Do Forum Members Have Accents Based On Your Location In The Country?

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Wyatt Burp

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A weird question, I know. But I talked about this via PM with a member from Maine. I told him I thought I didn't have an accent being from California. A girl from Georgia with a sexy southern accent verified this once. I don't know why, but we seem to have a generic non destinct voice patterns out here. Except for that lame contrived valley girl of surfer dude lingo.
I'm real interested in the diversity of like minded people here who are from completely different parts of the country and wonder if you have, or think you have an accent. I'm the guy who asked you before about what's interesting where you live, and got great responses from all of you.
 
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I
told him I thought I didn't have an accent being from California.
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To a linguist, the is an absurd statement.

You can't hear your own accent--just other's--unless you are trained.
An Australian being interviewed on TV was asked why she spoke differently in person and on her show.
She sadi "I learned an American accent for the TV series."

The ignorant interviewer said, "No, you mean you learned to speak without an accent."

The actress said, "No I've learned to do several accents", and went on the demonstrate the differences in vowel sounds, cadences, and patterns.

Californians don't speak with NO accent, they speak with a California accent. You may think you don't, but any trained linguist will tell you otherwise. The most neutral-sounding accent to most Americans is mid-plains: listen to Johnny Carson speak.

P.S. I've never heard anyone but Americans claim they had no accent. The funniest conversation I ever heard was two inebriated people, one a woman from Brooklyn and the other a man from west Texas-- arguing over which one had an accent.
"Eye speak poifect English!!"
"Dang, laedee, kain't you talk Amerricun?"
 
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I'm from CA. Been living in the south for many years. I have an accent when I want one... it helps sometimes.
 
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I have no accent as I'm also from Michigan. I was a Canuck first and lost that accent and have lived in the south, Italy and am married to a southern gal.

Sometimes here I'm asked what did you say and suppose I have my own individual accent of sorts.
 
OKFC05 said:
I

To a linguist, the is an absurd statement.

You can't hear your own accent--just other's--unless you are trained.
An Australian being interviewed on TV was asked why she spoke differently in person and on her show.
She sadi "I learned an American accent for the TV series."

The ignorant interviewer said, "No, you mean you learned to speak without an accent."

The actress said, "No I've learned to do several accents", and went on the demonstrate the differences in vowel sounds, cadences, and patterns.

Californians don't speak with NO accent, they speak with a California accent. You may think you don't, but any trained linguist will tell you otherwise. The most neutral-sounding accent to most Americans is mid-plains: listen to Johnny Carson speak.

P.S. I've never heard anyone but Americans claim they had no accent. The funniest conversation I ever heard was two inebriated people, one a woman from Brooklyn and the other a man from west Texas-- arguing over which one had an accent.
"Eye speak poifect English!!"
"Dang, laedee, kain't you talk Amerricun?"
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Watch any newscast and you hear the same tone in their speech. It's purposely generic sounding to me. and it sounds like folks out here. Nuetral is a great way of putting it and I don't think Johnny Carson is any more nuetral than me. Maybe English ( Britain) is nuetral and I in fact have an accent. I don't know. Keep in mind this was just a thought and I don't think there's anything great about being from out here and having what I thought is a "nuetral" voice pattern. Maybe a cunning linguist out there can chime in and wise me up.
 
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My wife, who left NY many years ago and became a resident of southern CA still has a NY accent. I don't usually notice it, but others do all the time and ask if she is from "back east". "Back east" is bad, but not nearly as bad as "California", so she says yes. :)

I am sure I have an accent, but who knows what it is. I grew up in Alaska, Oklahoma and Germany. At 17 I started traveling the world and getting paid to do it so I probaly incorporated a few more accents along the way.

bob
 
WB i hear what your saying, all the TV actors have the same generic "california" accent. unless they are trying to be from brooklyn or the south. whats funny is my wife was born and raised here in PRK but spent summers as a kid with family in southern-middle tennessee. she says some words with a slight accent. and some people ask her if she is from the south.
 
I lived in Ca.for 20 years and here in Or.for 8 years.I still have my Southern Mo.accent.IMHO,they don't have accents in Ca.
 
I'm from New Yawk. I mean I'm physically incapable of properly pronouncing "or", it comes out as "aw".
 
you tawkin to me

QUOTE=MTS Cop;135450666]I'm from New Yawk. I mean I'm physically incapable of properly pronouncing "or", it comes out as "aw".[/QUOTE]
 
I was born in Georgia, went to school in Ga, Co, and Mo.
Have lived in NC and Va since then.
I work on the road nation wide doing telecom install.
From my moving around as a kid, I pick up local accents VERY fast.
I have worked in 48 states and canada so far.
People who meet me are surprised at the lack of a southern accent.
I still have one, its just mild.
My wife is from upstate NY, but has lived in NC/Va for the past 11-12 years or so.
Her southern accent is a LOT more pronounced than mine.
If I drink, or hang out a lot with people with strong southern accents... it comes back with a vengeance...


Jim
 
s&wchad said:
Everyone has an accent, except Michiganders from the lower peninsula. :)
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That's right......I've been in Florida 36 years and they still say I talk plain. They would think differently if I was a Yooper eh?
 
Yeah, I've got a South Jersey accent.
Just about all the people I know have accents from all over the world, very few in St Pete are Florida natives.
 
I thought my accent was pretty generic but when my wife and I were in Ireland the people there all thought we were Canadian ( close but North Dakota is still in the U.S. ). Recently we were in Miami and again people thought we were Canadian. We're both mostly Irish so the accent and sentence structure are probably influenced by our parents heritage. Our kids who grew up in MN don't sound like us and sound more like the national tv announcers although they can all do a pretty good classic Minnesota accent if needed.
 
I'm originally from Socal, so I have no accent, dude! Now that I live in Arizona, well, I'll says this with an Arizona accent, "I have two guns, one for each of you! (Doc H.)
 
I was born and raised in northern IL where people tend to sound like the TV talkers anyway. Since then I have lived in many cities and traveled the globe. My observation is that accents can be acquired or lost at will if you care. It's often about fitting in. My first year at college, one of my room mates was from east TN and he purposely exaggerated his accent for fun. It wasn't long and I was using it too.

My children were all born in NJ but none have a Joisey accent.
 
I'm a cunning linguist. Born in NEPA, taught to speak eloquently and enunciate by parents and grandparents yet
I've had friends and neighbors from same who speak like
they were from, wall' ynow. College in VA and living/moving around the world I can still fairly well place an accent. Thats why I'm only a cunning and not a perfect linguist.:D
 
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