younger ones sound more and more American, which isn't a surprise, yet it is odd at times to hear how different they sound to us (water is wadder vs wahter vs woohter).

I enjoy regional accents and love to turn on the telly and hear Scouse or Geordie (regional UK accents) talk from UK shows or sport. I am a novice at North American accents although I am learning-we have a few Canadian friends and are trying to visit more of he USA. For now I cannot always place an accent and won't try to guess.

I saw an interesting news feature about the accent of Tangier Virginia-worth a look if you have an interest in accents. The people speak similar to the 1686 settlers.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangier,_Virginia

[Macfanforever]

I love accents.I probably have a New England accent but I think I dont have any.

My favorites are the southern accent and the UK.New York,New Jersey and Boston and western are the runners up.

[Dex]

Originally Posted by becca

I'd say Vancouver Island has a distinct difference from the mainland anyway. I can definitely hear an Ontario accent in many people, there used to be a character on the U.K. 'Kiss Me Kate' comedy that was hilarious to me as he had it.

You think so? People tell me things like this, but I honestly can't hear any difference in most Canadian accents bar Newfoundland. Certainly I've never picked up on Vancouver island having a unique one. I'll have to listen more carefully! Although I suppose those regional differences may be deteriorating over time, as Canadians seem to be quite a mobile lot these days. I'm from Calgary, but it seems hardly anyone who lives in Calgary is actually from there originally, so perhaps there is some mythic Calgary accent and I've just never heard it because the city is such a melting pot.

Jenniferuk, your household sounds brilliant! I remember when I'd only been in the UK for a few months, and my group of friends were sitting outside, and I pointed out that all 6 of us had distinctly different accents. I completely geeked out about it and they thought I was nuts. But something about the sheer variety in such a small group made me feel all warm and squishy inside.

The Geordie accent is a favourite of mine as well, actually. I just think it has such a relaxed flavour, although here in the southeast people often seem to associate with "rough" folk.

I shall have to look into the Tangier accent. That sounds really fascinating. Thanks for the link.

[Dex]

Just to add a youtube clip that samples the Tangier accent for anyone who's interested (proooobably just me ) . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIZgw09CG9E

They sound amazing. I want to go there so badly now! But I think I might need a translator or some sort of real-life closed-captioning device if I want to get by.

ETA: Actually it looks like the video is a clip from a full documentary on American accents. Will have to keep an eye out for that one.