Post by organist89 on Jun 13, 2007 6:10:10 GMT -5
So I've always been kinda interested in people's accents--most of you have probably noticed my persistent habit of correcting major grammar errors; I do take special notice to the way in which people speak--and I'm curious what accents we all have.
Everyone has an accent (even though a lot of folks try to deny it). See, we all speak differently--someone from California doesn't sound like someone from Mississippi. But the only way to say what an "accent" is, is to pick a point and call it "normal", and base everything in relation to it. In terms of American English, the "accent-free" version of our speech is referred to as "General American". General American is based on the speech of people from Connecticut--so, what that means is, we say Connecticut folks have no accent--they are the starting point, and everything is based around them. So, Ben, you're off the hook (damn it! ;D).
You might notice that television news anchors all sound the same, regardless of whether you're in South Carolina or Montana. TV news anchors are actually trained in "accent removal"--they're taught to speak "non-regional" (a/k/a "General American") English.
We don't all speak the same. For example, Dan speaks really quickly and with a slight northern midwest accent (found in Minnesota, North/South Dakota, and Wisconsin; though I don't claim to be an expert on midwestern accents). To get Brian Hicks' speech, on the other hand, record yourself saying "It's uh day-zul" ("it's a diesel") and slow the tape down to 1/200x its original speed ;D .
One of the colleges here in Virginia is in the process of creating an "accent archive". Basically, they came up with a paragraph of text, and ask people all over the world (and from all 50 US states) to record themselves saying it and send it in. This includes all Americans, as well as people from other countries who do not natively speak English (so you can hear a German accent, or a Danish accent, or an Ethiopian accent, and so on). This is a the page with all the native English speakers (America, Canada, England, Australia, and so on): accent.gmu.edu/browse_language.php?function=find&language=english
Find one with your state and listen to it (there's an embedded MP3 file right on the page you select)! Does it sound like you?
My favorites are these stereotypical ones from...
Louisiana: accent.gmu.edu/browse_language.php?function=detail&speakerid=147
New York City (Brooklyn):
accent.gmu.edu/browse_language.php?function=detail&speakerid=121
Boston (note how he says "store" and "Bob"--it's like listening to a recording of JFK):
accent.gmu.edu/browse_language.php?function=detail&speakerid=142
Minnesota (sounds a ton like Dan):
accent.gmu.edu/browse_language.php?function=detail&speakerid=679
BTW, there is this really cool free + quick online quiz called "What American Accent do you Have"? It asks you questions like "When you say 'bag' does it rhyme with 'vague'?" (people from Dan's part of the country do that); it's really fun and easy, try it!! www.gotoquiz.com/what_american_accent_do_you_have
Post yours!
Everyone has an accent (even though a lot of folks try to deny it). See, we all speak differently--someone from California doesn't sound like someone from Mississippi. But the only way to say what an "accent" is, is to pick a point and call it "normal", and base everything in relation to it. In terms of American English, the "accent-free" version of our speech is referred to as "General American". General American is based on the speech of people from Connecticut--so, what that means is, we say Connecticut folks have no accent--they are the starting point, and everything is based around them. So, Ben, you're off the hook (damn it! ;D).
You might notice that television news anchors all sound the same, regardless of whether you're in South Carolina or Montana. TV news anchors are actually trained in "accent removal"--they're taught to speak "non-regional" (a/k/a "General American") English.
We don't all speak the same. For example, Dan speaks really quickly and with a slight northern midwest accent (found in Minnesota, North/South Dakota, and Wisconsin; though I don't claim to be an expert on midwestern accents). To get Brian Hicks' speech, on the other hand, record yourself saying "It's uh day-zul" ("it's a diesel") and slow the tape down to 1/200x its original speed ;D .
One of the colleges here in Virginia is in the process of creating an "accent archive". Basically, they came up with a paragraph of text, and ask people all over the world (and from all 50 US states) to record themselves saying it and send it in. This includes all Americans, as well as people from other countries who do not natively speak English (so you can hear a German accent, or a Danish accent, or an Ethiopian accent, and so on). This is a the page with all the native English speakers (America, Canada, England, Australia, and so on): accent.gmu.edu/browse_language.php?function=find&language=english
Find one with your state and listen to it (there's an embedded MP3 file right on the page you select)! Does it sound like you?
My favorites are these stereotypical ones from...
Louisiana: accent.gmu.edu/browse_language.php?function=detail&speakerid=147
New York City (Brooklyn):
accent.gmu.edu/browse_language.php?function=detail&speakerid=121
Boston (note how he says "store" and "Bob"--it's like listening to a recording of JFK):
accent.gmu.edu/browse_language.php?function=detail&speakerid=142
Minnesota (sounds a ton like Dan):
accent.gmu.edu/browse_language.php?function=detail&speakerid=679
BTW, there is this really cool free + quick online quiz called "What American Accent do you Have"? It asks you questions like "When you say 'bag' does it rhyme with 'vague'?" (people from Dan's part of the country do that); it's really fun and easy, try it!! www.gotoquiz.com/what_american_accent_do_you_have
Post yours!