A question about accents

[Walden]

The notion that Americans have no accent is baloney. Many Americans do. I haven't got an accent, and most people from around here don't, but I've met people from different parts of the USA, and note that they invariably have accents. The entire west coast has an accent, seems to me like. It reminds me of a Nebraska accent crossed with heaven knows what. Much of the East Coast, whether northern or southern, has that R-dropping thing common to modern England. The midwestern or ever what you call those states around Minnesota and Wisconsin sound more foreign to me than some non-Americans.

The Cajuns and Creoles, of course, have an accent, because they speak French. The same goes for other groups who have native languages besides English (with the exception of some American Indians).

The main places without an accent are Oklahoma, Arkansas, and part of Tennessee and Texas.

[BigDavy]

Hi Walden

Come to this side of the pond and your accent would definately be identified as American .

David

[Henke]

Henke, I have to say that if you speak English better than you type it, you must be even more fluent than many who speak it as their first language Your posts are exceptionally well written despite it not being your first language.

Thanks very much Izz, now couldn't you have said this like two or three months ago so I could have showed it to my english teacher?
Seriously though, that made my day.
But people often say that, I've heard, that people from Sweden tend to speak very good english, don't know why. Maybe because our own language fits it or something, and the fact that we have lots of English classes in school, and the fact that Sweden is apperantly the "most americanized country in the world" :roll: Plus, we probably don't get to pick up as many bad habbits as native speakers. I myself am beginning to pick up a few bad habbits, part of it is your fault, people of C&F

[DCrom]

Odd note - the first time I visited Sweden I noticed that a half-overheard conversation in Swedish had much the same rhythm and stresses as a half-overheard conversation in American English - more so than conversations in British English!

I mentioned this to my travelling companions (another American and a German), and they agreed with me, so it wasn't just my deranged imagination. We also met more than a few Swedes who could have passed for US natives.

I suspect that the first observation (similar rhythm and stresses in Swedish and American English) helps the with the second - even if you don't have a huge vocabulary, it may be easier to *sound* OK. As opposed to the many Indians I work with who speak *excellent* English (much better than the bulk of American HS graduates, in my opinion) but almost always have a noticably different accent.

[Henke]

Odd note - the first time I visited Sweden I noticed that a half-overheard conversation in Swedish had much the same rhythm and stresses as a half-overheard conversation in American English - more so than conversations in British English!

Oh, that's probably just because so many swedes went to inhabit the US. Maybe if English weren't so popular, you'd all be speaking Swedish

But there might be something to this anyway. Kids around here often sound more american than british when they learn english in school, despite all the efforts of most teachers who prefer the british english. I've always assumed that it was because we are so influensed by US on the telly and everything, but when I think of it the american english might acctually be closer to swedish than british. I haven't thought about it that much, and I have always been able to put on a british or irish accent just as easily as an american accent when I speak myself (probably because of the exposure to british and irish speakers), but when I don't think about it, my accent would probably be a mix of british and american. Others around here are different though.

[Wanderer]

The notion that Americans have no accent is baloney. Many Americans do. I haven't got an accent, and most people from around here don't, but I've met people from different parts of the USA, and note that they invariably have accents. The entire west coast has an accent, seems to me like. It reminds me of a Nebraska accent crossed with heaven knows what. Much of the East Coast, whether northern or southern, has that R-dropping thing common to modern England. The midwestern or ever what you call those states around Minnesota and Wisconsin sound more foreign to me than some non-Americans.

The Cajuns and Creoles, of course, have an accent, because they speak French. The same goes for other groups who have native languages besides English (with the exception of some American Indians).

The main places without an accent are Oklahoma, Arkansas, and part of Tennessee and Texas.

my grandparents are from olkahoma...
They definitely have an accent. All of the R's that the east coast drops, the folks in my grandmother's town found...you know, on words like "winder" (window), minner (minnow) etc

[Redwolf]

I grew up in the inland Pacific Northwest, and I didn't realize I had an accent until I met my cousins from California. Most non-Westerners probably wouldn't hear it, but we found our relative accents rather amusing (they thought I drawled like a cowboy and I thought they were speaking entirely through their noses).

Regional accents are still alive and well in the U.S., though they're disappearing as TV takes over our speech.

Redwolf

[Walden]

Regional accents are still alive and well in the U.S., though they're disappearing as TV takes over our speech.

That's very true.

my grandparents are from olkahoma...
They definitely have an accent.

I'm not denying that there are regions of Oklahoma that have accents, but by and large most of us still pronounce the word accent with three syllables, unlike people with accents.

[djm]

My favourite weirdness regarding picking up someone else's accent was when a friend from Hong Kong was talking about the British trying to learn to speak Cantonese. She remarked that the Scottish picked up the language best, and sounded like native speakers. I have no idea why that should be.

djm

[cowtime]

The notion that Americans have no accent is baloney. Many Americans do. I haven't got an accent, and most people from around here don't, but I've met people from different parts of the USA, and note that they invariably have accents. The entire west coast has an accent, seems to me like. It reminds me of a Nebraska accent crossed with heaven knows what. Much of the East Coast, whether northern or southern, has that R-dropping thing common to modern England. The midwestern or ever what you call those states around Minnesota and Wisconsin sound more foreign to me than some non-Americans.

The Cajuns and Creoles, of course, have an accent, because they speak French. The same goes for other groups who have native languages besides English (with the exception of some American Indians).

The main places without an accent are Oklahoma, Arkansas, and part of Tennessee and Texas.

You need t' add western NC and southwestern VA to that thar list.

[Walden]

Hi Walden

Come to this side of the pond and your accent would definately be identified as American .

David

You sure? When I lived in Philippines I was always getting took for Russian, or German, or all sorts of things, besides American.

You need t' add western NC and southwestern VA to that thar list.

Yes. My mother's people come from around Hickory, around the turn of the Century, my grandfather was always saying so.

[BigDavy]

Hi Walden

Reasonably sure, we get enough Germans/ Russians/ etc both living and visiting here, and they seem to like traditional music so we folkies get to recognise regional accents. The Moscow and St Petersburg accents are quite distinct.

As to American accents, you would likely be picked out as American quite quickly and probably the region of the US you come from as well. Some of my fellow session heads, who work or have worked for US companies would probably get State and in some cases city as well.

Come over to Scotland some time, you will be very welcome, and find out for youself.

David

[Walden]

Well, yeah, Scotsmen could tell where I was from. I'm not disputing that.

[mvhplank]

As I've often said, I grew up in Alabama. A bookish, geeky kid, I didn't fit in well and for those and who knows what other reasons (didn't want to sound like a redneck?), I lost the distinctive Southern accent quickly and pretty much unconsciously. I sometimes blame my mother (from Birmingham, AL) and her mother (from Indiana), who were both sticklers for correct pronunciation.

But whenever I go back to the South to visit, I also (like the Yorkshire man) must reassume at least the pace and cadence of the local accents. And I still don't always "pass." (I tell folks up here that I have to--so I don't get charged too much at flea markets.)

Izzy, I'd say your husband is wrong, wrong, wrong about not having an accent. Our accents may not be so regionally identifiable as they once were. You might call it the "American Television" accent, if you like. The only way not to have an accent is not to speak at all. And maybe not then! Do people using American Sign Language have "accents" too? I'm willing to bet they do.

M

[Tyghress]

There was a great movie a year or two or three ago. . .a gathering at a very posh British estate, complete with the guests bringing their own servants, an American movie mogul (I think), with subplots that were both 'upstairs' and 'downstairs', and a murder. . .

I found the whole thing VERY difficult to understand at first. The accents moved from a very coarse American accent to Scottish (I can't place it within Scotland) to what I would think of as Cockney, to an upperclass Brit, to Cornwallian. . .at least a dozen accents from at least 5 countries. My mind couldn't (at first) make the swap fast enough to figure out what was being said. I had to watch the movie twice in rapid succession to get all the dialogue.

In regard to American accents, we still persist in regional accents. People from Brooklyn will always sound like Brooklyn, and the Maine Downeast accent will persist, as will deep Texas, Tennessee and that wonderful Creole lilt. But there are regions where a LOT of people immigrated: California, Florida, the Midwest cities. They seem to have melded into that generic TV broadcaster accent that defies regionalism.

Me? I still drop and occasional 'R' (New England), substitute a 'Z' for an 'S' (Midwest), and insert a a twang on the long 'I' (Texas). Linking this discussion to a previous one about put-on accents, I think I acquire other people's accents in conversation because it helps to translate in my mind what they're saying.