US regional dialects

[jsluder]

I thought it might be worth mentioning, I sign (American Sign Language) with a heavy Chicago accent.
Deaf people I've chatted with in Wash. DC, New Orleans, and San Fran could pin point where I was from before I started the customary 2 minute story of my life.

I admit that I'm completely ignorant about ASL. What comprises an "accent" in sign language? The use of slang? More (or less) exaggeration in hand motion?

[Walden]

I admit that I'm completely ignorant about ASL. What comprises an "accent" in sign language? The use of slang? More (or less) exaggeration in hand motion?

Well, if someone uses the sign for y'all a lot, we figure probably not a Massachussetts accent. If he uses the middle finger a lot we suspect Los Angeles or maybe New Jersey.

[izzarina]

The show is taped in Atlanta, where Brown's from. Alton was probably
trained in some fancy California cooking school, where I'm sure he lost
his accent.

I think (but don't hold me to this) that his training came from a New England culinary school.

[izzarina]

You say the alphabet. Immediately the listeners know if you are culturally Protestant or culturally Roman Catholic.

I have a friend from N. Ireland, and she said that your name can also distinguish you. Her last name was SteelE. The "E" at the end denoted her as a Catholic. Those without "E"'s were usually Protestant.

[fiddleronvermouth]

You say the alphabet. Immediately the listeners know if you are culturally Protestant or culturally Roman Catholic.

I have a friend from N. Ireland, and she said that your name can also distinguish you. Her last name was SteelE. The "E" at the end denoted her as a Catholic. Those without "E"'s were usually Protestant.

There are all sorts of sneaky ways to tell who's who. Even so, apparently the thugs get confused sometimes and beat up one of their own.

[Moonlight]

My Score:
28% Dixie. You are a Yankee Doodle Dandy.

I was interested to see what my score might be as a Canadian from southern Ontario. Many of my ancestors were American from the northern and eastern states.
My grandmother always used the word 'warsh' as in warshing the clothes. Anyone ever heard the word "wash" pronounced this way?

[Cynth]

My Score:
28% Dixie. You are a Yankee Doodle Dandy.

I was interested to see what my score might be as a Canadian from southern Ontario. Many of my ancestors were American from the northern and eastern states.
My grandmother always used the word 'warsh' as in warshing the clothes. Anyone ever heard the word "wash" pronounced this way?

My dad says "warsh". He was raised in Akron, Colorado. Little town in eastern part of state. That's the only word I can remember him saying differently. He might have some Swedish ancestry but we don't know where his parents came from really. He's in his 80's.

[Lambchop]

I thought it might be worth mentioning, I sign (American Sign Language) with a heavy Chicago accent.
Deaf people I've chatted with in Wash. DC, New Orleans, and San Fran could pin point where I was from before I started the customary 2 minute story of my life.

I admit that I'm completely ignorant about ASL. What comprises an "accent" in sign language? The use of slang? More (or less) exaggeration in hand motion?

It's the signs you use for certain things, mostly.

When you sign, you can spell it out, using one-handed symbols for letters . . . a, b, c . . . or you can use signs. Signs are one or two-handed gestures that represent things or actions. You may have to use a mixture of both.

There are regional variations in the signs, hence, the accent. It can be over very small regions, too. Deaf signers often attend boarding schools where the students pick up almost a dialect of signs. They know exactly where everyone comes from.

[jsluder]

It's the signs you use for certain things, mostly.

Thanks for the explanation. ASL is yet another area in which I am woefully uneducated. So much to learn, so little time...

[Congratulations]

As for Elton Brown, he's a self-declared southern boy; not sure where from. Every now and then you can tell when you listen to him; it's more little usages, but it's not due to the accent.

Alton Brown is the host of a cooking show on the Food Network
called "Good Eats" http://goodeatsfanpage.com/

The show is taped in Atlanta, where Brown's from. Alton was probably
trained in some fancy California cooking school, where I'm sure he lost
his accent. His grandmother was on the show once, and she's as Dixie
as they come. She made biscuits from scratch.

I love Alton Brown with my entire body. He makes me want to learn to cook.

[hyldemoer]

I thought it might be worth mentioning, I sign (American Sign Language) with a heavy Chicago accent.
Deaf people I've chatted with in Wash. DC, New Orleans, and San Fran could pin point where I was from before I started the customary 2 minute story of my life.

I admit that I'm completely ignorant about ASL. What comprises an "accent" in sign language? The use of slang? More (or less) exaggeration in hand motion?

When I was learning sign back in the late 70s they estimated that 80% of the common vocabulary of ASL was directly influenced from French Sign Language (Thank you Gallaudet and Leclerc.)
Up until the late 60s ASL wasn't accepted as a real language by the world of education however. When the Hearings were around and if signing was not forbidden the Deaf would try to "letter que" signs (as is done in Signed English ((which is not the same as British Sign Language)) and use English syntax so they didn't appear illiterate.

However, one of the most insulting things you can say to a culturally Deaf person is to tell them they think like a Hearing person. (The Deaf have a sign to accuse someone of being that way. To use it is pretty nasty in Deaf World.)
ASL was traditionally used by the Deaf only when the Hearings weren't around. Part of that might have been to proove to each other that they were truely Deaf and could be trusted to adhere to all the social norms of Deaf culture.

ASL was usually passed from Deaf parents to their children and then secretly passed on to deaf children with Hearing parents when the kids attended institutional schools.
Regional differences in ASL probably developed at those state schools and seem to reflect things like local occupations, clothing, and/or technology.
For example, I know of about 5 different signs to say the word _early_. 2 or 3 of them are pretty much are iconic to a Midwestern farm community.

Deaf people tend to educate each other about those regional differences. They code switch to what ever they need to for ease of communication. The ability to do that code switching is very Deaf cultural.

[hyldemoer]

I love Alton Brown with my entire body. He makes me want to learn to cook.

We TiVo him in my house.

[izzarina]

I love Alton Brown with my entire body. He makes me want to learn to cook.

We TiVo him in my house.

Alton Brown is totally awesome. Even my kids think he's great.

Plus he's just adorable

[I.D.10-t]

It's the signs you use for certain things, mostly.

Thanks for the explanation. ASL is yet another area in which I am woefully uneducated. So much to learn, so little time...

One example is the word birthday. Some people sign birth and day, others make a motion like blowing out candles, others use different signs all togather. In wisconsin, I have been told that the ASL community uses what most people would sign for where as what and what for where. Confusing to say the least. Other words like Coke and elivator are in the process of being converted to signs that are more modern.

Hyldemoer seems to have a better base of knowlege about the Deaf though.

Score 16%

[cowtime]

96% Dixie. Is General Lee your grandfather?!

I find this kinda strange since I am not in the deep south. I've lived my whole life in southwest VA and West Virginia. I have what would be identified as a "hillbilly" accent, not deep south.

Oh well, Lee was a Virginia boy....... and my husband's geneology traces back to Lee's sister. Maybe it's not too off the mark after all.